The sun hung high in the sky of Equestria on this fine day when, in the furthest terrace, a swirl of wind picked up. The lavender princess was unaware of the events taking place in that mostly empty room as the wind grew stronger with each passing second. Flickers of static arched from a fixed point in the middle of the room as papers and books flapped about. A ring of rainbow energy formed out of that point and grew wider and wider. Within a few seconds, the ring was as large as the doorway that leads into that room. The whole castle shook as the wide-open ring slammed against the far wall making the stone crack. This sent the whole castle into a tizzy but none in the castle knew just where the quake started from.
A glow filled the cracks in the stone as those very same cracks began to twist and morph into a solid doorway. Once the frame was complete it looked like a sliver archway with seemingly liquid metal within its confines. The left side of the arch grew dark and black as the right brightened and whitened. As soon as the hues stopped changing the wind died.
A winged guard stumbled across the arch in the stone and shouted for the princess to come to see it.
The purple alicorn quickly ran to the archway in that far-off terrace before stopping at the stone archway looking into the room. As she gazed at the metal archway a long white horn sprung from its center. It pushed out more and more looking to be as long if not longer than the purple princesses horn. Following the horn was a mane that lit up the room like the sun itself.
The lavender princess shielded her eyes as they adjust to the new source of light making her guards stand at the ready. When the mare with the sun-soaked mane walked fully out of the archway it was clear she was an alicorn like the princess was, just a little taller.
The eyes of the white alicorn with the bright mane seemed distant and cold as she looked around the small room. Those eyes widened when settling on the purple alicorn's face. The white alicorn stepped aside as a black horn pushed through the metal surface. The horn led to a black void of a mane that seemed to suck up the light in the room darkening it.
The full figure of the owner of that horn and mane soon stepped through the archway, her eyes moved much faster than the white one's eyes though just as cold.
"You there, who are you, and where are we?" The white one asked in a very royal tone.
"You are in my castle and my name is Twilight Sparkle." The purple alicorn responded in kind. This caused the two alicorns' eyes to go wide.
"Where is your castle located Miss Twilight?" The white one asked, looking Twilight over with a more interested gaze. The black alicorn looked about the room never having her gaze leave Twilight's sight for more than a second.
"You're not from around here are you two?" Twilight asked with a semi-scoff causing the white one to rise her wings. Her mane glowed brighter as a fire burned in her eyes.
"Answer the question I posed to you!" The white one's voice echoed throughout the whole castle as she shouted. Her wings lowered a little when the black one jabbed her in the side with a black wing.
"Sister! Your temper!" The black one loudly whispered to her counterpart.
"Sorry for not answering your question but I have one of mine you need to answer first. Who are you two?" Twilight asked, trying to split her attention between the two hued alicorns.
The white one signed heavily and looked to the black alicorn, in which she gave a nod. "My name is Solarus, and this is my sister Cold Embrace. We are the queens of a place called Rootbase. Now would you be so kind as to answer my question?"
Twilight tilted her head and took a deep breath. "You two are in the land of Equestria, of which I rule over. How did you two get here and why are you here?" Twilight was trying to hide her curiosity but it was growing harder with every word the two other alicorn's spoke.
"We'll answer any and every question you have," Solarus said with a much calmer tone, even her mane darkened a little from its brilliant shine to a more manageable one. With a smile, she continued, "but first if you don't mind I'd like to get out of this cramped space."
"Yes, well I'm not sure if I can trust you two or not," Twilight said with her head slightly lowered. "But if you don't mind an escort, I'll be happy to show you to a more spacious meeting room."
The two alicorns nodded, Solarus gave a slight smile and Cold Embrace just sighed and shook her head as she followed the purple alicorn. It didn't take long for the three alicorns to come to a larger meeting room. The heavy oak doors creaked close making sure the three would be alone.
"Now then, why are you two here?" Twilight said in a calm tone looking at the two. She couldn't help but notice the white one eyeing her form like one does a cover of a book. "C-can I help you?"
"I'm so glad you asked!" Solarus said with a beaming smile that made her sister groan. "We are here from our realm to look for an alternate teaching method for our student. You see where we are from, conflict is an everyday thing." Solarus was more at ease now and her tone reflected this. "You see she doesn't know of peace and the like and we fear..."
"We fear that she'd gravitate back to bloodshed lest we show her what a peaceful rule looks like." Cold Embrace had pushed past her sister to finish the sentence looking eye to eye with her brighter sister.
"Okay then, I can't say that Equestria is all that peaceful, we have some major events that play out every so often. What's your pupil's name?" Twilight wasn't sure if she could take on another student but she didn't want to reject the two who had come so far as to cross worlds.
The two were silent for a time. A fair bit longer than Twilight found comfortable. Then she saw the two of them grin and start to softly laugh. "You won't believe it even if we showed you to her." Cold Embrace said between her soft chucklings.
"Try me." The purple princess said with an unamused look about her face. "You'd be surprised what I'm used to."
Solarus nodded and composed herself. "Our pupil, the one we wish for you to teach, is named Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight's eyes went wide for a second from shock then narrowed. "Oh. So the Twilight from your world is being trained in the princess ways too?" This caused the two to stop their laughter and look with surprise all their own.
"You... Wait, you know?" Solarus was at a loss for words as she sat down.
"I've been to another world wherein all my friends and myself had been in. So it isn't a surprise that I'd run into yet another one of myself, but one being trained as a princess..." Twilight spoke candidly with the two before Cold cut her off.
"Queen." Cold said sharply.
"What?" Twilight said with a confused tone.
"You keep saying that she's being trained for being a princess but that simply isn't the case. We are training her to replace us as a queen. Ouch!" Cold was jabbed in her ribs by Solarus' hind leg as she spoke.
"Well, the cat's out of the bag now." The white alicorn said looking away from her sister to Twilight. "Yes, our aim is for Twilight Sparkle to replace us, but I fear that she won't do so if all she knows is woe and strife."
"That and her mate is putting a kink in the plan." The black alicorn spoke up with a huff., getting a nod from her sister.
"The Twilight from your world has a mate!?" Twilight exclaimed with her wings rising.
The two sisters nodded with a slight look of confusion on their faces. "That's what concerns you?" Cold said with her confusion growing.
"Well, the rulers of my world groomed me to take their place as the ruler of Equestria so I'm not too surprised another Twilight would be modeled for the same goal," Twilight said with a smirk of misplaced satisfaction. "but to hear she has a mate is surprising to me. Why would you two pick someone who is locked in with someone?"
"Locked, in?" Solarus said with a tilt of her head before she shook it off. "You are a curious one Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Cold Embrace started to have a look of deep thought before she nipped at her sister's ear. "Sister, she raises a point I fear we overlooked."
Solarus looked at her sister, then to Twilight, "If you excuse us, we need to speak privately." She spoke with a more upbeat tone before smiling wide. To this Twilight shook her head.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You are asking me for help, but I don't fully know what your intent is. I can't teach anyone if I don't know anything." Twilight spoke in the utmost regal tone she could muster while standing as tall as she could, albeit still a bit shorter than the queens.
"Very well," The black alicorn said, "In our world Twilight is stiffly opposed to the idea of taking on the mantel of a queen, namely our immortality. This is mostly due to her mate. You see she doesn't want to live without her."
"I see the issue, but you two seem to have a plan to get around that?" Twilight said with a gentle nod.
"I just may," Cold Embrace spoke once more with her sister listening intently, "If her mate is the issue then why don't we train her as well? I've seen the scholar and our pupil do some grand things when working with each other. I dare say our Twilight works best with her mate around."
Her sister's face went through all sorts of stages, from anger to grief to happiness. However, after a few seconds of this, she shook her head and showed a calm face.
"So, we train two replacements at the same time? I fear that'll be a bit much but if we start now then we should still finish their training before either one would naturally expire. I have some other concerns but they are minor and I truly doubt they will impact the overall result we want." Solarus spoke in a regal tone before looking over Twilight once more. "It is still so surreal to see another Twilight and one who's ruling a kingdom no less." She said with a shake of her head.
"Now then, you have heard the plan? Do you have any other questions Twilight Sparkle?" The darkened sister asked with her pale eyes staring coldly at Twilight.
"Yes, well I would like to know who this mate of Twilight's I'm going to be additionally teaching is for starters?" The purple Equestria ruler asked, seeming somewhat weary.
"Oh, well... you see." Solarus broke eye contact with Twilight and looked around the room with her hoof rubbing her neck.
Twilight's face sunk into disappointment. "You don't know this mate's name, do you?"
"You see there are so many other princesses we talk to, and we only talk to the princesses," Solarus spoke as one does when making up excuses before her gaze locked with Twilight's disapproving one. "Haa Well... no, we don't know her name."
Twilight seemed a bit shocked. "Her? Twilight's mate is a female?"
"Yes, it is unusual for the princess that oversees them allowed that but the settlement is doing well so we didn't see the need to intervene. Normally we would not allow same-gender mates in such a small settlement." Cold Embrace said never breaking eye contact with the two alicorns in the room.
"I wasn't passing judgment, I was just a little surprised." Twilight clarified before she closed her eyes and thought. "How long are you wanting me to teach them both? Twilight and this Scholar mare-friend of hers."
"No less than two months," Solarus said with a bit wide of a smile. "That should be enough time for you to relay the finer points of peaceful ruling to the both of them." Solarus finished with a wider tooth-filled grin. Her sister signed and placed an armored hoof on her face.
"Twilight! Are you okay!?" A new voice rang out before the door to the meeting room opened up revealing a purple and green flying dragon.
"Spike! I'm having a meeting right now. Take care of any business that comes in while I talk with these two, please?" Twilight spoke calmly to Spike as the two alicorns looked on with mouths a gap. The purple dragon shrugged and nodded before closing the door and flying off to handle the daily duties.
"Was that a dragon?" Cold Embrace asked in shock of what she just saw.
"Yes, he's my number one assistant. Now, are you sure two months is all they need?" Twilight asked looking at the two who are now dumbfounded. "What?"
"You have a dragon assisting you in the day to day operations of the kingdom?" Solarus asked, to which Twilight slowly nodded. "It is clear that his world is far kinder than ours. Two months may be a bit long however I would like you to teach them all you know." She continued but seemed somewhat shaken.
"All I know seems a bit excessive. What have you both taught her so far?" The purple alicorn asked, confused a little by the other two's sudden concern of her dragon assistant.
"We've taught her various magics and some other skills such as time management. Though it is difficult to teach Twilight much if she gets her hooves on a book she hasn't read before." Cold Embrace spoke more openly now. "She often needs her mate to remind her of the world around her when she buries her nose in a book. Poor thing almost starved to death one time."
Twilight blushed a little and laughed. "Sounds like she's more into books than I am."
"Indeed, though you should know that her mate is a book worm herself. I caught her reading five books at the same time!" Solarus said with a chuckle.
"And yet you can't remember her name?" The sister teased.
"Oh hush you, I don't see you jumping to fill in the blank." The white alicorn retorted. To which her sister just chuckled and looked back at Twilight with her pale eyes.
"So Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, can we count on you teaching our pupil and her mate the ways of ruling in peaceful times?" Cold asked sternly.
"I have many duties here ruling Equestria and a student of my own in a neighboring town called Ponyville. Taking on two more students may be too much for me to handle." Twilight spoke while looking at the ground and rubbing her chin. "However I might have some way to teach them all the same. If you would allow my friends to assist in the training, the two pupils could see the world and learn from multiple teachers about peace and how best to rule during it." Her gaze rose from the ground. "But have you told them as to what you are grooming them to be?"
"No, we wish to ease them into it. They have enough pressure on their lives without the idea of ruling weighing over them." Solarus said calmly almost as if she had rehearsed it before.
"Uh-huh. Well, do you two agree to... wait, what do you offer for us to do this training? I'm not one to normally ask this but you two are asking a lot of me and my friends." Twilight's face grew more stern as she shook her head of the idea of just helping for no reason.
The two queens looked at one another for a good minute before Solarus broke the silence. "I was hoping that you'd do this out of the kindness of your heart, but if you would like to be compensated for your efforts we have many things you might find alluring."
Twilight's face brightened slightly before she gave a soft laugh. "I was just seeing if you two were willing to put something on the table for this work. I'm always willing to teach others in the magic of friendship." She had a large smile on her face as the sisters looked-on dumbfounded.
"Magic?" Solarus started.
"Of friendship?" Her sister continued before the two shook the surprise from their faces. "So, you were just testing us?"
"Correct." Twilight said with a smirk, "I had to be sure you two weren't just being lazy teachers and had a sound reason for me being their teacher."
Cold Embrace chuckled into a full outright laugh. "She got us pretty good, dear sister." She then poked her sister's side with her hoof. To which the white alicorn grumbled and soon started to laugh herself.
"Okay, I'll admit to being tricked. So you'll teach them then?" Solarus said with a pleading smile.
"I and my friends will teach them about living and ruling in a peaceful time." The purple ruler said with a bright smile.
"Then we have an accord! Oh! Sister, we should confer with their princess about this. She may not be so happy to be losing the most powerful spell weaver and her mate for a few months." The black alicorn stated to her sighing sister.
"You're not wrong. Rarity won't be pleased with the news. Worse yet having Twilight's mate starting her training to be a replacement for us will start to clue Twilight into what we are doing." The white alicorn said, becoming restless.
"You two are trying to keep the other me from knowing about why you're training her huh?" Twilight asked with a bent ear. "Would it be so bad to show her, now that she's being groomed for greater things?"
"Was it so simple with you?" Solarus looked Twilight dead in the eyes as she asked such a simple thing.
"I-I guess it wasn't. If Celestia had told me she was grooming me to be her and her sister's replacement before I became a princess I would have freaked." Twilight said with her ears folded back.
"Well we have to play this simple and keep the two of them from knowing until they are ready," Solarus said calmly as she started to settle down. "For that reason, we should meet with Rarity before them so she can assist us in the illusion."
"I figured things were different in your world but it's a little weird thinking of Rarity as a princess. She's always been fashion-forward, but to think of her living in a castle." Twilight said with a chuckle.
"It seems our worlds are very different, ruler of Equestria," Solarus stated with a look of confusion on her face. "Princesses of our world guard over settlements to keep the population safe. Rarity was dubbed the princess of balance and order due to her uncommon sense for the two and though her settlement is small, it is by far the most peaceful out of the eleven we oversee. The princesses report to us but keep their settlements in check."
"Oh! I guess I jumped to conclusions there." Twilight said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "So let's go talk to Princess Rarity," She said with a nervous laugh, "I'm not going to get used to saying that." She further mumbled under her breath.
"Yes, let us away, to talk with the princess of balance and order!" Solarus said triumphantly.
The three alicorns summoned princess Rarity to meet with all three of them.
The three alicorns stood in the large meeting room detailing their plan to the white-coated unicorn with a purple mane. The unicorn's cloven hooves tapped on the stone floor as she uneasily listened.
"Rarity, you've been patiently quiet this whole time and for that I'm glad but I would like to hear what you have to say about this change in our plan." Solarus' voice was regal and commanding as she held her head high up looking down at the thin frail looking unicorn.
The princess unicorn measured her words and thought very hard about what to say to her two queens and this version of Twilight and after a few heavy breaths the unicorn spoke, "We cannot have you take those two during this juncture of the settlement's life."
The sisters looked at each other confused. "Rarity, would you be so kind as to skip the normal formalities and tell us what is wrong with those two being taken for lessons in this world?" Solarus' concern bled through her words shocking Rarity.
"Just this morning I was given notice from the last settlement trading with us that they can no longer spare anything. We haven't enough ponies to work the land, nor enough to defend it when attacks come our way. We may be the most peaceful settlement in Rootbase but we are also the smallest and dying." Rarity held her head as high as she could, looking at the three with unblinking eyes. "It is for that reason that I have chosen to dissolve our settlement and migrate the remaining villagers to other nearby settlements. I have not broken this news to the settlement yet but I cannot let those two come here until they have moved with their families to another settlement." Though she was trying with all her might, tears welled at the bottom of her eyes.
"It sounds like you are set on dissolving the settlement princess Rarity. But maybe there is another way?" Cold Embace's words were a bit distant as if she was thinking of something else as she spoke. Her eyes moved from the frail-looking unicorn to the purple ruler. "Maybe you can accommodate a small settlement in your lands?"
Twilight's wings rose shapely and she scrambled to form words. "Wait wait wait, I don't even know what is going on with her settlement or how moving the whole thing over into this world would help? Are you just grabbing at straws?"
The two sisters looked confused before the unicorn spoke up, "I think she is asking if you two have thought this path through. To which I must agree. I don't think this is how we solve this dilemma."
"My sister may have spoken rashly but I do think dissolving the settlement and breaking up those family ties isn't the answer either," Solarus said with a more calming tone. "I think we need to have a word with those other settlements on sharing their goods and workforces."
The unicorn's face betrayed her excitement before she could compose herself. "If you two can manage that I believe we can let the scholar and her mate free to train in this new world. Though I would be remiss if I did not mention that they would miss their friends."
"For only two months? I don't think they'd miss them for that short period." The white alicorn said in a mild shock.
Rarity laughed for the first time since Princess Twilight had laid eyes on her. "You said that this would be for training correct? Two months is not enough time for those two to learn what you want them to." The unicorn said with a knowing smirk on her face.
"We shall contact the other settlements to arrange for what your settlement needs. Then you make sure those two come through the metal portal. Understood?" The white alicorn's voice was more relieved than it should have been but was still none the less soothing.
The white unicorn nodded with a bright smile on her muzzle and bounded off down the stone hallway. The three alicorns formed a semicircle looking at one another.
"Well she's a little different than the one I know, but she's got a good head on her," Twilight spoke breaking the ice.
"We chose her for that quality among others. Though it worries me that the other settlements are withholding their support," Solarus gave a heavy sigh before continuing, "but that is something me and my sister here will have to deal with in due time. For now, we need to get those settlements to send aid so that our pupils can get to learning." She stopped herself and laughed. "Sorry, I guess I've been hanging around the country folk for a hair too long." Her sister rolled her eyes before smirking.
"Maybe you have but seeing their core values are solid most of the time it's not all bad." Cold Embrace said with a cold but heartfelt chuckle. "For now, Twilight Sparkle, we must tend to this matter then we shall send the two students for you to train. Well, you and your friends."
"If I may, would it be too much trouble to allow my counterpart and her mate to see their friends every so often?" Twilight inquired of the two sisters.
"We," Solarus started, "could do that but we would need to make another metal gate in their settlement. Hmm, that may be better for their mental state then exiling them for," her face grew worried. "How long do you think it will take Twilight?" Her face retained the worry her words conveyed.
"I can't be sure. If they are quick studies it'll take less time but rushing them will only hinder their learning." The purple ruler said with a reassuring smile.
"Sounds like you have everything planned out already," Solarus said with the worry from her face melting into a stern look. Her sister stepped forward and pushed her body against Solarus'.
"Dear sister, it seems you are worrying over details again. Let us away so that we can set our students on their path." Cold said looking up at her sister from her slightly bowed stance.
The white alicorn with the glowing mane looked at her sister for a few seconds before signing heavily. "You might be right sister. Twilight Sparkle, we shall send Princess Rarity along with our pupils when their settlement can let them study here. It shouldn't be more than a month's time."
Twilight bowed her head slightly, "Understood. My friends and I will get ready in the meantime. My pupil may even be able to assist in their learning." The purple alicorn showed signs of giddiness which caused a soft laugh to come from the other two alicorns.
The three said their goodbyes and parted ways. A full moon would have passed before that metal portal stirred once more.
The purple alicorn and her dragon assistant were in the throne room looking over some of the latest paperwork. Their silence was disturbed by the sounds of hooves on stone. Through the doorway leading to that throne room a white unicorn with a purple mane and cloven hooves bounded in.
"There you two are. I knew I should have learned the layout of your castle the last time I was here." The frail-looking unicorn said without a hint of fatigue.
"Rarity, it is nice to see you again. Did you bring Twilight and her mate?" The princess of friendship asked looking up from her paperwork as her assistant stared on slack-jawed.
"Who, is that?" The white unicorn asked, staring back at the purple and green dragon.
"Oh, that's Spike. I could have sworn you met him when you first arrived here." Twilight responded. To which the dragon and unicorn both shook their heads. "Oh, well, Yes. This is Spike, my assistant. He may be helping with some of the lessons I have planned for those two."
"Are, Dragons friendly here?" Rarity asked with clear nervousness in her tone and pose.
Twilight looked confused, "Mostly, why?"
"Rarity!? Where are you!" A familiar voice rang out from down the hall making the white unicorn a bit more nervous.
"Maybe it would be best to ease them into this concept slowly. Dragons where we live aren't friendly and have done a fair bit of harm to their lives." The volume in which Rarity spoke was just faint enough for the other two to hear but it was clear she was more talking to herself. She turned about and looked down the hall before she shouted, "Down here you two! Just take that left and you'll be in the throne room!"
"This place is huge!" The familiar voice rang out again in reply.
"Is there going to be a problem with Spike being here?" Twilight asked with a fair bit of concern.
"We'll find out in a minute won't we?" The frail-looking unicorn said over her shoulder as two ponies charged down the hall.
"Keep up Twilight!" A rainbow maned pegasus mare shouted as she flew through the doorway with a purple earthen mare trailing not too far behind. The pegasus stopped when she saw the princess of friendship and dropped to the ground with a bow. "Terribly sorry your highness! I didn't mean to make a disturbance." The mare said not looking up from her bow.
The princess of friendship was noticeably surprised and was about to speak when the purple maned earthen pony strolled up beside the bowing pegasus. The earthen pony looked at the ruler of Equestria with confusion and a tilted head before the pegasus pulled her into a bow. Rarity walked to the rainbow maned one's side before tapping her hoof on the pegasus' head. "No need for all that. Get up and introduce yourselves." The white unicorn said with a soft laugh.
The two mares stood up, the one with a rainbow mane and light blue coat was still slightly bowed but the lavender one's head was high and her chest pushed out. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm the best spell weaver of our settlement, even after all the new ponies." She said with pride on her face.
"I-I'm the active scholar of the same settlement my mate is from. O-oh and my name is Rainbow Dash." The rainbow maned mare spoke in a very proper tone if a bit shaky. Hearing this caused the wings of the purple alicorn shot up in surprise.
"Your mate!?" Was the first thing that came out of the alicorn's mouth as even her dragon assistant's jaw dropped. This caused the unicorn, earthen pony, and pegasus to jump a little.
"Yes, your majesty. You were informed of Twilight having a mate before." Rarity was very confused even as she remained calm speaking to the princess of friendship.
"Yes, well, I wasn't told the name of her mate before as your queens didn't seem to remember it." The princess of friendship said followed by a nervous giggle.
"I'm not that surprised. To be quite frank I was more surprised that I was included in Twilight's special training." The pegasus said with a flap of her wings before looking off in no real direction.
"Pfft, I'm just surprised it took them that long to have you take part in my studies. You are the most awesome mare I know." The purple earthen pony said getting her mate's attention and looking her in the eye with a smile. The rainbow maned pegasus blushed slightly and kicked her hoof a little as she looked at the ground. This side profile of the earthen pony made the princess of friendship more aware of something she was overlooking before.
"Excuse me Twilight, but what type of magic tricks do you perform?" The purple alicorn said, thinking that there was a miscommunication.
The earthen pony tilted her head with one ear lowering as her face twisted, "Huh? I use magic, not parlor tricks."
"But you're not... I don't mean any disrespect but you are lacking a horn to do magic." The purple alicorn said with a very nervous look on her face.
With but a huff from the purple pony, she spun around with her hind hoof tracing the ground. Sparks jumped from the stone as the mare's hoof raked along it. Rainbow Dash and Rarity hastily jumped away from Twilight as she wrote in the stone with her hooves. The princess of friendship watched the purple pony dance around making sparks on the throne room floor as the earthen pony did. When that Twilight finished her dance she jumped into the air and slammed her front hooves down on the edge of the circle she made. A ring of light rose from the circle before bright green roots shot from within the ring of light and formed into a couch.
The purple earthen pony jumped over the back of the green root couch and laid down on the inside of it.
"It's comfier than it looks. " Twilight said with a smirk on her face.
Both the princess of friendship and her dragon assistant looked on with mouths agape.
"Wait, what?! Have you been lying to me all this time about unicorns Twilight?!" Her dragon assistant asked loudly as he pointed a claw at the reclining earthen pony.
"Spike! No, I have not been!" The princess of friendship shouted back before refacing the, now laughing, earthen pony as she wiggled on the wooden couch with laughter.
"Is this not a normal occurrence in your lands Princess Twilight?" Rarity said looking a fair bit concerned at the whole display.
"N-no it really isn't. In Equestria. No. In our world, magic is only used by those with horns and those with artifacts made by magic. To see an earth pony use magic at all is very surprising, to say the least." Though princess Twilight was talking to Rarity she was keeping her eyes on the laughing Twilight on the wooden couch she made.
"Whoa really? That's not something I was expecting to run into in a parallel world populated by ponies and having peace reign." Rainbow Dash's words felt a bit disjointed by it was clear she was just as surprised as princess Twilight and her assistant.
They simply shook their heads and silence filled the air. Soon Rarity sighed and moved over to the laying Twilight with the grace of a deer.
"Twilight, would you be a dear and put that away. I need to get you two ready for your lessons so that I can return to the settlement." Rarity said with her gaze softened. Twilight looked up at her with one eye a few seconds before she got out of the wooden couch and slammed the ground with her hooves. A ring of light glowed before the green vine-like wood withdrew into the stone floor and disappeared. The earthen pony then bowed to Rarity.
"Sorry, I just hate it when ponies keep telling me I can't." The purple pony said within her bow before she rose to face the white unicorn.
"It's okay Twilight I think you scared our hosts more than did any harm so I have no issues with what you did. I just wish you'd give more warning before you start weaving your magic." Rarity said as she faced the earthen pony. "It'll give me more time to prepare myself." The white unicorn said under her breath as she turned around. To which the earthen pony just struggled.
"So earth ponies and unicorns can use magic?" The princess of friendship said with a surprised tone.
Rarity shook her head. "What Twilight just used is Circle Magic. Any pony can use that. It is pretty powerful stuff but most need to draw the circles in order to use them. Unicorn's magic and Pegasus tricks us a different sort of magic." The white unicorn calmly said.
"Pegasus," The purple alicorn said as one of her wings loosened to the floor. "Tricks? So, not just unicorns have magic in your world?"
Rarity let out a polite laugh before she spoke, "No no. Earthen ponies made the Circle Magics for everyone to use, the pegasus has their tricks that they can only use in the air, and unicorns have their horn magic." The frail thin unicorn recovered from her laughing fit. "Is it so strange to see magic being used by others?"
"Well, as I just said, the only spells we cast here are from horned creatures. So it might be best if you keep that magic hidden from our world." Princess Twilight said as she looked her counterpart in the eye from afar.
The purple earth pony's face sprung into shock. "You want me to stop using magic?!" She shouted with her face twisting into a panic. "No, no way. You can't be serious."
"I understand the depth of my request, but it is just that, a request. I don't want to cause the creatures of Equestria to go into a panic because of this." The princess of friendship spoke in a calm leveled tone.
"What if I just don't teach ponies how to use the magic? An-and clean up my circles after I'm done using them?" The earthen pony writhed standing up as she shot out ideas.
"I think that might be okay. If no one learns how you use magic it should only awe creatures." Princess Twilight said with a nod. To which the earthen counterpart smiled and clapped her hooves on the ground.
"That's all well and good, oh ruler of this land, but what about my tricks? They aren't as easy to learn so I should be fine using them so long as I don't teach anyone how to use them right?" Rainbow Dash spoke clear and loud to the princess of friendship. Giving the princess a bit of start.
"Oh?! Well, yes, that should be fine though you might have more issues with some of your teachers wanting to learn that Twilight there will." The princess of friendship said with a small awkward laugh.
The three ponies standing across from the princess of friendship and her dragon assistant tilted their heads in confusion before looking between themselves.
"Whatever do you mean?" The thin unicorn said after she regained some composure.
With a soft sigh, Princess Twilight spoke, "I should tell you the names of your teachers at this time. There is me, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, and Rainbow Dash. They are all my good friends and will be your teachers. You will also be learning alongside my other student Luster Dawn. Though I imagine your lessons will be different as she isn't learning about peaceful times but friendship."
"HA! I knew it!" Rainbow Dash blurted out as she shot up into the air with her rather large wings. This caused Rarity to droop some with a heavy sigh.
"Whatever is the matter now Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked the winged pony as she nimbly danced around the air.
The rainbow maned mare slammed down by Rarity. "My theory is correct! There are other worlds in which we are all friends and any number of variations of our personalities and/or abilities!"
"That's an awfully big jump in logic there my active scholar. The Princess of these lands here didn't even tell us anything about her friends other than their names." The white unicorn said as she shook her head.
"But that's where you are wrong Princess. She said that one of them would want to learn about the pegasus tricks, and she said their names, conventionally leaving my name for last. This tells me that my counterpart in this world would seek out that information even knowing that the teacher may not be a master of it. Something, I would remind you, I would never do." The somewhat small pegasus with large wings and a rainbow mane finished talking with her chest pushed out and a large smile on her face.
The earthen pony giggled before cooing at her mate. "Way ta go love." The earthen mare said mimicking her mate's pose.
Rarity turned to face the flabbergasted princess before she spoke, "Is any of this true?"
"Yes well... How did you... Okay, give me a second to wrap my head around what just happened." The purple princess wore her confusion for all to see as she spoke. "So, I think my Rainbow Dash will want to learn your tricks and might hound you for that information. But I'm surprised at how fast you got all that from just a few sentences."
"Pfft, I'm an active scholar oh ruler of these lands. It's my job to find the truth and information on any question brought to my library, and books don't always have the information I seek." Rainbow Dash spoke with pride in her tone, which made her mate start to walk around their princess and lean against her.
"I love it when you get confident Rainbow Dash." The, now blushing, purple earth mare said as she brushed against her mate's side. This caused Rainbow Dash to blush slightly.
"Could you two cool it?" Rarity said with slight glare at the two love birds.
They giggled softly and pushed away from each other. Princess Twilight smiled as she shook her head.
"Well, I'm impressed by you Rainbow Dash and you Twilight Sparkle." The princess of friendship spoke before she stood up. "I had my doubts about how fast your queens what me to teach you two about peace but I can see now that I don't have to worry."
Rarity looked at Princess Twilight with a grimace. "I feel you are jumping to conclusions Twilight, but I hope you have better judgment than I." Rarity's face was stern to drive her point, of how serious she was, home.
The earthen pony jumped up and started to panic. "Oh no! Oh no oh on!"
Rarity face the panicking mare, "What is it Twilight?"
"The fireberry wine! I fought it!" The purple mare spoke with grave worry but Rarity just sighed heavily.
"Then you'll have to do without your wine until Applejack meets up with you in a few weeks." Rarity's tone didn't sound as worried as Twilight's did.
"I don't think wine is going to be useful for learning things over here Twilight," Spike said with a laugh.
"What?! No no! It is for the nights... with... my mate." The purple mare said as she hung her head and the light blue pegasus draped her wing over the mare's shoulder.
"It's okay Twilight. I'm sure I can warm you up to a summer's heat in the meantime." The rainbow maned mare spoke in a gentle whisper to her mate as she leaned against the purple mare's body.
"It seems that this fireberry wine is pretty important to her, but what is it?" The princess asked with a hint of concern.
"It's a wine that bestows the summer's heat on a mare or stallion who drinks it." Rarity spoke as if reciting a poem.
"Umm, okay so what's the summer's heat?" The purple dragon asked, spreading his arms as he did.
"Oh?! Well, you see, when two love each other very much, and it is a warm summer's night..." Rarity spoke with an awkward tone before the princess of friendship interrupted with wide eyes.
"OH! Okay, we get it. It's a mate thing. Gotcha. How about we move on to who you two will be learning from first and who you'll be spending your first night with down in Ponyville?" Princess Twilight's voice sounded rushed as she moved on from the topic at hand.
"Ponyville? Is that the place your friends live?" Rarity asked as Rainbow Dash coddled her mate.
"Ponyville is indeed where my friends live. You'll need to take a train there but my student Luster Dawn will be by shortly to assist you two in getting there." Princess Twilight said with a gentle nod. Though to her surprise the three ponies before her tilted their heads.
"What's a train?" Rainbow Dash asked without a hint of jovialness. The dragon's mouth hung down in shock as did the princess of friendship's jaw.
"It's a machine that transports a large number of creatures over vast distances at higher speeds." The princess of friendship said as the three looked on. Rarity remained with her head tilted, as did the purple earthen pony, but Rainbow Dash's face lit up brightly as the train was explained.
Shooting up into the air, causing her mate to fall onto her side, Rainbow Dash flew around shouting excitedly but it wasn't in a tongue the princess of friendship was used to. She soon landed a bit closer to the ruler of Equestria before bowing.
"I'm sorry for my outburst. I'm just very excited to see advancements in technology in person." Rainbow said with her hooves tapping the stone lightly.
"Sorry for my tardiness Princess Twilight. I was held up at the gate for some reason." The voice of a young pink unicorn with an orange striped mane rang out from behind the three visitors, as the unicorn walked in with her solid hooves clacking on the stone floor.
"I'm glad to see you again my student," Twilight spoke up so they all could hear her. "This is Luster Dawn, and you two will be accompanying her to Ponyville. Luster Dawn, these are my newest students who will be learning about peaceful times and how to coup with them. Meet," Twilight paused to let Luster take in who she was looking at. "Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. They are the visitors from the far off world I told you about in my letter."
"This is wild. She looks almost like you princess!" Luster Dawn exclaimed as she looked at the earthen pony. Then her gaze shifted over to the rainbow maned pegasus. "And you look just like the Rainbow Dash I'm learning from. This is going to be so exciting!"
"I wouldn't get your hopes up too high, young one. From what I've gathered I'm a bit different than the Rainbow Dash you know." Rainbow Dash said with her wings folding in as she turned more fully to Luster Dawn.
"Young one? You're no older than me." Luster Dawn pointed out earnestly.
"I am inclined to agree with our new friend here Rainbow Dash." Rarity chimed in standing next to Luster showing how different the two were.
"And you are? Well, you sort of look like Rarity but, um, thinner." Luster pointed out as she stood almost a full head shorter than Rarity did.
"My name is indeed Rarity but I'm not sure how alike I am to the one you know. I may get the chance to find out soon but for now, I'll have to say that it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Luster Dawn." Rarity bowed with one cloven hoof raised after she finished speaking.
"I didn't mean any disrespect by my age placing Luster Dawn. I just felt you were younger than you looked from how excited you were just now. It was quite frankly adorable." Rainbow Dash said with a bow of her own.
"Okay, so you are really different from the Rainbow I know." Luster replied.
"Shall we away? I feel that we might have more time to talk on the journey to this Ponyville than we will have words to fill it." Rarity said with a bright smile and a gentle nod.
"Wait, you'll be following them Rarity? Want about your settlement?" Spike showed a mix of concern and confusion in his words.
"My, you are not like dragons I know of back home." Rarity replied. Upon hearing this Rainbow and Twilight shot glares at Spike which made him recoil. "Now now you two. He isn't like the dragons from our world. So don't treat him the same. I haven't been." Though the two's bodies relaxed their eyes stared hard at Spike as if waiting for him to make a wrong move. "To answer your question, dragon."
"My name is Spike." The purple dragon said, trying not to lock gazes with the two mates bearing down on him with their sight.
"Right then, Spike. I have to accompany these two to where they will be spending the most time to set up a metal gate. It will allow their friends and me to meet up with them more easily and allow me to check in on them more frequently without the, um, train was it?" Rarity's question caused a nod from the princess of friendship. "Right, the train ride."
"That makes sense I suppose. So, now that this is a thing, why are these two giving me such harsh glares?" Spike inquired, still keeping his gaze from locking with the two.
"The short answer to that is dragons, where we live, are destroyers and cannot make anything on their own save for their own young. We don't have good ties with any dragons in our lands and thus keep them under a watchful eye." Rarity spoke with a rasp to her voice as if fighting off a painful memory.
Princess Twilight's wings pulled up a bit as an idea struck her. "Spike why don't you show them your paper folding skills. If they are used to dragons you can't make things, you making something is sure to sway them." She whispered her words so that Spike was the only one to hear her.
"Yeah! I can do that. And it is origami Twilight." The purple dragon said as he pulled out a clean sheet of paper. Twilight shrugged and waved the other ponies in closer.
Earthen Twilight and her mate cautiously approached the purple dragon as he neatly folded the paper over and over again. Luster Dawn huffed her eye out of her eyes as she had seen this before as Rarity looked over the mate's shoulders. The earth pony's face lit up as she watched the paper's folds start to take on a shape and within a few minutes a folded paper crane lay in the dragon's open palm.
"So cool!" The purple earthen pony said before looking up at the dragon and dropping her head to the stone in a very low bow. "My deepest apologies for my earlier glare." Spike rubbed the back of his had as he smiled but before he could speak Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"So what? You can make a paper bird, it doesn't make you any less of a dragon." Her glare bore through him even though she didn't stand as tall as him. Her wings were slightly open as if ready to fight. Twilight stood up fast and moved in between the dragon and the pegasus.
"Rainbow. Dash. Listen to me. He was, not, the, one. Don't take anything out on him." She stood up tall against Rainbow Dash who wasn't backing down. A few very tense seconds went by before the pegasus' wings folded to her sides.
"Whatever. When he attacks you in the back don't come crying to me." She said before walking away. Spike couldn't help but notice that although Rainbow's back was turned towards him her eyes were still on him. "Let's get out of here." The pegasus said as she passed by Rarity and Luster Dawn.
"She's working through some things. Don't take her words to heart." The earthen pony spoke over her shoulder to Spike without looking at him as her eyes were trained on Rainbow now.
The three ponies and the unicorn walked to the train. It was a silent walk with Twilight keeping close to Rainbow Dash, who was still wearing a scowl on her face.
