A student of her own

A day had passed since Twilight had taken the young unicorn mare known as Ivory Wand Lulamoon under her wing, thought the Sun Goddess. Queen Celestia huffed as she watched her former student, Crown Princess Twilight Soleil, try to teach in the meadows with the gypsy’s daughter, whatever her name was. It wasn't so much that fact that Ivory Wand, the light blue mare with the greasy and unsightly colored mane and tail, was even this close to Celestia's own home, it was the fact that Twilight seemed to... like her, like Celestia liked Twilight. The Sun Goddess snorted. It was only a matter of time and waiting and watching until Twilight would soon come to logical thinking and reason to see that the young mare was not meant for this.

A unicorn, a pony, like Ivory Wand could never become the student of a Princess, let alone Twilight's own personal student, her first student. Ponies like her chose to turn their backs to ponies like Twilight and Celestia, even siding themselves with King Sombra and the Umbrums, but once Sombra 'mysteriously' disappeared, they came running back, swearing their loyalty to Equestria and the Sun Queen. She had not accepted their loyalty, though they were allowed to live. That was the only thing Celestia would grant them. The white mare smiled as she looked back down at Twilight and Ivory, by the looks for things, Ivory was causing trouble ...

"You have to try at least one more time, Ivory. Something as seemingly simple as lifting a stone can take a lot of time and practice" Twilight stated as she watched her student groan and sit on the dirt floor.

"Why?" the light blue unicorn asked. "My ma said I was the daughter of the most powerful stallion ever to have lived!" Ivory cried. "I should be able to do this!" the young mare puffed her silvery mane out of her face.

"Ivory," Twilight bit her lip, she could not tell Ivory her mother had ... extended the truth. Even though it was still a mystery as to whom Trixie had 'selected' to have a foal with, Twilight had her own theories. "Just try one last time, Ivory," Twilight smiled, "I'm sure you can do it."

Puffing, Ivory stood up on her hind legs. She groaned heavily as tiny, blue sparks began to fizzle out of her horn. All of a sudden, large firework-like sparks flew from the unicorn's horn as she managed to lift the stone high into the sky. Twilight gasped and smiled. She was doing it. Ivory was doing it! Ivory gasped herself as she lifted the small stone over her head, doing a sort of trick, Twilight presumed. She held it steady while Twilight clapped.

"You did it, Ivory!" Twilight cheered as Ivory placed the stone back where she had found it "You lifted the stone!"

"I ... I did it. I did it without your or ma's help!" At Ivory's comment, Twilight's smile vanished, but only for a moment.

Had Trixie been 'helping' Ivory with even the most basic of spell casting? Surely not. This had to just be Ivory exaggerating or something like that. A unicorn Ivory's age should have been more than capable of lifting a stone. Twilight herself could do it soon as she turned one .... and a half. Admittedly, Twilight was 'early' in terms of magical skill, perhaps Ivory was just ever so slightly late in her magic skills, a 'late bloomer' perhaps?

"Well done!" Twilight smiled as Ivory leaped in circles around the stone. The lilac alicorn looked up to the sky. Storm clouds were rolling in like angry waves. "Ivory, it's time to go back, it's going to rain, I'm sure of it!" Twilight said as she flexed out a wing for Ivory to hide under.

Celestia cried out as she watched Twilight. Why was she giving this young mare so much love and attention? She did not deserve it, she didn't deserve to call herself "The student of Crown Princess Twilight Soleil" or anything like that. Just seeing the unicorn so overjoyed about lifting a stone made Celestia's blood boil. Twilight deserved better. She needed better. It would be useless for a pony, an alicorn Princess, as accomplished and renowned for her magic as Twilight to sit and teach this pony. Celestia hummed to herself as a plan formed in her head.

. . .

Crown Prince Zephyr looked out over the Royal balcony and watched as the familiar image of his wife came into view. Never did he allow a day to pass by without reminding himself how lucky he was to have had the beautiful Princess Twilight reciprocate his love and share wedding vows.

The imposing deep blue pegasus had taken over from Shining Armor as Captain of the Royal Guard when he had moved to the Crystal Empire with Princess Cadence. In fact, the strong bond between Shining and Zephyr had been at least partially responsible for bringing Twilight close to him in the first place.

The stoic and disciplined deep blue pegasus had become used to hiding his emotions, but permitted himself the indulgence of allowing a smile to cross his lips as he watched his beloved lilac alicorn draw closer, but in spite of this, he had to admit, he was less than happy.

Twilight had insisted that Ivory should stay with their family. Luckily, he had persuaded Twilight that the gypsy’s mare and their own daughter should have different rooms. Ivory stayed on the ground floor, or basement, as some ponies would call it, along with the servants who lived in the castle. Some of the rooms this low down were underground, but those that were not did have windows, meek ones, unlike the grand windows that graced the outsides and inside of the castle.

Skylar slept in the room just next to the couple's own room. Her room was a little smaller than Zephyr had hoped it to be, but, Twilight had insisted that Skylar lived in a 'normal' bedroom without the two levels, swirling staircase, her own hoofmaiden, and certainly not a skylight. As Zephyr turned towards the front door, Twilight came rushing in with Ivory on her back; they were both giggling like teenage fillies.

"Oh, Zephyr" Twilight smiled as she straightened herself. "Can I help you with anything?" the lilac mare asked.

"Err, no, Twilight, nothing really wrong" the pegasus answered, watching carefully as the unicorn trotted in mud from the outside. "I was just wanting to ask you if we were still going to attend the opera tonight. I had been waiting months just to catch a glimpse of the tickets, and we both know how expensive it was to get the seats we got; I don't want them to think we didn't want to go to the opera." He smiled.

"Oh, I nearly forgot! I'm sorry, I must've forgotten to write it down in my diary, but, we can still go. We'll just have to ask for another seat" Twilight smiled back.

"Another?" He raised his eyebrow. "Skylar does not need two, Twilight" Zephyr laughed.

"It's not for Skylar, Zephyr," Twilight said, "It's for Ivory." The light blue unicorn's face lit up with the might of a thousand fireworks.

"An opera'?" Ivory gasped. "There's one of those in Manehatten!" the young mare remarked.

"Twilight," Zephyr said strongly as he pulled Twilight to the side. "Surely, we're not bringing ... her, are we?" he asked.

"We most certainly are. Why ever would we not? She can borrow one of Sky's numerous dresses. Just in case you're worried about her looking 'underdressed' for the occasion." Twilight answered firmly.

"Don't you think it would be a tiny bit ... weird for members of the royal family to be seen looking after a gypsy’s daughter?" The pegasus pushed the idea forward. "You know what they did during the Umbrum war" the deep blue stallion reminded, "What if something bad happens to you?" He asked, worried for Twilight’s safety.

"There's no need to bring that up. We both went through that thing together" Twilight said.

. . .

It took only a few moments for the small family to get ready. Ivory giggled and leaped around as Twilight watched from the doorway of Ivory's room, which was a rather plain slight yellow with white trims. The light blue mare was dressed in a white almost sailor inspired dress with white frills along the neckline and the sleeves.

"Oh, thank you ma!"

Twilight flinched.

Had Ivory just called her 'ma'? As in 'mother'? The lilac mare had to admit it, she was touched, almost beyond that. "Ivory, please, call me Princess. There's no need to include the 'Crown' part." Twilight answered quickly. The last thing she wanted was for Ivory, or Trixie, to get confused and possibly angry.

"Really? I always had to call the Sun Queen 'Your Majesty' or …" Ivory asked for a moment but was distracted the second Skylar came rushing in wearing her purple sailor dress.

"Look! We're wearing the same thing, Wanda!" Skylar giggled.

"Wanda?" Ivory asked the light purple alicorn who whizzed around her and Twilight.

"I think it's a nickname, Ivory," Twilight answered. "It does suit you very much" she said as Skylar came to the ground.

"Are we going now?" Skylar asked her mother.

“Oh, we probably should" Twilight smiled as Skylar raced ahead. Ivory stayed close to Twilight, almost gluing herself to the lilac alicorn's side. "You can go on ahead, Wanda. I'll catch up in no time!" Twilight smiled.

The light blue unicorn soon quickly galloped after the light purple Princess, eager to catch up. Twilight felt her smile widen as she found Zephyr at the front door, wearing a white tux, black tie, and grey vest. He was watching Skylar and Ivory play. Skylar was telling Ivory about some book she had read, it sounded more like one of Spike's comic books rather than a story Twilight would read to her.

"Well, are we all ready?" The pegasus asked the three mares as they all joined up.

"Yes, did you get the extra seat for Wanda?" Twilight asked Zephyr, who cast a quick look at the light blue unicorn mare.

"Wanda?" he questioned. "Do you mean her?" said the deep blue pegasus casually pointing to Ivory.

Twilight nodded. "Wanda’s just her nickname, Zephyr" she smiled as the troop began to move outwards into their white and gold chariot.

"I got it. It was rather expensive to order it with only an hour to the show ..." Zephyr trailed off as Twilight motioned for Skylar and Ivory on go on ahead. "Are you really sure about this? What if something happens to you or Skylar? Or even Wanda?" the stallion worried.

"Please try not to let this ruin the night, you have been waiting to see this production for months, and I can ensure you, Zephyr, when your brother is the captain of the Royal Guard, you learn a move or two" Twilight smiled coyly as she moved along.

Twilight climbed in first, hurried along by Skylar, and a hesitant Ivory. Zephyr snorted and he lifted himself into the chariot. It was much more cramped with Skylar and Ivory in it. Normally only Twilight and he would use it, but tonight was special, almost beyond that. Skylar sat with burning anticipation, she had only seen one opera before, but she had fallen asleep halfway through it.

"What's the show going to be like?" Skylar asked her mother, who smiled.

"I hope it’s good. From the looks of things and the reviews, it sounds perfect" Twilight declared.

The small chariot eventually reached the flashing lights of Canterlot. It landed with a small bump, as it always did. Twilight giggled as she watched Skylar race up and push her face into the window.

"We're here! We're here!" Skylar chanted as she waited for the chariot's doors to be opened.

Twilight quickly grabbed her daughter as she nearly flew out. "You have to be on your best behavior, Sky. There will be cameras and pushy press ponies there. Just stay close to your father and me, and keep Wanda close as well, like Royal Blue does with you." Twilight looked over at the light blue mare, who gazed out of the window. "Wanda, come on, we're going." Twilight watched as Ivory raced over to her as the door was opened.

Twilight's prediction was correct, as always. Ever since the couple's marriage and Skylar's birth, everypony wanted a piece of them. The press had not always been kind to them; at one point, when their engagement had just been announced, some newspaper released an 'artists impression' of what their foal would look like. To say the least, both Zephyr's and Twilight's families were outraged. Celestia even had to get involved - which Twilight did not want. At the time, she had convinced herself she could 'keep calm and carry on' but that mindset was short lived.

"Crown Prince," a yellow unicorn shouted at Zephyr as he held the door open for Twilight and the two young mares, who hurried in. "Who's the other mare with your daughter?" the unicorn asked. The deep blue pegasus paid no attention to him. He had been raised to keep a gentle smile on his face during all public appearances, even though he hated them with a burning passion, ever since what had happened to his brother. "Crown Prince Zephyr?" The unicorn yelled this time just as he closed the door.

Inside the shining theater, Skylar and Ivory raced around as the Princess’ parents trotted over to the teenaged pegasus who took the tickets from them and lazily told them "Box five, seats one, two, three, and four, have a nice time" he said as they moved off.

"Come along, girls," Twilight spoke to the young mares, "We can get you two something to eat and drink."

Twilight smiled as Skylar and Ivory raced over and seized a menu from a large wooden table. They took two plush red seats and began to look through the menu together.

"Mother, can I get the chocolate bar and the milkshake," Skylar demanded more than asked.

"Of course, what about you, Wanda?" Twilight asked the unicorn.

"Why are there scribbles on the page?" Ivory asked the lilac Crown Princess.

"Scribbles?" Skylar repeated back to Ivory, who nodded. "Do you mean words?" she asked. Ivory nodded again.

"Ivory" Twilight’s voice took a concerned tone, "Do you know ... how to read?" Twilight asked slowly; she was so surprised and shocked that she could barely even make the words form.

"Well, kinda, I mostly just know how to read orders though," Ivory told the Crown Princess.

"Err – never mind, we can talk about this later. For now, what do you normally like to eat and drink?" Twilight shook her head and asked, her voice becoming stable again.

"Me? I'll eat anything" Ivory stated.

"Get what I'm getting, Wanda!" Skylar butted in.

"Okay!" Ivory said cheerily.

And with that, the small family group moved into their box and sat down.