Not All That Sparkles Is Twilight

Chapters

02: Separation Anxieties
03 - Empowerment
05: History
06: Equipped
07: Discoveries
08 : Friendships
09: Light Endings and Dark Beginnings
10: Blessings Abound
11: Presentation
01 : Awakening
04: Assignment and First Combat

02: Separation Anxieties

02: Empowerment

"Dying?" Twilight asked, as most of her friends moved back to let Nurse Redheart work.

"Yes. Remember when I told you your mana levels were way down, Twilight?" She asked. Twilight nodded. "Her's were far worse. Whatever just happened has drained the last of her mana out of herself, and her body's going into shock. If we can't find a way to boost her levels immediately, she's going to die as her body shuts down."

"But don't you have measures against this?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, but that's at the hospital, not here!" Redheart told Twilight as she tried to keep Stellar alive. "She needs a mana infusion right now, and frankly, not even with three alicorns here is it going to be enough without putting you at risk."

"Then there is only one thing to do." Celestia then said, her voice full of conviction. "We need to get her outside, right now. Luna? If you will lift her?" Luna nodded and they moved outside quickly, getting a good distance from the castle as Luna kept Stellar in a stasis spell. "I need to impose on your night, dear sister." Celestia said, as the others stopped a small distance away. "I need the Sun."

"As you wish, sister." Luna replied, as she laid Stellar down on the ground.

Celestia nodded. "You'll know when to drop the stasis spell, Luna. Just stand back a ways, please." Luna nodded as Celestia's cutie-mark glowed and, with a gesture from Celestia like she used at Summer Sun, Celestia's sun rose and quickly ascended to it's zenith, bathing the land in it's brilliance.

Celestia's horn glowed brilliantly as she spread her wings again and spoke aloud, the Royal Canterlot Voice echoing over the hills as Celestia said "UTMORKHAI SOLARI AMBORISHA!" And the Sun darkened to half it's brilliance...

Of all those there, only Twilight and Luna knew the ancient language Celestia had spoken, invoking the enormous power of the celestial body she was linked with. And of the pair, only Luna had ever seen this done before. An enormous tendril of solar energy shot down out of the heavens and lanced in to Celestia, her body changing as it filled her. Her mane and tail transmuted from their multi-hued look into a brilliance almost too bright to look at, her wings and body flashed into yellow and orange flame, and her eyes and horn glowed brighter than the sun did normally. Then Celestia lowered her horn, and the white brilliance shot forth and bathed Stellar's body, just after Luna lowered her stasis spell.

Stellar's body heaved upwards, literally pushing itself off the ground, her wings and legs spread wide, her cutie-mark glowing again as were her eyes, horn and her wings as well, and her body was soon glowing almost as brightly as Celestia. Just as it looked like it would combust, like Celestia's, the beam from the Sun ended, the Sun flashing back to it's brilliance as Celestia's body slowly returned to it's normal state, but she was breathing faster and her entire body had a soft glow that only grew as the sun returned below the horizon again. She moved forward and nudged Stellar's floating body towards a guerney that Nurse Redheart and Applejack had managed to get out of the castle.

Twilight looked at Celestia as Stellar was wheeled back inside, marvelling at her mentor's enhanced appearance. "By Faust, Celestia... I never had an inkling you could do that!"

Celestia chuckled. "What? Did you not feel the immensity of the power I wielded when you had my magic, Twilight?" She asked in a voice almost as powerful as the Royal Canterlot voice. "Maybe a good thing, then. You might have vaporised the planet trying to fight Tirek if you had've tapped into my full power."

Twilight cringed a little. "Yeah, a good thing indeed." She nervously grinned as she rubbed the back of her neck. Then Celestia touched her and Twilight's eyes glowed with brilliance while Celestia's faded, the mana flowing into Twilight, who took a deep breath and relaxed a great deal. Once Celestia had let her go, Twilight shook herself. "Wow! That's... more mana than I've ever had!" She told Celestia.

"Indeed, Twilight. Now you are fully-charged again, as is Stellar." Celestia explained.

"So... why was Stellar so low on mana anyway?" Rarity asked. "Normally, we can tell when we're like that and allow our reserves to fill again fairly quickly.

"I think I know." Twilight explained. "Stellar's body is only a few days old. Plus she's never had a full quantity of mana to draw on, ever." Twilight slipped into lecture-mode as everyone started walking inside. "You see, most ponies, especially unicorns, get mana from their mother when they're in the womb. They have a small capacity at the beginning of their lives, so they're usually full by the time they're born. That's why Flurry Heart was so powerful as a baby. She was fully-loaded with mana and, being an alicorn, that was a huge amount more than most unicorn foals. Stellar, on the other hoof, was like a new-born starved of mana. Plus her new body was having trouble drawing mana out of the air, so she was recharging at a much-reduced rate. Small spells like the ones we were using to retrain her body didn't drop her mana level down much, but she couldn't recharge enough to do more than keep up with the drain. Then, when her cutie-mark changed... you know how much power something like that takes. It left her completely drained and dying."

"Very astute, Twilight Sparkle." Luna said, as Celestia smiled and nodded. "And now she is fully-charged, almost to overload, but that will drain a little as she heals herself."

"So, she ain't in trouble any longer?" Applejack asked.

"That remains to be seen..." Celestia said, her voice still resonating with the power she held within her, but with less volume. "But for now, she will stabilise and be out of danger."

"Well, that's good news." Rainbow Dash said.

"Indeed, how horrible it would be to die, just after finding yourself like Stellar did." Fluttershy spoke up, making everyone look at her. "Well, it would be. She just got her name and her cutie-mark. I can't imagine how tragic it would have been if the first time her name was used, it was on her tombstone." Fluttershy shuddered.

Everyone there, even Celestia and Luna, nodded in solemn agreement as they walked through the castle and headed for the guestroom where all the monitor instruments were.

==================================

Stellar slowly opened her eyes to feel like she was floating. It was better than any drug-high she had ever felt, but felt cleaner, purer, nowhere near the way she'd felt coming down from a cocaine high. And it wasn't going away, either. She was on her barrel and she stretched, feeling better than any other time she'd been there, even better than when she'd felt the power of the Elements of Harmony flowing through her. That had made her feel jittery, overwhelmed, and somewhat nervous. This felt peaceful, calming, like it was meant to be there. She opened her eyes and looked around, to see Nurse Redheart and Twilight watching her. Stellar smiled softly, still feeling a little... detatched. "Heya, Twi. 'Morning, Nurse Redheart." She greeted them, her mind becoming perfectly clear for the first time since she'd found herself on Equestria.

"Good morning, Stellar." Twilight greeted her new sister with a big grin. "How are you feeling?"

"That's my line." Nurse Redheart butted in, grinning as the girls giggled. "Good morning to you, Stellar. So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, apart from the same stiffness I was still feeling before what happened, I'm feeling incredible." Stellar answered. "What happened?"

"Well, when you spoke your name... it triggered your cutie mark to change from mine to one that's definitely your own." Twilight answered.

Stellar looked back at her flank, then grinned. "Cool." She said as she looked at her new mark. "Still a Sparkle." Stellar commented.

Twilight giggled. "Oh yeah." She replied.

Then Stellar frowned. "Hey, I don't remember that." She gestured with a wing-feather to something that was different from what she remembered.

Twilight looked. She saw that, whereas before the sword in Stellar's cutie mark was unadorned, it now had a solar disk like Celestia's cutie-mark across the cross-guard under the Sparkle Star. "You're right, that wasn't there before. Maybe it's because of what Celestia had to do to save you." Twilight suggested.

Stellar frowned. "What she had to do to save me?" She asked, sounding unsure.

Twilight nodded, but it was Nurse Redheart who answered. "Stellar, right after your cutie-mark changed, you collapsed. You were suffering from severe, almost total mana depletion." She explained. "You were dying."

Stellar took that in, then nodded. "So, what did Celestia do?" She asked.

"She invoked a spell that, while Luna said she has used before, I have never seen." Twilight explained. "It used very, very old magic, the language it used is so old, I'm pretty sure only a very small number of ponies even know a small bit of it, let alone the entire language. She raised the sun again, then pulled a great deal of it's energy down into herself. Once she was charged up, she transferred a good deal of it into you, as mana... I think. You were glowing so brightly, I thought you were going to change like Celestia did. But then she stopped the flow and we brought you back in here." Twilight smiled. "She also used the remainder to give me a full recharge."

Stellar nodded. "Is... that why I'm feeling so euphoric now?" She inquired. "I'm feeling so charged up, it's even more than when we invoked the Elements."

"That's probably correct." Nurse Redheart told Stellar. "You've gone from almost total depletion to almost having a mana surge due to being overfull. But healing yourself seems to have drained enough to prevent a surge from happening, thank Celestia."

"Yes, thank Celestia." Stellar muttered softly, no bite in her voice. "That's something I'm going to have to do."

Twilight nodded, her face serious again, as Nurse Redheart stood up. "Well, you seem to be recovering well. Come by the clinic tomorrow and we'll scan you again. Your mana levels should have settled down by then." She smiled at Stellar. "And congratulations." She added.

"Thanks, Doctor Redheart." Stellar thanked Redheart.

Redheart chuckled. "Not yet, not yet, but soon." She promised. "I'll send some technicians for the monitors." She told Twilight.

Twilight nodded. "I'll make sure she gets there." She promised Redheart.

Redheart nodded. "I hope I never see either of you two in the hospital again." Redheart told them. "Save for social occasions."

Stellar looked at Twilight with a grin and got one in return. "We'll try, Doc." They both said, then giggled.

Redheart grinned. "Oh, you two are going to be terrible together." She said as she gripped her bags and settled them on her back. "Just don't prank Shining Armor. I don't know if his mind could take it."

"Promise, Redheart." Twilight said, and Stellar just nodded.

Redheart hugged them both, then left, grabbing one of the wraps Spike was bringing in as she passed him. Spike watched her leave, then moved to where Twilight was, helping Stellar to slide off the bed unto her still-unsteady hoofs. "It's okay, Twi, I got this." Stellar said, using her wings to help maintain her balance. She walked carefully away from the bed, then shook out and furled her wings. "There." She turned slowly and grinned at Twilight. "It just takes a little time. After all, I've been stuck in bed for how long, now? Not to mention being blasted, thumped, drained and solar-charged."

Twilight nodded, smiling. "Well, you're on your hoofs again, and we can keep working until you're steady again." She told Stellar. "By the way, where did you get your name from? It almost seems... familiar."

"I don't know, Twilight, honestly." Stellar replied. "It's like I told Pinkie: One minute my mind was blank, then there it was, on the tip of my tongue, and it just came out."

Twilight's smile widened to a grin. "Well, however you got it, it really suits you, I think." She said as she moved to Stellar and hugged her with a fore-leg, a gesture Stellar returned with a little shakiness, but she stayed on her hoofs. "Now, we'll just have to get you up to full speed on everything else, including magic. I've got a checklist here somewhere, to help you with your rehabilitation..."

Stellar noticed Spike roll his eyes and stifle a chuckle, and she just grinned at him as she moved past Twilight and grabbed a wrap from Spike's tray. "Mmm... Fish wraps! Thanks, Spike, these are delicious."

"No problem, Stellar." Spike answered.

"Fish wraps?" Twilight asked as she turned around and walked up beside Stellar.

"Damn, that's creepy." Spike said softly as the twins stood beside each other. "I can't tell who's who from this angle."

Stellar looked at Twilight, and they both burst out giggling. "Maybe Twi should wear her crown while I'm around." Stellar suggested.

"Or maybe a bandanna for you around your neck." Twilight suggested.

"Mmm-mm-hmm." Stellar replied, her voice muffled by a mouth full of fish and veges.

Twilight rolled her eyes, then took one of the wraps and bit into it, this time without hesitation. The succulent flavors of the grilled fish bathed her mouth in delicious flavor, and she gobbled it up almost as fast as Celestia ate cake. "Oh Celestia! Why didn't you tell me how delicious fish was?" She asked.

"Maybe she did, and you didn't listen?" Stellar suggested.

Spike tried to suppress a chuckle, and Twilight frowned at Stellar as her new sister took another wrap and munched into it. Once she'd finished, Stellar started slowly walking around the room, finding her hoofs again. "Something about this..." She commented. "I think my autopilot's coming back on-line again. If I don't think about where I'm putting my hoofs, then they seem to work just fine. If I think about them, then I trip."

Twilight nodded as she munched down another wrap. "I think that's something we've found about a lot of ponies who've had some kind-of mental damage. Our brains seem to have an automatic guide for using our legs, as long as we're not too conscious about the movement."

Stellar nodded as she stopped and stretched. She barely avoided falling over with a sweep of her wings, as she'd had her legs too close together to maintain her balance properly. "Okay, autopilot good for walking, not so good for other things." Stellar said.

Twilight giggled, but moved to help her new sister. "Maybe I should put together an exercise routine for you." Twilight suggested as Stellar stretched her legs out one by one.

"I thought you said you already had a checklist for that?" Stellar reminded Twilight.

Twilight went blank for a few seconds, then face-hoofed. "Yeah, you're right, I did say that." She confirmed.

Stellar smiled. "So, if I get what you know about alicorns, we're a combination of all three pony sub-types, and not only have the abilities of all three, but also have features that are unique to us alone."

Twilight nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately, there's not been much written on Alicorn physiology or anatomy since, for nearly a thousand years, Celestia was the only alicorn in existence. Plus it's only very recently that our medical knowledge has moved from a semi-magical basis to one of scientific reasoning." She explained as Stellar jumped in place a few times and flapped her wings, to loosen them up.

"Yeah. Kind-of hard to get a proper analysis of physical differences when one is focussed on the mystique of the subject." Stellar agreed as she shook her wings out. Frowning, she started to preen her wings as Twilight watched, fascinated to see someone who was essentially physically herself, doing things she did as a matter of routine now.

"Yes, well, I've been trying to write such a treatise on just that subject." Twilight revealed. "I already have a number of books published on magic and other subjects, but this is a far more involved subject." She said. "And it's not exactly a book that will have much of a practical application, considering there's only six alicorns in existence now." She sighed. "Maybe I should find a different subject to work on."

"Hey, how about writing a magic primer for those ready to go onto schools of advanced magic?" Stellar suggested. "I know I'd like one very much. Maybe one you can load with the writings of older books, making them available to the latest generation."

Twilight's ears pricked up. "How the... how did you know I was thinking of doing just that?"

Stellar laughed as she flipped her wings closed. "Twilight... I'm you, remember? Got ALL your memories."

Twilight blinked, then chuckled. "Yeah, I keep forgetting that." She said. "Althought it should be obvious to me by now. You're starting to sound... different. I don't know if it's just the way you speak, or what, but your individuality is coming out, I think."

Stellar nodded. "Yeah, and that's a good thing. As much as I love you, dear Sis, I don't want to just be a clone of you. I have a feeling I'm here to contribute to Equestria and the Pony Race in a much different way."

Twilight smiled as Stellar flicked her tail around in a fan-shape. "But there's times when I do see you're still a huge amount like me." She told Stellar. "You care as much about our people and country as much as I do... but it's starting to go in a different direction, at least a little."

Stellar grinned as she started trotting around Twilight. "Wait until I find my niche, Twi. Then I'll know what to do and where to go."

Twilight nodded as she got to her hoofs again. "Then we'll visit the archives again when we go to Canterlot. We can see what interests you." She told Stellar. "Of course, you have as much raw magical power as I do, which, according to Celestia, is even more than she does..." Twilight sighed. "Although I can't see it myself."

Stellar could see that Twilight had a tendency to suffer from a personal confidence problem. She moved to her sister and hugged her with a foreleg. "Hey, Twi, you held the sheer raw power of four alicorns inside yourself, with only a few minor control issues at first, until you really started to use them." She reminded Twilight again. "That shows your capability. And I bet your magical body system... what do they call that? Oh yeah, the Itineris system... I bet that is far more developed because of that." Stellar pointed out. "What you and I lack is experience, nothing more." She said. "That's why we really need to delve into magical lore and work out what we can do with what we have." Stellar nuzzled Twilight, getting a soft nicker from her twin. "After all, research is what you do best."

Twilight gave a soft laugh as she sat down again. "Now I know why I need you and what you're here to do with me." She told Stellar. "You give me focus when my own wanders or is fractured."

"What are sisters for?" Stellar replied, hugging Twilight closer. "You and I, Twi, we're gonna give our world so much." She said confidently.

Twilight grinned. Stellar's confidence was infectious and gave her a much needed boost to her own. "Yeah. And I have a way to start." She told Stellar as she got to her hoofs. "I have something for you."

"For me?" Stellar asked.

"Uh-huh." Twilight answered, grinning. She led Stellar to the Castle Archives, where she had Stellar sit down and then disappeared into a workshop, returning with a very plain-looking large tome, with a single large, round, flat jewel set into the cover and a lock on the opening side. "This is what I was working on before we got called away to Canterlot, two days before you showed up." Twilight told Stellar. "I'm making a tome that can act as a library in itself, for agents in the field." She explained. "It can be locked and only opened by one person if it's set that way, with a ton of safeguards against unauthorised access. I'm going to be making a generalised version that will be a magic primer for those moving from basic to advanced magical studies, and a specialised version for those with either very advanced skills or those with a need to keep the most sensitive material from general access." Twilight showed Stellar how the access safeguards worked. "Okay, I'm going to authorise you as this tome's primary user and owner."

"But if you're already authorised, shouldn't I be able to access it as well?" Stellar asked.

"Uh..." Twilight looked unsure. "Only one way to tell." She said, and closed the tome, showing Stellar the proper way to lock it without causing the safeguards to go off. "Okay, put your hoof over the lock and say 'Unlock'." Twilight told Stellar.

Stellar nodded, put her right hoof on the lock and said "Unlock."

The tome actually gave a soft chime and unlocked. "Well, seems you're biologically close enough to me to actually trigger the authorisation codex." Twilight said. "Maybe there's some way to prevent this from occuring."

"Is there a way to enter another word needed to unlock this?" Stellar asked.

"Sure, but that's not the problem." She said. "The problem is you being able to access all the additional tomes I'll be making, since your authoriser and mine appear to be identical."

"As we are." Stellar pointed out.

Twilight sighed, but grinned and giggled. "I knew there had to be a downside to having a twin." She grumbled unconvincingly.

Stellar laughed and tickled Twilight, making her burst out laughing. Eventually Starlight found them lying next to each other on the floor, out of breath and giggling uncontrollably.

"Never mind, I don't want to know..." She said as she headed back out of the Archives.

Once they'd stopped giggling, Twilight briefed Stellar on how to use the Tome. "Okay, so all need to do to load books into here is place them on top of the tome after activating the crystal on the cover, then say 'Load'."

"That's right. The tome will scan the book and download it into the storage matrix." Twilight confirmed. "Eventually, I want to scan every book into the Master Tome that I'll be keeping, and just be able to remotely load the saved books into one of the production tomes from even a huge distance away."

"So... I can tell this tome's different from the other two you have over there." Stellar said. "What's so special about this one?"

"It's... not exactly the same." Twilight admitted. "It's one of the prototypes I used to codify what I needed to put into the production tomes. It's got a much bigger storage capacity and it doesn't have a dedicated link to the Master Tome, which is this one." She showed Stellar a much-bigger tome that had her cutie-mark done in jewels on the front cover. "So whatever you put in here isn't going to show up on the Network. I can add a connector page if you like, so you can keep in touch with me through the Master Tome and be able to download books as I scan them." Twilight suggested.

"Maybe make it an insert that I can activate from this end only if I need to access or talk to you." Stellar suggested back.

Twilight nodded. "Okay. I can do that." She said. "The holo-matrix viewer is really advanced. It took me nearly a year to make the spells into a repeatable incantation set to permanently endow one of the hard separators with a way to project a full-size image that can talk in real-time, no matter where you are or I am." She said. "Plus it can act as the index page for the tome." After opening it, Twilight showed Stellar how to access what was in the tome already, and then loaded what other books she'd already scanned for loading into the tome's memory matrix. "The hardware I managed to create for these tomes is really strong. Not even dragonfire can hurt one of these once everything's been completed and sealed tight. I even bet these could survive Celestia's wrath, if nothing else could." She grinned.

"Handy to know. Does it have any type of self-destruct?" Stellar asked.

"Yes. Basically, if anyone but you manages to get the tome open by breaking the lock, all the information in the tome will lock down and be inaccessible. If they manage to break the front cover, everything erases as the memory will self-destruct. All they'll end up with is a book full of blank pages and a few hard sheets of metal which are the dividers." She explained. "But the force needed to break the covers of my tomes... well, you'll probably destroy the entire tome before that happens." She explained proudly.

Stellar nodded, impressed. "Nice one, Twi. These will be good for that new Guard-group you've been thinking of starting."

"The Dusk Guard? Yeah, I was actually making the advanced versions of these for them. They've got every trick I could think of, that I tried out in this one and that worked." She told Stellar. "You might say this is the prototype Dusk Guard Tome."

"Okay, Twi, that's definitely impressive." Stellar said, smiling. "So why give it to me?" She asked.

"Because... it's not really suitable for a Dusk Guard tome, because a lot of the prefaces and beginning stuff they have aren't in this one." Twilight explained further. "Consequently, it suits someone like yourself better, because I can explain everything to you personally as we work with it, and you won't need to learn it from the tome itself. It also gives the tome a lot more room for storage because of that. Oh, and it's also loaded with translation programs, so if you load a book you find in the field into the tome and it's not in a language you know, the tome can translate it straight away, if it knows the language; or if it doesn't, it can work on translating the language even while it's closed or locked down."

"That's going to be handy." Stellar admitted. "Can I load languages I know into it as well?" She asked.

"Yes. You can interface with the control structure in this tome using your horn and download from yourself into it. It's one of the features I used to construct the original tomes, but that the production ones don't have." Twilight answered.

"Nice." Stellar commented as Twilight showed her the interface structure on it's page. Stellar downloaded all the languages she could remember into her tome, grateful that whoever was making her forget things hadn't taken information like languages, just her personal information. A lot of what she still remembered would be very helpful to her in this new world.

==================================

That evening in Canterlot Castle, Celestia was sitting with Luna as they ate dinner/breakfast, both of them deep in thought. "All I am saying is, does she need guidance?" Luna asked Celestia.

"I think she does." Celestia answered. "Not as much as Twilight did, that much is certain. Having Twilight's knowledge means most of what I could teach her is redundant, because she already knows all of that." Celestia looked at Luna. "But something was revealed to me when I touched her mind while I was recharging her."

"And that was?" Luna asked.

"Once I ignored Twilight's memories in her, what was left shows she was from a technologically advanced race, even if the race is a mystery. They have advanced electronics, the Internet information web, and fast world travel, amongst other markers." Celestia revealed. "But what was most telling is that she has a very well-trained military mindset and education. Even her new cutie mark reveals that."

"Military." Luna snorted. "Are you saying she could become a threat?" Luna asked sceptically.

"No, that's not what I am suggesting." Celestia denied. "But I do think her niche involves learning how we fight and how our military works." She looked at Luna. "You often said that the Wonderbolts would be far better off learning some of the training you received before your 'time-out'." Celestia used their agreed phrase for her millenium on the Moon, since it was a lot less accusatory than 'Banishment' or other normal phrases were. "Since Captain Spitfire does not seem to agree with that, see what Stellar wishes to learn. I am sure she is going to seek you out, Luna. All I'm saying is, that if she does, just... give it a try." Celestia urged gently. "You know the joy I have had working with Twilight. Maybe you'll find a kindred spirit in Stellar."

Luna bowed her head. "Very well, Tia. I will talk with her." She sighed. "But if she is a former member of the race you felt she could be..."

"We both know that that race... is unique. They can ascend to the purity of Elysia with consumate ease, or delve into the depths of Tarterus just as easily. No other race we have ever viewed throughout the infinite cosmos besides our own has that capability to fly so high, or sink so low." Celestia shuddered.

"Then why do this?" Luna asked.

"Because... Stellar is a Pony. Through and through. She is as much a pony as Twilight is. All we need to do is guide her into a niche where she can use the training she has, but as a pony." Celestia explained. "And... she wants this, Luna. She wants to be one of us, not just because she's found herself with no alternative, but because it feels right to her." Celestia smiled at Luna. "She has the discipline and the mindset... a mindset that is as yours was so long ago, before..." She sighed. "Before we fell out. Before I abandoned you in my..."

Luna moved to Celestia and hugged her. "You know I forgive you, Tia, as much as you've forgiven me." Luna looked up ay Celestia. "And I thank those who watch over us that I have managed, with Twilight's help, to forgive myself. "Maybe you should do the same."

Celestia looked sad. "But what if..?"

Luna put a hoof over Celestia's muzzle. "I did not say to forget, Tia. I will never forget what I did to you or to Equestria. I cannot afford to. But Forgiveness is not forgetting. It's acknowledging one has made mistakes, no matter how big, and that you wish to do better... No, allowing yourself to move on to do better in the future." Luna smiled at Celestia. "The one advantage in living as long as we shall, is that we have a lot of time to make up for the mistakes we make."

Celestia nodded, a single tear trickling down one white cheek. "I could never forgive myself if you hadn't, dearest sister. What I did to you was far worse than what Nightmare Moon tried to do to me." She nuzzled Luna lovingly. "But if you have truly forgiven yourself, then I shall endeavor to do the same for myself, too."

"That's all I ask, Tia." Luna affirmed to Celestia.

Celestia nodded. "So, will you take Stellar if she asks you to?"

Luna thought for a second. "I will, depending on what she asks."

Celestia nodded. "Then I will not ask again, Luna. There is no need to." She told her beautiful little sister, hugging her close.

Luna smiled. "Maybe one day, if those two learn well, we can take a vacation for a while and let them raise the Sun and Moon."

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, maybe this time Twilight won't use our celestial bodies to draw squiggly patterns in the heavens and give the stars anxiety attacks."

The sisters laughed with real delight and sighed happily, having one last snuggle before heading their separate ways for the night...

==================================

The next morning, Twilight took Stellar into Ponyville for the first time. "You should meet a lot more ponies, Sis. After all, they're my friends and they should get to meet you and become friends with you, too." She told Stellar.

"Sure, Twi. I like that idea." She agreed. "As long as it doesn't weird them out too much."

Twilight gave a shrug with her wings. "I guess only time will tell. At least Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will be spreading the word that you exist, especially after what Celestia did the night before last."

"Yeah, kind-of hard to cover that up." Stellar agreed as they trotted along. "Anyway, it's going to be good exercise, and I need to get more of that."

"Yes, as do I." Twilight admitted.

As they entered Ponyville, Stellar found that she liked the little village. It's quiet, homey air made her almost instantly feel welcome. She did notice a lot of ponies staring, some rubbing their eyes, as if to see whether they were seeing double, but soon they were gathering around, curiously looking but smiling at Stellar and Twilight. Stellar had actually put a bandanna on for the day, just until people got used to her and learned to tell them apart.

Then Pinkie Pie found them.

=== === === === === ===

Four hours later, Pinkie's welcome party had turned into a minor street festival, as more and more ponies joined in. The arrival of half the extended Apple Family with wagons full of food and three types of cider just extended the festivities, as Ponyville welcomed not one, but two alicorns into it's embrace. Even after she'd been separated from Twilight, Stellar found herself talking to a number of other ponies who felt familiar to her. She spent a good deal of time taking with Octavia and, through her, Vinyl Scratch, about music and other things, and had lunch with a pony called Time Turner, whom Stellar felt was known to her somehow, and his assistant Derpy Hooves, who Stellar learned was the post-pony for Ponyville.

She also felt something familiar from a unicorn known as Lyra Heartstrings, although the fact that Twilight had been friends with Lyra before she moved to Ponyville might've accounted for that. But Lyra was amazed to find that Twilight had a twin sister, and introduced Stellar to her marefriend, Bon Bon.

It took nearly an hour and three mugs full of non-alcoholic cider before Stellar had been introduced to all the Apple Clan. She was also stuffed full of the most delicious treats she could've found in all of Ponyville. Not even Spike's fish was quite as good. "Ahhh... Applejack, I must thank you for bringing everypony along." Stellar told her.

"No problem, Sugarcube." Applejack grinned as she sat by Stellar. "Pinkie's parties are famous as bein' tha best place ta get fed and drunk in tha best pah-sible taste. An' she wus waitin' on ya comin' ta town ta do her best... although, ya might be right in sayin' she went a teensy-bit overboard on this wun." Applejack rubbed the back of her neck, as the full band played from the steps of Ponyville's town hall while ponies danced, ate and drank their fills in the markets and eateries that had moved to the square for the occasion.

"Overboard? Why?" Pinkie then said, appearing at Stellar's elbow as if she'd teleported there. Applejack was amazed, though, as Stellar didn't jump or seem surprised by the Pink One.

"How many times has one of your parties involved the entire town, Pinkie?" Stellar asked.

Pinkie giggled. "A few." She replied. "But how many towns can say they have two alicorns making their home there?" She asked.

"Well... ya got a point there, Pinkie." Applejack had to admit. "Ah think tha only other wun is Canterlot."

"See? Now we're almost as important as Canterlot!" Pinkie said as she grinned.

"Indeed! It's only fitting that we get to celebrate our place in Equestria." A voice said, and they saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle walk out of the crowd towards them. "No other village in Equestria can boast what we have, considering Canterlot IS our capital, after all." Rarity gave a smug smile.

Stellar grinned. "Hello, Rarity. And hello to you, Sweetie Belle." Stellar said as she got up and came down to meet the teenage filly.

"He... hello, Your Highness." Sweetie Belle said nervously, but Stellar looked at her with a soft look.

"Sweetie Belle, have I been coronated, like Twilight was?" She asked.

Sweetie Belle looked confused. "Uh, no." She answered.

"Then it's not right to call me Princess, is it?" Stellar told her. "I haven't got the title yet, so please, just call me Stellar, okay?" She asked Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle's face brightened. "Sure, Stellar." She replied.

Rarity sighed. "And it took us such a long time to get Twilight to accept us calling her by her title, as is proper." She lamented. "Are we going to have to do the same with you, Stellar?"

"Not coronated yet, Rarity." Stellar reinforced.

"But..." Rarity began.

"IF it happens, Rarity, then we shall see." Stellar interrupted her. "Until that time, just Stellar is proper. I may be the sister of a princess, but I do not have a title beyond 'miss' yet."

Stellar put a wing around Sweetie Belle, who was thrilled, as Rarity subsided. "I guess you are correct, Stellar." She admitted with a great lack of enthusiasm. "I shall... restrain myself until you are coronated." She agreed.

"Good." Stellar smiled as she gave Sweetie Belle a tickle, getting a giggling filly under her wing. "Now, let's all enjoy Pinkie's party. Has anyone seen Twilight?"

"I did!" Said Pinkie. "She and Rainbow Dash were chugging it out again near Big Mac."

There were groans from the others. "Not again!" Applejack said.

"I take it this is a regular thing?" Stellar asked as they moved off as a group.

"Ee-yup. Dash don't understand that she can't beat Twilight at drinkin' any more." Applejack explained. "Twi's got tha stamina of a' earth pony now. An' that means she can almost keep up with me when drinkin'. But Dash keeps tryin' ta beat Twilight an' get her 'mojo' back." Applejack snorted.

Stellar chuckled. "I see." She said as they circled the stalls, to eventually find Big Mac standing by a wagon with three huge barrels on it, people getting mugs-full of wonderful-tasting cider, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash going at it hammer-and-tongs as Fluttershy looked on, muttering in a worried voice.

"Will you stop, Dash?" Fluttershy asked Dash as she downed another mug of cider.

"Not a chance, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash replied as she placed the tankard beside four others. Twilight finished hers, then put it beside four more. "I am gonna beat Twilight this time, for sure!"

Fluttershy sighed sadly as she found she was surrounded by friends. Applejack just gave her a hug. "Leave it be, Fluttershy. Ya know she's not gonna be happy until she's either drunk or beats Twilight, and it ain't gonna happen."

Fluttershy nodded and sat down. "I know. I just hate to see her hurting herself." She told Applejack.

"Then maybe I should break this up." Stellar said, as she walked forward and around to where Twilight was seated. "Twi, we're heading to Canterlot in the morning, remember?" She asked Twilight

"I know." Twilight answered, after finishing her sixth tankard.

"Remember the last time you got drunk?" Stellar reminded Twilight. "You ended up with me in your head."

Twilight nearly dropped the next tankard. "Oh... yeah." She said, a shudder going down her spine to her tail. She handed Stellar the tankard and got down. Stellar sniffed the hard cider and licked her lips, then downed it faster than Twilight had done. "No sense letting it go to waste." She said, more to herself than anypony else.

"Aww!" Rainbow Dash said. "Are you forfeiting, Twilight?" She asked, a triumphant grin on her face.

"Lay off, Dash." Stellar said, eyeing her. "We've got to go meet the 'rents tomorrow, and do YOU want to explain to Velvet why Twi is hung over?"

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash began, sobering up a little as she imagined the tongue-lashing Velvet might deliver. "Um, okay, I guess we can call this one a draw." She agreed.

"Smart move." Stellar replied with a grin, then moved to Twilight's side as they looked for something for Twilight to eat.

=== === === === === ===

Eight hours after walking into Ponyville, Stellar had eaten and drunk her fill three times over, danced and even sang with a large number of ponies, even Big Mac, and she would have sworn on a stack of tomes that she'd met every pony in Ponyville. The strange thing to her was that everyone was so familiar to her, thanks to Twilight's memories, but there were those here that seemed to be triggering other memories, ones NOT from Twilight's memories alone... and she had no idea why.

Later, as she bedded down for the night at the castle, Stellar was feeling far more confident in herself. She'd made more friends for herself that day than she could ever remember having... not that she had many memories to compare them to, but she found that didn't matter any longer. Her past would only help her in this new life she had, she wouldn't let it hinder her. And every hurdle she tackled would only make her stronger in her new self. She had faced being torn apart, being paralysed, being almost set ablaze by an almost-goddess, and now survived her first public appearance. She was thinking she could handle just about anything that this life could throw at her. But tomorrow was the biggest challenge of all: meeting the folks...

==================================

Canterlot was a very strange city, Stellar had concluded. It's construction seemed to defy some laws of physics, but here, that wasn't that unusual. Still, it was a fairly nice city to be in, although she understood there were areas where one did not go if one was looking to keep 'civilised' company. In other words, slum areas. She wondered how that worked, but she'd hardly seen anything of the city, really. Just parts of the castle, the view from the train and the very lovely train station. Now Stellar was enjoying a carriage ride from the station to the more upper-crust areas. Twilight and her memories had informed Stellar that Twilight's parents were minor nobles, even if having a member of the Family marry into Royalty had elevated their status only somewhat slightly. "So, not even Shiny marrying Cadance made the entrenched nobles around here give our family more than grudging or token respect?" Stellar asked Twilight.

"Mmm-hmm.." Twilight replied from the book she was reading.

"They sound very insular." Stellar commented.

Twilight snorted. "Try 'extremely' instead of 'very', and you get closer to the truth." Twilight corrected Stellar. "They are so set against anypony outside their 'circle of breeding' or 'noble bloodlines' even looking like they're considering themselves a tenth as good as they are, that they even objected to Celestia taking me as a student." She said.

"Yeah, I remember seeing that from your memories." Stellar admitted.

Twilight sighed. "Shiny marrying Cadance gave us credibility, not a better social standing, at least for Mom and Dad." Twilight explained. "I have no idea how they're going to react to you. Probably stick their noses in the air and look so far down at you, you'll think you're looking up at them from the bottom of Mount Canterhorn."

"So, par for the course, then." Stellar said back.

"Yeah, that's true." Twilight agreed as she looked up from her book. "I have written to Mom and Dad and explained what happened, as well as Shiny and Cadance, who should be here today as they were going to be, anyway." Twilight smiled.

Stellar smiled back. "I hope they don't freak out too much."

Twilight giggled. "Watch out for Shiny, though." She said, suddenly serious. "He's very protective of me, so you'll probably get the once-over from him."

"I kind-of got that from what you remember of him." Stellar replied. "At least I have a massive head-start in that respect. I know your/our family as well as you do."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah. That is a major advantage." She agreed.

"Hey, want to see if Cadance wants to do a three-way 'Sunshine' greeting?" Stellar said with a mischievous grin on her face.

Twilight actually laughed at that, closing her book. "Now THAT would be something to see!" She admitted, as the taxi-carriage pulled up outside what could be described as a 'modest' mansion, in this area of very large, over-self-important buildings.

Stellar paid off the two ponies that had pulled the carriage, tipping them well, to their delight, then she and Twilight walked up to the gates and through. "Wow! Nice gardens, I have to say." Stellar commented to Twilight.

"Yeah, they were so fun to run around, growing up." Twilight sighed with happy memories. "I didn't spend all my time with my muzzle buried in books, despite what others might tell you."

"Yeah, Shiny dragged your plot out of the library often enough to make sure you had a life." Stellar reminded Twilight, and they giggled.

"Yeah. I guess it's no wonder I always call him my B.B.B.F.F." Twilight said as they headed for the front door. "No sister could ever want for a better big brother, not even Applejack."

Stellar nodded. "Hopefully he'll realise he can be my B.B.B.F.F. as well." Stellar said.

Twilight had to agree. "So do I." She said as she pressed the doorbell. Normally she wouldn't have bothered, but having Stellar there just made it a bit more sensible.

The door was opened by the Sparkle family butler, Grey Stone. He blinked for a moment as he thought he was seeing double, but then he remembered that he literally was seeing two Twilights standing there, from what Master Night Light had told him to expect. "Miss Twilight." He said to the one carrying her saddlebags. "Miss..."

"Stellar Light, but, please, call me Stellar." Stellar answered him.

Grey Stone gave a curt nod. "Very well, Miss Stellar." He replied. "Your family is waiting in the center parlour." He told them as he made way for them to enter.

"Thank you, Stony." Twilight said as they walked past. Grey Stone then saw their cutie-marks and noted Stellar's much-different one, filing it for reference in his prodigious memory. He walked on past them, as the mares walked at a much slower rate to allow him to preceed them to the entrance to the parlour.

"Miss Twilight and Miss Stellar." Grey Stone announced them, as four others in the room rose to greet the newcomers. Grey Stone took Twilight's saddlebags as they entered.

Stellar barely stopped herself breaking up into giggles at the momentary looks of surprise and even slight shock on their faces as the Twins walked in together. They stood there with identical smiles on their faces, as Velvet, Night Light, Shining Armor and Cadance took them in.

Cadance was the first to move toward them. "Welcome..." She started to say, but both the Twins grinned and crouched down, their tails in the air in a very familiar position. Cadance broke into a grin, then crouched as well.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!"

"Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Cadance and the Twins all broke up into fits of laughter at their usual greeting, and it shattered the sheen of tension in the air like nothing else could. Stellar did step back and let Twilight hug Cadance first, but she was surprised when Cadance hugged her as well.

"As I was about to say, welcome to you both." Cadance continued. "So wonderful to see you again, Twilight, and welcome to you, Stellar."

"Thank you, Cadance." Stellar replied.

Shining Armor was taking all this in, as Cadance welcomed the newcomer. His sense of wrongness wasn't telling him anything apart from the fact there were two of his only sister in the room now. He scanned this 'Stellar' alicorn, but nothing unusual showed, apart from the fact that her cutie mark had a completely different feel to Twilight's... and he guessed that was to be expected. No two cutie-marks ever 'felt' the same. But something was bothering him, a feeling that just nagged at him and wouldn't stop. Then he saw their parents move towards the pair.

Velvet and Night Light's smiles had broadened and were much less strained than before. Somehow, the simple greeting that Twilight always gave to Cadance, seeing it done by both ponies that resembled their daughter, it just made everything just a little more... what they'd expected. "Yes. I will also say 'Welcome' to you, Stellar." Velvet said, as she and Night Light moved to greet them. "I must say, even with Twilight's warning, the resemblance is..."

"Confusing?" Stellar asked, gaving a soft smile.

"Frightening?" Said Shining Armor, as he came up to the others, no smile on his face.

Stellar looked him up and down. "Tell me, Shining Armor, do you know your sister?" She asked him.

Shining frowned. "I'd like to think so." He answered.

Stellar walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. He looked shocked and took a step back. "You... know that?"

Stellar smiled. "I know everything about Twilight." She told him. "And she knows everything about me, literally." Stellar explained. "There isn't a single thing about either of us we don't share.. well, up until we were split." She told them all. "Twilight and I are about as close as identical sisters can be, far more than even normal twins."

"Yes, B.B.B.F.F." Twilight agreed as she walked up beside Stellar and the pair nuzzled each other, Shining and the others seeing the deep affection and trust they had.

Shining was a little taken aback by this. He shook his head, and that feeling that had been running through him finally identified itself. It was an emotion he'd never felt before: jealousy... and it scared him.

Then both Twilight and Stellar moved to him and hugged him together. He felt them touch their horns to his, an extremely-intimate act, but the love he felt from both of them flowed through into him, and he shivered with emotion at the strength of it. "We both love you, Big-Brother-Best-Friend... Forever!" They emphatically stated in unison, and Shining actually felt a tear well up in his eye, for the jealousy he'd been feeling fled far away as their love suffused right through him.

They moved back from him and gave him a loving smile. "You're not losing your L.S.B.F.F., Shiny." Stellar told him.

"You're gaining a new L.S.B.F.F., who loves you as much as the old one." Twilight added.

Shining sniffled at that, then they heard Night Light chuckle. "Now THAT'S a Sparkle Family greeting!" He stated.

Velvet and Cadance tittered, then Twilight and Stellar broke up into giggles and hugged Shining Armor again, this time with him nuzzling them back.

Later, as they sat talking things over, Stellar sighed with happiness. There were no memories of her own family still existing in her mind, and to feel the Love of a Family as close as this one was, made her feel privelaged that she was part of it now. She'd found herself sitting between Night Light and Velvet Sparkle, with Twilight sitting opposite between Cadance and Shining Armor. There was still a part of her that told her that she and Twilight should be in each other's places, but Velvet had insisted that Stellar sit where she was, and Stellar just couldn't say No to the two ponies who had just welcomed her into her new family.

=== === === === === ===

After a wonderful lunch together, with lots of talk from Shining and Cadance about what was going on in the Crystal Empire and about Flurry Heart's new school, Stellar took a walk in the back gardens. They weren't as big as some she could see as she walked down the stairs to the main path, but somehow she felt that they were nothing to be ashamed of. She sniffed a rose, delighting in it's delicate scent, then nipped it off and chewed. She then understood why Twilight had a predeliction for munching on roses. The flavors reminded her of something from her own memories, something that hadn't been erased... Turkish Delight, a sweet confectionary, she remembered. The recipe fixed itself in her mind, just as the reference to whatever 'Turkish' was faded. Sighing, she figured it wasn't anything to do with turkeys, at least.

She was looking at a large pond that had fish swimming slowly in it, when she felt someone beside her. Looking to her left, she saw Night Light there, smiling down at the fish. "I was hoping to catch you alone." He said to her in a mellow voice.

Stellar smiled softly. "I hope that's a good thing." She replied.

Night Light chuckled. "Ah, memories." He said. "Twilight said, and I think you told Shining, that you have every memory Twilight had, up until you... separated?" He asked.

"Yes. The process that separated us also merged our memories." Stellar explained. "My own memories are heavily-edited to seemingly remove any reference to who or what I was, so Twilight's memories are far more complete."

Night Light nodded. "Almost as if we raised you together." He said.

"Well, save for the fact there weren't two of us being raised together. Our memories would still have been very different if that had been the case."

Night Light nodded as he smiled fondly. "You even talk like Twilight does, at times." He commented. Then he sighed. "Velvet and I had often wished we'd had more foals. Not that we lacked anything for having only two, Celestia knows Twilight was a surprise. After so long between births, we thought Shining Armor was going to be our only offspring. Then our little miracle showed up, and Velvet was... I guess you could say it renewed her." He shook his head with a smile. "Then Twilight was taken in as Celestia's personal student. Even thought she realised the incredible privelage Twilight had been given," He sighed sadly, "It almost broke Velvet's heart." He revealed.

Stellar nodded. "I can understand that." She replied.

To Stellar's surprise, Night Light moved closer and nuzzled her gently. "I'm no longer big enough to hug you like you were a filly, Stellar, but Velvet and I have agreed on one thing: If Twilight wants to treat you like her sister, and Shining Armor no longer objects, then we decided that we would also treat you like our daughter." He told Stellar. "No-one deserves to be alone, ever, so never think you're without Family. Not now, not ever."

Stellar's eyes welled up with tears. "You don't know what that means to me... Dad." She replied, hugging Night Light lovingly.

Night Light chuckled. "Now that sounds good... Dad. Yes, I like that." He said, grinning.

"Then I'll keep using it." Stellar said.

"I'd like that, too." Night Light agreed.

They walked along through the gardens, talking over things and it made Stellar feel... so much more comfortable with herself and who she now was. "The biggest problem I have now is finding where I fit into Equestrian society." Stellar told Night Light. "Twilight is an unmitigated nerd, even if she is incredibly powerful. For her, the study of magic in all it's many forms and extrapolations is perfect for her." She explained. "For me, I feel better actually learning something by doing it. I want to cast magic, to use it, to feel myself manipulate it and shape it. I want to fly, I want to learn how all the different pony-types fight, and do other things." Stellar shook herself, flicking her wings down then furling them. "I am a... warrior." She said the term that came to her. "Twilight's a mage, but I'm a warrior. I know there has to be schools of magic that evolved around fighting styles and other such things, because it makes sense. But I'm not sure where to start."

Night Light thought about this. He was an astronomer himself, but he knew a lot about things from researching the archives with a very young Twilight. Then a thought hit him. "Princess Luna." He said.

"Luna?" Stellar asked.

"Yes." Night Light said. "Before the Fall, Luna was renowned as a warrior-mage, even killing King Sombra, an enemy that not even Celestia could defeat." He told Stellar. "Perhaps she and you might find yourselves as kindred spirits in that regard. I am sure she knows battle-magics and fighting styles that have long since vanished from being used in the Guard or anywhere else."

Stellar thought this through. "That's... a very good idea." She admitted. "So, how will I go about seeing her?"

"Try the Night Court." Night Light answered. "I know she's never as busy there as Celestia is during the day. "But," Night Light cautioned Stellar, "do some research first. The Royal Archives is always a good place to look through."

Stellar nodded. "You got it, Dad." She said with a grin, which Night Light returned. "Since Twilight knows the Archives back-to-front, maybe this is another instance where her memories are going to be very helpful."

"I don't doubt it." Night Light agreed.

They walked on for a while before retuning to the main house. "You will be staying here for a few days, won't you?" Night Light asked Stellar.

"Maybe longer." Stellar replied. "Twilight has duties in Ponyville, but me? I don't have anything like that hanging over my head yet, so I can stay a while."

Night Light nodded. "We've added another bed to Twilight's refurbished room, so you two can share. I hope that wasn't pretentious of us..." He told Stellar.

Stellar giggled. "Not at all! I'd love to stay here while in Canterlot." She told Night Light.

"Good. We'll make sure you're as welcome here as we can make you." Night Light assured Stellar.

"Thanks, Dad. I'm sure that you and Mom are going to make me feel as welcome as Twilight has." She assured Night Light.

"And there you two are." Velvet said from the terrace as Stellar and Night Light climbed the stairs. "Come on inside. Dinner will be ready in half-an-hour."

Stellar decided to treat Velvet the same way she'd done Night Light. She moved to the older mare and hugged her close, nuzzling her lovingly. "Thanks, Mom." She replied, and the look on Velvet's face was reward enough.

Velvet sniffled slightly, the look of joy on her face not spoiled by the welling of tears in her eyes. "You're welcome, Stellar Dear." She replied, then hugged Stellar again.

Night Light watched this touching scene with a growing joy in his heart. While he knew that Stellar wouldn't be able to spend all her time with them, he felt that having two daughters now might just make the time they could spend together a little more than what they'd been able to spend with Twilight alone. And it made Velvet so happy when one of her children was home... even if it was one that she'd never truly borne from her. Stellar was just that close that it didn't matter.

As they headed inside, Night Light felt that, perhaps, things had just become a little more... right with their world.

==================================

03 - Empowerment

03: Assignment and First Combat

The next morning, Stellar slipped out of the Sparkle Mansion and headed for the City center. Something that stuck in her mind was 'you can get a better feel for a city on hoof than any other way'. This morning, that is what she'd do. She made sure to anchor a point in the room she and Twilight had shared that night as a teleport return point, just in case, and had some saddlebags of her own, with a bag-full of bits. "Time to familiarise myself with Canterlot." She said.

Most of the city was already known to her through Twilight's memories... but it wasn't the same. Stellar knew she'd have to see Canterlot for herself to really know the city. But Twilight's memories were a great place to start making her own impressions, so she followed some of Twilight's pre-Ponyville routine, such as visiting Donut Joe's for breakfast...

Joe looked up as Stellar walked in the front door. "Hey! Twilight! Haven't seen you in... Hey, when did you start wearing a bandanna?" He asked.

Stellar giggled as she approached the counter. "Sorry, Joe. I'm not Twilight." She answered.

"Huh?" Joe asked, looking confused.

"Okay, I know it's confusing." Stellar told him as she reached the counter. "I'm Twilight's twin sister. And yes, I know that she didn't have a sister, but she does now. Blame Magic." Stellar smiled at him. "Can I have two Jam-loadeds and a banana milkshake?" She then asked.

Joe blinked in surprise. "Uh, sure." Joe replied and started working. "So, if you're not Twilight, then what should I call you?"

"My name is Stellar Light Sparkle, just call me Stellar." Stellar answered as she grinned.

"H'okay!" Joe said, his grin coming back again. "So, what are you doing today?" He asked.

"Just out getting a feel for the city." Stellar said. "First time here, and Twilight's busy with Princess stuff." Stellar poked out her tongue.

Joe chuckled. "Yeah, That's got to take up a lot of time." He agreed, as he made her milkshake. "So, what are you gonna be doing while you're here? You gonna be a real big mage, like your sister?"

"Not sure yet." Stellar admitted as she took out a hoof-full of bits. "I'm already an Alicorn, so I don't have to worry about that as a goal." Stellar thought for a bit. "I'm pretty good in a scrap. Maybe I'll join the Guards or something like that."

"Not a bad career." Joe admitted as he put Stellar's order up for her and took her bits. "Your brother did well there, even got to marry a Princess out of it." He grinned. “Still, you should keep your options open. As you said, you’re already an alicorn, so maybe you’ve got better options than the average pony.”

Stellar nodded. “Something to think about, for sure.” She said as she levitated her breakfast up and then smiled at Joe. “Thanks, Joe!”

“Anytime, Stellar!” Joe replied with a grin.

Stellar headed for a table and sat, noticing a copy of the Canterlot Times sitting there. She opened the paper and started reading, as a flash of memory showed her an electronic device called a ‘tablet’ computer in the paper’s place, showing the columns of text and pictures on it’s screen, rather than printed. The image, for a brief moment, showed a shadow of something reflected on it’s surface, but the memory faded before Stellar could identify it. Sighing, she returned to reading and eating.

==================================

Stellar wandered for a while after leaving Donut Joe’s, not following any true planned path, just seeing the city and renewing Twilight’s memories into her own mind. Twilight’s memories were somewhat fragmented in some ways, since she’d often walk about with her head in a book and not noticing her surroundings as much as she might. She passed by Celestia’s school for Talented Unicorns, smiling at the foals there. Although she knew that Celestia’s school had already produced the protégé that Celestia had been desperate for, she’d kept it as a going concern which benefitted a lot of under-privileged foals who’s parents might not have been able to afford such a good education for their children otherwise. Twilight’s memories of the school were very short, since she never actually attended the school, having been taken her first day by Celestia herself for special tutoring. Stellar watched the foals playing in the courtyard, sighing. Something in her ached that she, even though she was a pony through and through, would never get to experience growing up as one, save vicariously through Twilight’s memories... and hers wasn’t a usual foal-hood by any means.

She made her way back to the Palace compound, the guards just coming to attention as she passed them. Stellar smiled. They probably still thought she was Twilight. She headed for where Twilight’s memories told her the Royal Archives were located. She had a tome to start filling and a career to research.

==================================

Open Words looked up from the counter at the entrance to the Archives, to see a sight he hadn't seen for a while: an alicorn entering the building. He knew who she looked like, of course. Twilight Sparkle was well-known to the staff there, and as assistant Head Archivist, he knew her from long talks and hours spent researching, when both he and she were a lot younger. So seeing Twilight with an out-of-place and out-of-character bandanna around her shapely neck gave him pause to think. He moved out from around the counter and intercepted her in a gentle manner. "Can I help you, Miss?" He asked.

Stellar looked at the unicorn pony before her and grinned. "I know you! You're Open Words." Stellar stated.

Open Words chuckled and nodded. "Indeed, I am." He confirmed. "You have me at a disadvantage, since you know me, but I don't know you."

Stellar smiled. "You know Twilight well, I know." She said to him.

Open Words frowned. "It seems you know the Princess well, too, I take it?" He inquired.

"Better than anyone else." Stellar replied.

"Well, you certainly look like her." Open Words stated. "I take it that that's not an accident?"

"Actually, it's one big accident." Stellar told Open Words. "I'm Twilight's twin sister, Stellar Light Sparkle."

"Twin... sister?" Open words asked, confused.

"Yep." Stellar confirmed this time. As Open Words opened his mouth to ask further, Stellar added "Blame Magic."

Open Words sighed. "Ah. I see." He said.

"Yeah. It's... complicated." Stellar told him. "But in the end of everything, I know everything Twilight does... but I have to experience things for myself before they become part of my memories and not just hers... save for her learned knowledge." She explained. "So, I've come here to research into some topics I have an interest and some experience in, but she didn't."

That Open Words could deal with. "Very well... Um?"

"Just Stellar." Stellar replied. "I don't have a title or crown yet, so just call me Stellar."

Open Words smiled. "Very well, Stellar. What subjects are you interested in?" He asked her.

"Combat." Stellar replied. "Both physical or magical. Twilight knows some offensive spells, but I want to learn everything I can, since my background seems to be military in nature. I figure a career in the military or a related field is something I have experience with and can sink my teeth into, figuratively speaking."

Open Words frowned, but nodded. "That sort-of knowledge is usually restricted to someone already in service with either the Guard or the Mages Guild... But since you could just have Twilight give you open access with a word in her ear, I guess that giving you the same access as she has is saving us both time and trouble." He told Stellar.

Stellar grinned. "Thanks, Open Words." She replied. "So, where to start?"

"I'll get you a list of books that you'll probably need." Open Words said with a grin.

"Don't leave out the esoteric stuff, either." Stellar said. "I know every language Twilight does and quite a few others."

"Duly noted." Open Words replied with a smile.

=== === === === === ===

Three hours later, Stellar was at a large table, her tome out, with her having copied several trolley-loads of books into it. Open Words watched her for a time, wondering why she placed the books on top of her bigger book, the gem on the cover glowing for a few minutes with each book, but he shrugged. It was magic, that was easy to discern, and it wasn't damaging the books, so that wasn't a concern, either. She seemed to look casually through the books, then use her tome on them, then return them via the panel without reading them at all.

"Curiouser and curiouser..." Open Words said as Stellar went on. He moved over to her and asked "Pardon me but, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

Stellar looked up from the book she was perusing through, her telekinesis being quite gentle now as she handled the much-older book. "What do you mean?" She asked back.

Open Words gently tapped her tome. "With this." He clarified.

"Oh, the Tome." Stellar said as things became clear. "Twilight made this." She began to explain. "Basically, by placing a book on top of my tome and saying 'Load', it copies the entire book down into itself as a memory file. That way I have a copy of them I can access anytime I choose to, without needing to come back here again." She told Open Words.

Open Words frowned. "Hmm... a nice idea, but some of the books you've copied are very sensitive. I might not be able to allow you to leave with this."

Stellar chuckled. "Don't worry. There's only two ponies that can open this tome: Myself and Twilight." She went on. "It has just about every security measure Twilight could come up with and a few I suggested, including a self-destruct if the covers are breached."

Open words blinked as he took that in, then nodded. "I should have known, if Twilight put these together." He looked at the tome again. "Mages are always so security-conscious about their spells and information." He thought about this for a moment. "What if someone was using a scrying spell to look over your shoulder while the tome was open?" He asked.

"Even if they were physically looking over my shoulder, what they'd see is text written in another script entirely, not Equish." Stellar explained. She put the book she was holding down and put her hoof on the lock. "Unlock." She said clearly and the lock fell open. Stellar opened the tome and Open Words looked at the first page with her.

He saw the opening page was a hard page that was blank at first, then glowing letters flowed over it. But as he looked close, he realised the script was like none he'd ever seen before. The letters were easily read, but he couldn't translate the language at all or even recognise any of the letters. "You're right. I know almost every modern language on Equestria, but this is something I have never seen before. They don't even really look like letters, but small pictograms made of lines: quite pretty but indecipherable."

Stellar grinned. "That's because the language has three distinct alphabets, as well as some very convoluted grammar." She explained. "Plus there's four other languages I've used to secure several other sections. The most powerful books, like the tomes you got me from the 'Forbidden' section; thanks for that, by the way. The magic in those is going to be incredible once I master it."

"You're welcome." Open Words smiled. "I will tell you, I checked with Princess Celestia before I brought those out. She vouched for you and told me to grant you access, so your plot and mine are covered." He grinned.

"Whoo! Excellent!" Stellar said, grinning as wide as she could. "Official sanction. You have to love it."

"Indeed." Open Words chuckled. "Nothing better for learning things, especially secret things."

"I wonder what my security clearance is here?" Stellar asked as she brought up another section, the language on the page changing even more radically.

Open Words frowned as he saw the script. "This one... I swear it's a cursive script that flows together."

"Very good." Stellar smiled. "This is the script that secures the first portal to the secure section. There's three other gateways you have to go through to reach the really powerful stuff, each one another language and script." She explained. "None of them are from this world."

Open words nodded, impressed. "I see. That's some security you have here." He stated. "I don't think even our security is this convoluted, even if it's more magical." He looked at Stellar. "I don't have to be a mage to realise you understand all these, of course."

Stellar grinned. "As does Twilight." She confirmed. "I made sure of that before I set these in place."

Open Words nodded. "I see you've got your sister's love of thoroughness as well as her knowledge." He commented, smiling.

"Oh yeah." Stellar agreed. "I think it was no coincidence we ended up sharing her body for a while. We're a lot alike in many ways, yet very different in others."

"Is that what happened?" Open Words asked as Stellar settled another book on her tome and started it copying again.

"Pretty much. We got separated, I got a new body out of it and now I'm Twilight's twin sister, to keep it short." She explained. "I also got all of her memories and she got mine, so we're that close it's not funny."

"Wow. Hay of a way to enter the world." Open Words stated off-handedly. "So, do you remember where you came from?"

"Not a clue." Stellar said as she switched books. "All my memories were heavily-edited so I can't remember what I looked like or anypony else from my past."

"Ouch. Tough break." Open Words commiserated.

"Yeah... but I still think I came out on top here." Stellar said with a grin in Open Words direction.

Open Words chuckled. "Glad to see you think that way." He said.

"Hey, I have a new body that's probably a lot younger than the one I had; a new family that's absolutely super, and a society where I have yet to meet someone who isn't happy." Stellar said.

Open Words sighed. "Unfortunately, there are those ponies, especially here in Canterlot of all places, who aren't bundles of joy like they are in Ponyville." He shrugged. "Their loss, I guess."

Stellar nodded. "Yeah. Some ponies don't know when they have it good." She snorted. She finished the last book on the trolleys and stood up. "So, any chance of getting down into the Forbidden Section?" She asked.

Open Words nodded. "I think we can let you in there, considering your credentials." He answered as Stellar picked up her tome after locking it and slid it into her bags.

"Oh yeah!" Stellar stated enthusiastically and followed Open Words down through the Archives and into the heavily-guarded Forbidden Section.

"Remember, don't even try to take any of the books out of here, besides your own tome." Open Words briefed Stellar on the rules. "And be very careful. Some of the books down here haven't been moved in perhaps centuries."

Stellar nodded. "I promise I'll be on my best behavior." She promised to Open Words.

"Pinkie Promise?" He asked, grinning cheekily.

"If you want me to." Stellar said back, also grinning cheekily.

Open Words laughed for real this time. "No, no. I think I can trust you." He replied. "Just pull the tassel beside the door and someone will let you out." He said, smiling.

"I won't forget." Stellar agreed, then gave Open Words a hug.

Surprised, Open Words still managed to hug back. "Oh yes, you are a Ponyville Pony for sure." He stated as Stellar moved back.

"Through and through." Stellar agreed. "And proud of it."

Open Words nodded. "I will see you again before you leave. Have fun."

Stellar nodded. "Bye for now." She answered, then she moved to a table and set up as Open Words left.

=== === === === === ===

After another two hours searching, Stellar came across a very old manuscript written in what she recognised as Equussese, the language of the ancient Equus Empire. She carefully copied it, then opened her tome and started reading the translated version her tome now held. Muttering to herself, she found the content to be fascinating. "Warriors of the Light..." Stellar said to herself. "How very interesting... I wonder if there's any more to this in here?"

==================================

Twilight was sitting with Celestia in one of the Palace sitting rooms at Lunchtime. They were discussing... Stellar.

Twilight sighed. "I'm not sure what to do with her, honestly, Celestia." She said. "I mean, everypony's going to mistake her for me at first... and that alone is going to cause trouble."

Celestia sipped her tea daintily. "Of course it will, Twilight. That's only natural." Celestia replied. "Is she making an effort to make herself look different?"

Twilight sighed. "Well, yes, she is. She's taken to wearing a bandanna around her neck... but I'm worried it's not enough."

Celestia put her cup down. "Try to eat something, my dear. An empty stomach makes you worry more efficiently." Celestia reminded Twilight.

Twilight picked up one of the watercress and daisy sandwiches and nibbled at it, sighing lovingly at the soft flavors. These and Celestia's enormous range of teas helped calm her nervous stomach. "Thank you, Celestia." Twilight said as her mood mellowed.

"You are always welcome, Twilight, don't forget that." Celestia told her. "I will always be here to give you advice... well, unless Discord or someone else tries to separate us again." She grinned.

Twilight actually giggled. "Well, I think we'll have less to worry about with Discord, at least. He seems to be making a true effort to behave himself."

"Yes, I know." Celestia agreed. "Frankly, it is a relief. One less major thing to worry about, at least here on Equestria." She then sighed. "I just hope he's behaving himself in other realities as well."

Twilight wondered what Celestia meant by that, but put it aside. "So, about Stellar..."

"I have given it some thought, Twilight." Celestia interrupted Twilight gently. "I do believe she will come to me for advice as well, apart from that she has already received. I will tell her what I am telling you now: that I feel she would be a very good student for Luna."

"Luna?" Twilight asked, a little confused.

Celestia nodded. "Yes. Despite what you might think, they are very close in temperament and in their way of thinking. Plus I think it will also help some of Luna's continuing issues to have her as a student and a possible companion, in the same vein as you and I." Celestia explained to Twilight. "And with her being your twin and an alicorn in her own right, it's not as if Luna is taking on a lesser pony for her student. And Stellar will be able to keep up with Luna's more... 'hands-on' approach." Celestia grinned. "I think the two will make a good match.

Twilight just nodded. "I.. well, I have to agree with your logic, Celestia." She replied. "But what about the issue of her being identified as me?"

"When things are ready, I am thinking that we shall make an announcement before the Day Court, and to all of Equestria after that. We shall formally introduce Stellar before the Nobles and others here in Canterlot, since everypony in Ponyville know you two apart already. The Royal Canterlot Gossip and a few announcements in other cities and their newspapers will spread it from there."

Twilight giggled. "I still remember the day you named the grapevine of gossip that, Celestia. The looks on the faces of the Nobles at first. They thought it might be you telling them to quit... then they realised you'd just given it your royal sanction, which made them at least try to keep it accurate."

Celestia grinned as wide as Twilight had. "Indeed, my beloved student." Celestia replied. "It's also given me free reign to insert my own little snippets here and there through various sources. All the better to control what is being said and spread." Celestia giggled. "I'd even thought about starting a newspaper with that as the title."

Twilight giggled back. "Now THAT would have been something.' She agreed and nodded. "Yeah. I should have known then that you're always keeping tabs on things, no matter what the Nobles think."

Celestia looked smug. "The best way to control gossip is to start it, then add as direction is needed." She reminded Twilight. "It's all part of your political training, Twilight. A monarchy that is not controlled by fear is hard to keep together, especially as long as my reign has been. So one must develop other ways to do so without being overt or obvious."

Twilight snorted. "Marechiavelli would disagree, but this is not her time. Her methods are designed to stifle growth and maintain the status quo, as well as reinforce the power back into the Monarchy." She shook her head as Celestia looked on, silently encouraging Twilight to continue. "I know, of course, of your plans to eventually institute a Parliament of the Ponies as your advisory board and ministerial staff... if the Nobles weren't so stubborn and controlling, you'd have done it long ago."

"Yes." Celestia sighed sadly. "But we will work at it as best we can, until the day is ready for Equestria to become a Parliamentary Diarchy, not as we have it now. Then I shall be able to relax and work for the advancement of our ponies to where we should really be by now."

Twilight nodded. "It's such a hard balancing act sometimes, isn't it, Celestia?" She asked.

Celestia smiled down at Twilight. She was becoming so astute now, it pleased Celestia greatly. "Yes, it always is." She said. "To give up control to my little ponies is to risk them crashing the system I have set up after so long, and to keep too much control is to risk stagnating the system. So we all walk the fine tightrope of politics until things truly get better."

"Have they?" Twilight asked Celestia. "Have they ever gotten better?"

"Oh yes." Celestia grinned. "Many, many things are far better now than they were even a hundred years ago." She leaned down and nuzzled Twilight. "The two best changes were getting Luna back, and having you come into my life, Twilight. Both of you make my life so much more complete and much less lonely."

Twilight nuzzled back. "I am so lucky." She told Celestia. "How many other ponies can say they had the two best mothers in the world?"

Celestia's heart and mood blossomed again with joy as Twilight called her her mother. She hugged Twilight to her. "And I couldn't want for a better daughter, even if she were truly my own blood."

Twilight hugged Celestia back. It had taken her a long time and the right moment to reveal how she truly felt about Celestia... and she was so glad she had done so. Funnily enough, Stellar had given her the courage to tell Celestia how she felt. Her sister had told her about her perceptions at the first time she'd met Celestia, and it had only confirmed what Twilight herself had been feeling. Celestia had not trained a student, she had raised a surrogate daughter in Twilight... and Twilight couldn't be more happy or grateful.

==================================

Stellar was pursuing a mystery. The reference she'd found of the 'Warriors of the Light' had led her deep into the dustiest parts of the Royal Archives' Forbidden Section... or they would have been dusty if the staff hadn't been so efficient, she thought to herself.

She'd found several references in other very old manuscripts, but no real explanation beyond what she'd found in the first tome she'd discovered. Now she was going back so far that the manuscripts weren't in books or pages, but old scrolls, both metal and parchment. "At least the language in these I can still recognise." Stellar said to herself as she copied a scroll into her tome. "Some of the others... I swear there's some here that are about five or six thousand years old."

It took another four hours, but then Stellar found a box shoved under a shelf had chiselled into it an inscription in Equussese. "Kel thu madli toshen thu ekri sol jukba thu Pahl ahd Dhen voksil til beshro. Hmm..." Stellar read the inscription out loud. "The tale of the... um... the rise of the Light-filled Fighters... no, that's too literal... the Warriors of the Light and their fall..." Stellar's eyes grew wide with delight. "Damn! How the hay did this end up tucked away under a shelf?" She asked as she took the box carefully to the bench she was working at.

Opening the box revealed a scroll made of a metal that defied Stellar's classification... until she touched it. Her inner magic sense caused her to recognise it. "This is... platinum." She stated. "Celestia above me... about fifty floors above me, come to think of it." She giggled. "This would be worth a fortune... um, somewhere." She sighed as another memory vanished. "Got to get this editing program out of my head somehow." She said to herself. She placed the scroll on top of her tome and allowed the tome to scan it. "I wonder if there are any more?" Stellar asked herself as she returned to digging.

Eventually Stellar had sixteen boxes on the bench, all with the same platinum scrolls inside them. "Looks like somepony wanted to preserve the knowledge of these warriors for posterity... or maybe for future need." She said out-loud. "Still, if I'm right, there's some fantastic new magic in here that may not have been seen in... well an age or more." She grinned, then bounced around for a little bit, squee'ing like a filly. Then she stopped and chuckled self-consciously. "I have to... no, I don't have to stop doing that, but I have to keep it for the right moments." She told herself. "But sure as eggs aren't round, this is one of them."

Before she left the Forbidden Section, Stellar brought the scroll-cases up to the preservers' benches and left them there with a note. "I don't know if they need preservation, not being made out of platinum, but they definitely need to be properly categorised and put where they should be." Stellar said. "Maybe I should sic Twilight onto them. She loves sorting books, she could re-do this entire section properly." She pulled the tassel, and after two minutes, Open Words appeared as the door opened.

He smiled at Stellar. "So, find anything interesting?" He asked Stellar.

"Maybe." Stellar answered. "I have to go through it, but I've at least got a lot to study." She grinned. "Oh, there's seventeen scrolls there that need to be checked over and classified. I don't think you'll need to preserve them, though."

"Oh? How come?" Open Words asked.

"They're inscribed on scrolls of platinum." Stellar explained.

"Platinum?" Open Words looked shocked. "That's... such a rare metal, I'd never thought anyone would use it for scrolls."

Stellar nodded. "They obviously didn't want the information lost." She said. "Platinum would last for eons... unless someone greedy melted them down."

Open Words nodded. "Indeed." He agreed. "Thanks for finding them, Stellar."

"No problem." Stellar grinned back at him. 'Oh, and if you guys don't tidy up in here, I'm sending Twilight down to do it for you."

Open Words looked aghast... and a little frightened. "No! Not the super-book-sorter of Ponyville!" He said, then laughed, Stellar giggling with him. "In all honesty, that might not be a bad idea... the problem would be getting her out of here again inside a month." Open Words said.

Stellar gave him an evil grin. "Just remember... you've been warned."

Open Words nodded and smiled. "Duly noted." He replied.

"And thanks for all your help, too." Stellar added.

"Anytime, Stellar." Open Words said with a warm smile.

The pair chatted on until Stellar left the Archive. The sun had set a while ago, but Stellar's eyes could see in the lovely moonlight almost as well as a thestral could. She made her way back to the Sparkle mansion, feeling satisfied with herself.

==================================

Velvet looked up as Stellar entered the sitting room. She could tell her newest daughter had just showered and groomed herself, after spending the entire day outside. "Welcome home, Stellar Dear." She said with a soft smile.

"Thanks, Mom." Stellar replied as she sat near her now-mother. "And thanks again for taking me in the way you did."

"And why wouldn't I?" Velvet asked.

"Y'know... I'm not exactly... well, I didn't exactly become part of this family in the usual ways, did I?" Stellar reminded Velvet.

Velvet actually chuckled. "My dear Stellar, it does not matter to me how you came here or who you were before... not that you can remember, either." She pointed out. "My Twilight has vouched for you, Cadance likes you, and even Shining Armor thinks you and Twilight together are a menace to society." She grinned. "Which means he likes you, too."

Stellar smiled warmly. "I am glad of that." She told Velvet. "But are you sure...?"

Velvet hushed Stellar. "You are a Sparkle, that is for certain. If you had not been meant to be one, when your cutie mark changed, it would have vanished. I am totally certain of that." She stated to Stellar. "You may have to find your place in this family, but it is now YOUR family, no ifs or buts." Velvet got up and walked across to Stellar, who also got to her hoofs. "I want to welcome you formally to our Family, Stellar Light Sparkle. I am glad you are a daughter of this house... I am so much happier that you consider yourself to be a daughter of mine."

Stellar blushed, but her face showed her happiness. "Thank you, Mother." She said, and hugged Velvet to her.

Velvet nuzzled Stellar lovingly. "Now, sit. You have a lot to tell me about your first day in Canterlot..."

==================================

The morning dawned brilliant and clear in the skies above Canterlot. Stellar stood up on the balcony of her room in the Sparkle mansion and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Rain overnight had washed the city and the air clean and it smelled better than any other city she could remember... not that she could remember many. Mostly vague impressions and faint memories of tall buildings and bustling crowds that made even Canterlot look like a deserted backwater. Stellar shook her head and opened her wings, ruffling the feathers. She'd spent a half-an-hour preening them that morning, because today she was going to fly for the first time.

As she headed down to exit the mansion out into the gardens, Stellar was glad she'd only had a light breakfast. The 'Wonderbolt' meal routine, the small pamphlet Rainbow Dash had given her had said about the food it recommended to eat. Seeing the Wonderbolts were some of the fittest ponies she'd seen, she felt it had to have some effect. She made her way out to a section of the gardens that was an open lawn, and began the warm-up exercises Twilight's memories of her own flight training had taught Stellar.

Stellar sighed. She also knew the problems Twilight had when she'd been learning to fly, and she was determined to avoid them. She didn't want to do a faceplant into the ground, no way. "Okay. Flying for Pegasi involves using their innate magic. So I have to find that inside myself." She said to herself as she spread her rather-impressive wings. "Not as big as Celestia's, but she's a lot bigger than I am." She did remember a... video on how birds flew, how their wings worked, but Stellar wasn't sure if that applied. "Still, I do have feathered wings, not like a bat-pony, so maybe the principles are somewhat similar." She felt the flow of mana through her much more clearly than she could her blood flowing through her veins, as if ponies naturally had a sense for such. She felt it spread out through her body and she channeled it into her wings, feeling the whole of them come alive with magic.

"Okay, baby steps, as Fluttershy would say." Stellar told herself. She stretched her wings out, then settled them as she and Twilight remembered from the basic flight lessons Twilight had received. Somehow, she felt herself getting lighter, and with a small flap, she lifted slightly off the ground and slowly sank back down. "Incredible!" Stellar said. "I'd swear that was gravity manipulation. Maybe that's an innate part of pegasi magic." She tried it again, this time with a big sweep, and she lifted off a few feet this time. A little flutter of her wing-tips was enough to slow her descent to a very soft landing. "Okay, definitely some kind of gravity control here." Stellar said as she lifted off slowly, coming to a gentle hover and refining her control. She managed to get herself to spin in place slowly in both directions before settling back down. "Wow, the outer wing-feathers offer a lot of control." Stellar told herself.

"Hmmm... maybe if I get to the edge of Canterlot, I might be able to glide down for a while. I can always teleport back up again." Stellar thought out-loud, then looked up with a grin. "Time to Blink." She said, her horn lighting up and she vanished.

Stellar found herself a little higher than she'd thought, about four thousand feet, she estimated, but it was clear air and as she fell, she opened her wings and started to glide. "Oh yeah! This is good." She said to herself. She saw pegasi below her flying about over the city but ignored them mostly, concentrating on keeping herself flying along, heading downwards only slightly to keep her speed up. She practiced turning or 'banking' as it was known, feeling how her long tail worked as a rudder as well. Then, when she was confident, she tried a few flaps of her wings.

"Not good!" Stellar yelled as she nearly stalled, but she got back to level flight easily enough. "Okay, what went wrong?" She asked. "I must have had my wings at the wrong pitch." She closed her eyes and tried to feel the wind. Then, before she could think, she swept her wings forward and dragged a mass of air behind her with them, thrusting her upwards. Stellar grinned as she did it again and again, then opened her eyes.

She was gaining altitude now, she noticed, and past the edge of Canterlot's mountain spur. She found it was like walking, in a way. She thought about where she wanted to go, and her autopilot made the motions with her wings. She flapped harder as she thought about gaining height, and she headed upwards. She rolled over and dived, laughing as she swept and climbed on sheer momentum, then came to a hover. Stellar saw she was miles from Canterlot now, and she could see a huge amount of Equestria laid out before her. Ponyville was clearly visible in the distance to the south and, as she slowly spun in place, a flash of light to the far north was probably the Crystal Tower of the Crystal Empire, if she judged the distances properly. She was also amazed at how well her vision was. She could see details far more clearly than she'd ever felt possible. "Damn! I do love being an alicorn!" Stellar almost shouted. She let herself drop into a glide then and headed for Canterlot once more.

By the time she got over the city, Stellar was feeling tired, but she was determined to make it back home on the wing, and not have to walk back. "Not going to be like Twi." She said to herself. "I love to fly and I'm going to do so as much as I can!" She fell into line behind a string of pegasi heading into Canterlot and followed them, figuring there was probably some kind-of taught traffic control in use over the city. Eventually she saw the Sparkle mansion, and Velvet and Night Light were outside on the terrace. Stellar was amazed that she could almost see what they were eating from this height.

She banked around the estate, lining up on the lawn again, but with the fish pool to the back of it. As she lined up, she slowly shed speed as she descended, but too late realised she was going too fast. She flared her wings too early as she panicked a little, and dropped like a stone towards the lawn. "This is gonna hurt!" She said to herself as she pulled up and skimmed the lawn. Instead of ploughing into the ground, she curled herself up in a ball, tucking her horn into her belly and, wrapping her legs and wings around herself, she rolled across the lawn like a lawn bowl, hitting the edge of the pond and splashing down into the middle of it, startling the fish.

Stellar found the pond was a fair bit deeper than she'd thought it was, and had to swim to the surface. To her chagrin, she found Twilight standing there with Velvet and Night Light as well. Their parents looked worried, but Twilight had a smug grin on her face. " 'Morning." Stellar said as she swam to the side of the pool.

Twilight chuckled as Velvet asked "Are you all right, Stellar dear?"

"The only thing that is hurting right now is my pride." Stellar answered as she powered up her horn and lifted herself out of the water.

"So... you felt a water landing might have been easier than touching down on the lawn?" Twilight asked.

Stellar grinned as her hoofs settled on the soft grass. "Better a splashdown than ploughing up the lawn, Twi." Stellar said, reminding Twilight of one of her first rough landings.

Twilight snorted as Velvet and Night Light chuckled. But then Twilight smiled. "True, very true." She said "At least you won't have to fill in a hole. And you were looking good there!" Twilight complimented Stellar. "Was that your first flight?" She asked.

Stellar nodded as she shook her wings out and held them stretched out to dry. "Yeah, but I cheated a little." She said.

"Oh? How so?" Night Light asked.

"I Blinked myself up to about four thousand feet and started gliding, rather than trying to get up there normally. That way I wasn't tired out by the time I got enough air under me to start figuring out how to fly properly." Stellar explained, as Grey Stone brought her some towels.

"Oh, so that's what you meant by cheating." Twilight said. "Damn. I wish I'd thought of that."

Stellar chuckled. "Well, I didn't have Rainbow Dash on my back, urging me to 'flap really hard!' all the time." Stellar replied, getting giggles from all three mares and a chuckle from Night Light. Stellar was surprised to see Grey Stone with a slight smile on his face, too. "Thank you, Grey Stone." Stellar said to him. He gave a short bow to Stellar, then stood still as a statue as Stellar dried herself off.

"Want to go up again? I could come with you this time." Twilight asked.

"Thanks, Twi, but I think I'll leave it until after Lunch." Stellar answered her as she dried her ears and horn off.

"Fair enough." Twilight responded, and all five of them headed back for the house.

=== === === === === ===

"Twi, I've been thinking." Stellar said as they cruised along at about two thousand feet, slowly circling Canterlot on the updraft caused by Mount Canterhorn.

"That's good." Twilight replied. They were using a short-range communication spell Twilight, and therefore Stellar, knew. "Decide anything?"

"I've decided I don't know enough magic, and I need a tutor. Not you, Sis, sorry." Stellar added.

Twilight chuckled. "That's okay, I have Starlight to worry about." She reminded Stellar.

Stellar smiled as they banked to come around. "I was trying to think of who might know someone, or could even introduce me to someone who could help me learn more combat magic." She explained. "I'm not asking you because I know it's not your forte or field."

"Very true." Twilight agreed. "Maybe you could go and ask Celestia." Twilight suggested, remembering what she and Celestia had discussed the day before. "She knows every mage and warrior in Canterlot and most of the major cities in Equestria, and she is the head of the Mages Council and the Guild as well."

Stellar considered that as they levelled out again. "Yeah. That sounds like a plan, Twilight." Stellar replied with a grin. "Maybe I'll slip in after Day Court and talk to her then."

"Yep. Sounds like a plan to me." Twilight agreed. "Now, do you think you can go in without ploughing the lawn or taking a dip this time, Sis?" She asked.

"Only one way to find out, Sis." Stellar replied, and they circled around, heading for home.

=== === === === === ===

Eventually Stellar did master landing properly, with Twilight so pleased with her for it, she paid for Stellar's meal at a good eatery she knew intimately. The pair caused a little stir when they walked in together, but the owners there knew Twilight through long patronage, and were delighted to welcome Stellar after the situation had been explained.

Later that afternoon, however, Stellar approached the Palace alone. Twilight had told Stellar that Celestia might be more willing for a long talk if she came by herself, showing she wasn't depending on Twilight to open doors for her. "After all, Sis, you're an alicorn in your own right. You don't need me leading you around like you were a filly." She'd said to Stellar, and Stellar couldn't agree more. She knew there were times, like learning to fly properly, when she needed Twilight as example and encouragement, but there were times she had to stand alone and show everypony she was her own mare.

As she made her way through the departing attendees, she noted the Blueblood Family moving out from the Audience Room, their noses in the air, as usual. Something about them made her blood chill, but Stellar wasn't sure why. It wasn't them to look at, per se, they were hardly that different from any other unicorns. No, this was something else, a feeling of foreboding that had her combat instincts on-edge. But once they were past, she simply filed the feeling for future reference and continued walking in.

To her surprise, the guards directed her not into the main chamber, but around it, and a servant led her, with a warm welcome and a big smile, around to one of the private chambers. "I guess this is what Twi meant about 'being an alicorn in my own right'. I guess it does open doors." Stellar said as she made herself comfortable. The serving mares brought her tea and a small plate of delicacies, and she watched as they made things ready to receive Celestia for her afternoon relaxation session. She smiled as they brought three different cakes in, already partially sliced and ready to be served. She found she could even sense the stasis enchantments woven into the glass serving platters, keeping the cakes pristine even after being sliced. Stellar nodded to herself. Magic had such wonderful and yet simple uses at times, and it was woven into the very fabric of this society. No wonder they'd advanced so far without the benefits of a bipedal stance or even manipulative digits, like the griffins or minotaurs had. The ponies' control and use of magic tended to counter the difficulties of their form quite adequately.

Then she saw the guards in the hallway outside stiffen and come to attention. She stood herself as the serving staff bowed deeply, and Celestia appeared. Stellar noted that she had a tendency to give a nod to almost everyone she passed, and graced the serving mares with a caring smile. 'She really is a kind and caring leader.' Stellar thought to herself.

Then Celestia turned her gaze to Stellar, who bowed her head deeply. As she was an alicorn, Stellar knew she and the Princess were separated by only a few steps of rank, unlike the other ponies. Celestia grinned and walked over. "Stellar Light Sparkle!" Celestia said welcomingly. "I am so happy to see you again. Come, sit with me and share some time with me. After the day's trials, I shall welcome some pleasant company."

"It would be my pleasure, Celestia." Stellar replied, and sat near to Celestia beside a small table. Twilight had revealed to Stellar that Celestia liked to be more intimate with those she trusted during quiet times, and that she should treat Celestia as more like a family member than a monarch when they were 'alone'. Stellar knew Twilight meant 'Alone' as being with only guards and palace staff, since they were everywhere around Celestia, discretely providing support, security and comfort for both members of their Diarchy.

After Celestia had chosen one cake out of the trio provided, Stellar merely sat with Celestia and enjoyed time with her, eating cake and sipping tea, allowing Celestia to completely relax before asking her request. Stellar was surprised that Celestia actually discussed matters of state and public affairs with her, not because she didn't consider Stellar to be capable of understanding them, but because she was such a relative newcomer to the society, as well as being a pony in general. But then she came to a realisation: It was exactly because of that that Celestia wanted her opinions. Stellar could take a step back from Pony Society as a whole and look at it from a unique perspective, almost an alien one, in a way. She tried to give Celestia the best opinion and advice she could with what little she knew, and a lot of the time Celestia seemed satisfied.

"So, what brings you to my parlor, Stellar?" Celestia finally asked. "I understand you and Twilight have been having fun this afternoon?"

Stellar chuckled. "Yeah, Twilight's been helping me refine my flying." She confirmed.

Celestia sighed happily. "I do so love to go flying myself, when I get the chance." She said. "The air under one's wings, through one's mane and tail, the freedom of the skies..." Stellar could see Celestia was remembering the best flights of her life. Celestia then sighed. "But my duties mean that opportunities are few and far between, sadly." She looked at Stellar. "One piece of advice I will give you, Stellar. As an alicorn, take to the wing as much as you can, before duties or anything else tries to harness you to the ground. You will never regret the times you have spent on the wing." Celestia said, her face showing Stellar she was being very serious about what she had said.

Stellar nodded. "I plan to. Once I become truly proficient in my ability to fly, I intend to spend as much time on the wing as Rainbow Dash does... or as close to it as possible." She told Celestia.

Celestia smiled. "I can believe you completely in that, Stellar." She said. "Maybe we four should go for a flight now and then, as a group. The common pony would find it a treat, to see us out and about together."

Stellar grinned. "I'd like that very much, Celestia."

"Good." Celestia replied, smiling broadly. "Now, your question." She encouraged Stellar.

"I find myself trying to find my place here." Stellar told Celestia. "I know Twilight is an accomplished mage and the Bearer of the Element of Magic, so it's a natural for her. But as I told Father the night before... I am no mage like her. I can use magic, but not in the same way."

Celestia nodded. "Go on."

"The few memories that are clearest to me, besides music... is of combat." Stellar said. "Of training to fight, using weapons that... stagger the mind. But also of intensive hand-to-hand training, and use of bladed weapons of many sizes and lengths." She detailed for Celestia. "Everything about what I know says that I was a warrior of some kind in my last life... and that what I remember about that is extremely important, or it would have been edited from my memories like everything else is being erased. But I don't know how to fight as a pony... yet. Some things I remember I can adapt and fairly quickly... but I don't know how we truly fight as a race. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies: they must all have their various styles and abilities in combat, using their peculiar and personal types of magic, or only unicorns would be here amongst the Guard. So... I need your advice in finding somepony to train my in the Martial arts here, including magic where it's not only appropriate, but everything I am capable of learning." Stellar listed off for Celestia.

Celestia took a sip of her renewed tea, and nodded. "You have given this a great deal of thought, I can see." She stated. "Have you any suggestions of your own, or anypony that's been suggested to you?"

"Actually, your own sister, Luna, was suggested to me by more than one pony." Stellar answered. "Apparently, she was well-trained in the martial arts and magics of fighting long before she became Nightmare Moon."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, Luna is a warrior-mage of great renown, both back then and now." She confirmed. "Of course, I am no... what is the term? Oh yes, 'slouch', when it comes to combat, but Luna truly enjoyed being trained and does so love sparring with someone close to her ability." Celestia revealed.

Stellar nodded. "So I have heard."

Celestia put down her teacup, as Stellar sipped at her refilled one. "Then I would suggest you... 'hang around', as is said, until Luna awakens for her nightly duties." Celestia told Stellar. "Perhaps it is time she chose a student to tutor. I know it has brought me unparalleled joy in my life with Twilight. Maybe it will do so for her as well."

Stellar thought on this. "Then I shall." She agreed. "I would be honored to be trained by such as Luna, on any world."

Celestia smiled. "Then, please, stay. I will enjoy your company."

"I would be honored to be company for you too, Celestia." Stellar grinned at the older alicorn Princess. "There is a saying I still remember: 'Learning is Life, Knowledge is Power'."

Celestia nodded. "That sounds like something Marechiavelli might have said." She commented. "So, shall we enjoy learning from one another?"

Stellar grinned. "By all means."

=== === === === === ===

Luna rose at her normal time, washed and was groomed by her staff, then walked through to the dining room she and Celestia used for their time together, where their shifts crossed over. But she was surprised when she heard laughter coming from the room, and from more than one pony. "I wonder who my sister is talking to? It sounds like Twilight.... but that laugh is not hers." Puzzled, she walked on to the door.

Inside, she saw Celestia and somepony she thought was Twilight, until she saw the cutie-mark and realised this was Stellar Light, Twilight's new sister. She smiled at the look of happiness and aura of joy coming from her sister as she entered the room fully. "Luna!" Celestia said as she got to her feet and moved to Luna. Luna was surprised when Celestia actually moved right up to her and nuzzled her tenderly. If Luna could have purred like a cat, she would have. Instead, she nickered softly and returned her sister's loving gesture. "Dearest Sister, I am so pleased to see you." Celestia told Luna. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, dear Celestia." Luna replied, happiness infusing her tone. "You seem very happy this evening." She turned to Stellar, who was standing, head bowed, as all the staff were bowing to her, heads close to the floor. "You may all rise." Luna said, her presence at this time overshadowing Celestia's naturally, since she was the dominant Princess after Dusk. As the staff rose to their hoofs, Luna turned to Stellar and said "And welcome to you too, Stellar Sparkle."

"Thank you, Princess Luna." Stellar replied.

"Please, you may omit our title in our presence." Luna told Stellar. "Save for when and where it is entirely appropriate, of course." As they all sat, Luna smiled at Stellar. "Am I to correctly assume you are the cause of my sister's jovial mood this evening?" Luna asked Stellar, although she was looking at Celestia's beaming face. "Surely, she is as happy as if she had been personally visited by Pinkie Pie."

Stellar chuckled. "We've been sharing stories and knowledge." Stellar answered Luna.

"And having a grand time doing so!" Celestia exclaimed, still radiating happiness.

Luna was grinning herself. She hadn't seen Celestia so happy from an afternoon of conversation in ages. "So, shall you enlighten me as to if anything substantial has come of this afternoon of delightful anecdotes and tales?"

"Indeed." Celestia answered. "Stellar has a request for you, dear Luna."

Luna looked at Stellar. "Indeed?" She asked.

"Yes, I do." Stellar replied, getting serious. "Luna, would you teach me everything you know about combat, both physical and magical? I can't help feeling it's my calling in this life to be a warrior." She explained.

Luna took it seriously. "I see. You wish to be my student in the Martial arts, then?"

"It would be an honor and a privilege." Stellar replied.

Luna nodded. "Indeed, it would be." She agreed. After a few minutes of thought, she looked at Stellar and nodded. "Yes. It is about time I trained someone in all the aspects of warfare and combat I know." She looked at Celestia. "If my sister can train Twilight to become the mage she is today, then I should do the same and train you to be the best warrior I am capable of making you, Stellar Sparkle.”

Stellar bowed deeply to Luna. “I am honored.” She told Luna.

“Then we shall announce to Canterlot and the rest of Equestria of your existence and your new position on the morrow, Stellar.” Celestia added. “I shall have the royal pages put out announcements this evening, and begin the planning before I retire, Luna, while you raise the moon.” Celestia told Luna.

Luna nodded and walked out to go raise the moon. “Get used to late nights, Stellar Sparkle. You will be spending a lot of time awake from now on.”

“Sounds like old times, then.” Stellar commented after Luna left.

Celestia nodded. “I shall leave you too, Stellar. There is much to be done before the morning.”

“And I’ll go tell my family the news.” Stellar replied as she got to her hoofs as well. “A good night to you, Celestia. Sweet dreams.”

“And to you, Stellar.” Celestia said warmly, before calling her staff together.

Stellar headed back to the Sparkle Mansion, hoping that things would go well tomorrow...

==================================

The morning of the announcement of Stellar's existence to the assembled nobles of Canterlot saw Stellar and the three Princesses in a room off the Audience Hall. Celestia, Luna and Twilight were wearing their normal court regalia, but Stellar didn't have anything like that to wear. "I don't need it, really. After all, I'm not getting crowned today, just accepting being appointed your student, Luna." She pointed out.

"Very true, Stellar Sparkle, but you really should show that we are to be partnered a little more clearly." Luna replied, frowning with a little concern.

"Maybe a set of Guard armor might be suitable?" Twilight suggested.

"Possibly..." Celestia replied, then looked at Luna. "Sister, would you allow me to induct Stellar into the Royal Guard?" She asked.

Luna then smiled back at Celestia. "No, Sister. I shall do it. If she is to be my student, then Stellar should be inducted into the Lunar Guard." She said with confidence. Luna looked at one of the thestral members of her day-guard platoon and said "Please have a set of officer's dress armor delivered here, with a sabrehorn's helmet and the shoulder-guards for a night-wing."

The guard-thestral, who was a nightwalker, the thestral equivalent of an earth pony, came to attention and saluted, replying with "At once, Your Highness!" And he slipped out of the room.

Celestia and Twilight stood back, as Luna faced Stellar directly. "Now, for the proper formalities." She addressed Stellar directly. "Stellar Light Sparkle, do you solemnly swear to uphold the traditions of the Royal Canterlot Guard, the Royal Solar Guard and the Royal Lunar Guard, to honor their history and protect your Princesses to the best of your ability?" Luna asked Stellar.

"I do swear to uphold the traditions of the Royal Canterlot Guard, the Royal Solar Guard and the Royal Lunar Guard, to honor their history and protect my Princesses to the best of my ability." Stellar repeated in a very serious voice.

Celestia nodded as Luna said "Then it is my honor and privilege to induct you as a lieutenant in the Royal Lunar Guard, effective immediately." She stated, as the Thestral guard returned with another thestral, this one a sabrehorn sargeant, a set of armor in baskets on their backs. Luna nodded approvingly. "Sargeant." She addressed the newcomer. "Equip this lieutenant for her duty in attending us in Court this day." Luna ordered.

"Aye, Your Highness!" The sargeant answered, and proceeded to equip Stellar with the dark blue armor of the Lunar Guard. Stellar allowed this to be done, knowing the traditions behind it. The sargeant then locked lieutenant's rank insignia on her helmet, chestplate and shoulder-guards. Once he was finished, he stood back and saluted Stellar, who returned his salute. Then they all turned and saluted the three Princesses. Luna returned their salute while Celestia and Twilight just nodded to them.

Luna then told the sargeant "Sargeant, pass the word to the Captain of the Night Guard when he awakens that I wish to see him, to introduce his latest officer to him and to the ranks of the Lunar Guard."

"Aye, Your Highness!" The Sargeant saluted and left, as the guard-thestral took his place again.

Twilight and Celestia applauded, smiles on their faces, and Stellar bowed to them. "Very well done, Luna, Stellar. Now you are a part of our service. This will help greatly with the announcement of your existence and commission." Celestia said.

"Yeah, Sis. That armor really suits you." Twilight commented.

Stellar wriggled a little in the armor. "It's... actually, it's a little small, but I'll get used to it, I'm sure." She said. "I don't think they'd ever considered having an alicorn in the Lunar Guard besides you, Luna, and you have your own armor."

"Very true, Stellar Sparkle." Luna admitted. "We shall commission a proper set of armor for you, once the formalities are out of the way."

"Thank you, Luna." Stellar said.

Then the bell-chimes sounded, indicating the doors to the Audience Hall had been opened to allow the nobles and others into the hall. Celestia knew that matters like this were all for show, since such things had to be seen in public for the nobles to accept them as fact, instead of gossip. Celestia looked at her fellow alicorns and said "Very well, everypony, let us be ready. The show is about to start..."

==================================

As Day Court assembled, the air amongst the assembled Nobles was one of boredom and some curiosity. Celestia had posted notices the previous night that she had an announcement to make to all of those who would attend. The fact she hadn't made a much bigger announcement had the crowd's attention. There had been rumors amongst the residents of Canterlot that another alicorn had been spotted walking around and flying over the city during the last few days, although some said that it was merely Princess Twilight Sparkle... but then, others had sworn that she had been in two places at once, and the second Twilight had a very different cutie mark to the one Princess Sparkle was known to have. This speculation had fuelled the nobles' curiosity even further, so many had turned up to see if this 'announcement' might solve the mystery. The Royal Canterlot Gossip was spreading through the crowd like a whirlpool of verbal activity, swirling around and changing as if alive.

Then the gong sounded for the beginning of Day Court, and everyone knew something big was brewing when not just Celestia, but Luna and Twilight Sparkle appeared in their normal regalia. Those who were close to the pulse of royal society knew that this was very unusual. Princess Sparkle hardly ever appeared like this on the dais with the other princesses, but she seemed to be taking Princess Cadance's place for this event. The presence of the younger princess was cause for much speculation, since it was well-known that she disliked much of the pomp and ceremony of her royal duties. The gathered nobles were especially speculative, because the ones closest to the dais could see that she was genuinely happy to be there. Plus her parents were also in the crowd.

Amadeus Blueblood and his son were standing on the opposite side of the room to the Sparkles, and Amadeus was frowning. "What do you think it means, Father?" Prince Blueblood asked, his face neutral.

"I do not know." Amadeus replied. "There was no pretext, no official announcement besides the event being registered. Gossip has been... unusually restrained, or confused." He went on. "This is... unsettling. Celestia is never this restrained normally when she has that smug look on her face." He said with a scowl.

"Hopefully, this will not set back our plans." Blueblood said softly.

Amadeus just nodded. His son had spoken carefully, so he did not admonish him, and to do so to the casual reply would have drawn attention to their house, something that they did not need at this time. Then they saw the Princesses flip open their wings, and the official music silenced.

"Mares and Gentlecolts of Canterlot!" Celestia began. "It is with a great honor that I announce that a house in Canterlot has been privileged in a way that is almost unprecedented. Recent events have revealed the existence of a fourth alicorn in Equestria!"

There was a wave of gasps and chatter through the crowd, but Amadeus said nothing. He was watching the others intently. Then he groaned softly.

"Father?" Blueblood asked, confused.

"The Sparkles." Amadeus said, his voice full of disguised disgust and anger. "They didn't react to the announcement."

Blueblood may have been rash at times and merely still a student of his father's ways, but it struck him immediately. "Then, they're the ones Celestia talked about!" He hissed very softly.

"Indeed." Amadeus looked fit to kill as they saw something that had him cursing the fickleness of Fate. A figure walked out from the side of the dais, not down the long walk, and she was unadorned. Instead of royal regalia, she was wearing a set of Lunar Guard ceremonial armor and that made him pause for a second. He then looked at Celestia again and realised neither she nor Luna were in their coronation regalia. This confused him greatly.

Then Celestia went on as the figure turned to the trio of alicorns and bowed deeply. "We present to you all, Princess Twilight Sparkle's twin sister, thought to be lost to the ages and now returned as an alicorn in her own right! We present to you, Stellar Light Sparkle!"

Stellar turned and bowed to the assembled nobility and ponies of Canterlot, and wherever. Amadeus gave Stellar a very close inspection. The armor she wore, a little bit more formal and complete than the Lunar Guard wore on duty, showed her easily as almost identical to Twilight, save for her cutie-mark, which Amadeus took note of very closely. The Sparkle Star was expected, but the sword and shield was definitely different. It was obvious to him that this individual was very different from her counterpart up on the stage. He also noted she was wearing lieutenant's rank on the armor, showing she'd already been commissioned into the Lunar Guard.

"Although Stellar Light Sparkle is an alicorn and has proven herself to possess the talents of all three pony types, she has declined to be coronated at this time." Celestia then revealed, causing even louder chatter from the assembled crowd. "She has stated that she is not ready to assume any royal privilege and duties at this time, because she lacks the proper training of a princess. We have seen the logic of her argument and we three have agreed to her remaining as she is, with concessions to her status as part of a noble family as well as a commission with the Lunar Guard." Celestia detailed to the crowd.

Amadeus was genuinely surprised at that. Then his eyes narrowed. "That is some statement, Princess." He muttered. "So what have you decided?"

Blueblood himself was scowling fiercely. "She rejected the offer of being crowned?!" He hissed in his father's direction. "That... commoner! Doesn't she realise there are those who would give a hind leg for such?"

"Quiet, Son." Amadeus told him. As Blueblood turned to look at his father, his deep scowl changing slightly to one of confusion, Amadeus added "There's more going on here than meets the eye. This has been carefully orchestrated, I am sure."

Blueblood's anger didn't subside, but he remained silent and returned to watching.

"But as she will eventually be required to accept her coronation, we have seen fit to have her educated in the ways of Royal Duty and Privilege." Celestia went on. "Therefore, we have committed Lieutenant Stellar Light Sparkle to be the personal student of Princess Luna, as her sister was my own personal student." Celestia revealed.

That got a round of applause from most of the assembled ponies, but Amadeus could see his son was boiling over with anger. Before Amadeus could stop him, Blueblood launched himself forward and yelled out "STOP THIS!"

There were gasps as the assembly watched him walk out, glaring at Stellar, who moved aside slightly and faced him. "I say stop this at once! How dare you come before us and claim this, before all the others who deserve this far more than you do!" Blueblood vented at Stellar.

Celestia was shocked, for the first time in a while. She looked at Luna, who shrugged.

Blueblood got right in Stellar's face. "I do not know who you really are, but even if you are a real alicorn, you cannot be who you say you are! How DARE you try and usurp such privilege!"

Stellar's face became a snarl. "You would gainsay the Princess' will?" She asked him in a barely-controlled tone of suppressed rage.

Blueblood answered in a similar tone. "I would do ANYTHING to protect the sanctity of the Royalty from being sullied by the likes of YOU!" He yelled back at her. "Nopony such as you deserves to be anywhere near our beloved Princesses, let alone a student of one!"

Celestia was about to open her mouth to speak, when Blueblood said "I formally challenge you, Sparkle! I claim the right to your announced privilege, as you are unfit to claim it!"

Celestia was shocked. The challenge her nephew was claiming was ancient, yes, and unused for centuries, but it was still valid. The Nobles had made sure it was kept active for their own purposes, and not even she could stop it, now that the challenge was issued.

"You want a piece of me, Blueballs?" Stellar replied, her own anger blatant on her face.

There was another wave of shock that went through the crowd at Stellar's mis-saying of Blueblood's name.

Blueblood got even angrier at this. "Now you insult my noble family name!"

"Just as you have insulted mine and my honor!" Stellar replied, cutting him off. "You want this, name the time and place!"

Blueblood smirked. "One hour, the Royal Guards arena." He answered.

"Accepted." Stellar said, drawing herself up to look down at him.

Blueblood smirk grew wider. "Then prepare to meet your maker."

"You first." Stellar simply replied, as she turned and bowed to the Princesses, then walked off the way she had come.

Blueblood turned, bowed to his aunts and Twilight, then walked back over to where his father was waiting, by a special door.

=== === === === === ===

After they'd left the Throne Room, Amadeus glared at his son. "That was reckless!" He said. "Admirable, but reckless."

"It had to be done, father." Blueblood said. "One Sparkle as a princess is bad enough, but two! And I should have been the Princess' student, not either of them!"

Amadeus sighed. "Very true, my son, but your challenging this newcomer is, as I said, reckless. We have no idea of her talents or abilities." He admitted.

"Do you not think I can defeat her, Father? I am the finest fencer in Canterlot!" Blueblood boasted, if truthfully. "I will defeat her easily with my special blades."

Amadeus scowled. "I thought you were saving those for the right time, my son."

"And this is the right time. I shall defeat her and claim what is rightfully mine! Once I am living in the palace, then we can gain access much more easily than having to rely on one of the guards." He pointed out. "And if she dies... she is a mere commoner still, not entitled or royalty. Her name will be forgotten in a few years, as I advance to my proper place."

Amadeus sighed, but nodded. "Then let us prepare."

Blueblood nodded back and they headed to the exit.

=== === === === === ===

At the same time, the Princesses headed into the waiting room they'd been in before the session, where Stellar was standing, shedding the armor of Luna's Night Guard. "What was that?" Twilight asked Stellar.

"That was me defending myself, our family and our honor." Stellar said, as she put aside the helmet. "If that pompous plot-head thinks I'm backing down because he has a title and an attitude, he's got another think coming."

Twilight was surprised. Stellar's voice was calm and cool, as if nothing had just happened. "You know he's going to ask to go to the Death, don't you?" She asked Stellar.

"Fine by me." Stellar replied. "After I hand him his heart, then we'll see how big a stallion he is."

Luna looked at Celestia, then at her nod, left. "I hope there is one thing you realise, Stellar." Celestia told Stellar and Twilight. "Blueblood is a master fencer. He is sure to bring his blades with him."

"You mean those four-foot-long, double-ended blades?" Stellar asked.

"Yes." Celestia replied. "They are used by master unicorn fencers throughout the better schools."

Stellar nodded. "I see. Looks like I'm gonna have to improvise a bit, but I know how to fight against someone with a blade." She told them.

"And he'll have fencing armor on." Twilight reminded Stellar.

Stellar nodded. "Then I'll have to get some better armor of my own, then. Won't I?" She asked, her voice and manner still tightly controlled and calm.

"Then perhaps this will do." Luna said as she entered, an old chest floating along in her magic.

Stellar and Twilight were both very curious when Celestia smiled. "A very good choice, my sister." Celestia said as Luna put the chest down.

Twilight could see the latch of the lock had the Sparkle Star on it, with a pair of wings attached to the sides of the star. "Is... is this from our family?" She asked as Stellar touched the lock and pulled her hoof back as it sprung open.

Celestia nodded as Stellar opened the lid to reveal a set of red armor with silver edging in a slightly older style than the Royal Guard's armor. "This is the armor of Canopus Star." She answered Twilight's question.

Stellar heard Twilight give a gasp of surprise as she lifted the helmet out, noting the winged Sparkle Star on the forehead of the helmet and a rank insignia above it where her horn would have normally slid through. "General Canopus Star?" Twilight replied, astonished. "But..."

"Yes. The general left his armor here to the Crown when he left the service of the Crown." Luna replied. "His great-sword is supposedly somewhere in the palace as well, but we have not found it yet. Also, the armor set is incomplete. Most of the side-and flank-rump-plates are missing, as are the main shoulder-guards, especially made for a pegasus warrior." She told them.

"So... Canopus Star was a pegasus?" Stellar asked as she looked the rest of the armor over.

"Yes. He was the general who ended the Draco-Griffin war for us." Celestia informed the Twins. "His name is greatly renowned."

Stellar nodded as she noticed that the general's rank insignia above the visor was on an extended piece. Frowning, she turned the helmet over and looked inside, noting there was a hole through the forehead armor right where... She pressed the piece out of the hole and noticed it took the general's rank insignia with it, leaving a hole perfectly aligned for a horn. Stellar slid the helmet on and secured it. "It fits almost perfectly." She said.

Celestia nodded. "You are almost the same size as Canopus Star was." She said. "Please, wear this again to honor your Great-uncle."

Stellar nodded as she slid the armor into place. The pieces fit her well, although she had to bulk up a little in a few places to make the armor fit properly, like her shoulders and legs. The back-plate and neck-guards fit her almost perfectly as they were, but she felt a little unprotected from behind. "This almost feels as if it was made for me." She told the others.

"Then wear it and fight with honor, Stellar Sparkle, my student." Luna told Stellar.

Stellar turned to Luna and saluted her, a salute Luna returned.

"Now, let us go over the rules of the Challenge Combat." Luna said to Stellar, who sat and listened intently.

==================================

An hour later, the arena was filled with Canterlot nobles and common folk alike, to witness a spectacle that hadn't been seen in a hundred years: a death duel. Stellar and Blueblood walked out into the arena at the same time from opposite doors. Stellar was wearing Canopus Star's armor with a few modifications, like a modern armored visor and wing-covers; while Blueblood was wearing a custom-fitted suit of fencing armor, a light armor that covered everywhere including the upper legs, his in a deep blue with his family crest on the chest-plate. Stellar noted he had four of the fencing blades in sheaths alongside the armor. She, in turn, had no weapons save for her wits and training.

Captain Flash Sentry was appointed Chief Marshal, and waved them forward. Once they were out in the middle of the arena, all three turned towards the royal box and while Sentry and Stellar saluted, Blueblood just bowed.

Flash Sentry looked at the two. He knew what Blueblood was capable of, but this Stellar Sparkle was an unknown. The way she held herself, however, showed she had a military background and that she was very well-disciplined. He then said "We are here to see a duel between Prince Blueblood and..." He looked at the card he had in his hoof, "...Lieutenant Stellar Light Sparkle of the Lunar Guard." There was a bit of chatter in the stands as Blueblood frowned, but Luna nodded at Flash Sentry, who nodded back. "Does either party wish to repudiate their claim to this duel and settle the matter peacefully?" Flash Sentry asked, as a matter of protocol.

"No, Sir." Stellar replied.

"Never." Blueblood then replied.

Flash Sentry sighed and nodded. "The terms are a fight to the death." He looked up at Celestia, who nodded with a grim look on her face. She didn't really like Blueblood as much as he thought she did, but he was one of her ponies and she hated losing any of them. Stellar was an alicorn, if a relative new-comer, and her death would be felt for centuries to come if she were to die. But her hoofs were tied.

Flash Sentry nodded back to Celestia, then looked at both combatants. "Very well! Both parties come to the center and touch hoofs, then retreat thirty paces away from the center. When I close the door, you may begin combat." He told them.

Stellar and Blueblood came together before Flash Sentry and touched hoofs.

"I shall see you delivered to Tarterus today." Blueblood said in a steady voice, but with a cruel sneer on his otherwise-handsome face.

"You first." Stellar replied again, her face rock-steady. Then she turned and marched away, her wings slightly deployed from her sides as she walked off. Stellar was reviewing everything she'd learned from Twilight, Luna and Celestia about the rules and what magic was allowed. No projected shields, no energy bolts, no nasty magic. Otherwise, anything went. She reviewed all her other abilities, including the schools of martial arts she'd been trained in, and nodded to herself. She had a chance even against his blades.

Blueblood slid one of his blades from it's scabbard as he walked along, testing it's balance and his control. It was perfect, as usual. These weren't his usual steel blades, though. These were a forbidden weapon, blades made of orichalcum, deadly to Alicorns since they made normal magic healing impossible in the Royal ponies. If he could plant them in the mare's chest or somewhere else vital, she would be dead very quickly. Her armor was the only unknown about her, as far as Blueblood was concerned. The strange armor was similar to that the Guards wore, but it's color was unfamiliar and it was more complete than the normal ceremonial armor. It would make things more difficult, but not impossible. All he needed was a short time, the proper opening, and one blade. He turned after walking thirty paces and focused, putting the mare directly in his sights. As the door locked shut, he grunted and the blade shot forward, with her running right towards it. Blueblood smiled. This would be easier than he thought...

Stellar reached the required distance and turned, focusing on Blueblood. She knew he was unlikely to move, sending his blades to do their dirty work for him. She needed to rattle him early in the fight, to break his confidence and his focus or get him mad as hay so it would have the same effect. Smiling, her plan formed in her head and she got ready to sprint. As the door closed, she took off at a fast gallop, sprinting across the space...

Just as Blueblood's blade came close to Stellar, her horn lit up and she Blinked, the spell taking her across the arena instantly and, with her momentum, she flicked herself around and drove a huge buck into Blueblood's chest, smashing the light armor there with her heavily-armored hoofs. Blueblood's breath abandoned him almost at once as he was flipped backwards. As Stellar had him off-balance, she turned and drove blow after blow into his chest and barrel, her hoofs tipped with a green glow. The small shields stuck to her hoofs and amplified their hitting power, cracking his thin armor and breaking bones as well as powerfully bruising muscles. As Blueblood realised he'd been out-maneuvered, Stellar finished her sweeping motion and knocked his hind-legs out from under him, smashing into the backs of both fetlock bones and shattering one of them with her hoof. Then she ran off, leaving him to impact the arena floor and lose sight of her.

Twilight was half-way to her hoofs as she saw Stellar Blink across the arena and slam into Blueblood. Twilight had known that Stellar could fight, but she had just surprised even Celestia and Luna by the prowess she'd shown. Celestia looked at Luna as Blueblood hit the ground and nodded to her sister. Luna looked back, a little shock on her face, but then she smiled and nodded back.

Blueblood rolled over, coughing violently as he regained his breath. He'd never been hit that hard in his life, not even as a foal by his father. He felt at least four ribs were broken and his armor was shattered in several places, testament to the power of the blows that had hit him. Growling hoarsely, he got to his hoofs, to feel one of the rear ones seemingly on fire. He shuffled his weight onto the good hoof and looked about for Stellar.

Stellar, meanwhile, was looking for where Blueblood's blade had fallen. Finding it as the stallion rolled over, she rose to her hind-legs, the shield-blades forming on her fore-hoofs again, one shaped like a block-splitter on her right hoof. She held down the blade with her left, then, with a mighty shout, she slammed the splitter-blade-shield down on the center of the blade. With a crack that was heard across the arena, it shattered into dozens of pieces. Then she was off and running again.

"Did she just...?" Twilight asked, astonished.

Celestia smiled as Luna stared, jaw agape. "Indeed, she did." Celestia answered. "I have not seen that technique used in quite a long time." Celestia frowned. "I wonder... did she learn it from somewhere, or did she just come up with it by herself?" She asked.

Blueblood was furious now. Nopony touched him, ever! Nopony could ever hurt him! He drew the three remaining blades from his sides and launched them at Stellar, intending to skewer her.

Stellar saw Blueblood's reaction and smiled. She knew she'd rattled him severely and he was running on rage now. She felt the blades coming towards her and prepared. She focused on one in particular and flipped into the air. As she grabbed the blade she was after, letting it hit the shield around her left hoof as she grabbed it with her right, the second one passed under her and she spun in mid-air, her rear left hoof kicking the third blade, sending it spinning. She did land a little awkwardly, but she was dealing with a body not truly designed for the moves she'd used. However, she had what she wanted and spared no time in shattering the second blade as she'd done the first once she regained her balance.

Then she Blinked.

Blueblood had hardly any time to react as he saw and heard his second blade shattered, when Stellar appeared beside him. She let fly with a roundhouse kick, slamming a shielded hoof into his jaw through his cheek-guard and breaking it, as well as knocking several teeth out. Then she was away again.

Blueblood screamed as he slammed into the arena floor again, blood and spittle flying out of his mouth as the crowd cheered. Twilight was sitting up, applauding her sister, while Luna just nodded. "As you said, Sister; there is much more to her than meets the eye."

Celestia just nodded as Stellar sought to relocate the remaining blades. She found one easily, shooting around the arena aimlessly, while the one she'd kicked was nowhere to be seen. Focusing on the remaining one, she turned to grab it while Blueblood was rolling on the ground in agony and pounded it into the arena's surface, smashing it like the others. Unable to locate the remaining blade, she instead headed for Blueblood.

Blueblood was dizzy, the pain in his broken jaw adding to the agony of the other wounds, but he kept his head as he saw Stellar coming towards him. "This is how you wanted it." She called out to him.

"Yes, it is!" He stated through his clenched jaw, as the fourth blade, which he'd kept his mind locked on, clumsily but forcefully pierced Stellar's left shoulder, burying itself to the bone.

It was Stellar's turn to scream, but she only staggered with the force of the blow. To Blueblood's shock, she didn't go down as he'd expected, but stood there glaring at him as he got to his feet...

=== === === === === ===

Deep in the archives, at the moment Stellar was injured, a box shook violently and exploded. A long object ablaze with Light energy shot out of it and through the storage area doors. Turning down a corridor, it raced for the outside, barely dodging around ponies in it's way as it flew towards the arena.

=== === === === === ===

Blueblood stood waveringly on his three hoofs, the hind right one unable to take weight. But Stellar just stood there, blood trickling down her left shoulder and leg, yet still upright. "Now... time to finish this." He said to her, an evil grin on his broken face as blood trickled out of the corner of his jaw. "I will kill you right now."

But Stellar's eyes widened as she felt something coming... Then she saw a black figure behind Blueblood, looking at him: a black, ghostly alicorn. Stellar saw it glance at her, then turn as if to listen to something coming from the Palace. Then she turned back to look at Blueblood, a smile on her face. "You're not going to do anything, because YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!" She yelled, just as something smashed through the iron doors to the arena, splitting them and bending them inwards. Blueblood didn't even have time to turn as the object flashed across the arena and buried itself in Blueblood's rear, skewering him from plot to chest.

Amadeus was on his feet, his face draining of blood as he saw his son die before his eyes... by something neither one had ever counted on.

Blueblood, though, was still alive. Shockingly, the blow, although it had knocked him twenty feet forward, wasn't immediately fatal. But he couldn't move. His broken jaw hung open, his eyes were wide with shock as his internal organs bled openly and his mind shut down.

Stellar saw, as she moved closer, that the object had been a great-sword, which was now sticking half-a-foot out of Blueblood's chest, the only thing having stopped it from going right through him was the thick cross-guard that touched his tail and his balls.

Everypony in the arena was on their hoofs, the Princesses included, as Stellar reached Blueblood. Snarling at him, she said "You bleeding idiot, I was trying not to have to kill you. I told you you'd see Tarterus before me. You should have believed me." With a scream, she pulled Blueblood's last blade from her shoulder with her magic, switched it to her right front hoof, and then she shouted again as she buried it through Blueblood's lower jaw from below, straight up through his skull and brain, to leave it sticking just under a foot out of his head just behind his horn. Stellar watched as the light died in Blueblood's eyes. Considering the injuries the great-sword had done to him, Stellar considered it a mercy killing. Plus it sent a message to everypony there, that she could kill and would without hesitation, if necessary.

As Stellar staggered back a little, concentrating on herself and holding the pierced artery in her shoulder closed with her magic, the sword glowed again and swiftly but smoothly slid out of Blueblood's body, letting it fall to the ground. It then turned as Stellar watched it, coming up vertical before her as it floated there, runes of power glowing along it's flats. It's silver and red colors left her in no doubt that this was the missing great-sword of Canopus Star, even if the Sparkle Star hadn't been on it's cross-guard. The sword floated towards her as the crowd held it's collective voice and stopped before her, glowing brilliantly with white light. Stellar felt it's power, calm and soothing to her, as she instinctively got to her hind-hoofs and reached for it, taking it in her kinetic fingers.

The sword reacted, white light blazing around Stellar as more runes of power appeared on her armor as well as the sword. Twilight could see from where she was standing that the wound on Stellar's shoulder closed and healed over, the blood vanishing from her body. Stellar held the sword up high over her head, head thrown back and wings spread wide, and shouted a phrase that only three others understood as "GRANDFATHER, I ACCEPT!"

Then the light faded, revealing that a large scabbard had appeared on Stellar's back. She flipped the sword around and slid it perfectly into the scabbard over her shoulder. Her eyes were still glowing, then they faded as she dropped to her hoofs, then to her plot and down to her barrel, panting to regain her breath.

Twilight took off and flew down to the arena floor as medics raced out through the smashed gate. Realising there was little they could do for Blueblood, they turned to Stellar and ministered to her as Twilight trotted over. After a few minutes, they turned to look at Twilight and said "She's just exhausted, Princess. The wound's completely closed over."

Twilight nodded as Flash Sentry approached, banner beside him. Twilight stepped back as Stellar looked up at him. "I take it... that I have... satisfied... the laws of the Challenge... Captain?" She asked, panting as she drew breath.

"You have, Lieutenant." Flash Sentry replied, and held up his banner. Cheering and applause washed out of the crowd and over the arena, as Celestia and Luna politely applauded Stellar while she staggered to her hoofs. Stellar turned to the Royal Box, saluted and bowed to the Princesses there, then after taking Luna's return salute and Celestia's nod, she turned and walked with Twilight out of the arena, Flash Sentry walking behind them.

==================================

Nopony noticed Amadeus Blueblood leave the arena. He quickly headed for his house, his plans now in tatters. Not only was his idiot son dead, but now there were four alicorns in Equestria as well as one in the Crystal Empire. No, only escape was left to him as a plan, and he would take everything he felt worth anything. Everything else... would be disposed of.

==================================

Stellar walked only as far as she needed to, before Twilight 'ported them to her old rooms in the Palace. Stellar barely made it to the bathroom before bringing the light meal she'd had before the fight back up again, not even Twilight's anti-nausea spell able to save her stomach. She knew it wasn't the sight she'd seen. Part of her knew she'd seen more horrible ways to die than what Blueblood had suffered, but she was still weak from the fight and being wounded. The sword's magic had healed her, but her system was still partially in shock due to blood loss and the shock of the wound, let alone being teleported right after that.

Twilight helped Stellar to the lounge and settled her onto it as Celestia and Luna walked in. Stellar tried to get up, but both Princesses waved her down. "A fine display of martial talent, Stellar Sparkle. We are greatly impressed." Luna then said.

"Thank you, Princess." Stellar said. "Does that mean I'm still going to be your student?" She asked.

Celestia stifled a giggle as Luna grinned. "More than that, my friend." She answered. "I am taking you on as an apprentice, not just a student. I will train you in every form of martial combat, both physical and metaphysical, that I know of, as well as other schools of magic that relate to combat."

"Then I am more than honored, Luna. I am privileged beyond words." Stellar told her.

"I am glad." Luna said. "And I am honored that you want me to teach you, too, Stellar Sparkle. I just hope I am as good a tutor as my sister is."

Celestia slid a wing over Luna's withers. "You will do just fine, My Sister." Celestia told Luna. "I have every confidence in you."

"As do I." Stellar added, walking up to Luna and holding out a hoof.

Luna smiled at Stellar and took it, shaking their hoofs for three pumps then letting go. "Very well then, Stellar Sparkle." Luna told her. "I expect you to be here for the Night Court three days from now, when your training will begin."

Stellar nodded and saluted Luna, then they all relaxed, letting Stellar recover...

==================================

05: History

05: Equipped

The morning after her return to Canterlot found Stellar walking down to the barracks with Luna beside her. It was still dark outside, but Stellar knew she'd have to get used to operating during odd hours. "The Captains of my Night Guard and Day Guard should be here together, Stellar Sparkle." Luna told Stellar. "Therefore this is the best time to introduce you to them."

Stellar nodded. "This should be interesting." She agreed.

"Indeed. I do not think I have ever appointed anypony to my Guard personally since it was reformed upon my return to Equestria." Luna informed Stellar. "This should be very interesting." She grinned at Stellar as they entered the briefing rooms. Inside, Stellar could see both Solar Guard and normal Royal Guard troopers were being briefed and assignments passed out. The Lunar Guard's Night Watch were being debriefed on the night's happenings, the Day Watch platoons being briefed as well. A lot of the troopers that were standing about saluted Luna and Stellar as they passed by, both of the alicorns returning the salutes as a matter of course. Stellar was in her completed set of red-and-silver armor plus great-sword, her lieutenant's bars in their proper places so the ordinary troopers knew what her rank was as she passed them.

Luna led Stellar into a small room and said "Wait here. I shall bring in the Captain and Commander to meet you." She said.

Stellar nodded, then stood at ease, waiting, as Luna left. It took only a few minutes for Luna to lead two thestrals in slightly-more ornate Lunar Guard armor into the room, as Stellar stood to attention. They stopped before Stellar, with Luna standing to one side between them. Stellar saluted the higher-ranking officers first, as a matter of-course, and they returned the salute. "Captain, Commander, may I introduce your newest officer to you." Luna told the pair. "This is Lieutenant Stellar Light Sparkle. I have taken her on as an apprentice, to teach her my ways of combat and magic." She explained to them. "Lieutenant Sparkle, this is Captain Wingscythe and Commander Duskrunner of the Lunar Guard."

"Sirs." Stellar replied, bowing to them slightly, as was proper form if not saluting. She noted that Wingscythe was a night-wing thestral, while Duskrunner was a sabrehorn, the thestral equivalent of a unicorn.

"Lieutenant." They replied together.

Luna smiled. "The lieutenant will be operating in a semi-detatched role to the Lunar Guard." Luna explained. "While she will be spending a lot of her time with me, learning what I can teach her, she will also be serving with the Guard in both day and night roles. She has had some experience within a military organisation before, so there is not that much she needs to be trained in, save for how we operate, Gentlecolts." Luna told them. "If you saw her duel with Blueblood a few days ago, I hardly need to explain her martial prowess to you both, either." She added.

The thestral officers nodded. "We understand, Your Highness." Wingscythe replied.

Duskrunner looked Stellar up and down. "Her armor is... unusual, but a very good suit." He said. "But it doesn't exactly conform to Night Guard standards, even if it exceeds them in other ways.

"A new suit in the same style is being made for her as we speak, Gentlecolts. I had it ordered just after the duel." Luna informed them. "It will be colored in the proper colors and adornments for one of My Lunar Guards officers."

Duskrunner nodded. "Then it should suit her well, Your Highness." He commented.

"I will leave her in your hoofs then, Captain, Commander." Luna said. "I have to go attend to my duties with my sister."

"Your Highness." All three of them said and saluted Luna, who returned the salute.

"Until this evening, then." Luna said, and left them alone.

Stellar stood at attention as the officers turned back to look at her. They noticed she made the pose look... comfortable, as if having long experience standing this way. "At ease, Lieutenant." Wingscythe said to Stellar, and she shifted so smoothly, it spoke volumes about her experience to them both.

"One thing." Duskrunner then said "How do we have to address you, Lieutenant? Are you entitled yet?"

Stellar replied without moving. "I have no Royal or noble titles, save for those my family has, Commander." Stellar explained. "Lieutenant or Miss Sparkle are perfectly acceptable. My sister is the princess. I am not." She said in a tone that made Wingscythe chuckle.

"I take it the thought of bearing a crown on your head doesn't sit well with you, Lieutenant?" Wingscythe asked Stellar.

"I prefer my helmet, Sir." Stellar replied.

The thestrals both chuckled at that. "Spoken like a true warrior." Duskrunner said. "Stand easy, Lieutenant, and relax." He ordered Stellar, who did so.

"Thank you, Sir." She replied.

"So, Lieutenant Sparkle," Wingscythe said, looking her over, "Princess Luna said you have a lot of military experience before now. Do you have any preferences as to where you would serve?"

"Not really, Captain." Stellar said. "I have stood watch for Dignitaries before, as well as doing street patrols. I will serve where you wish me to, until the Princess pulls me away for her training sessions."

They nodded. "Good." Wingscythe replied. "Being an alicorn... well, you also fit into any grouping we would put you with. I heard how you ordered our troops around the night after your fight, in the incident with the dark unicorns. Twenty-to-one odds, and you killed fifteen of them and captured two personally. That speaks volumes for your skills as a warrior."

"Thank you, Captain Sir." Stellar replied, smiling a little.

"Be that as it may, Lieutenant, I expect you can take orders as well as give them?" Duskrunner asked.

"Yes Sir!" Stellar said, coming swiftly to attention and saluting them.

The pair returned her salute and nodded. "Good! Your first duty is to see to your new armor." Wingscythe ordered Stellar. "Once you have been suitably kitted-out, you may return this evening, if possible, for your first patrol with the Night Guard... oh, and you may carry that very nasty-looking weapon of yours as well, Lieutenant. Since you've shown you can use it well, depriving you of it might be to the detriment of any unit you will be placed in command of, and we can't have that." He grinned.

"Thank you, Sir." Stellar replied.

"Very well, Lieutenant." Wingscythe said. "Go and see to your armor. Dismissed."

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" Stellar replied, saluting, and left only after her salute was returned.

After she'd marched out, Wingscythe looked at Duskrunner. "So, thoughts?" He asked his subordinate.

"Well, at least we know we don't have to teach her discipline, military protocol or train her in the basics." Duskrunner said. "And being an alicorn... Whoo!"

Wingscythe chuckled. "Oh yeah." He agreed. "The Solar Guard is going to be so upset they didn't get her." He grinned. "Do you see any problems arising from this?"

"I don't think so..." Duskrunner answered. "There might be a little jealousy from some of the other officer-candidates at first, but then again, if they want to challenge her to a duel, then we just specify to first blood and let them fight it out without weapons." He suggested. "A lot of the others are not going to try and take her on, after the duel with Blueblood the other day."

"Tarterus, yeah." Wingscythe agreed with a grin. "Her reputation alone is going to do her service in that respect." He agreed. "Did you notice she went into the arena without any weapons?" He asked.

Duskrunner nodded. "I did. I think she wasn't really going to kill him, now that I think about it. She smashed his weapons... that's a technique I'd like to learn myself." Duskrunner told Wingscythe. Wingscythe nodded as Duskrunner continued "She was disarming him, then giving him a beating in-between. I'd bet if she'd managed to break all his weapons, she would have knocked him out and claimed that she wouldn't kill an opponent that couldn't fight back."

Wingscythe nodded. "That's actually pretty common in the older chronicles." He agreed. "It shows her honor, in one way."

"Yeah. She's going to stand out in any unit we put her with, you know that." Duskrunner told Wingscythe.

"I think that's part of the whole idea." Wingscythe replied, getting nods from Duskrunner.

==================================

Stellar made her way from the Guard compound down into the back quarter of Canterlot, where the few heavy industries the city had were located. There, stonemasons shaped and carved blocks of beautiful marble for buildings or statues, gemcutters made adornments for those same buildings, and metal workers and small foundries made the tools of their trades and many others, as well as those with specialist needs. It was from here that Stellar could see the part of Canterlot nopony from the better side liked to talk about: The so-called 'worker's quarter', or to give it its street name, the Slums. She knew the Guards spent a lot of time patrolling down here day and night, making sure the rag-tag of Equestria kept their less-than-legal activities to a minimum, or just kept them hidden more effectively. But she ignored that part for the moment and headed into the industrial area.

Eventually, she reached a small foundry that had an unusual addition to its usual sign: 'By Royal Appointment', it proudly displayed. Small Rings Fine Armor and Arms had been a supplier for the Royal Guard for several centuries. Luna herself had told Stellar that it's founder's ancestor had supplied both Celestia and herself with several types of fine armor for the Diarchs to wear, and had replaced Luna's armor after Nightmare Moon's destruction had destroyed the suit she had been wearing. Stellar walked into the foundry's office, the smells bringing back fragmented memories of being in places like this before...

"Can I..." A stallion at the front desk asked, until he saw whom he was addressing... or rather, what she was wearing. He gasped, to Stellar's surprise, then came out from around the desk and looked very closely at Stellar's armor.

"Um... can I help You?" Stellar asked.

He looked up at her. "You must be Lieutenant Sparkle." He said. "I'm Steel Rings, the current senior armor crafter here." He introduced himself.

"I take it Princess Luna gave you a description of me?" Stellar asked, smiling.

"Oh yes!" Steel Rings grinned back. "I had been hoping you'd get around to coming here, so we could get started on fitting your guard armor for you... but this!" He gestured at Stellar's red-and-silver armor. "I can hardly believe it! Is this... Canopus Star's armor?" He asked, Stellar noting a very hopeful tone in his voice.

"Yes, it is." Stellar answered, confused. Steel Rings looked like he was in the presence of Celestia herself, he was so entranced by the armor. "Um... is that important?" She asked.

"IM-PORTANT!?!" Steel Rings yelled, looking almost insulted. Then his face softened. "Sorry, My Lady. I forget you do not know a lot of our history, as Princess Luna explained it to me." He apologised and bowed.

"Forgiven... if you explain why you treat it like the holiest artifact in Equestria." Stellar replied.

Steel Rings chuckled. "Well, not the holiest, by any means." He replied. "But for Armor crafters like myself... especially for our clan, this armor is one of the forgotten achievements of our foundry."

"So this armor was made here?" Stellar asked.

"Yes!" Steel Rings said, grinning. "My grandfather worked with Canopus Star to make this suit... but when I saw it in the Archives, it was incomplete. I don't think anypony has seen the full armor since long before Canopus Star retired." He explained. "Where did you find the rest of it?" Steel Rings asked.

"It was left for me." Stellar answered. "Can you tell me the history of the armor and how it was made?"

"Come through." Steel said, and led Stellar past the office and into the foundry itself. He then led her past the work area and into a small, fairly-comfortable waiting and display area. "Now, I'm not the best to ask that question. However, my grandfather Silver Rings would give his remaining teeth to see the armor complete again and tell you about it's history."

"He's still alive?" Stellar asked.

Steel nodded. "He's not as hale as he used to be, for sure. But he can still get around and teach, which he likes to do." Steel said. He looked outside. "Brass! Come here, please." A young colt, about ten years old, Stellar estimated, came to the door. "Can you go get Silver for me? There's somepony here he'd like to meet."

"Okay Dad!" Brass said, and trotted off.

Steel looked back at Stellar with a smile. "He's such an eager young apprentice." He told Stellar. "Follows in his family's hoofsteps."

Stellar nodded. "So... could you make me a version of this armor in the colors of the Lunar Guard?" She asked Steel.

Steel gave Stellar a funny look. "Well, if you'd asked me this yesterday, I would have said no... but now, after actually seeing the completed armor, I'd say we probably could." Steel grinned. "But the runes... I have no idea about most of them. They were put on there by Canopus Star himself, according to Family Lore. So if you don't know how to activate them, we could emboss them on the armor, but they'd just be decorations."

Stellar nodded. "I might be able to, but I'd have to do them elsewhere." She said. "Would that be a problem?"

"I don't see how it would be. If you can activate the runes yourself, we can emboss them exactly as they are in Canopus Star's armor and you can activate them as you see fit." Steel explained.

Stellar grinned. "Perfect." She replied.

Then Brass returned, leading an old Stallion that Stellar thought could have been as old as Granny Smith herself. But he stopped and his eyes opened wide when he saw Stellar in Canopus Star's armor, and his reaction was no less than his grandson's had been. "Bless Celestia herself!" He said in an old voice. "Is that my old friend's armor?"

Stellar chuckled. "Apparently so." She replied.

“Wha..?” Silver Rings looked at Stellar, squinting his eyes and frowning. “And just who are you?” He asked, sounding like he had taken offense to Stellar wearing the armor.

“I am Canopus Star’s great-niece, Stellar Light Sparkle.” Stellar answered.

That stopped Silver Rings in his careful steps. “Great-niece?” He asked.

Stellar nodded. “Canopus Star left the armor and his sword to me.” She explained.

“Ohhhh...” Silver said, looking sad. “Yes, I remember now.” He said. “All his family were killed in Hoofington.” And he looked like he’d been kicked in the chest.

Stellar moved to Silver Rings and put a hoof gently onto his shoulder. “It’s... I’m sorry, Sir, to have reminded you of that.” She told him.

Silver Rings sniffled, then pulled out a hanky and blew his nose like a loud foghorn. “Nah, youngster.” He then said. “There’s a lot of good memories in there as well.” He told Stellar. Then he started looking her over with a steely gaze. “Hmmm... that armor does fit you well.” He commented. Then he noticed, and gasped “You’re an... an... Dammit! What’s the word?”

“Alicorn?” Stellar replied helpfully.

“Yes! Alicorn! That’s what I was... oh.” Silver said, then stopped and tried to bow.

“NO! No, no, please don’t...” Stellar swiftly helped him to stand again. “You don’t need to bow to me, I am not a princess... not yet, anyway.” She said with a snort.

“Not a princess?!” Silver asked, somewhat taken aback by this statement.

“No. I’m not.” Stellar replied. “I’m not ready for that, yet.” She explained to Silver. “I’m just Princess Luna’s apprentice and a lieutenant in the Lunar Guard at the moment.”

Silver looked at Stellar suspiciously, but then he saw the sword on her back as well. “Ohhh... you have THAT with you, too.” He said, touching the pommel of the great-sword with one hoof. “If the sword likes you, then I have to believe you.” He told Stellar. “It doesn’t like it when it’s wielder tells lies.” He explained. “It gets grumbly.”

Stellar grinned. “I bet it does.” She said back.

“Now, what can I do for the wearer of my old friend’s armor?” Silver asked as he was helped onto a long couch.

“Steel said you helped make this.” Stellar said to Silver. “Can you perhaps explain how that happened and tell me more about the suit? I’m still trying to figure out some things with it.” She asked.

“That I can do.” Silver agreed.

“While you’re doing that,” Steel then said, as five unicorns clustered at the doorway to the room, murmuring to each other, “can we get the armor to look at?” He asked. “I need to get every part sketched so we can reproduce it.”

“Sure.” Stellar said, and as she closed her eyes, the armor retracted again, this time with the helmet remaining on her head, which she removed. Her sword had stayed on her back, though, and as she held the helmet in mid-air, she made the armor extend, thereby having it sitting in mid-air to one side of the room, floating in a cloud of magic. “There. How’s that?” Stellar asked.

“Better.” Steel replied, as the unicorns came in and started looking the fine armor over. “Taking it apart would be better, but I’m not sure we’d be able to get it back together again. It’s so inter-laced it’s not funny."

“Use the rune, Steel.” Silver then said.

“The rune?” Stellar and Steel asked together, then they looked at each other, grinning.

Silver looked annoyed. “Behind the peytral, there’s a rune embossed at the back of the inside of the main neck brace that connects to the peytral.” Silver said. “When it’s floating like that, the armor will split up and remain floating there if you use the rune.” He explained. “It was to allow us to replace components if they were damaged... not that that was ever likely to happen.”

Stellar looked up inside, sliding the frontal throat armor up until she saw the rune. “Here it is.” She said, and touched it. Once she was out of the way, the armor seemingly exploded in slow-motion, all the components separating out into a cloud of armored pieces. The unicorns moved back and made sounds of awe, as the pieces stopped moving and hung in mid-air.

Silver chuckled. “Always gets them amazed, that little trick does.” He admitted to Stellar.

“It’s got me amazed!” Stellar admitted back. “That’s incredible!”

“Canopus wrote that rune himself.” Silver told Stellar. “It was so he could have a suit that protected him completely. The armor we made for him was based on the old ‘Slasher’ heavy air cavalry armor for use against dragons.” He explained. “That rune is how the armor can also retract and deploy the way it can. It makes it so much easier for one pony to put on and take off the armor single-handed.”

Stellar nodded. “Yeah. Makes perfect sense.” She said to Steel. “In the field, such a heavily-connected suit would normally be impossible to get into by yourself, so it makes sense that Canopus would find a way to make the armor put itself on him.” She stated. “But what did he make it out of? It’s so light, especially those wing-covers. I barely feel them when I’m flying, yet they protect almost all of my wings so well.”

“Ah. It’s an alloy our family makes from some very rare ores we found ages ago.” Silver said smugly. “As the wearer of the armor, I feel it’s safe to tell you.” He glanced at Steel, who gave a slight nod, Stellar saw. “It’s made from several metals, including one that the ancient archives call Quad-lobed Rinnax, but we call Quadrax when it’s smelted to it’s pure metal form. It’s what gives the metal that red color and it’s impenetrability.” He explained to Stellar. “It’s almost as good as pure Adamant, not that you can find that these days.” He sighed. “I know that Canopus knew the location of one of the pure pools. That sword of his is made from Adamant. But he never told me where it was.” Silver sighed sadly. “Now that secret has gone to the grave with him.”

Stellar had an inkling that Silver’s last statement might not be true. 'Maybe that tome that Canopus left with the armor might have more than just his memoires in it', she thought to herself. “So, what do we have to replace this... Quadrax in my Lunar Guard armor, if we want it to be as strong as the original suit?” She asked.

“That’s easy.” Steel then said. “We have a batch of ingots Luna left with us, if she needed to have more armor made. She apparently got the metal from the moon.” He told Stellar.

“Can I see some?” She asked.

“Sure. You’re Luna’s apprentice, so making your armor from her metal seems fitting.” Steel said. He moved past the unicorns and headed out into the workshop area.

“So... Luna’s apprentice, eh?” Silver asked Stellar.

Stellar smiled and nodded. “It seemed fitting, considering my sister is Celestia’s protege.”

Silver’s eyes widened with surprise again. “You’re... a Sparkle!” He said, sounding startled.

Stellar chuckled. “Well, yeah.” She replied casually. “Twilight Sparkle is my twin sister.”

Silver just nodded, then shook his head and snorted. “Stupid old stallion, me.” He said self-deprecatingly, before he chuckled. “Of course you are. Canopus’ sword wouldn’t give itself to anypony else but Family.” Then he looked at her intensely. “The Sword’s bonded to you, am I correct?”

“I guess so.” Stellar answered.

Silver nodded. “What about the armor? Have you bonded it to you as well?” He asked.

“I... have to admit, I am not sure.” Stellar answered truthfully.

Silver nodded, looking serious. “You have to make sure you do so.” He told Stellar. “Has the sword protected you in any way?”

“Yes.” Stellar replied, her voice firm on that.

“Then it’s bonded to you.” He said. "But the armor... have you used it’s powers yet?”

“No.” Stellar admitted. “Not since it’s been completed.”

“Then you’ll have to complete the ritual and bond with it.” Silver told her. "Canopus will have left you notes on what to do and how to do it. I know this for certain.” He stated to her. "If you plan to make your new armor like this one, you’ll need to do the same for it as well.” He added. “That way, the magic the armor contains will be yours to wield, just as it was Canopus’. And no-pony or anything else will be able to take it from you, by any means.” Silver explained.

Stellar nodded. “I understand.” She replied.

Silver smiled softly at Stellar. “Good. It’s good to see my finest work complete again, and with someone to wield it.” He sighed softly. “I thought the young stallion was crazy, you know, especially putting a hole in the helmet where he did. But... he must have known you’d be at least a unicorn, or that a unicorn would succeed him.” Silver chuckled. “I bet he never even considered you’d be an alicorn, though.”

“Probably not.” Stellar agreed. “After all, there was only one in those days.”

Silver nodded. “Yeah... Now there’s how many?” He asked.

“Six, if you count Princess Flurry Heart.” Stellar answered. She looked to where a pair of unicorns were sketching the pieces of the rear-leg armor, the others doing the front-leg armor. “Do you think they’ll get it right?” She asked Silver.

Silver chuckled. “Oh, yes. All the hard work’s been done already. If they copy the design perfectly, it’ll all work like the original does, even if they modify it a little for you.” He said, looking Stellar over. “Mind you, you’re a lot prettier sight than your great-uncle was.”

Stellar grinned. “Flattery of the gallant kind is always welcome.” She told Silver.

Silver grinned lecherously, but then sighed. “Flattery is all I’m up to these days, my pretty alicorn.” He told Stellar. “There’s not much left in these old bones anymore. One day I’ll go to see my beloved wife and children again, and probably find Canopus leading the Elysian Guard, knowing that old colt.” He chuckled. “If the forge wasn’t keeping my old bones warm and my muscles supple, I’d probably have siezed up long before now.” He got up and walked to where the armor still hung in mid-air, nuzzling the helmet. “Good-bye, Old Friend. I’ll see your other old friend very soon.” He said softly.

Stellar watched this touching moment, a tear coming to her eye. To see an old warhorse like Silver Rings saying good-bye... she wondered how many others she would say good-bye to in her very long lifetime...

==================================

Twilight was resting back home in Castle Friendship after returning there. The events of the last few days had exhausted her, especially becoming pregnant. But the support of her parents, family and friends had all bouyed her spirits and made it easier to bear the burden she'd taken upon herself... with very little preparation, she'd had to admit to herself. Then again, if she'd stopped to think it through, it would have been too late, and the little foal would have been lost along with her mother. Twilight snorted, amused at the change in her. 'Maybe some of Stellar's impetuousness and reactivity has rubbed off on me.' She thought to herself. 'I've certainly got a lot more from her then just memories. Otherwise, I wouldn't keep coming out with phrases that she recognises and I don't in casual use.'

Twilight smiled as she remembered the reactions of her friends when they saw her all heavy and huge with the foal...

=== === === === === ===

"What in tarnation have ya been up to, Twilight?" Applejack had been the first to speak up after Twilight had gotten off the train, two attendant mares helping her.

Rarity, of course, had just swooned and fainted. Fluttershy's eyes were so wide with shock, Twilight had first thought that maybe she'd broken her.

Rainbow Dash, though, had just laughed and grinned. "That was fast, almost faster than I am." She'd said with a smirk. Then she'd moved up beside Twilight and put her ear to Twilight's belly. Twilight face-hoofed as Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Wow, Twilight! Your bun's really cooking fast!" Pinkie said as she gave Twilight a hug.

"Yeah, an' how did a bun get in your oven, Twilight?" Applejack asked again.

"I'll explain when we get Home, girls." Twilight answered as they all headed for Tallmark's carriage, which was waiting at the taxi rank. They had to wake Rarity up, and Fluttershy had to be gently nudged along by Applejack, but soon they were all in the carriage and heading for the Castle.

The girls were on tenterhooks all the way back to the castle, as Twilight rested up for the effort of getting inside. After paying off Tallmark, Twilight led the other five into her castle and to one of the parlors, where she rested on one of the long couches. Even Spike was wide-eyed with confusion. "Wow, Twilight. What happened?"

"Could I trouble you for some iced tea, Spike?" Twilight asked with a pleading look on her pretty face.

Spike smiled. "Sure, Twilight, anything." He said, heading to the kitchen.

Twilight stretched and groaned softly. The others made themselves comfortable, even Fluttershy had managed to regain control of herself as she looked at Twilight. "So... umm..." Rarity began.

But Twilight chuckled. "You're all as curious as Celestia with a box that smells of cake but won't open, right?" She asked.

"Well..." All five replied, then they all broke up into giggles.

Spike came back then with a trolley that had seven pitchers full of iced teas and seven glasses, plus a big mug with a warm drink in it, which he put beside a chair for himself before pouring the six mares their drinks. "Thanks, Spike, really. Thanks a lot." Twilight said to Spike, as the others gave him their thanks, too.

"No problem." Spike replied as he sat in his chair and waited.

Twilight sipped at the iced tea and sighed happily. "Okay. You probably heard about Stellar's duel with Blueblood by now, right?" Twilight asked.

There were multiple replies from the girls at that, telling what they'd heard and what they thought about the duel.

Twilight nodded. "Okay, the night after the duel, Stellar and I were walking back home, when we heard a scream coming from down an alleyway." Twilight told them. "We got to a small square to see a unicorn mare being pursued by a bunch of shadowy figures. She ran past us, while Stellar took them on. I stood against the mare and teleported her to the palace medical unit." Twilight sipped at her tea again.

"And then?" Pinkie asked.

"When we got to the unit, we found the mare had been wounded by a crossbow bolt to the shoulder." Twilight continued. "As we made her comfortable, the bolt revealed it had a deadly curse imbedded in it. I was able to stop the curse from progressing, but we couldn't work to eliminate it... because the mare was pregnant."

The five gasped with shock as Twilight sipped her drink again.

"And then?" Pinkie asked again.

"While two of the Palace mages took over the protective circle I'd cast, I invoked a very old ritual that got my body to the same stage of pregnancy as the mother, and then transferred the foal over to me." Twilight explained. "But before we could continue and save the mother, the curse got past the protective circle and reduced her to ash." Twilight said sadly.

The girls all whimpered at that.

"And then?" Pinkie asked for the third time.

"Stellar and Luna turned up and I explained to them what happened." Twilight went on. "Stellar had killed most of the assassins, who turned out to be a group of dark-magic-wielding dark unicorns, all stallions. The ones she'd captured all committed suicide using the same curse, then Stellar and I headed back to my parents' home for the night."

"Oh boy, ah can see what's comin' up next." Applejack grinned.

"Indeed." Rarity grinned. "Did she yell or faint first?" She asked.

Twilight chuckled. "You lot know my family very well." She said. "Velvet fainted first. Daddy and I talked while Stellar watched Mother, but when she woke, it took Stellar to keep Mother from... I believe the term Stellar used was 'getting in my face'." She told them, eliciting giggles from the Six, including Spike's chuckles. "But Mother came to accept things as much as Father has done, so they're going to be helpful to me as much as Stellar has been." Twilight said, smiling.

"So, how far are you along, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "You look well into your third trimester."

Twilight nodded. "At the end of my seventh month." She confirmed. "And girls... she's an alicorn, like Flurry Heart."

That got gasps and exclamations all-round, even from Spike. "But... you said the mother was a unicorn." Rainbow Dash said to Twilight.

"Yes, she was. But she was unlike any unicorn I have seen before." Twilight answered. "She was tall, very slender and very beautiful, like Fleur De-Lis but even more so." Twilight remembered. "Fleur is kind-of short compared to the unicorn I saved. She... she had to have been at least as tall as Cadance is now."

"Wow, that IS tall." Rarity exclaimed. "I've never seen a unicorn of that stature."

Twilight nodded. "Yes. It's amazing that she's never been seen before." Twilight agreed. "I must see if the guard can find any trace of her in Canterlot. Somepony must have seen her and remembered her, with her height and beauty."

Fluttershy had slipped up beside Twilight and had put her head up to Twilight's swollen belly. She crooned softly, making Twilight sigh in resignation. "You ALL want to do that, don't you?" She asked the others, who nodded with big grins on their faces. "Okay..." Twilight sighed. "Take it in turns and please, be gentle."

"As gentle as anypony can be, Twi." Applejack replied, smiling softly. She actually came up and gave Twilight a nuzzle as Fluttershy checked Twilight over. "Ah tell ya, Sugarcube, that foal is gonna have tha best mother any foal could ask for." Applejack stated without reservation.

"Absotively!" Rainbow Dash agreed, getting a smile from Twilight.

"Thanks for the votes of confidence, Girls." Twilight told them all. "I just love you all so much." Then she went "Glackh!" As Pinkie hugged her tightly around her neck.

"We love you too, Twilight!" Pinkie stated, and everypony there had to agree...

=== === === === === ===

Twilight sighed softly as she moved to her bed for the night. The girls had rearranged her bedroom to move her bed closer to the bathroom door, so she didn't have as far to travel when the foal started playing hoofball with her bladder. Twilight rolled onto the bed and onto her side with relief. But as she gently stroked her very pregnant belly, she smiled tenderly. Even with all the adjustments and difficulties, she knew she'd not do anything different again... save for maybe having the mages brought in earlier. They might have saved the mother, they might not, but it was the only thing she would have done differently.

As Twilight slipped into a peaceful slumber, thoughts of maybes and regrets vanished as she dreamed of having the foal playing with her and Stellar as she grew up...

==================================

Eventually the unicorns finished their sketching and left, then Steel returned with a bar of a dark-blue metal that Stellar didn't recognise straight away. "This is the metal Luna gave us." He told Stellar. "It's quite hard to smelt, but we have a single furnace that can get hot enough to do the job. It is also easily as strong as the best of the old metals, besides Quadrax and Adamant, but easier to get, since Luna can bring us a supply any time we ask her."

Stellar touched it, and her inner senses gasped at what she saw. Her memories contained images of a lot of things that were having new light shone on them with her alicorn abilities, and having a feel for metals was one she was still discovering. "This... this is an alloy. It's got a lot of titanium in it, as well as silicon blended into it. There's tungsten, and some other metals, but it's quite rich with titanium."

"Titanium, eh?" Steel asked. "Never heard of that metal before, but if you say so."

"It's partially what gives this alloy it's blue color." Stellar explained.

Steel nodded. "As you say." He replied, and then said "It'll take us a while to do this, but it's easier than it was when your great-uncle made his suit. Now we have unicorns working with us to help shape the parts using metal straight from the furnace."

"Oh, I'd love to see that." Stellar said, grinning.

Steel nodded. "Sure. But get into your armor again." He suggested. "It'll protect you from the heat of the furnace and any splashback that might occur."

Stellar nodded, moved to where the armor was still floating in it's exploded form, pressed the rune and watched the armor reassemble itself. "Never going to get used to that." She said to herself, as she made the armor retract then put the helmet on. Another thought and she was wearing it again, as if it had never been disassembled.

Steel Rings watched, nodding approvingly. "Hopefully, you'll be able to empower the rune that does this for this armor in your old one." He said. "Otherwise, it'll just be a bunch of component pieces that will take a very long time to put together."

"I think I know where to look for the answers I seek to these runes." Stellar told Steel as they left the waiting room. "I just have to take some time out and read it."

Steel smiled as he led Stellar towards the furnace building. "Now, if what Grandfather told me about this armor is correct, it will protect you from the heat of our furnace area." He looked over the helmet. "Can you close that face-mask?" He asked.

Stellar nodded, and it slid closed over her muzzle, only leaving the bridge of her muzzle and her eyes exposed. "I don't know about the visor in the helmet." She told Steel. "I got it from the Guards stores."

Steel nodded as he checked it over, and slid it out of the helmet. "It's fairly basic, this one." He said. He moved behind Stellar and started looking over the recovered sections of armor that Stellar had managed to attach to the rest of the suit. "Ah, here it is." He said, sliding a piece of armor that Stellar had been unable to find a place for from where she'd secured it.

Stellar saw what Steel had in his hoofs. "Hey! I'd wondered what that piece was for." She said.

"This looks like the original visor for this helmet." Steel told Stellar as he gestured for her to remove her helmet. Stellar opened the face-mask and slid the helmet off her long horn, thern handed it to Steel. He handed her the visor-piece as he looked over the forehead armor section.

Stellar gasped with surprise as she took the visor in her forehoofs. "This is Adamant!" She declared.

"Really?" Steel asked, looking at the visor. "But... it's transparent!" He exclaimed.

Stellar nodded. "You can make metal transparent. The modern visor's like that: a transparent piece of alloy steel." She pointed out.

"Well, yes. But I have never heard of Adamant being transparent before." He replied.

"How's that done, anyway?" Stellar asked as Steel fitted the proper visor to Stellar's helmet.

"As you might expect, it's a spell we cast on the metal while it's still molten." Steel explained. Then he looked at Stellar. "Are you interested in learning how to be a metal-worker as well, then?" He asked.

Stellar grinned. "I'd love to." She answered.

Steel nodded, chuckling. "That's a lot of trade secrets, you realise." He told Stellar, who looked a little disappointed. "Normally, we'd never share them with anypony outside our family, but knowing Canopus Star by reputation, he probably recorded everything he learned from my grandfather for you to learn anyway." He snorted, then laughed.

"Probably." Stellar agreed, seeing a chink in Steel's reluctance.

Steel thought about it as he finished securing the visor to the helmet. "Tell you what: you're Luna's apprentice, so you'll probably be exposed to more secrets than we could ever teach you, and sworn to secrecy as well." He told Stellar. "If you also swear an oath to our family never to teach anypony what we teach you while our family still lives, then we'll apprentice you to us as well." Steel Rings said to Stellar.

"I'd be honored." Stellar answered. "And I'll swear an oath to you and your clan, Steel, as sacred an oath as that I swore to Celestia and Luna when I joined the Lunar Guard: I swear by Faust upon my honor as a warrior that I will never reveal the secrets of your clan to anypony as long as your clan exists here." She said, her voice using that same seriously-deadly tone she used whenever Stellar was being absolutely honest or threatening.

Steel shuddered just a little at Stellar's tone of voice, but he realised just how serious she was being when she swore that oath. He nodded to her and handed Stellar back her helmet. "Then come. You can watch as we start working on your new suit of armor." He said, leading Stellar on after she'd sealed her suit.

==================================

In the rich suburbs of Canterlot, shadowy figures moved from the mansion that had belonged to the Blueblood family, disappearing into the night without being seen. A little while later, a series of small explosions woke the neighbors, and flames leaped from inside the mansion and several other buildings on the property.

The local fire brigade and several patrol units of the Night Guard raced to the scene, but after an assessment, the Chief of the fire brigade herself swiftly concluded that the buildings were beyond saving. Chief Red Shelter ordered her teams “Keep the fire from spreading through the gardens towards the neighboring properties! We have to contain them here!” She called in the commanders of the various brigades and despatched them to cover particular buildings, keeping the best units for the main house, which was becoming a blazing inferno. Luckily, being at the center of the property meant it was a little less likely to spread out towards the boundaries of the estate, something that Red Shelter found a blessing.

Pegasi and thestrals from the Night Guard brought in clouds heavy with moisture and started dumping the water on the fires and the surrounding landscaping. Captain Wingscythe arrived as well, having been alerted by one of the Night Guard units, and he surveyed their efforts from the skies as the firefighters did their best to bring the blazes under control. Once he was assured the fires were contained to the buildings, he landed hear the Fire Chief as she ordered arriving units to help. "What's the situation, Chief?" He asked as he reached the mare.

"Lousy." Chief Shelter replied. "We've got the fires contained, but whatever's causing them is refusing to be put out." She told Wingscythe. "We concluded that the fires are magically maintained, and probably started that way, too. I've sent for some of the elemental mages from the guild, but they're taking their time getting here." She explained. Just then, the structure of the main house collapsed, the stone walls undermined from inside, dropping the walls into the interior and crushing the structure down into the substantial basements.

"I see." Captain Wingscythe answered. “I’ll see if the Palace mages can come as well. They might get here more quickly than the Guild mages.” He ordered one of the Night Guard night-wings over and told her to fly back to the Palace and bring back as many of the mages as she could. After she flew off, Wingscythe moved back to Chief Shelter and started helping to co-ordinate the relief efforts.

=== === === === === ===

It took less than half-an-hour for the mages from the Palace to arrive and to start trying to subdue the magical fire. They were joined twelve minutes later by the Guild mages, and they spread out, trying to stop the fires in the remains of the four buildings. Red Shelter and her firefighters managed to get the outlying buildings finally smothered after another hour, but the main house burned until after Sunrise. With the other buildings doused, the mages were all able to concentrate on the old mansion and finally got it out two hours after Celestia slid the sun into the sky.

It was midday before most of the firefighters and mages headed back to their stations and Red Shelter took a rest. Wingscythe was still there as well, and he treated her to a cup of coffee from a mobile stand that had set up two hours before sunrise. “Here, Red.” Wingscythe said as he handed her the cup of coffee. “You probably need this more than I do.” He said.

Red smiled as she took the cup and sipped at it. “Thanks, Wing.” She replied. “At least with the Guild mages here, they can start the investigation right off the bat. And we don’t need to explain to them what we’d seen: they were here and saw it for themselves.”

“Yeah, a big advantage for this one.” Wingscythe agreed. “Do you think this was deliberate?”

“Personally... I’d stake my next foal on it.” Shelter said. “But whether or not we can prove it... that’s another thing.”

“As is usual.” Wingscythe agreed.

Red Shelter sighed with some frustration. “And with the fire being so intense, there’s not going to be much we can find to say what truly happened. The basement areas don’t match the plans from the Palace archives, there’s tunnels leading from the mansion to other buildings, and some that go right outside the estate. We’re still trying to track where some of the bigger ones went to, both inside and outside the estate.” She sipped her coffee. “It seems old Blueblood was up to something big... or his ancestors were. Some of those tunnels might be older than Cantelot itself.”

“Huh.” Wingscythe said, frowning. “Who knew?”

“That’s another big question.” Red replied. “But I don’t have to ask that one. That’s for the Princesses and others.”

“Yeah. I get the feeling my ponies are going to be the ones who ask those questions.” Wingscythe told her.

“Good luck, then.” Red wished for him, then drank the rest of her coffee. She headed back into the estate, as Wingscythe regrouped his guards and they made ready to head back to the palace, to pass control to others for the Day.

==================================

It was close to the time Stellar knew she'd have to get some sleep, when she watched as the metal crafters finished putting her suit together. The beautiful dark-blue metal contrasted with the silver they'd laid over the edges and certain sections, especially the big crescent moon on the peytral, a small Sparkle Star to one side of it. She had managed to activate one rune out of all those they'd impressed into the body, and that was the rune that allowed the armor to assemble itself, then retract and extend itself over her body. She'd been studying that rune for a good portion of the night, once she'd watched them moulding several pieces, including her new helmet. She'd also watched as they turned a small amount of the metal transparent for the helmet's visor, noting the spell they'd used.

It was to Stellar's surprise that the assembly rune was very simple. Most runes encompassed several major spells in their constructions, to make the spells easy to activate with as little mana as possible. The assembly rune had four very easy spells woven into it, spells that even Stellar was able to cast with ease as she empowered the rune. "Then again, it was written by Canopus Star, and he wasn't even a mage, as such." She said to herself. "I must ask Twilight if she knows anything about writing runes.. maybe Princess Luna as well." Stellar added as she watched them lay out the pieces of her new suit on a table, using the red armor as a guide. The red armor lay on a table beside the blue armor, and once they'd finished arranging the pieces of the blue armor and making sure they were identical to those from the red armor, Stellar looked at Steel Rings. "Ready then?" She asked him.

Steel took a deep breath and exhaled. "Yeah, I guess." He replied. "The runes we put on the pieces are identical to those on the red armor, and all the pieces are identical as well." He told Stellar. "If we did it right, and if you actually managed to figure out the assembly rune, then your new suit should come together the same as Canopus Star's suit does."

"Only one way to tell, then." Stellar said. She moved up to the peytral, slipped her hoof through to the neck brace and touched the rune, shunting some of her mana directly into it. She was amazed at how much she had to put into it, however, until it finally glowed brightly. As she moved back, the armor's pieces floated up from the table and assembled themselves into the new suit, but it took a little time before they'd all locked into place properly. Stellar also reactivated the red armor's rune as the blue armor sorted itself out, and it assembled far more quickly than the new suit. And as they stood together on their tables, Stellar nodded. The blue Lunar Guard armor they'd created looked every bit as awesome and protecting as Canopus Star's original suit. "Damn, but they look good, standing there like that." Stellar said to Steel Rings.

Steel grinned. "Oh yeah." He had to agree.

The winged Sparkle Star on the forehead guard of the red armor had been replaced on the blue armor with the crescent moon and the Sparkle Star that also sat on the peytral. Little lock-points for Stellar's lieutenant's bars also were there as well, and Stellar pressed them into place. She could feel a lot of the runes the armor had were dormant, rather than active as they were on the red armor, but hopefully she'd be able to fix that soon enough. "Okay, now for the final test." Stellar said. She touched the helmet symbol, and grinned as the armor folded in on itself, until only the helmet was left floating there. She picked it up and put it on, the padding inside fitting her perfectly and comfortably. Then she gave the mental command, and the armor extended and encompassed her. Instantly she felt the difference between the two suits. The leg armor and other pieces seemed to fit her a lot better than the red armor, but then it had been tailored to fit her this time. She tried walking around, and it all moved smoothly.

Steel Rings watched, nodding his head as the armor moved and adjusted as Stellar walked and moved, twisting herself around and trying out certain moves. Stellar then opened her big wings and the wing-covers extended out over the leading edge of her wings smoothly, the pieces opening up to lie along her wings as well. Steel then noticed the tail-armor had extended down and closed up, trapping her tail inside it and completing the rudder-like extension without getting hair entangled in it's pieces. "Good, that seems to be working well." He said as he checked over the wing-armor. He grinned at Stellar. "Okay, furl your wings again." He told her, and Stellar did. The wing-covers flared out and closed over Stellar's wings once they'd furled properly. Steel chuckled. "I daresay we're probably going to have orders for suits like this from all the officers of all the guard branches, once they see yours, Stellar."

Stellar chuckled. "A good bit of business for you, then." She agreed.

"Can we use the assembly rune on any suits we make?" Steel asked.

"Sure. I mean, the suits are cumbersome without it." She replied. "But just the assembly rune, if you would. I'll teach some of your artificiers to activate it as well." Stellar told Steel.

"Thanks. That will be perfect." Steel replied.

Stellar then brought her sword out and strapped it over the back of her armor. It fit the same as it did with it's original suit. "Just as I'd hoped." Stellar said, grinning.

Steel then looked at Stellar as she retracted the red armor back into the helmet. "Lieutenant, could we make a copy of Canopus Star's armor for the Museum?" He asked her.

Stellar looked surprised. "Um... sure. Just without the runes and made out of ordinary metal, if you can."

"Oh sure." Steel replied. "It would just be for display. There's several sets of armor from famous generals and others on display, even one from Celestia herself." He explained. "I just think Canopus Star's armor deserves to be there amongst them."

“I won’t argue against that.” Stellar replied, grinning. “I think he’d be both proud and mortified at the thought that he’s remembered the way he is today.”

Steel just nodded and walked Stellar out the front of the armor works. "Remember, any time you get the time, come back and we'll continue your training here." Steel reminded Stellar.

"I'll remember." Stellar replied. "And thanks again."

"Our pleasure, Lieutenant." Steel waved with a grin as Stellar headed back to the Palace.

“Been in there a long time.” Stellar said to herself as she noticed it was almost mid-day.

On the way, she noticed the pall of smoke hanging over the part of the city where, she realised with a shock, that her parents' home was located. Taking to the sky, she flew quickly to the scene, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found it wasn't the Sparkle mansion that had gone up in flames that night. Landing, she saw several of the Night Guard and the Day Guard were keeping ponies away from the scene. She walked up to the ranking Guard on duty, a sargeant, Stellar saw, and asked "What's the situation, Sargeant?"

He looked Stellar up and down before realising who she was, then saluted. "Lieutenant!" He replied. "Ma'am, there were a series of explosions here earlier in the night, and every building on this estate was set on fire." He explained. "It's mostly under control at this point in time, with only the main building still smouldering fitfully. Captain Wingscythe is in attendance, ma'am."

Stellar nodded as she took this in. "Where is he, Sargeant?" She asked.

"That way, Ma'am, with Fire Chief Shelter." He gestured with a wing.

"Thank you, Sargeant." Stellar replied, and returned his salute before walking towards where Wingscythe was located.

=== === === === === ===

Wingscythe was making ready to return to the palace, when he saw a suit of armor that wasn't that of any of the regular Lunar Guard walk towards him. The face in the helmet then reminded him of earlier in the previous day, when Luna had brought him a new officer... "Lieutenant Sparkle." He said, moving towards Stellar.

"Captain Wingscythe." Stellar replied, saluting him.

Wingscythe returned the salute, then looked her up and down. "At ease, Lieutenant." He ordered, and once Stellar was at-ease, he walked right around her. "That's one hay of a suit you've got there, Lieutenant." He commented as he looked Stellar over. "Is it new, or did you have them re-color that suit you were wearing earlier? Because I swear it looks identical to it."

"No, Sir. This suit is all-new, just made to the original pattern of my other armor, Sir." Stellar explained.

Wingscythe nodded. "That's a very good suit." He said. "Was it hard for them to make?"

Stellar smiled. "No, Sir. They were the original armorers who made my Great-uncle's suit in the first place. So it was fairly easy for them to repeat the construction of it." She explained.

"A good bit of luck, that." Wingscythe replied. "I don't know of many businesses from that time period that are still operating. They must have backing to be still going."

"Their sign says 'By Royal Appointment', Captain. They are the ones who made Celestia's and Luna's armors too." Stellar informed Wingscythe.

That got an impressed look from Wingscythe. "All right. That's definitely something to remember." He said, nodding. “Maybe I should get them to make me a new suit of armor as well.” Stellar chuckled with a big grin on her face. “Something funny, Lieutenant?” Wingscythe asked.

“Yes, Sir.” Stellar answered. “One of the comments their head crafts-stallion said was that he expected there might be others in the Guard ordering more armor from them, once the officers started seeing my new armor.” She explained.

Wingscythe looked surprised, then chuckled as well. “First time I ever got a ‘yes’ answer to that question.” He said, grinning. “And indeed, his statement seems to be prophetic.”

“He knows the market, Sir.” Stellar said back with a grin. “And this armor’s about as good as it gets, for protection and movement.” She said, opening her wings and showing Wingscythe how the wing-covers folded over her wings after she’d opened them up.

Wingscythe looked the covers over and whistled in appreciation. “Okay, must get new armor.” He said. “Ve-ry cool, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Stellar replied, grinning widely as the wing-covers spread out and closed again as she furled her wings, enclosing them completely within the armor. “The foundry is Small Rings Fine Armor and Arms, Captain.”

Wingscythe face-hoofed. “I should have known.” He muttered. “There’s nopony else in the armor business with that endorsement .”

Stellar smirked with a big grin. “Just going to the best, Captain. Luna recommended them, after all.”

Wingscythe nodded. “Well, Lieutenant, I am going back to the Palace and hand things over to Commander Duskrunner. You’re welcome to accompany me and sign out for the night, if you’re not willing to do the Day Shift for the moment.” He offered.

“I’ve got some research to do, Captain, so I’ll leave off for today.” Stellar replied as they walked towards the gathered Night Guards.

“Fair enough.” Wingscythe said. “Must be tough being Princess Luna’s apprentice. I bet there’s a lot to learn.”

“All part of the fun, Sir.” Stellar answered with an even-bigger grin on her face. “And nothing I’d rather be doing, to be honest.”

Wingscythe nodded. “Then I wish you all luck, Lieutenant.” He told her as they reached the Night Guard, who were in ranks and came to attention as the officers reached them. “Guards! Move out!” Wingscythe said, and they all took to the wing and headed for the Palace, Wingscythe and Stellar in the lead.

==================================

Stellar settled in her quarters near Luna’s tower, her armor retracted and with her freshly showered and groomed. The servants had left her with a nice breakfast and she ate absently as she pondered the tome she’d found with Canopus Star’s armor. The casing was metal with Adamant edging, and the lock on the case was an almost-solid piece, with no obvious keyhole besides a very small series of four slots around a central hole with no space for a key to be inserted. “Okay... if a key isn’t meant to open you... what is?” Stellar asked herself.

Stellar then looked at the two chests that had contained the armor and frowned. She’d been all through the chests looking for a key to the tome, but there was none to be found. Then something struck her. The chests had been easy to open, with the winged Sparkle Star acting as the lock’s key-and-catch each time. She looked back at the tome, then got up and moved to the chests. She tried to see if either of the winged stars could be removed, but they didn’t budge. “Okay, maybe a bit too obvious.” She said to herself. “Now, if I was a crafty old warhorse like Canopus Star, where would I hide an emblem like that?” She asked.

Stellar moved to the door and summoned one of the maids. “Yes, Miss?” The blonde-maned white unicorn mare asked.

“Can you bring me a pair of mannepones about my size, please?” Stellar requested.

“Of course, Miss.” The maid said, and within five minutes they’d been brought in and set up. “Is that all, Miss?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Stellar said, and after they’d left, Stellar took out the helmet of Canopus Star’s armor and extended the armor over one of the mannepones. She looked at the three smaller winged stars on the armor, but none of them wanted to budge. “Okay, this is getting annoying.” Stellar said to herself. “Am I wrong? Maybe something else is the trigger mechanism...”

Then she remembered: There were two more winged stars in Canopus Star’s gear. “The sword!” Stellar exclaimed, then pulled it out of the pocket she kept it in. A shimmer of power ran through Stellar as she drew the great-sword out of the scabbard, something she’d felt every time she’d taken it out, then she looked at the cross-guard as the sword floated before her. There were two winged stars on the sword, one each side of the cross-guard. Stellar studied them closely, then noticed one was slightly bigger than the other. She tried to move the bigger one, and nothing happened. “Yeah, should have figured that one.” Stellar admonished herself, then she pressed the smaller one. To her relief, the wings moved back on it and it clicked. Stellar then turned it forty-five degrees and it dropped off onto her hoof. “Way to go Grandfather.” Stellar said, then blinked. “Why do I keep referring to him as ‘Grandfather’?” She asked herself as she moved to the tome.

Pressing the winged star into the little hole, Stellar turned the wings until it clicked again, then she pressed the wings. The lock popped up, and as she let the wings go, the lock and clasp dropped open. “Sneaky old stallion.” Stellar said with a grin as she opened the tome’s casing, to find the tome inside wasn’t actually attached to the case. She drew it out and looked the beautiful book over. There was, as expected, a large winged star on the front cover, as well as something that made the hairs on Stellar’s withers stand on end: underneath the winged star was a single vertical great-sword with a round shield behind it. “Just like my cutie mark...” Stellar said, in awe of what it could mean.

She opened it and, to her astonishment, a magic image appeared. “Greetings, my granddaughter.” The image of Canopus Star said to Stellar. “If you are seeing this, I have gone to my final reward. I hope that, by now, you have either graduated from the Royal Guard Academy, or are at least a student there. Within these pages, I have written as many of my secrets and as much special knowledge as I could, so that you might follow in my hoof-prints if that is your destiny. So, let us begin, if you are ready...”

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06: Equipped