As the light of the afternoon sun shines through the window of the palace library Princess Twilight Sparkle cracks open a large book, the well worn tome showing it's age as she flips through the pages. Already familiar with the books contents Twilight doesn't spend much time on it. She gently places the book back onto the proper shelf with her magic as she approaches a desk in the middle of the room. Sitting down in front of the immaculate structure Twilight levitates out a piece of parchment as well as a feather pen and inkwell, the Princess begins writing but halts part way through. She grimaces in contemplation as she can't seem to focus on her words and promptly balls up the wasted paper and throws it away.
"I wonder what Spike is doing right now." Twilight ponders out loud, not really expecting an answer from the empty room. "This would be easier if he was here." Twilight sighs as she leans back and looks towards the ceiling of the Library, the rooms of the next floor of the castle holding her thoughts. She shakes her head lightly and gets back to the matter at hand. "No time to worry about that." Twilight pulls out a new roll of parchment and begins writing again.
Dear Celestia,
I am sending you this letter as an update on the upcoming Royal summit in Canterlot. Cadance has informed me that her and Flurryheart will be arriving from the Crystal Empire in a few days, important business within the kingdom delaying them but rest assured they will arrive in time. I will like wise arrive in Canterlot around that time, personal business is keeping me in Ponyville for the time being but I promise not to be late. I look forward to seeing you and Luna soon.
Your Good Friend And Fellow Princess,
Twilight Sparkle
"I guess that will do." Twilight says as she closes her eyes, unsure if the letter is good enough but to distracted to attempt writing it again, With a flick of her horn The letter is wrapped and sealed before vanishing into light. Twilight sighs again as she stands up from her desk and uses her magic to return all her writing supplies to their proper places for if she needs them again.
As the Princess organizes her desk she hears a light tapping from across the room, looking up she sees a young unicorn mare standing in the open door way of the Library, one hoof on the door as she'd just knocked to announce her presence. The Mare, only a couple years to old to be thought of as a filly, brushes her long crimson red hair out of emerald eyes with a yellowish green hoof. An image of an Apple wrapped by two swirls with stars on the end adorns her flank and A polite smile graces her freckled face as she looks at the Princess.
"Howdy Miss Twilight, Ah hope yer doing awright." She says as she walks fully into the Library, tipping the stetson on her head in greeting.
"Oh, hello Melrose, I wasn't expecting to see you today." Twilight greets as she approaches, she shakes her guests hoof once she comes to stand in front of her, the Alicorn nearly towering over the young mare. "What brings you by?"
"Ah was just hoping ya could teach me a magic trick or two. Back home mah Pa says we gotta be workin' not playin' with magic." Melrose puts on an annoyed face as she gestures to her horn. "Makes it kinda hard to use this thing all proper like don't it?" Twilight has to think for a moment on how to approach the topic. knowing of AppleDaniel's strict adherence to Tradition when it comes to the family business. She lowers her head to meet eye to eye with the younger unicorn.
"I understand your frustration but I think your father is just looking out for you and your siblings." Twilight tries to explain. "He's probably just worried that you might all become to dependent on your magic. He wants you and the others to have a good work ethic, he likely sees your magic as to easy a way of doing things."
"Ah guess that makes sense. Mah Mom doesn't use her magic either." Melrose ponders to herself. She looks at the Princess with a smile though. "But that's why Ah wanted to talk with ya. Ah still wanna learn magic and what not, even if I can't use it at home."
"Well I certainly appreciate the enthusiasm." Twilight says happily as she stands up fully. She thinks for a momentn "I'm sure I could teach you a thing or two from time to time." With that promise made Twilight begins heading out of the Library, levitating a saddle bag onto her back as she leaves.
"Well thank ya kindly miss Twilight." Melrose says gratefully as she begins to follow the Princess, a new spring in her step. "So whatcha doin'? Got important Princess Business?"
"Hmm, Not really today. Soon though I'll need to speak to the other rulers about Equestria's economy as well as relations with the Changlings and Griffins" Twilight turns her head as she walks, unable to help but smile at the young mare following her. "You wouldn't really be interested in any political talk I'm sure."
"Ah dunno, Ah don't know much bout that kinda stuff." Melrose admits with an unsure expression.
"Oh, perhaps that's something else I can teach you about sometime. Yes, I've already got the lesson planned out." Twilight muses out loud, mostly to see the unicorn's uneasy expression at the prospect. She looks away from the younger mare to make sure she can't see her holding back a giggle.
As the two ponies walk through the halls of the palace they approach a staircase leading to the next floor, next to the stairs is a doorway leading to another hall near the castle entrance. Before turning into the doorway however Twilight looks up the stairs and sees a pale violet Pegasus mare approaching from above, her head is topped by a vibrant mane of purple and blue pulled back into a bun while an image of a rolled up scroll with wings adorns her flank. The Pegasus arrives at the bottom of the stairs before bowing respectfully and adjusting a thick pair of glasses over her Sapphire eyes.
"Good afternoon Princess Twilight." The Pegasus, only one year Melrose's senior, says politely, she then raises a hoof in greeting to Melrose, who waves back. Twilight frowns a little but corrects herself before the young mare notices, still not liking the mare's need to use her title but understanding she believes it to be polite.
"It's good to see you Quicknote." Twilight says with a smile. "I hope everything is alright."
"Oh it is, It is." The Pegasus assures the Princess. "Our guest is still sleeping soundly, I was coming down to get a drink and wanted to come check if you needed anything."
"Actually I do my dutiful assistant." Twilight informs her. "I'm going out for a minute, while I'm gone do you think you could check the hall of records? I need to make absolute certain of when the Dragon Migration is coming by this year. The Dragon Lord isn't always consistent about that these days."
"I'll get right on that, the information will be on your desk when you return." The Bespectacled Pegasus promises with a smile.
"And then there is the other matter." Twilight says as she gestures up the stairs Quicknote just came from.
"Of course ma'am, I'll let you know the moment he wakes up." With that assurance, Quicknote flutters her wings to help her move down the hall faster as she heads towards the hall of Records. Satisfied with that, Twilight continues through the halls of the castle and heads out the front entrance, Melrose still following behind.
"Hey, is it true what everypony says?" The unicorn inquires as she follows the Princess into Ponyville. "You know the Dragon Lord? Like all personal and stuff?"
"Yes, I do. She is a good friend of mine and she works hard for her people, though to be honest I'm far closer to her mate." Twilight answers while looking into the distance in thought as she walks, the thought of the dragons making her nostalgic. Twilight stops walking as she turns to fully address her companion. "I'm hoping the migration comes close by this year, then perhaps more ponies in town can meet them."
"Seems like ya know everypony Miss Twilight." Melrose says in amazement. Twilight chuckles at her excitement.
"Well in my line of work, meeting ponies and other races is kind of unavoidable." Twilight says happily. "I have a lot of responsibilities to everypony in the world." Twilight turns her head to look at her palace, thinking back to the last time the map had activated and how long ago it was. She smiles, happy that ponies seem to need less help than before, it'd even been more than twenty years since the last world ending disaster.
"Look out!" Somepony shouts from down the street, making Twilight quickly face-hoof. Think to much about how peaceful thinks are and something is bound to happen. Turning around Twilight looks down the street to see everypony running in panic, one of the legs holding up the towns water tower has broken and the entire thing has begun falling. Lighting up her horn Twilight encases the tower in a purple aura and begins moving it back into a standing position. Twilight holds the tower in place as she walks closer to it, everypony on the street gives the Princess plenty of space as none of them want to get any closer. All except Melrose as the awe-struck unicorn follows the Princess.
"Hmmmmmm." Twilight hums thoughtfully as she observes the tower up close, she quickly locates the break and frowns at the damage. "Is that the extent of it? With all the supports on the tower this shouldn't be enough to tip it over." Twilight's frown deepens as Melrose stands next to her. "It's to specific of a break, This was likely done deliberately. Which is a concerning thought."
"I'll bet it was those buffoons Pinchs and Slug." Melrose accuses with a huff. "Those two are always takin' their pranks way to far."
"You could be right, it'd definitely take unicorn magic to do damage like this." Twilight muses as she continues looking at the supports. "Though it'd probably take earth pony strength to knock it down in this condition, still it's best to not leave anything to chance." Twilight, while still supporting the tower with her magic, grabs several spare pieces of metal from a nearby pile and begins positioning them on the tower. Without looking away from the tower the Princess addresses Melrose. "I need to keep all of these things in position, could you weld the support back together while I steady it? Just focus your magic into a beam and try to melt the metal together."
"Me? Uh... Awright." With some hesitation the young unicorn focuses intently on the damaged section before firing an energy beam from her horn. Ever so slowly moving the beam across the metal it all begins fusing together from the heat, once Melrose's beam stops the purple aura around the tower disappears and focuses entirely on the damaged section, which seems to cool instantly.
"Well done." Twilight praises the young unicorn. "You did wonderfully, that should keep it held quite nicely. Of course I'll need to speak to the mayor about keeping this area cleared out until we can be sure this won't happen again." Twilight turns from the tower as she heads back into Ponyville. Melrose follows behind, beaming with pride.
"That was kinda cool." Melrose says happily before looking at Twilight's raised eyebrow. "Uh, the um... Fixin' part, not the fallin' part." Putting on a sheepish face, Melrose continues to follow the Princess as she informs the citizens that the area is safe, though they should keep a safe distance for a little while as a precaution. She then heads over to take a seat at a nearby cafe.
"My usual please." The Princess informs the server before looking to Melrose. "Did you want anything?"
"Oh, no thanks. I had a big dinner." Melrose assures the Princess, with a nod the server leaves. Melrose takes a seat across from Twilight. "Miss Twilight, Ah thought ya were gonna go talk to the mayor."
"No worries, I will." Twilight says with a bright smile. "But for right now I need to wait here and ensure the tower will actually stay in place."
"Do ya think it's gonna hold?" Melrose inquires with hesitation. "Ah've never done nothin' like that before."
"You did fine." Twilight assures the young unicorn. "If I was truly concerned I would have fixed it already. My main concern is finding the pony or ponies that caused it." Twilight explains, though she observes the young mare thoughtfully, silently more impressed than she lets on. She looks away before Melrose can notice her staring.
"Where are your friends today Melrose?" Twilight inquires as the server returns with her meal, a sandwich and water. "I usually see you all running around town this time of day."
"Their all busy with their families." Melrose shrugs. "And if Ah went to visit them-" The young unicorn pauses and adverts her eyes.
"What is it?" Twilight says as she puts her head in one of her hooves in amusement. "Their parents would tell on you?" Melrose looks at the Princess in surprise. "I've lived here long enough to know when the Apples do their chores." The young mare shrinks back a little at that.
"Ah have to go home now don't Ah?" Melrose says quietly as Twilight reaches over and pats her on the shoulder.
"Yes you do." Twilight gives her a reassuring smile. "But don't you worry, I know what you're thinking about. Let's go and I'll explain later." With that settled Twilight levitates some bits onto the table as well as pulling a plastic bag from her saddle bag to put the sandwich into. Taking a quick but big sip from her glass Twilight heads off with Melrose in tow, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.
It doesn't take long after the two mares arrive for a yellowish green earth pony stallion to meet them as they approach the farm house. A large black stetson covers his short orange mane and his emerald eyes show his displeasure at the younger of the two ponies.
"There ya are." Stopping just short of the two mares, The stallion turns his attention to Twilight. "Thank ya fer bringin' her home Princess. Ah hope she didn't bother ya none."
"Not at all Appledaniels. I'd been thinking about coming for a visit for awhile now." Glancing quickly at Melrose, Twilight continues. "I was actually hoping I could speak to you for a moment."
"Oh, well of course Princess." Appledaniels looks to his daughter and gestures towards the farm house with a hoof. "Go on girl, yer chores are still waitin' fer ya. We'll talk about you running off later." Melrose gives Twilight a quick wave goodbye before hurrying off to home. Satisfied for the moment, Appledaniels returns all attention to the Princess. "So what can Ah do fer ya Princess?"
"You know you don't need to call me that." Twilight corrects.
"Mah apologies Twilight, Ah ain't gonna make no excuses though. Ah know ya heard'em all before." Appledaniels chuckles a little before tipping his hat respectfully. "But in all seriousness, How can Ah help?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Melrose. This isn't the first time she's run off during work is it?" Once Twilight asks her question Appledaniels puts on a small frown.
"Yeah, that's right. And don't go thinkin' Ah don't know why neither." He shakes his head. "She's the only unicorn among her siblings and while Ah don't wanna give her no special treatment, at the same time Ah know she can't do things her brothers and sister can do." He sighs as he turns away from the Princess. "The girl ain't a farmer, shoot Ah knew that the day she got her cutiemark."
"That's not entirely it." Twilight interrupts. "The thing is her specialty is magic and so she struggles when she can't use it."
"Ah figured." Appledaniels shakes his head. "Problem is, last time Ah let her use her magic fer farm work she finished both her's and one of her brother's workloads in no time flat. How can Ah teach my kids the value of hard work when one of em can do that huh?"
"I understand what you're saying Appledaniels. I really do." Twilight places a hoof on the shorter ponies shoulder. "That's why I came to speak to you, so we could find a solution. If you continue keeping her from her special talent she's going to keep running off like this."
"She's mah youngest Twilight. But Ah can't raise her like my other children. But Ah also can't change how we do things or they'll think Ah'm picking favorites." The stallion groans slightly. "How am Ah supposed to help her? Her mother Honeydew may be a Unicorn too but she's a natural in the fields not with spells, shoot Melrose is already better than her."
"I know. She's very talented, that is why-" Twilight hesitates for a moment. "That is why I would like to make her my personal student." Appledaniels looks up at the Alicorn in surprise.
"Ya do?"
"I do." Twilight confirms. "I can teach her all kinds of things about magic and any other topic she wants to learn about. This way she can use her special talent away from home, that way she won't feel so constricted not being able to use it when she's working here."
"Twilight, that is mighty generous of ya." Appledaniels says, still staring up at the Alicorn in shock. "Ah can hardly believe this, A Princess wants mah daughter to be her student. It almost don't feel real."
"Believe me, I know how exciting this kind of thing can be." Twilight says with a little giggle at the stallion's excitement. Though her face becomes more serious afterwards. "Now, we'll need to work out a schedule so that Melrose can come learn with me without cutting into any of her chores or accidentally prevent her from spending time with her friends."
"Well, That shouldn't be to hard to figure out." Appledaniels says with a smile. "This should really help things around here." The stallion almost dances in place he seems so excited. "Let's go tell her right now, She'll be so excited."
"Well, let's wait until she finishes her chores first. Otherwise she'll just be distracted." Twilight explains casually, to which Appledaniels calms himself and nods in agreement.
"Would you like to stay for dinner Twilight? You know the Apple family is always happy to have you." Appledaniels insists as he gestures towards the farm house. Twilight considers for just a moment before shaking her head.
"I would love to but I'm afraid there are things I must take care of today. I need to speak with the mayor soon." Twilight refuses politely, she then looks away with a thoughtful expression. "I'll look through my schedule and perhaps-"
"PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!" A shout echos from down the road causing Twilight to turn her head in time to see Quicknote flying towards the two ponies, flying rather quickly the bespectacled Pegasus lands nearby with a stumble that almost makes her fall over and adjusts her glasses before walking up to the Princess. She offers a respectful bow before speaking.
"Princess, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting but as per your instructions I'm here with an update on your guest." The young Pegasus takes a breath to steady her breathing, the exertion of flying so fast winding her for a moment. Quicknote pulls out a clipboard from a saddle bag at her side and focuses on it intently. "He began stirring five minutes ago, at first I thought perhaps he was having a bad dream so I attempted to comfort him. I pet his head for three minutes before I realized that his eyes had begun to open. Knowing I should inform you as soon as possible I departed the castle, ensuring to lock the door of course, then flying as quickly as I could I traced your steps from today to locate you." Finished reading Quicknote returns the clipboard to her saddle bag and looks to address the Princess again. "He should be fully awake now."
"Thank you Quicknote." Twilight says simply. She reaches out a hoof and ruffles the young Pegasus' mane briefly before she vanishes in a flash of light.
Appearing just outside the guest room, Twilight levitates her saddle bag off and places it on a nearby counter. Then, with a gentle hoof she begins to open the door, not wanting to disturb her guest if he fell back asleep when Quicknote left. Opening the door fully, Twilight meets eyes with his tired gaze.
"Hey." The Princess calls with a beaming smile. "There he is. How are you?" As the Princess walks into the room and closes the door her guest raises his head slightly. Though it looks like he's going to try and stand he soon lowers his head back down onto the pillow placed below it, seeming to decide lifting his heavy shell wasn't worth the effort.
"How are you doing today Tank?" Twilight asks as she takes a seat next to the tortoise. "You're looking good, Quicknote buffed your shell again didn't she? It looks shiny." She rubs the shell gently and without looking away from her companion she levitates a book from a nearby shelf over to them.
"I've got a good one for you today Tank. Daring Do and the Ring of Destiny, I know it's your favorite." Though his head doesn't move Tank's eyes seem to light up at that. "Ah ha, I see I have your attention now. Well, let's get started shall we?"
Reading out loud, Twilight goes at a somewhat slow pace through the story, if her Tortoise companion seems particularly interested in a part of the story she backs up and reads it again, sometimes twice or more. However, Twilight stops reading after awhile as she turns her head fully to Tank. The Tortoise doesn't seem to be paying attention anymore.
"Hey, come on, this is your favorite part." Twilight insists, though Tank just blinks in response. Twilight smiles good naturedly and closes the book as she levitates it away. "Ok, I get it, you want to save that part for next time. That's fine." Twilight then stands up and begins pacing in front of him. "Well let's see." She turns to address Tank with a big smile.
"I've got it, let's start working on your birthday party. After all, we only have a few more days before you hit the big three-fifty so we really should plan something special. Any ideas?" Twilight stands there watching Tank as he slowly blinks, he closes his eyes with what seems like a sigh. Twilight's joyful expression quickly fades. "....Tank?"
Tank doesn't really respond, his head bobs ever so slightly with his breaths. Twilight gives a small uneasy chuckle. "Oh, my mistake. I nearly forgot that it's dinner time. Just hold on a moment." With practiced ease Twilight heads over to a small serving station set up in the corner and places a meal on a dish, the meal consisting of everything an elderly tortoise would need. Twilight presents the dish to Tank, who doesn't seem to acknowledge it. Twilight maintains a nervous frown all the while.
"Oh I get it." Twilight says quickly. "You want to go flying don't you? It sure has been awhile hasn't it? Let me get your gyro and-" Twilight pauses as she observes the slowly breathing Tortoise. "No? Oh...Okay." Twilight lets out a sigh and looks away.
"Tank... You can't-" Twilight's voice cracks as she focuses on the floor of the guest room. "Please don't do this... Not yet."
Twilight stands in silence for what feels to her like forever, until eventually she raises her head to look at her companion once more.
"Tank?" Twilight blinks and her eyes go wide upon not noticing a reaction. "Tank?" Twilight stands and stares, her eyes welling up. ".....Tank?....."
Alone in the guest room, Twilight falls to her knees and hangs her head.
A few hours later, Twilight stands in the Ponyville cemetery in front of a row of Tombstones, the light of the sun was beginning to fade into night. Quicknote stands a distance away, not wanting to interrupt. The long line of Tombstones consists of the other Elements of Harmony as well as Starlight, along with spaces for their animal companions, it could be more accurate to say the owners were placed to be next to their pets rather than the other way around. A new grave for Tank created by Twilight's magic right next to Rainbow Dash's.
"Hey Rainbow." Twilight says quietly. "I uh, I finally brought Tank." She chuckles half halfheartedly. "See? I told you I'd take good care of him." She laughs again, though it sounds closer to a sob. "You owe me fifty bits you know, you said I'd have to read a dozen books on raising tortoises but I only read eleven." Twilight wipes her eyes with a hoof as they begin to well up. "It got hard. H-He never stopped missing you, you know? I mean, did you really have to take him flying everyday? He was surprisingly full of energy. Funny as it sounds I couldn't keep up with him at first." A genuine laugh escapes the Princess even as tears begin to slide down her face. "Not literally of course but, oh you know what I mean."
"He was..." Twilight says with a shaking voice. "...All I had left...Everything else is gone..." As the Princess stands there shaking, Quicknote walks up to stand beside her.
"Prin-....Grandma?" Twilight turns to her in shock, having never heard that phrase from her descendant before. Quicknote silently searches through her Saddle Bag and pulls out a large book and holds it up to the Princess who takes it in her magic. "I thought, maybe it would help."
Opening the book Twilight sees several pictures of a group of six ponies smiling together. she starts Flipping through the pages, each one holding many memories of her dear friends.
"Could you... Tell me about them?" Quicknote says carefully. Clearly not used to using a casual tone with the Princess. "I've only ever heard of them in stories."
"Sure." Is all Twilight says as she sits down, pulling the young Pegasus next to her as she holds the book open, she glances up at the tombstones momentarily. "Of course, if they don't mind me talking about them right in front of them." She says with a small smile. "Girls, this is Quicknote, my number two assistant." Twilight looks at Quicknote's pouting face and chuckles as she wipes her eyes to dry them. "Oh come on, just cause he's not living here anymore doesn't mean you can beat his track record." Twilight holds up the book to ensure Quicknote can see it.
"Ok, see that orange mare? That's Applejack. She was the element of honesty."
"She does look honest. Brave too."
"Oh she was, but she was also proud and sometimes that caused it's own problems. I remember one time when she took on more work than she could handle by herself..."
The two ponies stayed there, Twilight using her horn as a light deep into the night. as they went through the book one page at a time. Quicknote would often ask questions about the heroes of the past and the adventures they'd go on.
Twilight knows it won't last, She'll have work to do come morning. She's not a librarian anymore, she's not a student, She's a Princess. Once she puts these old memories away she'll need to move on, her old life is truly behind her and she must embrace things as they are.
But that comes later, for now... this is good.
"When was this one taken?"
"Oh, that was taken after my castle appeared, once Tirek was defeated. Now that was a story, it started when Tirek escaped from his cell in Tartarus...."
.....This is good....
Author's Note
The inspiration for this story came when my family's dog passed away recently, I was feeling depressed and wanted to sort of vent out my feelings in a way. I know the whole, 'Twilight is an Alicorn and her friends are dead' thing isn't really new but I hope I offered a at least interesting view on the idea.
The general idea for this story is similar to what happened to me in real life. Twilight was just having an ordinary day when suddenly it happened.
By the way, if anybody knows the canonical age of Tank I'd like to know. I may alter his age in the story depending on it.