The student and the Princess: Best of both worlds

Back at the library, the rest of the Mane 6, the pony counterparts of the Rainbooms, were all waiting for Twilight to come home. However, they weren't the only ones there. For with them were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who came by to visit and eagerly wanted to see Twilight again after they heard she left through the portal, whilst Shining Armor, Princess Cadance and Flurry Heart also wanted to visit, but they didn’t expect her to be gone, especially for so long.

‘What’s taking her so long?’ said an impatient Rainbow Dash.

‘Darling relax,’ said Rarity as she gave herself a hoofacure ‘From what my Spiky-Wikey told me, portal travel takes long between there and Equestria.’

‘She’s not wrong.’ said Spike as he brought in snacks.

‘Ooh, I can’t wait to throw her a welcome back party.’ said Pinkie Pie as she got excited.

‘Twilight said that she’d take a vacation,’ said Fluttershy ‘But she didn’t say how long.’

‘I understand of taking breaks,’ said Princess Luna ‘The responsibilities of a kingdom can take a toll on many.’

‘Indeed Luna.’ said Princess Celestia ‘But I hope she is doing well in the other world.’

They suddenly saw the portal shimmering, which Rarity said ‘Oh, look, here she comes.’

As they saw her return, something was different. Twilight had a wide smile on her face and sighed with love and affection. She even twirled like a ballerina and flew in the air. She slowly hovered towards a nearby couch and landed whilst wrapping her arms in content with the photo album that Invictus and her friends were able to put for her together.

Everyone was surprised to see Twilight look like this. However, Cadance could immediately felt a powerful love in Twilight, which she couldn’t help but smile widely at this. Her friends gathered around her.

As Flurry Heart landed on Twilight, Shining Armor asked ‘Twiley? Are you okay?’

Twilight sighed in happiness and said ‘Never felt better.’

‘Okay?’ said Rainbow as she didn’t know what was wrong with her.

Cadance spoke with a smirk and said ‘And I assume that you met someone special there?’

‘Yeah…’ mumbled Twilight.

Pinkie heard her and gasped loudly, and shouted ‘Twilight has a special somepony!!!’

Twilight got out of her daze and blinked in shock and realized she had just spilled the beans.

‘Oh, I mean uh!!!’ said Twilight as she quickly sat back up ‘What I mean to say is…!!!’. Twilight sighed and said ‘Yes, I have a special somepony.’

The rest of the Mane 5 gasped at that, and already began to bombard her with questions.

‘Girls, girls.’ said Twilight as she was able to calm them down ‘Not only that. But I was able to solve the biggest friendship problem in history.’

They were surprised by this, as they looked at one another, then back to her.

‘Whatever do you mean Twilight?’ asked Princess Celestia.

‘It’s a long story.’ said Twilight.

‘Why don’t we go to the dining room,’ offered Spike ‘I already got the food ready there.’

‘That would be wise.’ said Princess Celestia as all of them had left for the dining room.

***************************************************************************************************

An hour later, Twilight had just finished explaining everything to everypony present in the dining room, whilst concluded ‘And that’s what happened.’

Everypony and dragon in the room were taken aback by this newly developed information.

‘Land sakes.’ said Applejack softly whilst she adjusted her hat, then said ‘That really is impressive.’

‘I still cannot believe what this poor Invictus went through in his life,’ said Rarity as she wiped her tear away ‘It truly was a heartbreaking moment.’

‘But you were able to solve a friendship problem and fall in love at the same time.’ said Pinkie Pie as she sometimes jumped from the chair.

‘But still,’ said Princess Luna ‘The knowledge of other worlds parallel to our own. Tis truly sad what happened to his mother’s home.’

‘And it’s wonderful that you were able to bring them back together Twilight.’ said Fluttershy ‘I can’t wait to meet him one day once he decided to come visit.’

‘He’s considering it,’ said Twilight ‘But when the time is right, I know we will be able to welcome him with open hooves.’

Twilight ended up sighing and said ‘He really is amazing.’

‘Is that so?’ said Shining Armor as his left eye twitched, trying to sound normal, but Cadance could tell his big brother instincts were about to kick in and that he wants to protect her. ‘Sounds like to me you two have gotten pretty close during your time away.’

‘We did.’ said Twilight ‘He showed me around what the world was like that I had been missing out for a long time. He helped me compare the differences between our world and theirs. There were some similarities too. Similar towns and cities, but also different too. I even got to spent time at Camp Everfree.’

‘Everfree?’ said Spike.

‘Oh,’ said Twilight ‘There’s a summer camp called Everfree. The forest almost looks like the Everfree forest, minus the magic there.’

Twilight then lowered her eyes as she thought about the times she spent with Invictus. Going to a summer camp opened for tourists, Going to a family reunion, looking around an animal sanctuary, touring the city of the stars, dancing together at the biggest party, spending time at the beach. Then the amount of time they spent in Manehattan.

But through all that time, she thought about every moment she spent with Invictus. The conversations, the comparison, the laughter, the traveling, and most importantly, the kiss. She never felt this way for anyone or anypony. But when Invictus came into her life, she felt…happy. Really happy.

‘And every moment I was there,’ said Twilight as she lightly blushed ‘I couldn’t help but admire someone like that. He truly is somepony special.’

The girls, Spike and the royals were all happy for Twilight as she got to experience love for the first time. Rainbow however remained silent as she kept her head lowered. Thinking about it, what Twilight had said something about Invictus, made her go deep in thought, and what the other her and Invictus went through because of a misunderstanding and life.

‘Rainbow,’ said Fluttershy ‘Are you okay?’

‘Uh…’ muttered Rainbow before she stood back up and said ‘I need to be somewhere.’

She quickly dashed out of the castle with great speed. The others were clueless over what was going on.

‘I hope you enjoyed his company.’ said Fluttershy.

‘I did. He really is amazing.’ said Twilight, but then she saw Spike leaving the room, whilst also using her magic to close Flurry’s ears so that she wouldn’t hear, which confused Cadance, until Twilight said ‘He’s not too bad in the bed either.’

That caused a spit take to everypony in the room as they looked at her shocked, with Rarity saying ‘Wait, did you two…?!!’

‘Yep,’ said Twilight before she took a sip from her drink, then said with a smirk ‘And we did it for a full three hours with an endurance spell.’

The said ponies gawked with wide eyes and hot blushing faces, with Fluttershy and Shining Armour fainting from the sudden revelation.

**************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, from Manehattan, the weather Pegasi were moving the clouds so that they could make their scheduled rain, especially for their water reservoir. And from atop the clouds, a light green pony with black mane and glasses was busy directing most of the Pegasi, considering he’s in charge of Manehattan’s weather teams. He was none other than Invictus’ pony counterpart.

‘Move that thicker cloud to the southern part of the city,’ said Invictus to the group of Pegasi ‘We already have Earth Ponies ready to store as much water as they could in case of a large drought or if the city’s water pipes get messed up again.’

‘You got it boss.’ said one of the Pegasi as she led the group to move the cloud.

‘Nice job there Invictus,’ said Cloud Watch ‘We might actually fill up our quota here.’

‘Yeah, first time in a month.’ said Invictus ‘We don’t want another incident to happen, not like what happened last time.’

When all of a sudden.

‘Invictus…?’

The said pony looked behind and to his surprise, it was none other than Rainbow Dash.

‘Rainbow?’ said Invictus as he recognized the pony. He looked at his assistant and said ‘Say Cloud, take over for me. The northern fields need help.’

‘You got it boss.’ said Cloud as he flew away.

Invictus flew over to Rainbow and said ‘Rainbow, you old so and so. I haven’t seen you in like, forever. How have you been?’

But he saw the saddened look on her face, making him look at her in concern.

‘Hey, are you okay?’ he asked in concern.

‘Uh, yeah.’ said Rainbow as she felt nervous for some reason. ‘Invictus?’ said Rainbow as she looked at him ‘Can we talk?’

Invictus was unsure, but complied nonetheless. The two of them flew to the highest cloud, one that watches all over Manehattan, allowing them to be alone.

‘So Dashie, what can I do for you?’ said Invictus.

Rainbow closed her eyes and lowered her head.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘What?’ said Invictus as he looked at her.

Rainbow took a deep breath and said in a calm manner ‘I’m sorry I never apologized to you whenever I was sometimes mean or playing a prank. I’m sorry I never hung out with you more often. You were a colt who didn’t have anybody until I came into your life. And I’m sorry I never got into contact with you more often. More importantly. I’m sorry for making you feel alone.’

Invictus kept hearing word for word. He couldn’t help but have a soft and caring smile as he looked at her. He slowly wrapped his wing around her and held her close.

‘I’m also sorry.’ said Invictus ‘I’m sorry that I sometimes make you go through some tough times. I’m also sorry for not trying hard enough. And I’m sorry that I didn’t keep in contact with you either. You trying to save the world, me trying to maintain Manehattan’s weather teams. I guess life tends to make us both busy.’

Rainbow slowly wrapped her wing around him too, for she missed the hug. ‘Do you,’ began Rainbow, ‘Do you think that we can hang out again, for old time’s sake?’

He couldn’t help but smile and said ‘I’d like that.’

The two of them embraced one another, staring in the vast plain of their world.

**************************************************************************************************

Later that evening, after her friends went home, Twilight was about to return to her room, until she spotted Princess Celestia standing by the balcony. She walked out to the balcony to see what she was doing.

‘Princess Celestia?’ said Twilight as she was curious what her mentor was doing. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Just…’ began Celestia when she was thinking ‘Thinking of what you told me what Invictus revealed.’

‘Oh?’ said Twilight ‘About what?’

‘The first part, about me having a daughter.’ said Celestia. She lowered her head and said ‘I did once think about it, but because of my duties I did not have the chance to find love. And the pony who once made that happen is long gone. I wished I could have seen that. It’s a shame that Equestria’s gone. I would have loved to see how it would all turn out.’

‘I’m sure that he would also want you to be happy.’ said Twilight ‘But what about the other?’

She sighed heavily and said ‘About what would’ve happened if Sunset hadn’t been born and that she was fated to go to that world.’

Twilight was surprised by this.

‘When some of the ponies heard of the path she went down on,’ said Celestia ‘There were some who wish she never existed. But now…’

Celestia had a guilt written look on her face and said ‘But to hear what happened if she didn’t exist. Her friends and their world suffering because of Starswirl banishing the Sirens there, and that prevented her friends from suffering a horrible fate, as well as those they helped. But…’

She began to tear up ‘To hear that I passed my mistakes to you that resulted you destroying Equestria.’

She held her hoof over her face and said ‘Why do I keep making mistakes? Why do I keep being a fool? Where did I go wrong?’

Celestia wiped her tears away and said ‘I’m a horrible ruler.’

‘Celestia,’ said Twilight as she showed concern for her teacher ‘Don’t say that, that’s not true.’

‘It is.’ said Celestia ‘I’ve made so many mistakes, and I realized I should’ve tried harder. I should’ve tried to convince you to try and be friends with others instead of making you think otherwise. I should’ve helped you prepare for certain events.’

Twilight held her teacher close and said ‘Princess Celestia. I’m the one who makes mistakes. Like with Tirek, I should’ve told my friends the truth. Cause if I did, we would’ve come up with a better plan to stop him. Or that time at Mount Aris…’

‘Which is also my fault,’ said Celestia ‘I should’ve trained you to handle things in a diplomatic manner. But instead I was ignorant, just like I was ignorant to tell you that you should’ve sent the friendship reports whenever you learned your lessons instead of weekly.’

Celestia looked in the air and said ‘I truly owe you so much Twilight, more than you can imagine. I also owe Sunset a great deal.’

‘We all do.’ said Twilight after she broke the hug ‘If she didn’t leave, then you wouldn’t have taken me in to be your student and she wouldn’t have been there to help her friends. I realize that now. I just wished I could’ve done a better job.’

‘Like I once learned from Invictus,’ said Twilight ‘Nopony is perfect and everypony makes mistakes. We all have off days. But in the end it’s the most unlikely of folks that help make us who we are.’

Twilight then pondered something, then remembered that one private conversation she had with Invictus.

**************************************************************************************************

Back in the human world, before the two of them left and met up with Rainbow Dash and they were still in Silver Shoals, Twilight had told Invictus of her mistakes back at Mount Aris whilst she sat on the beach and Invictus standing.

‘And then I said those horrible things to Pinkie Pie,’ said Twilight sadly ‘A foolish pony who once again tried to do everything on her own, an idiot Princess of Friendship who couldn’t even trust her own friends to help her shoulder her problems without asking them or even giving them a yes or no answer.’

‘You’re no idiot.’ said Invictus ‘You’re still here aren’t you? Even talking to a person who made just as many mistakes.’

‘I guess.’ said Twilight.

‘An idiot, no.’ said Invictus ‘A failure, absolutely.’

Twilight gave a small glare, but Invictus chuckled at that. ‘And you know what that makes you?’ said Invictus before he sat next to her and said ‘Just like everyone else.’

‘But I’m not supposed to be like everypony else.’ said Twilight in partial denial.

‘Everyone fails at who they were supposed to be Twilight,’ said Invictus ‘But the true measure of a person, pony, princess, or even a hero, is how well they succeeded into being who they are.’

She thought about it and realized he was right, causing her to lean against him, with him holding onto her in the process.

**************************************************************************************************

‘Who they are.’ muttered Twilight.

‘Twilight?’ said Princess Celestia when she looked at her student.

‘Sorry,’ said Twilight ‘Just remembering an important lesson I learned from Invictus.’

‘Like what?’ said Princess Celestia.

Twilight sighed and said ‘When we were at the beach, I told him of the mistakes I made when we were trying to get help from Mount Aris. He told me that I wasn’t an idiot, but I was a failure. And in the end it made me realize that I was just like everypony else.’

Twilight looked at Celestia and said ‘He also told me that Everypony fails to be who they were supposed to be. But the true measure of a person, a hero, a pony or a princess, is how well they succeed into being who they are.’

Twilight looked ahead from the balcony and said ‘And to think back then, all I ever cared about was studying and not caring about making friends. In the end I realized I was wrong. I learned on how to make friends and…’

Twilight blushed as she looked down and smiled ‘Falling in love with somepony.’

Twilight looked at Celestia and said ‘I never even thought about romance long ago. But the moment when I met him, he was really nice and he showed me around. But the more we spent with one another, I felt really attracted to him. And I’ll admit, I was thrown a bit off guard by the kisses a couple of times. But the more I felt his lips, the more I wanted to savor the moment. I…I even fell in love. Spent more time with him.’

She chuckled and said ‘And my friends from Canterlot High were right. What would be the chance I would ever find love during my life. And I hope that when the time is right, he’ll come visit Equestria. And then me to him. I really…’

‘Enjoyed being on the bedside with him?’ said Princess Celestia with a smirk, causing Twilight to blush madly.

‘What…?’ muttered Twilight as she couldn’t hide the blush from his face. Then she lowered her head and muttered ‘Well…it felt amazing. I never experience it before, let alone in another body.’

Celestia chuckled and said ‘I understand Twilight. I know you have responsibilities to Equestria, but you also need to learn to have some balance in your life. Like Cadance once told you, you may have an obligation as a Princess, but you also need to have an obligation to yourself. If you believe you can make it work, then I will find a way to help arrange that.’

Twilight slowly hugged her teacher and said ‘I really appreciate that. Thank you Princess Celestia.’

‘You’re welcome Twilight,’ said Princess Celestia with a chuckle. ‘You have a good…’

However, when Twilight saw Princess Luna was about to raise the moon, she remembered what Invictus said, and wanted to prove that theory, which caused her to have a devilish smirk. Twilight stopped Celestia, making the ruling monarch curious of what she had in mind.

Twilight suddenly casted a spell that made the moon look like half Swiss cheese with her butt on some parts of the moon, which surprised Celestia.

‘Oh no, Princess Luna,’ said Twilight in a dramatic manner ‘Come quick, somepony has messed with your moon!!’

And within a split second, Princess Luna appeared and said ‘What?!! Who dares defile my moon?!!’

She suddenly went to the balcony and was about to shout, but thankfully Twilight placed a censor spell so that only Princess Luna could hear herself. ‘You ungrateful ***, how dare you mess up my ***, do you have any *** idea how hard I worked on that *** moon, you ***…!!’

Whilst Celestia was slightly aghast by what Luna was doing, Twilight instantly teleported the rest of her friends and Spike to him.

‘Whoa, Twilight, what the hay…?’ said Rainbow Dash.

Then they saw Princess Luna cursing to whomever changed her moon, and was cursing, but thankfully had the cursing block spell.

‘Goodness, what is going on?’ said Rarity.

‘Twilight somehow messed with the moon and Luna is raving mad.’ whispered Celestia, which surprised the others.

‘Why in tarnation did y’all do that?!’ said Applejack.

The moment when Twilight heard Luna’s ninth cursed word, Twilight said ‘Wait for it.’

Luna then shouted ‘You can go *** your…!!!’

Within a split second, Luna farted really loud that everypony in Ponyville heard her. Luna’s eyes were widened in shock as she blushed in embarrassment, but not as shocked as Princess Celestia, Spike and the rest of Twilight’s friends were when they actually heard something that caught them off guard, thus proving Twilight’s hypothesis, that what Invictus said was true.

‘I…I…’ said Princess Luna as she couldn’t believe what she did.

She suddenly heard snickering. When she looked behind, to her shock, it was Princess Celestia, Spike and the Mane 6, all struggling to hold in their laughter.

‘Well…’ muttered Celestia as she could barely contain herself ‘That was…unexpected.’

‘Now she’s cooking with gas.’ said Pinkie Pie.

That did it, they then all started to laugh out loud as they fell over, barely being able to control themselves.

‘Be quiet!!’ shouted Princess Luna in her royal Canterlot voice ‘It is not funny!! Our flatulence acted on its own!!’

They continued to laugh as Luna then said ‘I shall return to Canterlot, don’t wait up!!’

She flew away, completely embarrassed whilst the rest continued to laugh.