Twelve years later…

A fair distance away from Canterlot Mountain lay the estate of House Shining Star. Although the property was one of the smallest, it had some of the nicest land in the still damaged Equestria. The grass was green, the river flowing through the edge of the property was cleaned by magic filters the House invented, and there were plenty of full-grown trees. In the center of the land was a small town.

It was here that the ponies of House Shining Star lived their lives. Even though not technically related to the inhabitants of the house, they were still under protection of the house and as such were considered members. Unlike members of other Houses, here ponies could own their own homes, would be given gems that could be used as currency, and for the most part they could choose their own careers unless they showed particular skills as a Keeper, Seeker, or a Butler.

In the center of the town lay a huge mansion that belonged to Lady Celestia and Lady Luna. Most of the mansion was open to the public and both Ladies would pay frequent visits to their ponies to check up on them. They had no children of their own, but many thought they viewed their ponies as their family, especially considering how warm and caring they were.

The staff of the house included the Butlers, maids, cooks, occasionally Seekers, and the Keepers. Each of the rooms was fairly large and could be personalized to fit the pony’s taste. There were also a variety of rooms that, although smaller, would serve as rooms for the entire town’s population on special holiday celebrations, or as a place for them to stay in case the town was ever attacked. Near Celestia and Luna’s suite, which rested on the top floor of the mansion, lay smaller rooms reserved for very special ponies. In one of these rooms, the permanent inhabitants had yet to awaken.

Said room was simple, minimally furnished, with doors leading to the adjacent bathroom and bedroom. A small basket, from which snores could be heard, lay by the bed. It was into this room that the maid Twinkleshine, a unicorn with a pink mane, white coat, and three blue stars as a cutie mark, entered, carrying a covered tray. After closing the door, she quickly moved over to the occupied bed and placed the tray on the nightstand.

“Miss Twilight, wake up,” Twinkleshine said, gently shaking the bed. The mass of covers simply groaned and rolled away from the noise. Twinkleshine simply rolled her eyes. “Come on, Twilight, you need to get up. You know what I will do if you don’t.”

“Don’t wanna,” Twilight mumbled, pulling the pillow over her head. Twinkleshine just rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile.

“Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Twinkleshine raised the lid of the tray with her magic long enough to pull out a cup filled with ice cubes. With a wicked grin, she proceeded to dump the entire cup of ice on Twilight’s exposed back.

“AAAHHHH! COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD CO—” THUMP! Twilight Sparkle groaned as she lay on the floor, rubbing her back where it smacked onto the floor. “You know I hate it when you do that, Twinkleshine,” she groaned.

“Well, what kind of friend would I be if I let you oversleep?” Twinkleshine asked with a giggle. She then walked over to the basket at the foot of Twilight’s bed. “Come on Spike, you need to wake up to too.”

“Ok, ok,” the basket grumbled, the blanked moving back to reveal a small purple dragon with a green underbelly and green scales on his heads and green eyes. “Just don’t pour ice on me.”

“Never,” Twinkleshine said with a smile before proceeding to the nearby closet and laying out Twilight’s clothes for the day. This mostly consisted of a simple yellow dress with a pink scarf around its collar. Spike meanwhile climbed out of his basket and walked over to help Twilight get to her hooves.

A few days after the incident in Canterlot, Lady Celestia and Lady Luna had given Twilight a variety of tasks to try and determine just how much magic she had at her disposal. It was shockingly little compared to what they had seen originally. So then Lady Celestia had given her Spike’s egg and told her to hatch it. She had nearly given up when a massive rainbow shockwave had suddenly blasted across the sky, startling Twilight so much that her magic flared once again and proceeded to hatch the egg and thus, well, Spike. Thankfully, Celestia was there to bring her magic under control before something truly destructive happened. Since then, Twilight had raised Spike and he had become her assistant.

As a side effect of this event, Twilight had gained the ability to now use all of her magic, as thought a clogged sink had been cleared, allowing the water to flow through. One of the biggest thing she had to learn after this event, however, was control. With her magic now easily accessible, she would sometimes lose control if under too much stress or trying to hard to cast a spell. Thankfully, after years of training, Twilight was almost always in complete control of her magic.

After a quick thank you to the dragon, Twilight walked over to the dresser and began to get dressed. “I still don’t think that was necessary, Twinkleshine,” she said as she combed her mane.

“Well, given how late you were up last night in the library, I thought you could use a little pick-me-up,” Twinkleshine replied. “Besides, I wasn’t sure if you finished that assignment for Lady Celestia yet, and we all know how you get when you think you’re going to be late for something.”

“You try and use time spells to get more work done ONE TIME and no one ever lets you live it down,” Twilight grumbled, pulling the lid off the nearby tray. Inside was a glass of orange juice, some toast with honey and some scrambled eggs. There was also a small bowl of gems for Spike to eat as well. “And yes, I finished the assignment yesterday afternoon,” she said before beginning to eat her breakfast.

“Wow, three books in one day plus the four you read in your free time? That’s a new record,” Spike said with a smirk, earning him an unamused glare from Twilight and a giggle from Twinkleshine. Soon breakfast was eaten and both Twilight and Spike were dressed. Spike wore a casual suit on a daily basis, purple and green to match his scales. After saying goodbye to Twinkleshine as the maid began to clean cleaned the room, Spike and Twilight left the room with Spike riding on the mare’s back.

“Hello, my lady,” a voice said almost as soon as they closed the door.

“Hey, Flash Sentry,” Spike said with a wave, earning a smile from the suit-wearing stallion with an orange coat, blue mane, and a blue shield with a lightning bolt cutie mark. After Twilight and her family had moved to House Shining Star, Flash had been assigned to be the family’s permanent assistant while he completed his Butler training and had eventually become Twilight’s personal guard due to both his combat skills and alchemy knowledge. As such, he also had a room next to Twilight’s so he could respond quickly should an emergency arise.

“Hello, Spike,” Flash said with nod. “So Twilight, did you sleep well?”

“I would have slept better if SOMEONE hadn’t dropped a sleeper bomb on me last night,” she said with a partial growl, giving Flash a very fiery glare. She was referring to a special bomb Flash made that released a crushed herb into the vicinity, causing the victim to fall asleep almost instantly. Flash didn’t even flinch.

“You’re just upset because I interrupted one of your late-night reading sessions. Seriously, it took me two hours to find you with all the wards you had put up in the library.”

“I was reading Clover the Clever’s book on advanced transfiguration and magical enchantment.”

“Which you already read last month.”

“And now I have no idea where I left off!”

“I put a bookmark in the book before I had to carry you back to your room. Again.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with staying up just a little bit to do some light reading.”

“It was one in the morning, and it was one of seven books you read yesterday. That goes beyond light reading and into the territory of obsession.”

“I’m a Keeper. I NEED to keep updated on the information in the library.”

“Updated, not obsessively rereading every book or every new version of a book. Seriously, you once read a history book three times in five days just because another Keeper added two small sections updating the most recent history of Equestria.”

“He’s got a point,” Spike said, smirking at Twilight’s frown as she tried to think of a reply.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I used a sleeper bomb on you,” Flash said with an apologetic smile. “But my job is to keep you safe, even if that means protecting you from yourself. And don’t you give me that look, we both know if I hadn’t intervened you would be awake all night, which would mean you would be exhausted today and you would be so worried about messing something up that you would be so full of anxiety that we might have another time travel incident.”

“It was one time,” Twilight muttered.

“Yes it was, but my point is that I’m just trying to look out for you.” Flash’s smile became more understanding. “Being a Keeper isn’t easy, and some would say it’s harder than being a Butler. So its ok to have somepony, or somedragon, looking out for you.”

Twilight sighed. “You’re right, again,” she said before reaching over and giving him a quick hug. “So thank you for throwing a sleeper bomb in my face.” She smirked ruefully.

“Anytime,” he replied nonchalantly. And with that, the trio walked to the main library. Upon opening the doors, they were greeted with a grand three-story room filled to the brim with books and scrolls alike. Some were on shelves, some were on the floor in piles, and yet more flew through the air as the automated sorting spells did their work.

“Hey, Twilight,” the head Librarian Moondancer said without looking up from her work. “Here to read all day again?” Moondancer was a cream colored unicorn with a red mane that contained two different violet streaks running down it. Her cutie mark was crescent moon with three purple stars around it. She wore a simple dress like Twilight, but also a necklace with a small metal book emblem on the end to signify her status.

“That depends on the schedule Lady Celestia has for me,” Twilight said. “And if you’re going to kick me out again.”

“Here’s the schedule.” Moondancer levitated a scroll over to Twilight and looking up at her with a smile. “And you know I don’t like kicking you out, but unlike you, I actually need to sleep at night. That, and the library has strict hours of operation and you know it. Even you begging Lady Celestia for longer hours got you nowhere.”

“I was not begging,” Twilight replied, blushing slightly.

“You were on your knees, pleading for an extra hour of study time,” Spike said, causing Twilight to blush deeper.

“Why do you always bring that up?”

“Because playful and lighthearted teasing is the sign of a good friend,” Moondancer said, grinning. “Now go on, go read another four books.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Twilight said with a smile and a roll of her eyes. As they began to walk into the maze of shelves, Twilight turned back to Spike. “What’s our day look like, my faithful assistant?”

“Lets see…” The dragon unrolled the parchment. “So it looks like we have until noon to finish the reports we already got done yesterday, followed by lunch with Lady Celestia and Lady Luna. Then, umm…”

“Umm? What ‘umm…’?” Twilight asked.

“Well, it just says ‘Surprise!’, followed by a small reminder that we’ll be going to Canterlot tomorrow morning.”

“’Surprise?’ Oh no, you don’t think she will be giving me a surprise TEST do you!? What if she wants to test me on everything I’ve ever learned! What if I fail and—” A purple claw clamped down over her mouth.

“Twilight, relax. Celestia has never given you a surprise test before, and I highly doubt she would start now. Besides, maybe it’s a good surprise, like her telling you that you had passed your Keeper exam.”

“But…but I haven’t done anything amazing recently,” Twilight said. “What would we be celebrating?”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out,” Flash said as he placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Just focus on the work you have today. I’m sure what ever the surprise is will be perfectly fine.”

“Right, ok.” Twilight took a deep breath, held it, and let it out, just like Celestia had taught her. “Work now, worry when and IF something bad happens.”

“Well, at least she’s getting better,” Spike whispered to Flash, who nodded. After the incident with Thorn, Twilight had developed a rather severe case of anxiety, especially when it came to failing Lady Celestia and Lady Luna. Thankfully, they had proven time and time again to be far more benevolent that Thorn. Their care had reduced Twilight’s anxiety considerably, but not completely.

As they walked, the group finally arrived at Twilight’s main desk. It was plain wood with a few drawers, a small container of quills, and a few new inkwells. The desk would have looked rather organized if it wasn’t surrounded by piles of books that Twilight was reading or had recently read. The books appeared to be stacked randomly, but anyone who knew Twilight knew that she reorganized the books so constantly that only she could keep track. She found quite a bit of pleasure in reorganizing her things. The only reason she didn’t reorganize the shelves in the library was because Lady Luna had forbidden it after she had spent a whole day reorganizing the books, only to reorganize them again two days later.

A mixing station was set up a bit behind Twilight’s desk. It was here that Flash would make use of his alchemy skills to create various mixtures. This could be anything from potions that assisted with healing, smoke bombs, poisons, flash bangs, or even more sleeper bombs. Sleeper bombs in particular ran out rather quickly.

There was also a small cushion nearby for Spike to rest on while he wasn’t running errands for Twilight. It was light blue and well worn from Spike’s naps during Twilight’s late night reading sessions.

With the reports titled “The History of Equestria” already complete, the next few hours became leisure time for the trio. Twilight picked up on the reading she had begun the night before (Flash had been kind enough to put the book on her desk after knocking her out), Flash made a few more sleeper bombs, and Spike took a nap followed by some much lighter (easier to understand) reading than Twilight. Before they knew it, it was time for lunch.

After a quick check to make sure everything was in order, the group departed for Lady Celestia and Lady Luna’s personal lounge. Rather than eat in the dining hall, the sisters would traditionally eat in the lounge for lunch. The lounge was far more comfortable and it allowed them to implement an ‘open door’ period, where anypony that had a request could come forward to state it.

The entrance to the lounge contained finely crafted wooden doors depicting the two sisters raising their respective celestial body. Inside, the room contained two large couches for the alicorns to rest on and a variety of cushions of all sizes for visiting ponies. Other than that, the lounge had elegant wallpaper, a few bits of pottery, and a large portrait of Lady Faust. A large window gave them a glorious view of the small town of House Shining Star. All in all, it was a wonderful room that still made Twilight stare every time she came inside.

As Twilight, Flash and Spike entered, they saw that Lady Celestia and Luna were talking with the town’s primary dentist Minuette. She was a light blue unicorn with a mane and tail that was half silver, half dark blue. Her cutie mark was an hourglass and she was wearing a simple blue dress. Twilight could hear Miunette ask for more supplies to make toothpaste. Considering her elated smile, it was not hard to guess that her request had been approved.

Also, off to the side, the unicorn Lyra was playing softly of her lyre. She was a mint green unicorn with a light green and white mane. Her cutie mark was also a lyre and she was wearing a simple green dress. Lyra had shown a large amount of musical talent as a filly and had become one of the premier musicians in the town. Lady Celestia and Lady Luna had set up a system where ponies could volunteer to play for them during their lunch period, and it looked like today was Lyra’s turn.

Twilight had gotten to know both unicorns a few weeks after she had first moved to the land owned by House Shining Star. Although not taught by the ladies directly, they were still part of the school Celestia and Luna had set up to teach unicorns how to use their magic. Twilight had spent time there in the mornings before being taught by Celestia in the afternoon and Luna in the evening.

Celestia and Luna wore dresses the townsfolk had made for them as birthday gifts the previous year. They were richer and more intricate than what Twilight, Minuette, and Lyra were wearing. Both had colors to match their respective wear’s celestial body, with Celestia’s being a bright orange and red while Luna’s was a cool silver.

“Hi, Twilight,” Minuette called as the group entered the room fully. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have an appointment in ten minutes so I need to get back.” She rushed over and quickly embraced the unicorn.

“That’s ok,” Twilight said, returning the embrace. “We can talk after I get back from Canterlot.” Minuette nodded before rushing off down the hallway, waving a quick goodbye as she went.

“Any request?” Lyra asked with a smile as Twilight turned back around.

“Do you remember ‘Ballot of Harmony’?” Lady Luna asked. “I seem to recall you performing that as your graduation project.”

“Indeed I do, my lady,” Lyra said. Lifting her lyre, Lyra began to strum the instrument with both her hooves and her magic. Unicorns using magic for something like lyre playing was uncommon, “Ballot of Harmony” was a song that could not sound right without it. The melody flowed over the room, soft, light and gentle.

Lady Celestia gently raised her wing in invitation. Twilight smiled before coming over and climbing up onto the couch next to her. The sun alicorn let her wing fall gently over Twilight, pulling her closer before levitating over their lunches. Twilight’s was a simple daisy sandwich, one of her favorite meals. It was also the first meal she had eaten after the incident in Canterlot, so it held a fair amount of emotional significance for Twilight. It was a meal that always served to calm her down, and despite not showing it, Twilight was still a little stressed about tomorrows trip. It was times like this, though, that helped to ease her worries. Spike and Flash settled onto nearby cushions with their own lunches. For a while, no one spoke as they ate and listened to Lyra’s music.

“Something is troubling you, Twilight,” Celestia said at last, looking down at the unicorn, who flinched and automatically retreated a bit more under the wing. “Are you worried that I put ‘Surprise!’ on your schedule again?” She gave a knowing grin. Twilight just weakly giggled and looked away, blushing slightly. “Well, you need not worry. I think you will enjoy this surprise very much.”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the still-open door and Twilight gasped.

“Hey, Twily,” Shining Armor said with a big grin. “How’s my little sister today?”

“SHINY!” Twilight yelled, leaping off the couch before sprinting over and tackling her BBBFF (big brother best friend forever) into a hug so strong she knocked him to the floor. His armor, minus his helmet, clanked and rattled against the ground.

Shining Armor was a white unicorn with a dark blue mane with a light blue streak running down it. His cutie mark was a shield containing a six-pointed pink star with three light blue stars above the shield. Despite being older than Twilight, he had discovered his cutie mark later on after defending Twilight from some bullies.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. “I thought you were up at the Crystal Empire with Golden Heart and Cadence.”

“He was,” came Golden Heart’s voice, the second door opening to reveal her and her daughter. Cadence waved, showing off her stunning pink dress, while Golden Heart’s smile was as bright as her even more stunning golden dress. “But, since we need to be in Canterlot tomorrow anyway, I thought a little trip to see my old friends and to let my most trusted guard see his little sister would be a nice treat for all of us.” Behind her, her Butlers were already bringing in some her supplies.

About three years after the Canterlot incident, Shining Armor had saved Cadence from a large shard of falling ice caused by a weather factory malfunction. Impressed with his shield spell, Golden Heart had asked if he would be interested in coming to the Crystal Empire to train as a guard.

Although alicorns had Butlers, some also had guards designed specifically to protect the ponies under their care. This was especially important since a few opportunistic alicorns would occasionally try and steal ponies from other alicorns, especially in harsh conditions like the frozen north. Others simply kept their important ponies near their mansions, leaving the less important ones (in their eyes) on the outskirts of their properties to be kidnapped.

After some persuasion from Cadence and assurance from Twilight that she would be ok, Shining agreed to go, and had since then become the head of the guard after saving no less than ten ponies from a single kidnapper. Since then, not a single pony had been kidnapped from the Crystal Empire, a record Shining was very proud of. He would still visit as often as he could, and Cadence and Twilight had developed a very close friendship and even their own song and dance greeting.

“Also, I thought Twilight might want to hear the news,” Golden Heart said with a sly smile, causing Cadence and Shining Armor’s eyes to widen.

“What news?” Twilight asked, looking at her brother questioningly.

“Well…” Shining Armor began.

“You see…” Cadence continued nervously.

“They’re dating,” Golden Heart said after it became clear that neither of them was going to come out and say it.

“MOM!” Cadence cried, blushing.

“What? There’s nothing wrong with finding love, dear. You remember the story of how I met your father don’t you?” Cadence said nothing, but nodded, lips pressed.

“OH MY GOSH! THIS IS SO EXCITING!” Twilight exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly. “You’re dating CADENCE! This is the best news I’ve heard in months! OH! OH! How long has it been since you asked her out? What happened? Did you ask her in the crystal garden she likes so much? Did you have to ask more than once? What—Mghhh—”

Twilight was interrupted by Cadence’s magic firmly clamping down on her mouth, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment.

“I asked him, he nearly fainted, it was two months ago, and we’re still just learning more about each other in a completely normal way,” Cadence said gently, trying to conceal her own blush.

“And you should take all the time you need,” Golden Heart said. “I don’t mind waiting for grandkids.”

“MOM!!!” Cadence screamed, her face now as red as a cherry. Shining was not doing much better. Twilight’s mind was trying to comprehend what Golden Heart just said, while Spike was on the floor with laughter. Flash and Lyra smirked. Celestia and Luna just giggled and shook their heads. They knew Golden Heart had a thing for helping couples find love, but also that this kind of teasing was very characteristic of her.

“Just be sure that we are invited to the wedding,” Luna said with a smirk as she stood up and looked at Golden Heart. “We nearly missed yours after that letter was misplaced by my forgetful sister,” she said, smirking as Celestia just stuck her tongue out at the younger alicorn.

Suddenly, music that wouldn’t have been out of place at a wedding began to play from Lyra’s lyre. Shining and Cadence both glared at the unicorn, who merely stuck out her tongue and winked.

“Grandkids?” Twilight asked, her mind finally coming out of its stupor. “But… but they just started dating, and statistics show…”

“Never underestimate love, my dear,” Golden Heart said with a wink before leaning down and whispering, “And besides, wouldn’t you want Cadence as a sister?”

Twilight blinked before saying, “Well… she is a pretty amazing pony.”

“Then be sure to tease them as much as you can,” Golden Heart whispered back with a wink. Twilight giggled and nodded.

‘Poor Shiny,’ she thought. ‘I doubt Lady Golden Heart will let up on him, whether they get married or not.’

The rest of the afternoon was an enjoyable whirl for Twilight and Shining Armor, and Cadence even dragged Flash into the fun. Somehow, Cadence managed to get poor Flash to stay still for a full makeover, and the dismay on his face made Twilight laugh all the harder. Twilight’s parents were living and working in the town, Nightlight as an astronomer and Twilight Velvet at the local school. The siblings got to go pay them a surprise visit, and both took joy in the surprised looks on their faces when they showed up. Once news had gotten out about Shining and Cadence’s relationship, however, both parents couldn’t resist a bit of playful teasing as well. Lady Celestia and Lady Luna were curiously absent all day, as was Lady Golden Heart, but what they were doing, Twilight did not know.

As the day wound down, Twilight, Spike, Flash, Cadence, and Shining Armor all returned to the house to get an early start on their sleep. Twilight knew the next few days would be important, but Celestia had insisted she try and keep calm. It was very rare for the Queen to directly call every alicorn to Canterlot for a meeting. Whatever the reason, it must be big. Twilight tried not to let this fact distract her, though it took quite a while before she slowly lost consciousness and fell into a quiet slumber…

Author's Note

See? Much calmer and much less dark chapter than the last one. I can balance
Also, I don't know if Twinkleshine would normally pour ice on Twilight, but this is an alternate universe, so your argument is invalid. (I mainly put it in because my girlfriend likes doing the same thing to me when I'm sleeping when I shouldn't be. So shoutout to the girlfriend )

Here we establish more of Twilight's life after the Canterlot incident and await for it all to go horribly sideways, because thats what happens in all these stories. At least ones like this

As always, let me know how I did and I will see you next time