Give her a chance, at least this one time. She really does care about you.

Leave me alone...

Do you know why I'm still around?

I don't care why, I just want you gone.

She doesn't give up. It's why she still wants you around, because despite your own doubts, she sees potential in you. She sees it in all of us. Except maybe Dawn.

...

Think about it, won't you? I bet the speech will change your mind.

Pacing back and forth in front of the library, the chatter behind her from the dragon and filly blurred against the background noise of Ponyville. She barely had time to prepare her luggage and alert her friends in the morning before Somnia had returned from Canterlot. Unfortunately, she would miss Rainbow Dash's birthaversery, but she should be back in town for the Ponyville Days celebration.

Trotting past Dusty for the eightieth time, Twilight could still see the tension the guardsmare was putting off. She had hardly spoken to anypony since they arrived back from Canterlot, and her responses were very short and to the point.

"Dusty?" Twilight stopped in front of her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, ma'am." She answered stoically, not taking her eyes from the distance.

Sighing, Twilight trotted over to Shield who was just reading their book while they waited. "Captain, did something happen in Canterlot? Dusty isn't very..."

"Responsive? Happy? Yeah, something happened, but I'm not going to tell you what." He returned to his book.

"Even if I order you?" She smiled to him.

"Even if you order me." He smiled back, reversing her own.

She resumed her pacing while waiting for the chariot to arrive. A few minutes later, two chariots appeared in the distance, one landing in front of the library while the other circled above. The Queen's Guard secured her travel case on the side compartment of the extra-large chariot while she boarded with Somnia. A sleepy Princess Luna only gave a lazy wave to them as they secured themselves in for the ride.

With one last goodbye to Spike, the thestrals pulling them set off into the skies to meet up with the other chariot. The ride over was fairly quiet, and what little remarks between Shield and Dawn had to be yelled over the wind. About an hour later, Princess Luna woke up properly as they were approaching their destination, taking the downtime to fully wake up.

The two chariots landed near to the center of the town next to a well that had several large crates stacked next to it. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Stone buildings centuries old were barely holding together, holes in the occasional one sometimes covered by wood but more often than not left to provide a permanent draft for whoever lived there. The larger structures had their roofs collapsed, crushing the top floors. There was barely any color, barely any cheer.

Stepping down from the chariot, her eyes focused on an outline of a pony burned into the side of a building. A grim reminder that something terrible had happened to this town, and that whoever the shadow belonged to was long gone. Princess Luna stepped down on the other side and made her way over to one of the larger buildings still standing. Following into the building, Twilight expected some sort of town hall, not what she ended up seeing.

A single wooden desk with splinters sticking out of it was at the center of the room, a single brass bell atop it. Stairs ran upstairs to the side of the desk and two other doorways led elsewhere into the first floor. Luna rang the bell a few times, signalling the motions of whoever was in the back room. A tired thestral mare trudged out to the counter, her eyes lighting up as she gazed upon Princess Luna.

"Your gracefulness!" She bowed. "What can this humble servant do for you?"

"We require..." She looked back at the guards briefly. "Three rooms, if you have enough."

"O-Of course." She reached back to take a crudely put-together leather binder out from a broken section of the wall, briefly flicking through it. "We have three rooms available. Two of which have three beds each, the last is on the third floor, but it has a hole in the roof..."

"Guards." Luna turned over to her thestrals. "Please go see the hunt organizer for temporary lodgings." They walked away while Luna returned to smiling at their host. "The other two rooms will be sufficient."

"R-Right this way." She led them up the stairs, motioning to the two rooms that were on either side of the hallway. Entering into the room, Twilight's heart sank even further. The 'royal suite' had three rusted bed frames with spring mattresses on top, two pillows total. The water damage was obvious from the stains that ran down the walls, mold lining the edges of the room and window. Two mice looked on curiously just within sight, having been caught in the middle of a transaction of some sort.

Using a hoof to tear down the cobweb that was hanging from the center of the room, Twilight took another look around in disbelief. "This is..." Disgusting? Horrible? How can anypony live in a place like this?

"Hollow Shades." Luna sighed, opening her own travel case to remove two sleeping bags. She began unrolling one of them onto one of the beds while Twilight went to the foggy window, wiping it with no success. The ragged curtains had so many holes that they were rendered useless.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight turned to face Princess Luna who was in the middle of getting into her sleeping bag, taking a pillow for herself. "Why didn't you tell Celestia it was this bad?!"

"I did!" Luna snapped back, immediately cringing in regret. She gave a deep sigh, settling into her bed for a nap. "I did..."

Twilight got out her own sleeping bag that she had packed according to Luna's instructions while Somnia unrolled the extra from Luna. She didn't get any sleep over the next couple of hours, her mind too wracked with the implications of how it got this bad. Does Celestia really not care about them? Isn't she supposed to be a benevolent monarch? Aren't these her little ponies too?

When Luna's horn started glowing, Twilight knew sunset had come along. Getting up from her bed, she spotted mice feces having been swept into the corner, adding the the discomfort she was feeling. The three of them exited the 'hotel', a few thestrals were finally out walking around the streets going about their early evening business. The chariot had been moved elsewhere, likely wherever the Lunar Guard's were staying, the large crate the second had brought being left near to the well with the others.

While Luna went to the well in order to give the residents a show of raising the moon, Twilight and Somnia sat on one of the few stone benches that was still intact against the hotel.

"Somnia--"

"I know." The filly laid her head against her mother, frowning at the state of the town square. "I know..."

Luna lifted herself into the air, receiving stares of awe from her subjects as the moon raised above the horizon to take the place of the sun in the sky, plummeting the valley into darkness. Casting a night vision spell, Twilight could see a few more thestrals exiting their homes now that it was dark out.

"Do you need a night vision spell?" Twilight asked the filly.

"If you wouldn't mind. I can see pretty well, but it's still dark."

Luna walked back over to them while Twilight cast the spell. "We should be seeing the hunt organizer."

Leading them towards the edge of town, Twilight spotted an anxious Duskwing pacing back and forth atop something in front of a small crowd that was slowly trickling in.

"Duskwing?" Twilight trotted up to the crowd, getting few nasty looks from the thestrals.

"Princess Twilight!" He hopped down from the log he was using as a platform and pushed his way through the crowd. Once through, he spotted Princess Luna. "Your Serene Beauty." He gave a humble bow.

"Enough of that." Luna chuckled, stepping up the crowd that quickly bowed to her. "My loyal subjects! Tonight we shall have a great feast brought courtesy of myself! For tonight is a celebration for all of you!" The ponies screeched in delight, all of which excitedly trotting off, but not before personally bowing to the princess. Among them, Twilight could see fairly young fillies and colts mixed it with the elderly or disabled.

This isn't Equestria. This can't be Equestria.

Duskwing and a colt she recognized as Nightwind approached her. "I wasn't expecting you to visit so soon."

"It was kind-of last minute." Twilight admitted. She had only gotten the letter when she returned to Ponyville late at night with Cadance. Didn't even see it until the morning just before Somnia arrived back from Canterlot.

"Princess Twilight, I would like you to meet Nightwind. Nightwind, this is your Aunt Twilight." Duskwing motioned between them.

"Aunt?" The colt looked up to him confused.

"You haven't told him, have you?" Twilight slyly smiled at Duskwing, getting a nervous shake of the head.

"Remember me?" Somnia trotted up to the colt, getting uncomfortably close to Nightwind's face. "I'm that guard-filly from Canterlot!"

"Nightwind, this is your cousin Somnia. Why don't you two run off and help get everything ready for the festival?" The two foals walked off with Somnia chatting about something to the very confused colt while Twilight approached her former husband.

"Duskwing, why were there fillies and colts in the hunting party?" She asked concerned.

"We gotta accept help from anypony willing to offer it." He shrugged. "Gotta do what we gotta do so we don't go hungry."

Following him back towards town, Twilight didn't want to see it anymore. Despite the decently high spirits of the batponies in the presence of Princess Luna, the town was miserable and it showed. While they certainly perked up at the sight of Luna, she could see their mood fall back down the moment they weren't paying attention to her. She hardly spotted anypony smiling just for the sake of it.

"You like books?" He asked over his shoulder, to which Twilight nodded. Leading her along a branching path from the town square, he pushed aside a wooden plank that served as the door for the town library. "Ta da!"

Entering, it was quite possibly the worst library she had ever seen. She could count nearly a hundred and fifty books total, some of which were only reams of paper without proper covers. Worst of all, she didn't even need to check the insides to know that a lot probably had their pages damaged or missing, small bits of hastily stuck in paper poking from most of the books.

"I know it ain't much, but it suffices for teaching basic concepts." Duskwing blew dust from one of the tables, pulling out a chair for Twilight. The two sat at the table in silence for a minute while they both tried to think of something to say.

"Duskwing... I-I'm so sorry." Twilight apologized, eyes tearing up. "I didn't know it was this bad. I promise, I really didn't."

"Sorry for what? A thousand years of neglect?" He leaned back in the chair, accidentally breaking the back and falling backwards. He got back up, wiping himself off. "Damn..."

"A thousand years..." Twilight turned up at the tattered banners around the library. They all signified either Princess Luna, the Moon, or even Nightmare Moon. The poster on the far side was propaganda from the would-be Lunar Empire, encouraging recruitment for the military to 'Save Our Serene Night'.

"Nothing new under the sun." He chuckled. "Literally, in our case."

She didn't want to believe it, her face scrunching up as she held back the disgust in her stomach. This isn't like Celestia. It simply isn't!

"I know Princess Celestia was your mentor or something." He sat back down on the newly made stool. "But she's not as perfect as the papers say."

"And you've been living in this your whole life." She absently stared into his eyes.

This can't stand. It can't!

"I'm still not understanding." Nightwind stopped in his tracks. "If Princess Twilight is my aunt, and my uncle is your dad, are they married?"

"No, you aren't getting it." Somnia sighed, getting next to him to put a hoof around his withers. "They're half-siblings. I'm their daughter."

"But wouldn't you have only three hooves? Or one wing bigger than the other?" He joked, getting a smile out of her.

"If I was a normal pony, maybe. But the royal family is different." She bit her lip. "Imagine if you arranged the family tree of the royal family for thousands of years, only letting those within the tree to marry each-other. Enough foals and you would find two candidates for the next generation. Then they would have foals who would go through the same process down the line until the defects were removed, and eventually there would be enough clean pairs for cousins. That's our family tree."

"Wait, cousins got married?"

"Come on~" She half-lidded her eyes. "Wouldn't it be nice to know the pony you're set to marry before you even start to think about marriage and stuff?"

"I don't know..." He hummed.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. My mom and dad will be getting back together, meaning we'll be spending a lot of time together." She grinned, rubbing his chest. "Ever feel funny around fillies? Your little friend poking out of your sheath at inconvenient times?"

"H-Hey!" He backed up a bit from her. "I barely know you!"

"Now. You barely know me now." She stepped forward. "Trust me. You and I can help each other with our urges..."

"B-But uncle said--"

"If you're getting hard, and you're getting those feelings on your own, you're fine." She kissed him on the cheek. "Wanna give it a try?"

"N-Not tonight. L-Let me get to know you a bit first. Uncle probably wouldn't like me not knowing my special somepony." He stuttered out nervously, heart beating wildly.

"Fine. When you're ready, I'll be waiting." She turned, lifting her tail to the side to give him a quick view before trotting off back to the town square.

Just like the first time. She giggled.

Careful, or you'll be married sooner than you know.

What's so bad about being married? More foals, less stuff I will personally have to do.

Your mother probably wouldn't be happy with raising her grandfoals.

I'll raise them then! She spotted Luna taste-testing the local cuisine while her mom and dad were helping with setting up the stage for the speeches. Deciding a quick snack wouldn't hurt, she trotted towards Luna.

"It's wonderful!" Luna praised the baker who graciously bowed for the complement. "Very succulent."

"I made sure it was cooked to perfection, your gracefulness."

"Linu!" Somnia called out freezing Luna in place. "How is the tasting coming along?"

She grabbed the filly in her magic and brought her into her forelegs. "Don't ever call me that again." Her expression told the filly it was a sore topic.

"O-Okay?" Somnia fearfully answered, nodding in panic.

Luna sighed before returning to a smile. "The tasting is going fine. Want to help me?"

The filly nodded eagerly.

"No, the stage won't be supported enough in the center if we do that." Twilight rubbed between her eyes.

"We don't exactly have the luxury of carved wood, y'know?"

"What if we gather enough twigs and leaves to provide a cushion under it?"

Duskwing looked it over. "Might work, but we'd need to gather those and it would take forever." Twilight pointed to her horn, getting a blush from him. "Oh, right."

The two did some more measurements for the dimensions of the stage before going back to the woods to gather the large ball of forest material.

"Y'know, we could really benefit from somepony like you around here." He chuckled as they walked through the forest path, gathering small piles here and there. Compared to the large ball in Twilight's magical grasp, his contribution was pocket change.

"I'm sure a unicorn will move in after we start the social reforms." She grabbed another bundle of fallen leaves. "It'll take some time."

"Hey, where I'm going it's probably not going to be a problem." He picked up a few twigs to put into his saddlebags. "Did the princess tell you what she told me?"

"No. What did she want?" Twilight asked curiously. Luna had briefly pulled him aside before going off to do the taste testing. She just assumed it was the instruction to assemble the stage.

He sighed. "I'm moving to Ponyville. Their orders."

"What?!" She dropped the collected pile onto the ground, turning to him. "But why? Why would she order you to--"

"It's fine." He cut her off. "She thought it would be an excellent opportunity to stay close to Somnia, and so that other ponies could see batponies living in their community. It seems to be the latter, more than the former."

"But do you want to move? I can veto it if you really want to stay here." She approached, eyes locked onto his own.

"You've seen the town. It's a mess, and my place isn't much better. I'm going to be getting a house without a constant draft, Nightwind is going to get a formal education, and Somnia is going to get her dad. Oh, and you'll get to stare at my flank more." He smirked, turning from the blushing princess.

"Stahp." She playfully pawed at him, smiling to herself while she picked up the leaves and twigs again with her magic.

"Thestrals of Hollow Shades!" Luna announced to the gathered crowd. Nearly every pony in the town was gathered at the town square, numbering over three thousand ponies and all in various states of excitement. In the front row were Duskwing, Nightwind, and Dusty all watching curiously, and to the side of the stage was one of the ponies Twilight had seen at the try-outs in Rainbow Falls. Something Moon, if she remembered the second half correctly.

"It is good to be back to see all of your happy faces. I've missed you these past few years since my return to Equestria, and it is an honor to return to your peaceful town." The crowd cheered for their lunar princess, screeching in place of shouting a lot of the time. Luna continued once the crowd settled down.

"I'm sure you are all wondering about the extra princesses along with me for our festival. A few days ago, the papers discussed an altercation which occurred between Princess Twilight and one of your own residents, the local hunt organizer Duskwing. My fellow princess said many things that you would disapprove of. She wishes to speak on how her perspective has changed since then."

Luna stepped back, letting Twilight have the stage. She could see all the way to the back buildings, a few batponies were even perched on top of the buildings so they could listen. Stepping forward, she cleared her throat to project it similar to Luna.

"When I first encountered Duskwing in Canterlot, I believed all the same things about batponies that you have all heard. Bloodsuckers, foal-nappers, pony-eaters..." A few murmurs came from the crowd. "But in the aftermath of my own daughter's confession that she was part thestral, I've taken the time to reconsider everything I thought I knew. I spent most of my last day in Rainbow Falls to get to know the Hollow Shades aerial relay team, and I couldn't deny that they were respectable ponies I could see myself being friends with in a different timeline."

Duskwing winked at her, getting a small blush. "I admit, it also helped that it turned out my former husband was a thestral. And in the short time we spent assisting with the festival tonight, I've gotten to know what it is like to live in Hollow Shades and the other batpony settlements around Equestria. I'm disgusted by how you've been treated."

Her face scrunched up at the memory of that burned shadow, at the foals helping with the hunting team instead of playing or learning. "I feel sick to my stomach knowing that you have been living like this for a thousand years, with nopony to give you a chance. I'll be honest with you, I'm still not completely over the stereotypes I've been taught about your kind. But I'm trying my best to change for the better. You deserve a chance at a good life like any other pony in Equestria. You deserve respect, and I hope to support any social reforms to reintegrate you into Equestrian society as ponies like any other."

"Bullshit!" A shout came from the side. Twilight saw Sadist Moon approach the stage, getting stopped by Dawn before she could get closer. "You're liars and snakes! What have any of you done for us? What have you done, Princess Luna?!"

A shocked gasp came from the crowd, but the whispers from them afterwards slowly turned from shock, to confusion, to anger. Sadist Moon continued. "You sit around in Canterlot with the stuck-up unicorn nobles, sucking your own hooves, while we have to live through a thousand years of your bitch of a sister's tyranny! Why haven't you done anything about the Solar Guard raids on our communities? Why haven't you stopped us getting slaughtered by wild animals? Or foalnapped by slavers? What the buck have you actually done for us since returning?!"

"Everypony! Listen! I've tried to convince--"

"We don't want to hear any more excuses!" Sadist Moon yelled back. "We want something done! And if you're not going to, then we will do it without you!"

"Everypony--"

"Yeah! You haven't helped us at all!" A shout came from the crowd, sending them into a frenzy of angry shouting towards the princesses.

"How do we know that foal isn't lying?" "Princess Twilight is a liar!" "Down with the diarchy!" "Death to Solarists! Death to the princessdom!" "A New Lunar Republic for the thestrals! By the thestrals!"

"SILENCE!" Luna yelled out at the top of her lungs, stilling the crowd briefly before they started back up with the yelling even louder than before, only enraged at her attempt to shout them down. Twilight could see the fear in the eyes of Duskwing, Nightwind, and Dusty below, her own heart beat loud enough to hear over the crowd. She didn't even feel the filly climbing up onto her back before the first pieces of dirt started to lift from the ground.

"Everypony! QUIET!" Somnia's voice echoed through the crowd silencing them instantly. Twilight could feel it. She could see it. The very air sparked with energy. Her breathing seemingly halted under the immense magical field, but she felt no fear. No, she felt unrestrained, indomitable pride and determination.

"The princesses of Equestria have let you down, that is indisputable! The only one to genuinely care about your suffering for the longest time was Princess Luna, and she has tried what she could within the system to help you! But we all know the system is broken! Nothing will change as long as we don't act to force it to change!

"You are all stronger than you believe. We are all masters of our destiny, no matter who says otherwise or what our cutie marks may suggest. You have been lied to and manipulated to remain complacent in the face of those who see you as nothing more than vermin or slaves! I will give to you the truth they would deny you: It is you who are in-charge of your path in life! Every last one of you!

"Long ago, the Queen of the Harmonic Empire made a promise to every pony. That no pony would go hungry, that every pony would be treated with respect and dignity, that we would all be equals before Excalion! It is by that promise that I speak to you now. I will not stop until you are free from tyranny! Until you truly understand your worth to all of Ponykind!

As Queen of the Harmonic Empire and the Grand Councilor of Harmony, I will renew the Queen's Promise before you today. I swear by the Ascended, I will not stop until every pony is treated equally! I will not stop until all kinds of ponies are united under a single truth! We are the masters of Equus! The Children of Harmony! And nothing will stop us from claiming ascension!

For life everlasting against forever! For life unburdened by necessity! For life free from tyranny! Ours is the will of the Ascended!

For Life and Reality,

WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!

The specks of dirt lifted into the air around the stage dropped to the soil as the field dissipated, filly falling slowly back onto Twilight's back. The newly formed winds blew over the shocked, silent crowd, waving the grass at the front of the stage which had seemingly grown over the course of the speech. Twilight could see a flash off in the distance but didn't quite register it as the crowd broke into a cheer, stomping their hooves, shaking the very ground.

Several ponies began actively kneeling for the queen, followed by even more. Even Duskwing and Dusty bowed before her declaration, Sadist Moon following shortly after with tears running down her face. Twilight let go of a shaky breath as the filly jumped down from her. Her own face had tears, as though the deepest part of Somnia's soul was exposed to her, and it was incomprehensibly beautiful. When the entire crowd had bowed, they shouted in unison:

"LONG LIVE QUEEN SOMNIA TEMPORUS!"

"Thanks for the help, Grar." Somnia whispered to her faithful companion.

Please don't try to die while I'm resting. That was too much, even for me.

"I promise." She giggled, hugging her mother who kept staring off into the distance stunned.

That was just like in the hospital... Twilight blinked, readjusting her eyes to her daughter. "S-Somnia? What did you do?"

"What I needed to." She nuzzled Twilight's neck.

The crowd began to get back up and talk among themselves. The festival had truly started in earnest among the ponies as they laughed, cried, and danced. Twilight turned her head to the other side to see Luna, tears running down her face, but the expression wasn't shock or joy, it was fear. Unfiltered terror.

"Twilight!" Duskwing climbed up onto the stage, kissing her on the lips briefly. "You both were great! Especially you, kid!" He messed up Somnia's mane.

"Really? Do you think they liked it?" She giggled to the crowd of ponies starting to form near the front of the stage to talk to the young queen. The filly went off to talk to her fans while Duskwing helped Twilight down from the stage.

"Must have been quite the sensation, being at ground zero." He wrapped a wing around her. "Even in the front row it felt like I was going to faint. Damn, I don't even have the words to describe that!" Duskwing stopped once they had gotten to the stone bench, putting Twilight down on it. "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Twilight smiled widely. "I'm better than I've been in a while." She leaned forward and kissed him, both embracing one another.

Twilight eventually pulled away, looking into her husbands eyes, knowing that this just felt right. She was determined to give him a chance, not for Somnia's sake, but for her own. This was her choice, and only hers. Last time she felt this way, she had faced down Discord with her friends by her side. But there was no fear, no nervousness that it could end horribly, only the sweet bliss of unconditional love and certainty. This relationship, this stallion, she wanted nothing more than to hold onto forever. He was hers. And she was his.

Meanwhile, Shield and Dawn approached the still crying Dusty at the front of the stage. "Still want to leave?" Shield jabbed her in the side.

"Damn..." She whispered, wiping the tears way with her foreleg. "You weren't joking. She really is more powerful than Celestia."

"Never lied to you." He hoofed over a six starred badge, one he and Dawn also wore. "Ready to follow her now?"

She grabbed the badge, examining its design. It was Somnia's cutie mark imprinted and enchanted into a metallic plate. It was an artifact of incredible power, that was for certain based on how it made her feel even more determined, but it represented even more. It was a duty higher than any others. A badge of office. A purpose to fulfill. Destiny.

"To the deepest pits of Tartarus and back." She hugged her friends, looking over to the filly being swarmed by her adoring fans. "We should probably save her, shouldn't we?"

"Eh, wouldn't hurt for her to get used to it." Dawn laughed, leading them over to the banquet table.

"Lulu?" Celestia approached her downtrodden sister. "Is everything alright?"

"T-They..." She broke into sobs, sitting down on the dirt near the edge of the town. Celestia moved forward, wrapping a wing around her.

"It'll be okay. It's okay, Lulu."

"It's not! Look at them! They are hers now! They were my ponies! Mine! Now I have nopony..." She cried out, lightly sobbing.

"There are still plenty of ponies which respect you."

"But none would fight for me! None that would die for me!" She screamed back, tears trailing her face. "I'm nopony! You have a thousand years of trust, but what do I have?!"

"The respect of fillies and colts that you've stopped the nightmares of." Celestia wiped a hoof along her sister's face. "How many ponies have had restful nights since your return when they wouldn't have? You've stopped foals from being bullied, from being afraid. You've made a real impact in the world. It might not be flashy, but it's equally important."

Luna continued to sob into her sister's fur while she considered what had been said. "Do what you need to..." She whimpered out. "Just make sure she's ours by the end of it."

Twilight opened her eyes to the sunlight being defused through the foggy window. Her head ached, but her heart still felt like it did immediately after the speech. Getting up from her makeshift bed, she turned over to see her daughter sleeping surprisingly soundly. Luna was also suspiciously absent... Actually, where did Luna go? She didn't remember seeing Luna since the speech.

"Somnia?" Twilight rubbed her eyes, the filly slowly moaning from her bed.

"Noooo... I was sleeping..."

"Sorry, sweetie." Twilight got out of bed and stretched. The mattresses were very uncomfortable, and her back would probably be aching for a week. It would have been better to sleep on the floor if it wasn't for the filth. Princess Luna's sleeping bag was also absent, a note being left in its place on the bed.

To Twilight and Somnia,

I'm afraid I had to leave early for Canterlot as there was a situation in development. My guards will return you all to Ponyville.

- Luna

"Short and to the point." Twilight mused. Probably related to Somnia's speech, if it caused a comparable magical burst... Wait!

"Somnia! Get up!" Twilight floated her from her sleeping bag, rolling it back up along with her own. Carrying the barely conscious filly out into the hallways, she could see that some cleaning had been done since yesterday. She knocked on the door for the guards but nopony answered. Going downstairs, she saw them talking out front, each equipped in their signature light-blue armor but with an additional badge attached to the front.

The chariot was waiting for them with both of the Lunar Guards talking idly, seemingly not bothered by the late awakening of the princess.

"Princess, ready to go?" Shield asked, taking her luggage and loading it.

"Not yet. I'll be right back." She hoofed off Somnia then ran for a particular house. Knocking on the door, she could hear somepony fall out of bed from the massive hole on the second floor.

"Twilight?" Duskwing looked down on her squinting. "What time is it?"

"Time for me to go. I wanted to say goodbye before I left for Ponyville." She smiled up to him.

"You said goodbye last night, didn't you?" He raised a brow. "That's what the kiss was for, right?"

"I, uh..." She didn't remember kissing him. Actually, she remembered kissing him several times but not that particular instance. "Don't remember that."

"Well, how much do you remember?" He laid his head on his hoof as he smiled down at her.

"Um... I remember the tour?" She tried thinking of everything else but it merged into an incomprehensible yet happiness-filled blur. "We didn't..."

"No." He laughed. "We may have been a bit touchy-feely, but we didn't go any further than the kisses and touching. Not that I would have objected to going further."

She blushed at the memory of all the groping that came back like a tide. "A-Anyway, I had a lot of fun last night! Thanks for giving me a tour of the town!"

"Thanks for the dance!" He chuckled, waving her off. Twilight got onto the chariot and they set off for Ponyville. Her thoughts drifted back to last night, the speech specifically.

The Grand Council, the Ascended, For Life and Reality? She shook her head. Whatever Somnia had spoken about clearly had the desired effect. She had only ever seen ponies that happy at one of Pinkie's parties, but even then not all of them. But just how powerful was that release of energy?

Tapping her hoof on the paper, Twilight bit her lip in thought. Yup, too much...

"Princess?" Mayor Mare sat across from her, squirming anxiously. "Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah." Twilight separated the different pages of the newspaper, rearranging them into origami. "I was right beneath it."

"And?" She asked expectantly.

"Somnia!" Twilight yelled out for her daughter. Fighting up the stairs, the filly and her dragon knight came into view, both with minor bruises. "Want some origami?"

"Sure!" She called off the fight, setting down her sword before trotting over. Taking it into her hoof, she examined it for a moment before unfolding it and reading. "How much is a hundred-thousand swirls?"

"More than all of Equestria's ponies and artifacts combined."

"Wow." She looked back at the paper in wonder. "I did that?"

"YOU WHAT?!" The mayor jumped from her chair, getting more than a few laughs from the others present.

Author's Note

22/04/04: A slight change to accommodate later story progression. I didn't realize I forgot to go back to change this chapter before publishing.