Celestia looked up from her little sister, tears still in her eyes. This wasn’t possible. This was too much, far more than she’d hoped for and certainly far more than she’d asked. Luna clung to her leg, bereft of both her power and of her nightmare, begging for forgiveness with tears in her eyes. Of course, Celestia had given it. She’d given it over and over, and would again a thousand times over.

She had her sister back.

The sun shone in the distance, the birds chirped, and the six collapsed mares started to rise from the floor. Celestia paid it no heed. The whole world was her sister.

She held Luna close, remembering something as the tears continued to fall. She had to thank him. Her plan had been to use the elements to end or re-seal Luna. Shining was to be used as an avatar for them. She’d never imagined he’d find a way to purify her.

“Where is he? Where is Shining?”

One of the mares heard what she’d said and stood up, looking around in a daze. Celestia blinked the tears out of her eyes, focusing on the mare, and quickly recognizing her.

“Twilight?”

Twilight wore a tiara with her family crest on it. The symbol of magic. Celestia looked at the other mares, noting the elements they wore as they woke up. This was entirely off her plan. Where was Shining? Who were these mares and why did they bear the elements?

Twilight smiled the first genuine smile that Celestia had ever seen on her face. Then she bowed, remembering she was technically in public. “Princess.”

Celestia clung to Luna desperately, still trying to piece together what happened. Shining Armor was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was, “Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia’s voice still rung in disbelief.

Twilight maintained her bow, and slowly the other girls all bowed the same. There was some bouncing from the pink one, but soon enough all six of them were prostrate. Luna spoke up, her voice wracked with sobs as well, while Celestia was frozen in confusion. “Our saviors, Sister. We beg of thee, address them.”

Something happened that hadn’t happened in eight hundred years. Celestia, tears still streaming from her eyes, stuttered. “B... Bearers of the E... Elements of Harmony. Please, arise. You are never to bow to us again.”

Twilight raised her head first, comfortable hearing proclamations from Celestia. Celestia continued to stare at her in wonder. Twilight’s smile was still there, and still genuine.

Celestia glanced at the others as they rose, and Twilight introduced them one at a time, along with their elements. Pinkie Pie was Laughter, Rarity was Generosity, Rainbow Dash was Loyalty, Applejack was Honesty, and Fluttershy was Kindness. Last of all, Twilight had represented Magic. Five stars. Five friends. Five names and faces forever etched into Celestia’s heart.

Celestia had never been so happy to be so utterly and completely wrong about a cutie mark before.

There was still the matter of her student. “Twilight, what of your brother?”

Twilight’s smile widened, warmly. “He’s still in town. He said that he’d prepare the welcome party.”

Everyone in the room looked at Twilight in confusion.

Applejack spoke up first. “He… skipped on fighting Nightmare Moon to organize a party?”

Dash was next, “Are you kidding me?”

Pinkie shouted in glee, “Yippee! A party!”

Rarity frowned. “That seems terribly irresponsible, dear.”

Fluttershy’s answer was just a quiet, “Oh my…”

Twilight looked back at them, nonplussed with their confusion. “Well, yeah. He said we’d need one. He didn’t say why.”

Celestia felt the same dizzying sense of disorientation as when she saw Shining as a guard. It wasn’t possible that he’d predicted this outcome. There were too many variables. Conversely, it also wasn’t possible that he’d sent Twilight on a suicide mission. She was the most important thing in his world. Twilight had known that, and decided to trust her brother against all odds. He’d likely told her to go fight Nightmare Moon with no given reason whatsoever, and she had. He possibly hadn’t even given her any direction. She had acted in pure, blind, loving obedience.

For all her depravity, she was far too innocent.

Celestia softly laughed at the absurdity of it all, hugging Luna close. Whatever happened, whatever reasons he had, she had Luna. “We’ll have to judge his actions by the quality of his celebration then.”

Twilight nodded, her smile slowly fading, before asking a strange question. “So… does this make us even?”

Celestia crossed her eyebrows in confusion. “Twilight, whatever do you mean?”

A nervous frown grew across Twilight’s face. “You know… since you don’t like me.”

Everypony else went quiet as Celestia struggled to respond. “I… Twilight… I have never disliked you.”

Twilight looked up, her eyes wide. “You never call me Shining’s sister. You’re nice, but you always say my name like it’s unpleasant. And you never talk to me during our lessons…”

Celestia balked. She hadn’t realized she’d been doing that. She thought of the lessons as Shining’s lessons. She thought Twilight was only attending to stay close to Shining. She’d assumed Twilight was always intently watched Shining because of her warped upbringing, and silent because she didn’t care. Now, Celestia saw a different possibility. One where Twilight was simply avoiding the gaze of a harsh teacher that didn’t like her and looking at somepony that gave her strength instead.

“I… have done you a disservice, Twilight. One I will do anything in my power to correct.”

Twilight’s smile returned as she looked up with pure hope in her eyes. “So, am I allowed to fuck Shining again? It’s been a long 24 hours, and I am way overdue for a good dicking.”

The room went silent.

Celestia nervously laughed.

Applejack took a step back from Twilight, and lowered her hat to cover a blushing face while Rarity fainted on a red couch that miraculously happened to be in the room. Dash crashed to the ground, her wings refusing to flap as Fluttershy hid her blushing face and muttering behind hers. Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “Oh… Oh! Ooooh! …Kinky.”

Even Luna had paused her affectionate hugging to look at Twilight in apparent confusion.

Celestia sighed, then clapped her hooves together to get everypony’s attention. “Okay. So… for our first order of business, Twilight,” Celestia worked very hard to say Twilight’s name with love, and not disgust. She hoped it came through. “Yes. You can go back to your… relations… with Shining.”

Twilight hoof pumped in glee, shouting her exuberance. “Yesss!”

Celestia ignored that, and continued. “Second off, I’d like to ask the rest of you to treat this as something of a ‘Royal Secret’. Twilight has some unique circumstances, and I would really appreciate if you all stayed quiet on the matter of her relationship with her brother. It would be very… ah… damaging to their reputation if this was to get out.”

The mares stared back at her before Applejack shrugged, grumbling in frustration. “Been accused of that half my life, and of course it’s the unicorn from Canterlot that actually does it. But yeah, I can keep a secret. I’m one to mind my business when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Pinkie Pie nodded with a disturbingly large grin. “Pinkamena Diane Pie can keep a secret! Even if this one is a doozy!”

Rainbow gulped, still land bound. “Uhh… Sure. This is weird, right?””

Rarity slowly sat up from her couch. “Yes, Rainbow Dash, this is indeed ‘weird’. I can keep a secret, if the Princess wishes. However, if we are to be friends then I shall need the morbid details, Twilight. Even if I can’t share this…” She waved her hoof in front of her face, as though she was fanning herself, ‘gossip.’”

Fluttershy mumbled from behind her wings. “Oh… okay…”

Celestia smiled, finally wiping the tears from her eyes. She couldn’t make them keep their word, but hopefully they understood the potential fallout from breaking it.

Luna spoke quietly, seemingly to herself. “What sort of world hath Equestria became whilst we have been confined on our moon?”

Twilight spoke up, sounding hopeful again. “I like these ponies. Can my friends have sex with Shining, too?”

Celestia’s grin grew thin as the girls went dead silent. Pinkie’s eyes were large, and she looked like she was about to explode when Celestia decided to reign in this conversation. “Twilight, that’s not an appropriate question for friends you’ve just met. What if you and I start some private lessons on the nature of friendship?” Celestia thought for a moment before adding, “Or perhaps basic socializing, since it appears that’s been neglected in your tutelage.”

Twilight’s eyes began to twinkle and water. “You mean, I get my own lessons?”

Celestia nodded, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty. “Of course. You are one of my personal students, after all.”

Twilight blinked. “Can… my brother come?”

Celestia smiled as gently as she could. “Only if you want him to and he wishes to join you, but these lessons will be primarily for you.”

Twilight’s grin grew and she began to hop in pure glee. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

Celestia had never noticed exactly how alarmingly cute the mare could be.

Twisted or not.

Author's Note

Days, minutes, hours. Time is an illusion. Have another chapter.