Never Knew

Chapter II

It was a warm, beautiful, cloudless night across Ponyville, the stars shimmered and shinnied as if they were a million sparkling diamonds imbedded into a black velvet tapestry, with the milky white full moon positioned perfectly in the canvas like a pearl center piece. This awe inspiring view stretch out before her as far as her eyes could see. Twilight Sparkle, the young lavender unicorn pony, drew in a halting breath as if she was scared that her breathing would somehow disturb the beauty that lay out before her.

Although, her personal mentor and hero, Princess Celestia, is responsible for the Sun and all the beauty of the day; she had also controlled the night sky for a thousand years with the same dedication that she had shown for her day responsibility. Recently, however, Twilight had observed a very slight difference in the night sky since Princess Celestia’s younger sister, Luna, had returned to her duties.

Princess Luna ,the Goddess of the Night, who had recently return from her thousand years banishment to the moon. A banishment Luna had brought upon self after she attempted to force the ponies of Equestria to live in eternal darkness. Her jealousy, after spending years watching the ponies all but ignore her nights, had gotten the better of her. Although, her original intent was to be loved as much as Princess Celestia, she rapidly lost control of her own dark emotions. Frustrated and hurt by their lack of appreciation for her night sky, Luna resorted to using an ancient but incredibility powerful source of magic which transformed herself from a kind, gentle ruler into an evil Alicorn known as Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia, reluctantly, for the good of her ponies, used the Elements of Harmony to banish her younger sister.

For a thousand years she was trapped within the moon, and in her own anger, that is where she stayed until that faithful day when Twilight Sparkle along with her five new friends; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and the fluffy, funny, hyperactive ball of pink laughter known as Pinkie Pie were able to break the hold of the ancient spell using the six Elements of Harmony, which each pony represented. By using the Elements of Harmony, they successfully freed Princess Luna from her past mistake and allowing her start her journey towards her rightful place in the palace.

Since that day, Twilight Sparkle has only seen Princess Luna once and not at the Grand Galloping Gala, which took place at the palace a few weeks ago, as one might have expected. Although, it was during that who's who of Equestria event Princess Celestia informed her of Princess Luna’s decision to resume her duties. It wasn't long afterwords that Twilight started to notice the very slight change within the night sky. Not that there were major changes, no new stars or planetary placements, the constellations remained as they always have; no, there was nothing she could pin down in a scientific language, just a sense of more … something.

Ugh, Twilight thought to herself, Why is it so hard for me to accurately describe the changes in the night sky?

Twilight Sparkle, an academic who prides herself on being accurate (some may say almost manic compulsion level of accuracy) when describing anything in a scientific terms, which could convey the immediate understanding of the problem and/or event, in which she was dealing with to anypony whom happened upon her dissertation. An accurate, precise usage of the written language was keystone to all things easily comprehended by everypony. That was her motto whenever she approached an academic question needing answered. However, after a week of studying and writing down her observations, and using more then even her normal amounts of bottles of ink, paper and quills, she was no closer to understanding the main issue of ‘why it was different’ then she had been a week ago.

She heard a rustle from behind her, looking over her shoulder, felt a small smile form without concussions thought. On the picnic blanket slept her number one assistant, the green scale baby dragon Spike, who followed her up here tonight to assist her in her quest to understand why she thought the sky was different. Curled up around him to keep him warmer was the second helper she somehow acquired to help her solve this dilemma, Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie, having overheard Spike and her talking about going up to the hills behind Sweet Apple Acres for the fifth night in a row had included herself in the ‘party’ that Twilight was obviously throwing.

Twilight had tried, in vain, to get her red mane, pink coat friend to understand that there was no party tonight, and it was a scientific endeavor to understand a conundrum that has been plaguing her. After carefully and pointedly explaining what she would be doing tonight as well as what she hope to accomplish to her hyper-friend, the earth pony just stared at her, rapidly blinking a few times and then laughed saying “duh, that what I said a party!”

Twilight decided to avoid another pounding headache that usually occurs while trying to make sense of her friend’s logic and allow the go-lucky happy pony to accompany her and Spike. It was just easier that way.

Once they arrived on the hill, Spike and Pinkie Pie laid out a picnic blanket while Twilight used her unicorn magic to set up her telescope, a gift to her from her parents when she was accept into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

After that task was quickly completed, they had a lovely picnic diner with good food, refreshing drinks and lots of laughter. Once Princess Celestia lowered the sun and Princess Luna began her daily task, a hush seem to envelope them as the night sky light up. Even Pinkie, who was a perpetual motion in pony form, seems to be awe in to stillness by the spectral beauty surrounding them

Twilight quietly walked over to the sleeping pair so as not to wake them while using her magic to lay a second brown blanket around them. Watching their sleeping forms, Twilight wondered exactly when it happened, when did Pinkie become such a close friend?

Twilight cared deeply for all her friends and could never choose between them nor did she ever imagine the need to do so would ever arise. The six of them, while having many diverse and important daily tasks to complete in and around Ponyville, always found time to hang out, have fun, and get into many misadventures with each other. However, lately, without her being consciously aware of it occurring, Pinkie and her have been spending more time together alone then with the other four. Not that it was seen as a problem by the others nor were they avoiding their friends, it just seem that within the main group there were 3 smaller sets.

As with Applejack and Rainbow Dash; when you found one nearby the other one was bound to be around as well or if one of them were getting into some kind of jam the other was right there beside her, usually helping the other one get further into said jam.

Rarity and Fluttershy’s weekly trips to the spa and tea times was another fine example. Unlike the two competitive duo who relished lively and rambunctious outings, Fluttershy and Rarity enjoyed simpler, quieter events. It was not as if Rarity and Fluttershy purposely set out to exclude the others, it was just silently accepted by the group that was their time to spend together.

Like wise, Pinkie and her just slowly started doing things together that the others were somehow not included. Whether it was doing things like tonight or Pinkie trying desperately to teach Twilight how to not set the kitchen on fire whenever she tries to make a meal on her own, the time they spend together without the others just seem …

Twilight let out a small sigh, trying to accurately explain why Pinkie and her spending time together was getting to be more special to her then when they hung out with the others was just as elusive as why the sky seem to be more complete. Maybe some things are not explainable. She though as a sudden need to lay down and sleep came upon her.

“Well, hello my little pony,” a soft voice, said, startling the youngest of the mane six out of her thoughts.

“Hello,” Twilight answered softly, feeling fully awake once more as her adrenalin flowed in to her blood stream, while looking around to see who it was she was addressing. Although the voice did sounded, somewhat familiar, Twilight didn’t immediately recognize it. Moving away from the others but instinctively making sure to keep herself between her friends and the unknown, Twilight cautiously moved towards the voice. “Who is there?”

“My apologies,” the voice said coming out from the shadows to revel Princess Luna herself. “I do not mean to startle you.”

“Princess Luna,” Twilight responded in a cheerful but quiet voice while trotting over to the Night Goddess. “How good it is to see you again. All is well with you I hope.”

“It is, Lady Sparkle,” Luna answered with a humorous glint in her eye and, thankfully, not using her ‘royal’ voice which would have woken Pinkie and Spike as well as half of Ponyville.

“Um, I just go by Twilight, your Majesty,” Twilight said with a nervous chuckle, while glancing back to her friends’ sleeping forms. While Spike knew of her titles, he also knew better then to use it around her or her new friends. The last thing she wanted anypony to know was her official status in the overly complex and idiocy, in her own humble opinion, rules and traditions that Canterlot high society seem to relish in. With another uneasy chuckle, Twilight went on, “That title always seemed a little silly to me.”

“Then we have another item in common, Lady Sparkle,” Luna said with a mischief smile. “All of the Bearers of Harmony, and you in particular, Apprentice of the Sun, may address me as Luna, especially while we are in private surroundings.”

“That wouldn’t be proper, your majesty, especially since you are the goddess of the night, after all.”

“And you are the Bearer of Magic are you not? Ole Slayer of the Nightmare; the Defeater of Discord; surely we can dispense with such formalities in an intimate setting as we find ourselves in tonight?”

“However, that would imply that we are equals, your Grace, and there is no way I can be called equal with you or your sister.”

“That is fact that we can not nor would not disagree with, Defender of Ponyville; she who vanquished Uris Minor. Although, of all unicorn in Equestria, you are unmatched in your application and natural use of magic as well as you insatiable hunger for truth and knowledge, daughter of …”

“Wait,” Twilight held up a hoof at the royal sister, glancing very nervously at Pinkie and the surrounding area, again to make sure no pony was able to hear Luna. Once she was sure they would not be overheard, Twilight gave her a bemused expression, “You’re going to keep reciting my ridiculous titles until I agree with you, aren’t you?”

“Eeeyup,” Luna said with a big toothy grin as she plopped down on the ground in front of Twilight.

“Fine,” Twilight said with an answering grin as she lay down across from Luna. “You win, Luna.” After a shared laugh, Twilight asked, “What brings you to Ponyville this evening, Luna?”

“Actually you do, Twilight,” Luna said hesitantly, “We have notice on our nightly rounds that for the past week, you have been studying the sky with unusual intensity, even for you, which is saying much. We were curious as to the cause of your intense observations? What is it about our work which displeases you?”

“Oh nothing,” Twilight answered quickly. “Nothing at all, it just seems to be different since you have returned to your duties.”

“Different in a bad way?”

“No, oh no Luna.” Twilight had to stopped herself so she could lower her voice back to a whisper, “Nothing bad at all, in fact it seems more beautiful, more … complete.” Twilight hesitated now, not sure, if she should continue with such an inaccurate assessment. “That is, if that is accurate description of what I am seeing now then it had in the past. I was just trying to figure out if it was just me or if there was an actual difference, and if so what was the cause of this difference?”

“We think we understand,” Luna replied after a lengthy pause. “So our work is more pleasing to behold and that is what vexes you. Yes, it makes perfect sense now.” Even as clueless as Twilight can be sometimes (OK, most times) in social situation, even she could detect Luna’s sarcasm. “And you brought your dragon assistant and the pink ringleader with you tonight to see if they are vexed as well?”

“It is not your sky that has me confounded, it is my inability to explain how it seems different to me.” Twilight let out a frustrated sigh, “I should be able to accurately and precisely explain to anypony why it seems different now that you have resumed your duties then it did when your sister control the sky nevertheless the correct terminology continues eludes me.” Twilight hung her head in defeat, “that is why I brought them along tonight, to help me understand.”

“Dear student of our sister,” Luna answered in a warmer voice Celestia often used with Twilight when she wanted her to learn something important. “Perhaps it is something that can not be explained but must be experience by somepony; like why ice cream is so good.”

“Oh that is easy to explain,” Twilight answered excitedly then proceeded to give a fairly rapidly twenty-minute dissertation of the subject. She began with a scientific based facts as to how it taste and feels to eat ice cream then quickly followed up with the process of how ice cream is produce and store until one was ready to consume. Twilight then went on to explain exactly how the cold cream simulates the nerve bundles on the tongue to produce a stimulus to trigger the release of memory enzymes in order to for the brain to identify the correct flavor of the ice cream. At the same time, the brain also releases a chemical stimulus to increase the feeling of happiness and euphoria that one associates with a good time.

“Although, one must be careful if one eat ice cream too quickly, it cause a sensation in the nerves more commonly known as ‘brain freeze’. Brain freeze is a temporary condition that is a direct result of the rapid cooling and re-warming of the capillaries in the sinuses. A similar but painless blood vessel response causes the face to appear ‘flushed’ after being outside on a cold day.” Twilight never bothered to slow down for a breath as she continued on her lecture. As Rarity would say, she was in her 'zone' as it was.

“In both instances, the cold temperature of the ice cream causes the capillaries in the sinuses to constrict and then experience extreme rebound dilation as they warm up again. Even though it can be quite painful, it is only temporary, usually lasting 10 to 20 seconds. The other side of this danger is the quickness one must eat ice cream before the warmer air temperature causes the solid form to return to its natural liquid state. It can be quite messy and leave your hoofs feeling sticky from the sugary run off. So you see it is very simple to explain why anypony would enjoy ice cream.”

Twilight felt quite proud about her detailed explanation until she looked over at Luna to see a dumfounded look on her face and one eye twitching. Twilight offered Luna one of her big ‘awkward’ smiles, the kind she always wears when she knows she had somehow screwed up in a social setting but unsure how or even what the transgression was that she had committed.

“OK, perhaps we spoke in haste,” Luna said after visibly gathering herself up. “However, you failed to mention why you enjoy it.” Maybe it was the look of determination on Twilight’s face or some other physical sign that Luna saw but just as Twilight was about to offer up a very detail dissertation on that subject, Luna held up one hoof and stated, “No, no, there is no need, we assure you. We are under no delusion that you would be most successful in explaining why you enjoy ice cream in no uncertain terms.” Luna let out a small bashful chuckle as she continued, “Our sister tried to warm us about conversing with you but we guess now it was a lesson that was best learned on our own.”

“What do you mean Luna?” Twilight asked nervously, worried about some unspoken criticism that her mentor had about a failing that she was unaware of until now.

“She said your intellect was only matched by your skills in magic, young Twilight. We took your advice after our last meeting and asked Celestia permission to view your reports on the 'Magic of Friendship'. We found them not only to be very informative but also expertly laid out in a format, which offered the reader a very detailed but an easily understandable look into your relationship with your friends and what lessons it offers to anypony. After we read them, we had many long conversations about you, all of them very good we should add to ease your mind. Our sister has stated many times that she has never met a pony before with your skills as they are so far beyond all other ponies. I must add that I agree with her assessment of you.”

“I’m nothing special Luna, any pony could achieve what I can if they work hard enough at it,” Twilight said sheepishly, she was never good at accepting the idea that she was more special then any other pony. Undue attention just made her feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and unworthy of such praise.

“It is good you have such a strong modesty streak; a pony with your raw talent and intellect without any self-doubt would be a terrible force to reckon with.” Luna said quietly after a long pause and a dark, yet sad, look on her face as she peered up to the sky. However, before Twilight could ask her the next logical question, Luna’s expression lightens and with a smile, she continued to say, “Although, it seems that we have lost the scent of the question at hoof, have we not?”

“It seems so,” Twilight answered swiftly, allowing the Princess to avoid discussing whatever issue she seems to be having now. Maybe it was just a memory of her own past that has her feeling down.

“Let's try another tack, shall we? Your friend over there, does she have special talent, other then leading hordes of screaming fillies through the streets of Ponyville?” Luna said with her wary grin.

“She has many talents,” Twilight said with a small giggle. “She lives to make people laugh and enjoy life. She throws the most fantastic parties for every occasion and sometimes for no reason at all. She has a knack of knowing just what it is need to make a pony feel special. Why, just the other day, I was having a bit of a fit with a new spell I was working on. I had high hopes to publish paper on 'teleportation of non-animated objects using crystals as medium'. The idea is to set up a series of crystals to boost the length of the teleportation distance since most unicorns can only send an object a few feet, while you sister, you and I can do it over many miles. Also, I was hoping to increase the mass of the items sent since, again, only the three of us can teleport object with greater mass then our own weight and size. It as an idea first proposed by Star Swirl the Bearded but he was unable to ascertain the proper spell to utilize the idea. I was sure I had the right combination of crystallize, with the correct size, clarity and cut factors being within acceptable margin of error just every time I try the spell, I kept getting different results, even from the same crystals. So then I thought maybe it was the amount of magic I was applying to the crystals ...” Twilight trailed off as she noticed the glazed look in Luna's eyes.

The same look that most ponies, and even sometimes Spike, would give her when she spoke of her experiments. Well, everypony except one that is; Pinkie Pie never got bored or annoyed at her rants. Even thought Twilight wasn't sure that her pink friend could understand everything she said, Pinkie would sit there with rapid attention hanging on her ever word. It was one of the many things that made Pinkie so … extraordinary?

Extraordinary is not the right word either, Twilight thought as she shook her mane, frustrated at her lack of being ably to express herself clearly even in her own mind.

“Sorry, I went off on a rant again, didn't I,” Twilight commented with another soft chuckle. “Anyways, somehow Pinkie knew I was getting frustrated,” she broke off while tapping her hoof to her chin. “Maybe it was that last explosion or Spike overreacting again, running through the streets of Ponyville screaming chaos and doom. He gets so overly excited sometime; you would think for someone who breaths fire, he would be a lot more calm about such things. Still, he is the best number one assistant one could hope for. Anyways, that is not important, what is important the next thing I knew, Pinkie Pie was standing in the main library with a basket of cupcakes just for me.” Smiling warmly Twilight remember how all her frustration had just seemed to melted away seeing Pinkie standing there, among the smoking ruins of her latest experiment, with a basket full of goodies in her mouth, smiling and bouncing to the beat of her own tune as if nothing was amiss.

“These treats she makes, are they of good quality?” Luna asked with a bemused grin on her face.

“Oh, they are the best! Every pony in Ponyville raves about her bake goods! I'll have to ask her to make some for you later. They are so lite, fluffy and moist, they are simply delightful! And the confection that she uses as the topper is not too sweet but lite and creamy, just so yummy!” Twilight let a disgusted look cross her face as another memory push to the forefront of her mind. “Not like the awful bricks I keep making.”

“I have try so hard to make cupcakes for Pinkie, to show her how much I appreciate all that she does for me and others.” Letting out a frustrated sigh and hanging her head, Twilight relived her embarrassment at her attempts. “I had Mrs. Cake supply me the recipe, Rarity and Fluttershy chipped in by helping Spike getting the ingredients without Pinkie finding out but the results were always the same. I even throw out two separate sets of measuring cups because I was certain that somehow the pony who crafted them made a slight miscalculation in the radius or the depth of the actual cup. Obviously, they had to be defective after my fifth try. I had the stove checked three times as well and then replace for the same reason. All the same, somehow for some reason only Celestia knows why, when Pinkie tried my latest failure she proclaim that they were fit for a Queen or a Princess and, to quote her, 'the most scrumptious, best-est, sweetest cupcakes EVER!'.” Twilight turned her head slightly to look over her back to smile fondly at her sleeping friend feeling the fatigue approaching again. “I know she was just saying that to make me feel better but it drove me crazy wondering what I was doing wrong!”

“Perhaps, young Twilight she was being completely honest to you,” Luna said with a sly grin.

“No way,” Twilight said shaking her head, suddenly feeling very tired once more. There was also a small pain beginning to form right behind her eyes, as if she had been reading in the pitch black closet again, like she had when she was a very young filly. This time she looked back fondly at the blanket. Why am I so tired now? It is still early?

“Very much 'way', young pupil.” Luna said with a smile that seemed to Twilight's eyes to be a smug 'I know something you don't' that infuriated her out of her sleepiness. “Perhaps, she knew you put in the 'secret ingredient' into your creation?”

“What secret ingredient?” Twilight snapped back confused. “I don't remember any secret ingredient in the recipe! And if there was, why didn't any pony tell me?” Feeling her head pounding harder by the minute, she also felt a jolt of anxiety surge through her, “Oh no,I must have forget to add it! Is that why I kept failing! ”

“No, I am sure you added it in and perfectly amounts as well.”

“No, I did not! I remember the recipe perfectly! I tried it like 15 times before Pinkie found out what I was doing then forced me to allow her a taste!” Twilight felt the headache go from pounding to a stabbing pain in her head as she spun around to face the sleeping Spike, a sense of vertigo almost brought her to her knees. “Spike wake up! Spike!”

“They can't hear you Twilight, they are not here.”

“What do you mean ...” Twilight spun back around and then reared up on her rear hoofs. No longer was Princess Luna before her but some other kind of creature.