All Good Thingsby WhellerChaptersIIIIIIIVVVIPrologueIChapter 1 Princess Luna let out a sigh as the sky chariot flew west. Looking down she could see Ponyville off in the distance. Ponyville; she had not been looking forward to this in the slightest bit. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of her past experiences here. It had been just over a year since her return, and she had avoided this place like the plague. She didn't know if she still had a place—she'd been gone so long that likely no one remembered any of the good things about her, only the bad. 'Argh!' Luna cried out as she clutched her head. She was having a migraine. One of the royal guards turned his head towards her, but the Princess of the Night waved him off. 'I am fine, I am fine. It is merely a headache, I will be fine when we land,' Luna added. The guard nodded his head in understanding, and the chariot began its’ descent towards Ponyville. Luna looked up at the sun; it had to be the bright light that was bothering her. She was Princess of the Night, after all; she preferred spending her waking hours at night. She had done this for the first five months since her return, but had since switched to a more 'normal' circadian cycle at the insistence of her sister to help her reintegrate into Equestrian society. She'd been having migraines ever since. Worst still, the early morning sun was at such an angle that it was always in your eyes. Quite frankly, she didn't know how the guards could stand it. Though, the more Luna thought about it, these were her sister's guards; they were used to being in the sun. Luna ducked her head down, lying against the interior wall of the chariot in every attempt to keep the sun off her. It seemed to be helping a little—her head was still throbbing, but she was pretty sure this would keep it from getting any worse. The chariot touched down on the ground hard, catching Luna by surprise. The Princess of the Night let out a quiet shriek before rising to her hooves to see what had happened: they were in Ponyville now. Luna let out a frown, and raised her hoof to shield her eyes as the sunlight streamed in. It was a perfectly clear day in the village; there would be no escaping the harsh light out of doors. It appeared that this was by design: weather ponies were working above her to clear the sky of all its' fluffy white blemishes. Luna let out a frown at this; she'd have preferred an overcast day, to be perfectly honest. Not that she blamed the town's weather ponies for anything, clear days were probably standard procedure for when a princess was to visit. After all, before the last year there was no distinction to be made. Luna turned towards the guards that had brought her here. She opened her mouth to thank them for taking her, but before the words could come out, she was interrupted by somepony else. 'Cirrus Cloudrunner! I swear you have got to be the WORST weather pony I have ever seen!' a mare's voice cried out in frustration. Princess Luna glanced up and discovered a rainbow maned pegasus mare was berating one of the weather ponies, a purple coated pegasus stallion that was in the process of moving a cloud out of the way. 'I'm sorry! I'm going as fast as I can here!' the pegasus stallion whom Luna presumed was Cirrus Cloudrunner said. 'Well go faster! Don't you know we've got a princess coming here!? The sky is supposed to be clear!' the rainbow maned pegasus mare said, poking the stallion with her hoof. 'Well maybe if you hadn't spent all morning sleeping...' Cirrus Cloudrunner began before Luna cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the two pegasi to her. 'If it is all the same, I actually prefer overcast days, not that I am asking you to undo all you've done, but if we could have a few days where it is not clear... that would be appreciated,' Luna said, immediately regretting getting the two's attention at all. All of the pegasi weather crew landed and bowed before her. Luna let out a sigh and shook her head. 'No! This is not necessary...' she said, her words falling on deaf ears. More ponies had taken notice of her, and it wasn't long before what seemed like the entire town had descended upon her. Luna frowned—this wasn't what she wanted. She knew that her subjects weren't bowing to her out of respect; they were bowing out of fear. With her return only having been thirteen months ago, the memories of Nightmare Moon was still fresh in the minds of the citizens of Ponyville. ‘I thank you all for your warm welcoming', Luna said through gritted teeth. 'And I ask you as your ruler to please carry on.' Everyone did as they were told; all the random town ponies rose and went back to what they were doing before she had arrived. Still, Luna could tell that they still were all looking at her out of the corners of their eyes. They were afraid, and that would not be changing any time soon. Luna knew this was a bad idea; she had tried to tell her sister what would happen, but she wouldn't listen. She glanced upwards at the blazing morning sun, its' oppressive light shining down on her as if it were a spotlight, putting all the attention in the world on to her when all she wanted to do was retreat to her bed and pull the covers over her head. She clutched her throbbing head, her migraine was getting worse. She needed out of the sun. 'Princess Luna!' a cheerful voice called out to her. Wonderful, another subject come to gawk at her. Luna turned her head to discover a lavender coated unicorn mare approaching her with a warm inviting smile on her face. Having been disoriented by her migraine, it took Luna a few moments to process who was approaching her as none other than Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle slowed her trot, but continued to smile brightly at her. 'Do you remember me? It's...' Twilight began. 'Twilight Sparkle, yes, I do not think I will be able to forget you any time in the near future', Luna added with a soft smile, before clutching her head once more as her migraine flared. 'Your Highness? Are you all right?' Twilight asked, looking at the Princess of the Night with concern. 'I... I just need to rest, that is all', Luna said. She wasn't quite sure if that would help or not, but she did know the harsh light from the mid morning sun was making her worse. Twilight nodded her head in understanding. 'I can imagine. Being Princess of the Night, you're probably not used to being up during this time of day,' Twilight said as she waved for Luna to follow. 'Yes... something like that,' Luna said simply. That technically wasn't a lie: she had been training herself to sleep during the night and stay awake during the day for the last few months. To be sure, however, she doubted that she would ever actually be able to become used to it. 'It's the sun... far too bright.' Twilight nodded her head. 'I'll talk to Rainbow Dash and the lord mayor to get approval to have some overcast days this week,' Twilight said. 'It would be appreciated,' Luna said, offering Twilight a small smile. Luna didn't really know much about Ponyville, as it was a small village. The population was approximately sixty, according to the last census that was taken. She wasn't quite sure when that had been. The big problem with their society as a whole was that they were a relatively small population spread across a large amount of land, because of that, gathering all the required information for a census was a rare event that took years to gather and compile into useful data. Luna had heard much quiet complaining from census workers employed by the Crown that the methods for gathering data were slow, inefficient, and had a high margin of error; one had even said that they were wasting their time and that the census was useless. Something which Luna was pretty sure that they wouldn't have said aloud had they known she was in earshot. Twilight lead the way to the Ponyville Public Library. Luna noted its uniqueness as a building by the fact that it was not really a building in any traditional sense. Twilight opened the door to the hollowed out oak tree and Luna followed her inside, listening to the floorboards squeak as she trotted over them. The actual library itself was a single room lined with bookshelves along each of the walls, and there were several pieces of furniture: mostly sofas and chairs for ponies to sit and read in. There was a staircase at the far end which she presumed went up to Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom, there were two other doors along the walls that went to other parts of the tree, each with a sign on them stating: ‘not for public use’. The Ponyville Public Library was a magnificent building filled to the brim with books, Twilight had to be very happy living here. However, there was something very important about the Ponyville Public Library, a detail that could not be ignored. Luna figured that this had to have been the most important detail that could be seen. The Library was completely empty apart from Luna and Twilight; it was devoid of any pony life. Luna glanced around at the many books on the shelves. There was so much knowledge that could be found here and it was going unused by the population of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was likely the only resident of Ponyville to fully appreciate what this town had. Luna frowned at the books; it was a sad sight to see. ‘Is everything alright, Your Highness?’ Twilight asked. Luna didn’t have the heart to tell her that everything was not alright with this. ‘Yes… just admiring the collection,’ Luna said simply. ‘Oh! Well thank you!’ Twilight said with a smile and raised her hoof to point at the stairs. ‘My bedroom is upstairs; you can sleep in my room for now. Spike and I have been getting one of the spare rooms ready for your arrival, but we’ve still got a little more to do.’ Luna smiled and thanked Twilight for her hospitality. ‘Where is the little dragon, anyway?’ Luna asked as she started to trot over to the stairs. ‘Oh Spike? He’s out running errands for me, he should be back soon though’, Twilight said as she trotted over to the sofa and sat down on it, opening up a book. ‘I’ll let you know when lunch is ready, and—’ ‘That is quite alright, I ate a large breakfast before leaving, I will not be hungry for a good while, I think,’ Luna said, offering Twilight Sparkle a polite nod for her hospitality. ‘Thank you though.’ ‘Oh no trouble! I’ll let you know when Spike starts on dinner later this evening then,’ Twilight added as Luna continued to trot up the stairs. Luna nodded and trotted up the stairs and went into Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she looked around and discovered the curtains were already drawn. The room itself was rather dark. Good, just as she liked it. Luna trotted over to the bed and laid herself down on it, getting comfortable and thinking about what she had seen today. Luna… Luna’s head shot up. ‘Who—who is there?’ she asked. Luna… ‘Who goes there?’ Luna called out. There was no response. Luna shook her head, disappointed with herself. Being out in the sunlight must have disoriented her more than she thought. She laid herself back down and closed her eyes. Now it was time for rest. IIChapter 2 ‘—All I’m asking is just a few overcast days, it’s not like that’s going to be the end of the world!’ Twilight Sparkle cried out. The sound of frustration was clear in her voice as she stood at her desk in the library. What she was asking wasn’t impossible; it wasn’t even anything remotely dangerous. Just one or two days where the clouds covered the town so that the sun’s harshness wouldn’t constantly be shining down on Princess Luna while she was to take up residence in the town. ‘Twilight, Ah don’ think ya really understand just what yer askin’ o’ the town with this!’ Applejack said, stamping her hoof against the ground. Generally speaking, Twilight and Applejack got on pretty well with each other. In fact, as Twilight thought about it, this was most likely the first major argument the two of them had gotten into. After speaking with Princess Luna on how the sun had been affecting her, Twilight had immediately gone to Rainbow Dash to ask about the possibility of changing up the weather to help the Princess of the Night feel more comfortable for the duration of her stay in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had gotten incredibly nervous at the suggestion, and when asked for an explanation, she had told Twilight to talk to Applejack about it. Twilight could see now why Rainbow Dash had gotten nervous at the suggestion. Twilight herself would have never guessed that Applejack would have gotten so hostile at the idea of changing up the weather schedule. ‘Then enlighten me Applejack,’ Twilight snapped back at her. ‘What am I asking of the town?’ Applejack let out a scowl at Twilight’s attitude. ‘Fine, Ah’ll put it fer ya plain n’ simple, Ponyville’s a rural town, what do we do in rural towns?’ Applejack asked, a look of annoyance on her face. ‘Apart from be incredibly hostile to a simple suggestion at the get go?’ Twilight asked, rolling her eyes. Applejack ignored the comment and continued to speak on the matter. ‘We grow food out here. We grow just enough to feed ourselves, and we got it worked out so that th’ crops got just enough rainwater, an’ just enough sunshine to grow. If y’all go around messin’ with th’ weather, then th’ crops ain’t gonna grow right, and we won’t have enough food to feed the town!’ Applejack exclaimed. Twilight frowned at Applejack’s explanation; there was a term for this: subsistence farming, something that was—much to the dismay of professional organiser Twilight Sparkle—practised by every food grower in Ponyville. When Twilight had first come to Ponyville she had seen how the Apple family farm operated. The work was hard, the hours long, and the pay off at the end of the day was little. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there were easier ways to do it, or maybe it did, judging on Applejack's attitude towards it. She’d made the mistake of making suggestions to change things up to help the Apples get more out of their harvests, only to receive a ‘thanks but no thanks’ with a hostile undertone at the suggestion. Twilight gritted her teeth, struggling not to come back with a snide or hurtful remark. ‘Course, Ah wouldn’t expect ya city folk ta understand that, ya’ll don’ ever have ta do anythin’ yerself up in yer fancy Canterlot with yer fancy magic,’ Applejack said plainly. It was as if Twilight’s mind had been held together with a single string, which said string had just snapped. She had half a mind to blast Applejack out her front door with a torrent of arcane magic. She might even have, had Rainbow Dash not been there to step in. ‘Okay… I think that’s enough for now!’ the pegasus mare said, as she pushed her way between the two. ‘Applejack, go home. Nothing’s going to get done right now with you two at each other’s throats!’ Twilight blinked, she had almost forgotten that Rainbow Dash had been here at all. Applejack scowled but said nothing; she turned and trotted back towards the door, opening it up before turning her head back to look at Twilight. ‘This ain’t over, ya hear? Not gunna just let ya throw off the weather cycle and kill off all our crops!’ Applejack added with anger in her voice as she slammed the door behind her. Twilight let out a sigh; she had never fought with Applejack like that before. Heck, she’d never fought with anyone like that before. She turned her head to look at Rainbow Dash and offered her fellow mare a small smile. ‘Since when are you the voice of reason?’ she asked. Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle. ‘I know? Crazy right? You know stuff is messed up when I have to be the voice of reason!’ Twilight chuckled at the joke, but sighed and shook her head. Now that she had stopped and thought about it for a moment, she felt bad about what she'd almost done to Applejack. Twilight never thought herself as even being capable of such hate, but this argument with Applejack had brought out the worst of her. The thought consumed her, if not for Rainbow Dash— 'Twilight? Are you okay?' Rainbow Dash asked, waving her foreleg in front of Twilight's eyes. Twilight blinked, snapping from her daze, before turning to her fellow mare and offering her a smile and a nod. 'Yeah... yeah I'm fine, I'll be fine,' Twilight said simply, before glancing up at the stairs leading to the second level, and her private living space. 'I'll be fine, I think I'm just going to go take a nice, long bath and relax.' Rainbow Dash nodded her head in understanding. 'I'll see you later Twi,' she said with a wave before departing. Twilight waved her goodbyes before keeping her promise of a nice hot bath to herself. She trotted up the stairs, moving slowly as not to disturb the sleeping Princess Luna and trotting into her bathroom, turning on the hot water, and allowing the tub to fill up. Watching as the steam began to roll off the top of the water; she climbed inside, lowering herself slowly into the water and sitting back. 'Ahh...' Twilight said as she closed her eyes for a moment. She chuckled a bit as she felt a little bit like Rarity. She sat back, and tried not to think about Applejack, Princess Luna, or the weather, now was the time to relax. … Princess Luna had fallen asleep; she was in the middle of a dream world. She was Princess of the Night, after all. If there was anyone more qualified to determine if this was a dream than she, then she might as well consider herself out of a job. She knew that this was a dream because she found herself in Canterlot, rather than Ponyville, but this was no Canterlot that she recognised. Actually, the more she looked around, the more confused she was. She had assumed that this was Canterlot, because of the altitude. There was no place in the civilised Equestria that was higher up than Canterlot, but as she looked around, she discovered that there was not a single thing that looked familiar. The buildings were metal, some of them rising to well above 100 metres. She looked to the ground, finding not cobblestones at her hooves, but a black tar like substance that sprawled out in every direction. She looked up to the sky above her and saw a balloon unlike any she had ever seen before, far larger than what she was used to, and in the rough shape of an éclair. There was a low whine on the air, getting louder as if something was coming towards her. This place was unlike any that she had ever seen. She took a step forward, before she felt something slam into her. … Princess Luna's eyes shot open, and she sat up in bed, glancing around, her mind began to panic as she had forgotten where exactly she had fallen asleep at. It took her a moment, but she eventually recognised that she was in the bedroom, that Twilight Sparkle had offered her sanctuary in. She let out a sigh of relief, putting the dream out of her mind. If being Princess of the Night had taught her anything, it was not to dwell upon one's dreams. She let out a yawn and glanced around the room, looking at the window next to the bed. The drapes were still drawn, and it made the room dark as night. Luna used her telekinesis to pull them open, allowing the sunlight to filter in. It was still daylight, though it now seemed to be later in the day, as the sun was in the western sky, and its' light bounced right into her eyes as she looked. Could she not escape it? Luna shut the drapes quickly, blacking the room back out, and gently rubbing her eyes. It was futile, she was still seeing spots. She waited a few moments, blinking every so often as the spots on her eyes began to fade. She climbed out of the bed, landing on her hooves with a wooden thud against the floor, before trotting over to the bedroom door, and going out into the library proper. She looked down at the first level; Twilight Sparkle was standing at her desk, her nose buried in a book, and occasionally scribbling something onto a piece of parchment paper with an owl feather quill. According to what her sister had said, this bit of behaviour was so normal that she should be on the lookout if it wasn’t happening. If it is not, then something is wrong. Luna absent-mindedly watched Twilight as she scribbled down her notes onto the parchment paper, Celestia had always said that Twilight's focus on her studies was second to none, but she couldn't help but feel like there was something more going on here than just a love for learning. That was when it happened. Twilight dipped her quill into the bottle of ink, but upon bringing it out, accidentally knocked the bottle over, spilling the ink onto her work. Princess Luna suddenly felt a sharp wave of anger on the air, a feeling that she was all too familiar with. 'Ah... DAMNIT!' Twilight cried out in frustration as she leapt into action to clean up the mess she'd just made. ‘Twilight Sparkle,’ Luna called out to the unicorn from the top of the stairs. Twilight looked as if she was about to jump out of her skin, and whirled around to face the Princess of the Night. ‘Is everything alright?’ Luna asked, as she began to trot down the stairs. ‘Oh… Princess Luna. I’m sorry I didn’t…’ Twilight began, before stopping herself and biting her lip. ‘No, no not really,’ she added finally before turning away and using her telekinesis to pull a towel from the kitchen to mop up the ink that she had just spilled. ‘What troubles you, Twilight?’ Luna asked as she joined her fellow mare, helping her to clean up the mess. ‘You don’t have to do that,’ Twilight said. ‘I know that, you know that. You are merely stating so to avoid the question,’ Luna said, turning to her host and offering her a small smile. ‘Now I ask again, what troubles you?’ Twilight frowned and bit her lip again, turning her head away to look out towards the evening sky. The sun was setting; soon it would be night, and the problems of the day would be behind them. ‘I... I had a fight with my friend Applejack this morning,’ Twilight said, almost as if she didn’t believe it herself. ‘Tempers flared, and I… I came close to hurting her.’ Luna’s jaw dropped, stepping back from Twilight in surprise. ‘Twilight Sparkle!’ she cried out. ‘I know! I know!’ Twilight said as tears began to run down her face. ‘Twilight, we are Equestrians!’ Luna said. ‘We do not get angry!’ ‘I know! I know!’ ‘We do not hate! We do not hurt others! We live together in perfect harmony’ Princess Luna added, stressing her final words. ‘I know! I know! I know!’ Twilight cried out as tears began to flow with full force. Twilight turned her head to look at the Princess of the Night, barely able to contain her sobs. ‘I’m sorry…’ ‘It is not me that you need to apologise to,’ Luna said plainly. Twilight nodded, before turning away from the princess, throwing open the door to the Library and running off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Princess Luna sighed in relief. Such thoughts were dangerous for a pony. Anger, frustration, hate, such emotions always lead to violence. Still, they had happened. This was Equestria; this was not supposed to happen here. They could not be allowed to happen here. Princess Luna could not allow Equestria to stop being perfect. She needed to talk to her sister. IIIChapter 3 Books, such a simple thing really, if one is to look down at a book and examine it without opening it, they will discover that it's little more than pulped wood, or a limed hide from one of the lower animals that live in the wilds of Equestria, cut thinly into sheets, and bound together to make a book whole. Without opening a book up to see what is inside, it is very easy to misjudge them, very easy to be ignorant of the threatening messages that books have the potential to carry. This book that I am looking at— one of the few that I am actually afraid to open— is one of those books. I have spent countless hours alone, locked up here in the restricted archives of my own personal library, deep below the regular library at Castle Canterlot looking at this book. Staring at the gold leaf letters printed on the cover, but never daring to open it. The Earth Pony Way, by Oberlander Cromwell. This book has not been opened. Since its original printing one thousand years ago, this particular copy of the book has never been opened. The words it carries have never been exposed to the open air. I have made sure of that. I had even gone so far as to loop a belt around the book, holding the cover closed as to dissuade myself from ever opening it. I know what the book says of course. I was one of the first to read it when it was published. I had to know what dangerous thoughts Cromwell was having run though that sick and twisted head of his and you can rest assured, that the words of this book were most certainly dangerous to my rule. There was only one option, of course, and that was to round them all up and destroy them. At the time I was proud of such an accomplishment. Only a thousand copies were ever printed before I got to them, and nine hundred and ninety nine were destroyed. Why did I keep this one? To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. This book was the last of its kind, a simple thought from me and the heresies contained within it would be gone forever. It would rid me forever of a problem. So why didn't I? Why did I not do what I had originally set out to do? Guilt, perhaps. It's not like anyone would miss this book. By the thousandth year of my reign, alone without my sister, everypony in Equestria had long forgotten the famed political agitator, Oberlander Cromwell, Duke of Fillydelphia, scientist, statesman, renaissance pony. They weren't about to start remembering him any time soon. A single thought from me and the book would burst into flame. It would become ash on the floor, a problem, nevermore. Now that I think about it? I know why I never destroyed that book. I kept it around because it and the other books like it I'd hidden away, never to be read by the eyes of my little ponies had been my only true companions over the last millennium. The only ones I could ever be truly honest with. I let out a sigh, as I used my telekinesis to place Cromwell's book back on the shelf with all the others. Rising to my hooves, and straightening my crown before turning to leave the secret library for yet another day in the life of Princess Celestia. The time I spent in the secret library was the only time I ever truly had to myself. The original architects who had designed it for me were long dead. As were the builders who had dug it out of the side of the mountain in which the wonderful city of Canterlot hung from. I was the only one left who was aware of its existence. The secret library was hardly unique in that regard. There were plenty of places lost to the passing of time. Some of them were rediscovered. Many places still, even in the hundred years since my death have remained hidden from the prying eyes of the modern ponies. Some will remain lost forever. Heh, it's kind of funny really. That had been what I'd wanted. Now? I can't even tell anyone where to look for them. In a way, I guess that means I'd accomplished what I'd set out to do, those one thousand and three years ago. Yay me. Trips to the secret library far below Castle Canterlot had been part of my morning routine. I always woke myself an hour before dawn, heading down to the library to stare at the covers of the books I'd hidden away, before eventually wandering back out of the library for sunrise. Over the last thousand years, the ponies of Equestria had said that I raised and lowered the sun each day. In the back of my mind, I'd always wondered just how many of them had continued to believe that was indeed true. There had been many intelligent ponies over the years to claim it wasn't the case. That the sun and moon moved on their own and that they could prove it with mathematics. Many others who were willing to consider the ‘Self Moving Celestial Bodies theory’ said that if it was working in that manner, that I had purposely designed it that way as a test of their faith in me, only for the first group of mathematicians to call that idea absurd. I, of course, remained silent through the whole affair. I would not be the one to admit that I did not understand the advanced mathematical formulae that the mathematicians and astronomers were presenting. I didn't want to look bad, and after I failed to make any kind of response, the debates eventually died down. I'm not sure who that says more about, them or me. I would stare out absent-mindedly into an easterly direction, and before I knew it, the sun would be peaking over the horizon and lighting the day for the little ponies I ruled over. They were free to go about their business, and accomplish what they had set themselves to do for that day, even if it was nothing at all. Afterwards, I would retreat indoors to my private bath, drawing water until the tub was full, and allowing myself the comforts of the warm water. I bathed multiple times a day, for no other reason than I simply could. There honestly wasn't much for me to do throughout the day. Even though I was the de jure central authority in Equestria, and technically speaking nothing could happen without my expressed approval, in practice, that was just not always the case. The Principality of Equestria was a large nation, with a small population spread over many thousands of square kilometres. The few major metropolitan areas that existed, Manehattan Fillydelphia, and Cloudsdale, were too far away for me to have hoped to rule directly. In practice, the dukes and earls of their respective fiefs could rule their land on their own, doing whatever they would have liked. Some like the Dukes of Manehattan and Cloudsdale, did so. Others chose to refer to me for every important decision that came about as they were technically supposed to, sending pegasi couriers to Canterlot to deliver the request for a decision personally. It was boring, tedious, and half of me wanted to berate the dukes and earls who ruled in this manner for lacking initiative, but I always stayed silent, stamping a yes or no onto the letters sent to me, and giving them back to their couriers without another word. Several hours of meeting with these couriers later, I would retire to my chambers, have another bath to relax, and afterwards would read a book for enjoyment. Books. Books were always my companions. The ones I read were always recent literature. There was a twofold purpose, partly for enjoyment, and also to determine if they needed to be destroyed in secret, and have my own copy join the others locked away in the secret library. Books I deemed unacceptable had dwindled in number over the last few decades. By that point, I had not needed to add a book to the secret library in fifty years. Though, I am no longer certain if that had been a good thing or not. Every now and then, at least once a week, I would receive a letter from Twilight Sparkle, documenting something she had learned in Ponyville. I always enjoyed Twilight's letters. They broke up the monotony of my days. The letter I had received on that day came not from Twilight, however. Instead it came from my sister. I read over the letter carefully, taking in every word as it documented the encounter between Twilight Sparkle, and her friend Applejack, and the malice that the two had shared for each other. I understood immediately why Luna had contacted me. Such anger coming from someone as powerful as Twilight was dangerous, and needed to be corrected quickly, lest something terrible happen. I had made up my mind. I would be going to Ponyville to insure that the anger that had built itself inside Twilight would not become a threat. IVChapter 4 Twilight Sparkle ran as she had never run before, tears streaming from her eyes. Princess Luna was right. What she had done... it was unspeakable, intolerable in their society. She had to make things right with Applejack lest she ruin things forever between the two of them. She ran until she found herself at the edge of Apple family property, and she slowed herself down to a trot. Perhaps running had not been the best choice. She was already exhausted, her breath was heavy, and her lungs burned. She stopped for a moment, taking deep breaths and allowing herself the chance to recuperate. If anything, this would give her time to think about what she was going to say to Applejack. Twilight mentally kicked herself. This wasn't like her either, rarely did she become so emotionally charged that she threw all caution to the wind and dashed at her problems head on without any thought as to how she was going to actually deal with them. She was so unlike herself today. She'd stepped outside the controlled setting that she struggled to keep her life in and was now playing things loose. She smirked, she was acting like Rainbow Dash. She looked up at Applejack's farmhouse. She couldn't avoid this any longer, she was here and she needed to find something to say. Twilight took one last deep breath before trotting up to Applejack's home and giving the door a knock. 'Ah'm a comin'!' Applejack's heavy dialectic voice called from somewhere deep within the farm house. Twilight heard the sound of her hoof steps marching down the stairs growing louder and louder... or maybe that was the sound of her heart beating... Applejack opened the door, looking outside at Twilight and offered her a scowl. 'An' what do ya want?' she said her voice stinging with hostility. Twilight frowned and glanced down at the wooden planks lining the porch. 'Applejack I... I came to apologise...' Twilight began as she looked back up at the earth pony mare before her, surprised to find that her scowl had been replaced with a frown. Applejack glanced down at the floor and let out a sigh before nodding her head. 'Come on inside...' she added, her voice trailing off as she held the door open wider for Twilight to enter. Twilight took her up on the offer and went inside, Applejack shut the door behind them and they walked over into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. 'Applejack!' Twilight began. 'I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper at you, it wasn't right and—' 'No Twilight, Ah need ta be apologisin' ta ya, not the other way 'round,' Applejack said with a frown. 'Ya'll were just tryin' ta make Princess Luna feel a bit more comfortable while she's here in town, and Ah wasn't willin' ta listen ta what ya'll even had ta say.' Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack was quick to interrupt her again. 'Let me finish, Twi. Ya'll know how Ah am about this farm, it's everythin' Ah got. All mah family has got. So Ah don't like it when sudden changes come 'round that impact how Ah run mah farm. An' changin' tha weather is just that,' Applejack said, taking her hat off her head and brushing her mane out of her eyes with a hoof. 'But tha' don' make it right ta get mad at ya for it. Yer just doin' what ya think is right.' Applejack paused for a moment, and gritted her teeth, looking very nervous before swallowing hard, it was as if what she was about to do was very, very difficult for her. 'Ya got yer proposal on ya?' Twilight nodded her head, and looked to the saddlebags adorning her flanks. She lit her horn and pulled the proposal out of her bag with telekinesis and passed it to Applejack. Applejack looked at it for a moment without opening the folder it was in before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. 'Yer mah friend Twi, Ah knows Ah should have more faith in ya. Ah know ya'll wouldn't do something if ya knew it end up hurtin' me and mah farm... so imma go over yer proposal with Big McIntosh and see if we can make it work,' Applejack said before setting the folder down on the end table next to her. She looked up at Twilight and offered her a small smile. 'Sound good ta ya?' Twilight nodded her head and wrapped her forelegs around Applejack in a tight hug. 'Oh Applejack... I'm sorry for getting angry.’ Applejack returned the unicorn's hug, patting her friend on the back and letting out a sigh of relief. 'On a posative note. Thisis somethin' ta write to Princess Celestia 'bout.' Twilight chuckled, indeed it was. Before she knew it she was already planning what exactly she was going to say. She and Applejack, having patched things up, parted ways, and Twilight returned to her home in the library. She pushed open the door and trotted inside. 'Spike!' she called out to her little dragon assistant. 'Come here please! I need you to take down a letter to Princess Celesta!' 'That will not be necessary Twilight, for I am already here,' the voice of Princess Celestia called out to her. Twilight jumped in surprise, nearly hitting the ceiling. Low and behold, none other than her mentor, Princess Celestia herself was sitting on the sofa in her home, sipping a cup of tea, waiting patiently for her to return. 'You have learned something about friendship?' Celestia asked as she took another sip from her cup. Twilight paused for a moment before nodding her head. 'Dear Princess Celestia... today I learned that even close friends are not always going to agree with each other. Sometimes we'll have vastly differing ideas about how to deal with a situation, but no matter what it is, it is imperative that we always listen to others point of views and take them into consideration. We can't allow ourselves to get angry over something and let it destroy our friendship; as long as we are willing to work together we willl always find a way.' Twilight said, finishing her summary of the lesson learned. Princess Celestia finished her cup of tea, setting it down on the coffee table. She looked up at Twilight and smiled. 'Surely, an excellent lesson... however...' she said, her voice trailing off. 'However?' Twilight asked, looking at her mentor with confusion. ‘However... the circumstances in which you learned it were unacceptable,' Celestia said as her golden magical aura enveloped her horn. 'Princess? What are you...?’ Twilight started, before she felt her head begin to ache. There was a sharp pain, as if somepony had just shoved a metal rod into her brain. Twilight collapsed onto the floor before her mentor, clutching her head and screaming. Princess Celestia rose from her seat, standing over Twilight and extending her wings out to their full wingspan. She lowered her head and touched her horn to Twilight's. Twilight continued to writhe in pain, screaming, and incoherently begging Princess Celestia to stop before her body became still on the floor. A small moment of panic overtook Celestia, had she over done it? No. Twilight was still breathing, she had merely fallen unconscious. It had been a long time since she had last resorted to this kind of magic. Princess Celestia frowned as she pulled her head back away from Twilight's. Frowning as she picked her student up off the floor and took her up to her bedroom. 'I am sorry you had to experience that Twilight,' Princess Celestia said as she walked with Twilight into the room, where she placed her student down on the bed, and pulled the covers over her. 'Memory modification is not pleasant... fortunately for you, when you wake up, you won't remember the pain. Or the desire you had to do harm to your friend,' she added, aware that her student could not hear her. She wasn't saying it for Twilight's benefit. She was saying it for her own. Princess Celestia tucked Twilight in, and quietly departed Golden Oaks Library for Castle Canterlot. … I took no pleasure in what I did to Twilight Sparkle that day. The Modification of one's memory is painful, a truly deplorable act to be sure. At the time, however, I saw it necessary to curb the aggression of my subjects. I wept for Twilight for what I had to do to her, but it was necessary! … 'Sister?' Princess Luna said as she approached. In the darkness of the night, my sister blended in perfectly. My eyes, ill prepared for the darkness of night could barely make her out. 'Luna?' 'Yes sister,' 'You have dealt with Applejack?' 'I have done as you instructed, sister.' I nodded my head in understanding. 'I take no pleasure in this Luna... but we do what is necessary.' 'Of course, sister.' I nodded my head and bid my sister farewell. It had been too dark to see then, but I know now that my sister had been very upset by the day’s events. It was on this day. This day marked the beginning of the end. VChapter 5 Sunlight filtered in through the curtains of Twilight Sparkle's bedroom as she slept, the light shown onto her eyes, rousing the sleeping mare from her slumber. Twilight let out a loud yawn as she stretched out her legs and rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. The time read as half past eight in the morning. Twilight sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, letting out another yawn. Her head was pounding; she took her hoof and began to rub her head. She'd felt a headache like this before. The first time had been the morning after the first time that she had ever tried cider at Pinkie Pie's suggestion. She had learned something very important from that experience: If Pinkie Pie wanders up to you with a mug in hoof and asks you to try it, the answer is always no. It took her a moment to realise where exactly she was. She blinked and found herself sitting on her bed in her bedroom, the same bedroom that Princess Luna was supposed to have been sleeping in. A small amount of panic overtook her; she hadn't... slept with the Princess of the Night, had she? Not in the same bed? Twilight didn't remember going to bed, she must have been tired and wandered in here and gotten into bed with Princess Luna... or something. She looked around and discovered that Luna was not in the room with her. Though, that wasn't exactly comforting either. She hopped up from her bed, exited her room and went downstairs. She stopped when she reached the bottom step; somepony was in the kitchen making something... it smelled like pancakes. She trotted over to the kitchen door and pushed it open. Walking inside, she discovered Princess Luna at the stove with a frying pan and spatula in her telekinetic grip. The Princess of the Night turned to look at Twilight as she entered the room and offered her a pleasant smile. 'Ah! Twilight, good morning,' Luna said with a polite nod. 'I was just about to come and wake you. Breakfast is ready!' 'About that, did I—' Twilight began before being interrupted. 'You fell asleep while studying at your desk last night, so I put you to bed and slept on the sofa,' Luna said with a smile as she took the last pancake from the pan and put it on a plate. 'Oh...' Twilight said. That was a relief to know that she hadn't done anything inappropriate. Princess Luna smiled and took the plate of pancakes and set them on the table, distributing them equally between three plates, one for her, one for Twilight, and one for Spike. The door to the kitchen opened up again as the sleepy looking baby dragon stuck his head inside. 'I smell pancakes,' Spike said as he walked up to the table and took a seat. 'Princess Luna made breakfast,' Twilight said as she took a fork and knife in her telekinetic grip and cut herself off a piece of pancake. She accidentally scraped the knife against the plate, filling the air with a squeaky shrill of metal against ceramic. Twilight cried out and clutched her head in pain. 'Twilight Sparkle? Is everything alright?' Luna asked, looking concerned. 'I'm fine...' Twilight said looking up at her. 'I've got a headache this morning... but it'll be fine.' Princess Luna nodded her head in understanding. Breakfast was mostly quiet. They kept conversation to a minimum to keep from agitating Twilight's headache and by half past nine, her headache had subsided. Now it was time to go about the day and get done the things she needed done. Twilight had made a 'to do' list for the day and it was time to get started on it. The list was shorter than usual, only taking up fifteen centimetres of a roll of parchment. Much to her surprise, the box for the first item on the list, 'grocery shopping' had already been ticked off on the list. She rolled up the list and trotted back into the kitchen. 'Princess Luna?' she asked, giving the alicorn mare an odd look. 'Did you go grocery shopping this morning?' 'I did,' Princess Luna said with a nod as she finished wiping off one of the dishes from breakfast and set it in the drying rack with her telekinesis. ‘I hope you don’t mind. I was awake and I took the money you had set aside for groceries. I got us everything we need for this week.’ 'You didn't have to do that,' Twilight said, offering her a smile. ‘It was the least I could do. You have graciously taken me into your home and have done more than what is necessary to make me feel comfortable,' Luna said with a smile as she finished washing the dishes. 'That, and cook.' 'No complaints here!' Spike said with a yawn, patting his belly to indicate his fullness. 'Where did you learn to cook, Princess?' 'I often cooked for myself when I was younger. We did have servants that were there to cook and clean for us, but at the times I preferred to be awake at they were always asleep. I learned to fend for myself for the most part,' Luna said as she put the last dish into the drying rack and hung up the towel that she'd been using to wash them off. From what Twilight knew of the nobility, to do so was unimaginable. Most would not tolerate the inconvenience of doing something for oneself. 'Well, I certainly do appreciate your abilities, Luna I wish I was able to cook,' Twilight said with a chuckle. 'Ah yes... I heard that you are forbidden to go within ten metres of one of the kitchens in Castle Canterlot, My sister has even considered making it an indictable offence for you to attempt to cook anything within the Canterlot city limits,' Luna said with a smirk. 'Don't remind me...' Twilight said with a sigh before looking up at the Princess of the Night and giving her a smile. 'Well, I hope you won't mind if I head out for a bit, I do have a few other things on my list to attend to.' 'Not at all, I will see you when you return,' Princess Luna said offering her a smile in return as Twilight departed the kitchen. She placed her saddlebags on her flanks and headed out the door, with the ‘to do’ list in her telekinetic grip, to finish up the things she had to do today. Now that Princess Luna had taken care of grocery shopping for her, it left a very short list for today. She had to stop by the post office to send out the order form for the new books she wanted to add to her collection in the library. Since Spike was only good for sending letters to Princess Celestia, she had to resort to the standard postal service for everything else. Then she would stop by the school house to discuss her plans with Cheerilee for greater accessibility of library materials for the foals in her class, but that wasn't until later. After a quick stop off at the post office, Twilight soon discovered that, after finishing that errand, she was free for the rest of the morning. Twilight smiled, she could only imagine what she'd do with her new found free time... 'Hey! Twilight!' the voice of Rainbow Dash called out to her from above. Twilight looked up and saw Rainbow Dash sitting on a low hanging cloud not three metres above her. 'What's up?' Rainbow Dash added as she leapt off the cloud and landed expertly on the ground. 'Oh hey Rainbow!' Twilight said with a smile. Well... nothing now really. My list of things to do got much shorter on me.' Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shook her head. She found Twilight's obsession with having a 'to do' list for each day to be silly and otherwise completely unnecessary. ‘Twilight? You ever think about just going with the flow? You know, just letting things happen?’ she asked. ‘Never,’ Twilight said adamantly. Rainbow Dash shook her head again and sighed before looking around the street to see if anyone else was nearby. ‘Hey Twilight?’ she asked, having been satisfied with the results. ‘Is everything okay with you and Applejack?’ ‘Applejack?’ Twilight asked before shaking her head and giving her friend a small chuckle. ‘Rainbow Dash, Applejack and I had a minor disagreement about the weather schedule. Of course we’re fine!’ ‘Minor disagreement… right,’ Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes. ‘Glad to hear it Twi, I got to get back to work. I’ll see you later,’ Rainbow Dash added with a wave before leaping into the air to get back to ‘work.’ Work. Rainbow Dash? Right, sure. Rainbow Dash’s general workday consisted of lounging around on a cloud ‘supervising’ the rest of her weather team. Twilight wasn’t fooled for a minute. Though… Twilight did have to admit, something that Rainbow Dash had just said had stuck with her. Her disagreement with Applejack on the weather schedule had been relatively minor, why would Rainbow Dash be so concerned about it? She turned her head to look down the street; she must have done it too fast, as it sent a sharp pain through her head. She cried out and brought her hoof to the aching spot instinctively. That time was pretty bad. She even considered heading over to the doctor’s office to get it looked at, but ultimately decided against it. It was just a twinge, nothing to fuss over. She turned and went on back to her day with the thoughts about her disagreement with Applejack completely gone from her mind. VIChapter 6 Rainbow Dash sat back on her cloud resting place, letting out a yawn and stretching her limbs. She loved the feel of the soft cloud against her. Clouds were where she belonged, that she knew for certain. She opened one of her eyes on occasion to 'supervise' the rest of her weather team as they worked to arrange the day's weather patterns. She could do it all herself in under a minute, of course, she was just that awesome. She had made a decision when she got her job to let the others on her team earn their pay. A lot of ponies called Rainbow Dash lazy. She resented such accusations on her character - she was doing her team a favour! Yep. A favour, she thought to herself as she let out another yawn and rolled over onto her belly, looking absent-mindedly towards the horizon. That was when she noticed it, something distant, faint coming right towards them. She reached around to her saddlebags and opened them up; she pulled out a pair of binocular goggles and sliding them over her eyes. She reached up and began to adjust the focusing click wheels until she could see clearly. Up ahead, Rainbow Dash could see that a large group of ponies were pulling several carts down the road coming from the west. Rainbow Dash let out a grin and pulled the binocular goggles off her eyes and placed them back in her bag before turning back towards the town and yelling out in excitement. 'Hey everypony! We've got a trade caravan coming up the road! Half a click out!' she called out to the town ponies as they went about their business. Everypony stopped and turned to look up at Rainbow Dash for a moment, processing what she had just said before turning to each other and chattering with excitement. Traders from the west! This was truly going to be a treat. Rainbow Dash hopped off her cloud and landed expertly on the ground. She needed to go tell her friends! … 'A trade caravan?' Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow as she gathered with her friends in the town square. 'Oh yes darling!' said the elegant voice of Rarity as she and Fluttershy joined with Rainbow Dash and Twilight in the town square. 'Trade caravans are fairly common among the western cities; they’re usually centred around Manehattan. They bring unique goods with them wherever they go!' Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement. 'You never know what one of these guys are going to have! And they don't usually come this far east, so this ought to be good!' Rainbow Dash added with clear excitement in her voice as the trade caravan pulled into the town square and parked their wagons and began to set up. 'Why not?' Twilight asked, sceptical over the matter of the caravans. 'If they're so great, then why do they not come around here?' 'Because they're centred in Manehattan, darling,' Rarity said, as if the answer should have be obvious. 'It's an awfully long trip on hoof, which makes journeys this far prohibitively expensive. They must be desperate.' It took Twilight a moment to realise why Rarity would think that. 'The rail lines?' she asked. Rarity nodded her head in affirmation. 'They're still building the lines between Manehattan and Canterlot provinces, but when they're finished it'll make long distance trade cheap, and practical. It's also going to put the trade caravans out of business because they won't be able to compete.' 'That's terrible! Those poor ponies are going to be out of work!' Fluttershy said, speaking up for the first time in their conversation, and making her friends remember that she was there. 'If the railroads are going to hurt the caravaneers then maybe we shouldn't build them?' Fluttershy asked. Rarity merely sighed and shook her head. 'Casualties of progress, Fluttershy, we can't just keep doing things the same way we've always done them for the sake of the fact we've always done them that way! Otherwise our society and culture stagnates!' Rarity added, looking fairly nervous about the idea. 'I mean, could you imagine! Moi, being forced to wear the same spring ware spring after spring after spring for the sake that I've always worn them?! I can hardly imagine a worse fate!' Rarity finished her argument with that bit of dramatic flair that her friends had come to expect from her. They all groaned on the inside and shook their heads. Rarity however failed to notice and turned to look at the caravan to find that they'd finished setting up. The caravan master was an grey earth pony stallion. His mane was a bright orange, cropped short with eyes to match. Strapped to his flanks were two large canvas saddlebags that covered up his cutie mark. He looked out to the crowd that was forming before him and smiled brightly. 'Ponies of Ponyville! My name is Montana Ulan of the Ulan Trading Company, based out of Manehattan. I bring to you today many one of a kind goods that you shall not find elsewhere! Come! Take a look!' the caravan master said gleefully as he stepped behind his cart. The ponies of Ponyville murmured amongst themselves as they lined themselves up in an uneven mob to take a look at the carts, hoping to find something that struck their interests. Rarity however, merely shook her head and sighed. Twilight looked at her and raised an eyebrow. 'What? Did he say something—?’ Rarity raised a hoof to quiet Twilight. 'Allow me to translate the business speak for you,' Rarity said, and cleared her throat. '"Everything in this cart is randomly assorted pieces of junk that I have no idea as to what any of it actually is, and should you ask me about it, the explanation I will give you will be nonsense that I have made up on the spot as to not make myself look like a complete idiot."' 'How do you—' Twilight began again before Rarity interrupted her. 'Darling, I run a business. I speak the same language that he does,' Rarity said with a smirk before trotting over the carts to take a look at them. 'Still, that doesn't mean that we won't find anything interesting. Let's take a look.' … Carrot Top's eyes burned. She blinked and raised her hoof over her head. Sunlight was shining brightly into her bedroom, the sun's harsh rays bouncing right into her eyes. That was how it always was, of course, no matter its position in the sky. The sun always seemed to be in the perfect position to get into one's eyes. She let out a groan of annoyance and pulled the covers over her head as she rolled over in her bed. It had to be somewhere in the order of ten o'clock in the morning by now, and after the long night Carrot Top had just had, she was more than perfectly willing to stay in bed for the rest of the day. She rolled over and let out a curse as she felt something jab her in the stomach. She pulled the covers off her head and looked down on the bed to find the book she had been reading late last night laying there. Social Theory of Modern Rejectionism. Carrot Top let out a yawn as she picked up the book and set it on her bedside table without a thought, then laid her head back down to meet her pillow. She lay there for only a few seconds before promptly sitting back up and taking the book in her grasp. Setting it down on her bedroom floor and sliding it under the bed where no one would be able to see it. Maybe she was being paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Carrot Top had moved around too much and now she found herself wide awake. She frowned and shook her head before throwing the covers completely off her and climbing out of bed. She let out another yawn before lying back down on the floor; limbs sprawled out to stretch for a moment before getting back up and neatly making her bed. Her mind wandered back to the book that she had been reading late into the night, now safe under her bed. She was content that unless someone was actively searching her house that it would go unnoticed until it was time for her to read more from it once more. Carrot Top was different than most of the ponies in Ponyville. For one thing, she was a social liberal, those who considered themselves on the left wing of the political spectrum were rare in the rural areas of Canterlot Province's South and West Division, where small towns like Ponyville littered the countryside and were mostly homogeneous when it came to ideology. Secondly, she was a rejectionist, a subscriber to the thought that one's cutie mark should not determine their role in society. In other words she didn't agree with how equestrian society operated in the slightest bit. The idea behind cutie marks was that they were meant to tell ponies, the owner and others, what they were good at in life, otherwise known as their 'special talent'. Equestria's social structure therefore, revolved around placing those with administration related cutie marks in administrative rolls, farming cutie marks in farming rolls, and so on and so forth. Carrot Top, for example, had a cutie mark of three carrots, which had suggested that she had a talent for growing the root vegetable. Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. Carrot Top had a small garden in which she grew fresh veggies for her to eat. Her home sat upon a small bit of land, just over half a hectare. The amount of land she owned was very little, and otherwise surrounded completely by Sweet Apple Acres. She had to admit that she wasn't exactly sure where her property ended, and the Apple family's began. Fortunately for her, Big McIntosh had said that it was alright with him if her garden encroached on their property a bit. In any case, her cutie mark told her, and others, that she was good at growing vegetables. The problem with that was that the life of a food grower did not satisfy her in the slightest bit. Despite it being her so called 'special talent' she had no interest in growing carrots. The truth of the matter was that she absolutely hated carrots, she didn't just hate the physical specimen; she hated the very idea of carrots. She hated everything about them. She didn't like their taste, she didn't like their look, and she most of all hated the constant reminder of what her life was supposed to be according to her cutie mark. Even her residence was a reminder, for it had the basic shape and colouring of a carrot. When she had had the place built, it had been for the irony of it, but the irony had worn off very quickly and it turned into more resentment. Carrot Top didn't want to grow carrots, but it didn't matter what she wanted as far as society was concerned. Carrot Top had attended the University of Canterlot, majoring in journalism with a minor in sociology. She'd graduated in the top five per cent of her class, despite multiple ponies telling her that she was wasting her time, and that she should focus on the area that her cutie mark suggested that she would be good in. Carrot Top had ignored them and went on to graduate... however when it had come time to find a job in her desired career, she'd been turned down by every newspaper company in Canterlot Province. Her credentials hadn't mattered to these companies in the slightest. Her cutie mark wasn't journalism related, so they passed her over for less qualified journalists with a cutie mark of a newspaper or a camera. Carrot Top had been forced to admit defeat, and returned to Ponyville with a degree that no one cared about. Her cutie mark suggested that she would be good at farming, so as far as society was concerned, that is what she would do. Well, Carrot Top didn't eat carrots, so all of the carrots that she grew she contributed to the Ponyville co-op. Ponyville was an Apple town, in more ways than one. Food markets were dominated by Sweet Apple Acres, apples were cheap and plentiful, and the Apple family had a practical monopoly on the food market. The co-op had been founded by other food growers who were too small to effectively compete against Sweet Apple Acres on their own. Everypony who contributed pulled their resources together for an equal share of any profits. Co-op money kept Carrot Top a float, she wasn't rich, by any means, but she wasn't poor either. Apples were the cheapest food item in Ponyville, but the co-op had one thing to their advantage. The Apple Family dealt only in apples, and not everyone wanted apples all the time. However, that didn't keep the other farmers from worrying. If the Apple Family were to ever wise up and diversify their crops... they would be in trouble. The Apple Family owned a lot of land, more then everyone in Ponyville combined, and there was a lot of it that sat unused. Carrot Top shook her head, now was not the time to think about the Apples. She let out another yawn and headed into her washroom to clean herself up for the day. Her mind wandered back to rejectionism. She wasn't the only rejectionist in Ponyville, fortunately for her she had a good number of friends who agreed with her politically. Colgate, who had an hourglass for a cutie mark, was stuck in a dead end job working as a receptionist and administrative assistant at the Canterlot Province South and West Regional Hospital here in Ponyville. Cheerilee, the teacher at the Schoolhouse in Ponyville who had been able to make up some nonsense of a story as to what her cutie mark of three sunflowers with smiling faces in the middle of them to somehow be related to teaching. Cheerilee was the only one of her friends to actually have a job doing what she wanted to be doing. And then there was Flitter, who was a couple of years younger than the rest of her friends, still in university, studying cultural anthropology, but was quickly discovering that society would be expecting her to take up a job in a weather facility. The four of them made up the core of a group known simply to them as 'the club’; they'd kept the name vague intentionally. Rejectionism was seen to be socially subversive to the order of their society, and it was not taken kindly to by the majority. They each kept their subscription to rejectionist thought a secret. Carrot Top didn't think what could happen to them if it came out to the public as to what they really thought. That was enough thinking about it, Carrot Top had determined, now it was time to get on with her day. She turned on her shower and stepped inside, knowing that her day would consist of the same unending nonsense that it always did. Carrot Top hated her life. PrologueAll Good Things Prologue When you were growing up, did your mother and father ever tell you the story of how Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends defeated the evil Nightmare Moon and restored balance and harmony to Equestria? At least for a little while? It’s been a long time since then, by my reckoning a hundred and four years. Things have changed a lot since then. I look down upon Equestria to find it has become radically altered from what I remember; not all for the better, but most of it. It’s been a very long time since Twilight Sparkle defeated Nightmare Moon, but the story has lived on to this day as the stuff of legend. No one believes anymore that a princess raised the sun each day. I cannot say that I blame them, considering what happened, what I can tell you though is this: there are a lot of things that happened back then that you don’t know about - that no one knows about - because Twilight Sparkle and her best friends worked very hard to insure that the truth would remain hidden. But I know. I remember it plain as day, if you will pardon the pun. I remember when he first walked into my throne room in Canterlot and I named him Baron Ponyville. I remember when the Everfree Forest burned. You all don’t, because it didn’t happen this time around. You don’t know what happened the first time Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon and restored harmony to Equestria, but I know. I can tell you if you like. I want to warn you though, what I am about to say may shock you; you may be appalled at the actions that were taken on all sides. You have every right to be, because no one - not even I - did the right thing. You’re still here; I suppose that means you’re interested. Well, sit down then, and let me tell you a story of how things unfolded the first time around. All I ask of you is this: everything that I am about to tell you will sound outrageous, and will go against what you have been taught. I ask you to leave your preconceived notions at the door, listen to my story with an open mind, because I assure you. Every word that I say, no matter how grand, no matter how strange, no matter how outrageous it may sound, is absolutely true. Oh, how I wish it wasn’t. … I suppose if I’m going to tell you how things unfolded on the first time around, I should speak to you a bit about my little sister. Oh Luna, I am so sorry for everything that happened to you. Princess Luna is an oddity; anyone who was alive one hundred and four years ago will remember that, to be certain. I myself have to question where she picked up that habit in her speech, because she did not do that the first time. The story of how all our troubles began the first time around started thirteen months to the day after she had returned to us, and I made the greatest mistake that I could have ever made in my entire life. I sent her away. ‘Tia…’ Princess Luna said with a frown as she brushed her short blue mane out of her eyes. ‘Don’t you “Tia” me, little sister; your full power has yet to return. There is something in your heart that is keeping you from reaching your full potential. Twilight Sparkle will help you to find out what that is, once you regain your power, we can rule together as we did before,’ I had said simply, offering my sister a reassuring smile. That was the first lie. Princess Luna let out a sigh, but nodded her head in agreement. ‘You are right, of course, as you always are,’ she said as she turned away from me, and stepped into the sky chariot waiting to take her away from Canterlot and to Ponyville. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said reassuringly. ‘Twilight Sparkle is a master of studying magic, she will help you to regain your full power, and once you do, you’ll be ready to take up your rightful place by my side, once more.’ I offered my sister a pleasant smile as I motioned for the two of my pegasi guard to take her away to Ponyville to stay with Twilight Sparkle. As I watched them ascend into the bright blue sky, getting smaller and smaller as they flew away towards the west, a thought popped into my head. I let out a sigh of disappointment. ‘Luna, I’m only doing what is best for you’, I said quietly to myself as I turned and trotted back inside the castle. That was the second lie. ‘Princess Celestia?’ a voice called from down the corridor. I turned my head towards it as I walked. ‘Princess Cadence,’ I said, nodding my head. If there was anyone who was overlooked during this time, it would have to have been Princess Cadence. Truly speaking she wasn’t really a princess, not anymore, anyway. Not one of Equestria, in any case. Princess Cadence was descended of the last Crystal Emperor, a thousand years ago, the royal family of the Crystal Empire fled across the ocean, where they would found the Crown D’Arago… but that is a story for another time. ‘Has Princess Luna already gone? Am I too late?’ Cadence asked between laboured breaths. It sounded as if she had galloped half way across the castle. I merely nodded my head in affirmation. ‘Yes, you just missed her, unfortunately,’ I added with a frown. ‘She has gone to see Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville.’ ‘Is this a good idea?’ Cadence asked with a frown. ‘Yes, it will do her some good to get out of the castle,’ I said with a nod. That was the third lie. Cadence nodded her head in agreement. ‘You’re right, of course… I just wonder if she’s ready for it,’ Cadence added with worry in her voice. ‘Luna will be fine,’ I said simply. That was the fourth lie. I have learned something about myself over the many years that I’ve lived. I am very, very good at lying. … You want to know something? I’ve had a lot of time to think, here, by myself. I will say this about being damned to an eternal purgatory: it gives you a lot of free time to reflect on your actions. I used to not think it was my fault, but the more I think about it? The more I discover just how wrong I was. I wish I had figured that out long ago. I guess I’ve grown up a lot. Heh, that’s funny, three thousand, three hundred and forty three years of living, and I’ve grown up more in the one hundred years since my death. I really do hope that you all can appreciate the irony of that. I just wanted to keep everypony safe and happy; I failed them and became my own worst nightmare. I just want you all to know, that Luna is not at fault for what she did. I am.
IChapter 1 Princess Luna let out a sigh as the sky chariot flew west. Looking down she could see Ponyville off in the distance. Ponyville; she had not been looking forward to this in the slightest bit. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of her past experiences here. It had been just over a year since her return, and she had avoided this place like the plague. She didn't know if she still had a place—she'd been gone so long that likely no one remembered any of the good things about her, only the bad. 'Argh!' Luna cried out as she clutched her head. She was having a migraine. One of the royal guards turned his head towards her, but the Princess of the Night waved him off. 'I am fine, I am fine. It is merely a headache, I will be fine when we land,' Luna added. The guard nodded his head in understanding, and the chariot began its’ descent towards Ponyville. Luna looked up at the sun; it had to be the bright light that was bothering her. She was Princess of the Night, after all; she preferred spending her waking hours at night. She had done this for the first five months since her return, but had since switched to a more 'normal' circadian cycle at the insistence of her sister to help her reintegrate into Equestrian society. She'd been having migraines ever since. Worst still, the early morning sun was at such an angle that it was always in your eyes. Quite frankly, she didn't know how the guards could stand it. Though, the more Luna thought about it, these were her sister's guards; they were used to being in the sun. Luna ducked her head down, lying against the interior wall of the chariot in every attempt to keep the sun off her. It seemed to be helping a little—her head was still throbbing, but she was pretty sure this would keep it from getting any worse. The chariot touched down on the ground hard, catching Luna by surprise. The Princess of the Night let out a quiet shriek before rising to her hooves to see what had happened: they were in Ponyville now. Luna let out a frown, and raised her hoof to shield her eyes as the sunlight streamed in. It was a perfectly clear day in the village; there would be no escaping the harsh light out of doors. It appeared that this was by design: weather ponies were working above her to clear the sky of all its' fluffy white blemishes. Luna let out a frown at this; she'd have preferred an overcast day, to be perfectly honest. Not that she blamed the town's weather ponies for anything, clear days were probably standard procedure for when a princess was to visit. After all, before the last year there was no distinction to be made. Luna turned towards the guards that had brought her here. She opened her mouth to thank them for taking her, but before the words could come out, she was interrupted by somepony else. 'Cirrus Cloudrunner! I swear you have got to be the WORST weather pony I have ever seen!' a mare's voice cried out in frustration. Princess Luna glanced up and discovered a rainbow maned pegasus mare was berating one of the weather ponies, a purple coated pegasus stallion that was in the process of moving a cloud out of the way. 'I'm sorry! I'm going as fast as I can here!' the pegasus stallion whom Luna presumed was Cirrus Cloudrunner said. 'Well go faster! Don't you know we've got a princess coming here!? The sky is supposed to be clear!' the rainbow maned pegasus mare said, poking the stallion with her hoof. 'Well maybe if you hadn't spent all morning sleeping...' Cirrus Cloudrunner began before Luna cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the two pegasi to her. 'If it is all the same, I actually prefer overcast days, not that I am asking you to undo all you've done, but if we could have a few days where it is not clear... that would be appreciated,' Luna said, immediately regretting getting the two's attention at all. All of the pegasi weather crew landed and bowed before her. Luna let out a sigh and shook her head. 'No! This is not necessary...' she said, her words falling on deaf ears. More ponies had taken notice of her, and it wasn't long before what seemed like the entire town had descended upon her. Luna frowned—this wasn't what she wanted. She knew that her subjects weren't bowing to her out of respect; they were bowing out of fear. With her return only having been thirteen months ago, the memories of Nightmare Moon was still fresh in the minds of the citizens of Ponyville. ‘I thank you all for your warm welcoming', Luna said through gritted teeth. 'And I ask you as your ruler to please carry on.' Everyone did as they were told; all the random town ponies rose and went back to what they were doing before she had arrived. Still, Luna could tell that they still were all looking at her out of the corners of their eyes. They were afraid, and that would not be changing any time soon. Luna knew this was a bad idea; she had tried to tell her sister what would happen, but she wouldn't listen. She glanced upwards at the blazing morning sun, its' oppressive light shining down on her as if it were a spotlight, putting all the attention in the world on to her when all she wanted to do was retreat to her bed and pull the covers over her head. She clutched her throbbing head, her migraine was getting worse. She needed out of the sun. 'Princess Luna!' a cheerful voice called out to her. Wonderful, another subject come to gawk at her. Luna turned her head to discover a lavender coated unicorn mare approaching her with a warm inviting smile on her face. Having been disoriented by her migraine, it took Luna a few moments to process who was approaching her as none other than Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle slowed her trot, but continued to smile brightly at her. 'Do you remember me? It's...' Twilight began. 'Twilight Sparkle, yes, I do not think I will be able to forget you any time in the near future', Luna added with a soft smile, before clutching her head once more as her migraine flared. 'Your Highness? Are you all right?' Twilight asked, looking at the Princess of the Night with concern. 'I... I just need to rest, that is all', Luna said. She wasn't quite sure if that would help or not, but she did know the harsh light from the mid morning sun was making her worse. Twilight nodded her head in understanding. 'I can imagine. Being Princess of the Night, you're probably not used to being up during this time of day,' Twilight said as she waved for Luna to follow. 'Yes... something like that,' Luna said simply. That technically wasn't a lie: she had been training herself to sleep during the night and stay awake during the day for the last few months. To be sure, however, she doubted that she would ever actually be able to become used to it. 'It's the sun... far too bright.' Twilight nodded her head. 'I'll talk to Rainbow Dash and the lord mayor to get approval to have some overcast days this week,' Twilight said. 'It would be appreciated,' Luna said, offering Twilight a small smile. Luna didn't really know much about Ponyville, as it was a small village. The population was approximately sixty, according to the last census that was taken. She wasn't quite sure when that had been. The big problem with their society as a whole was that they were a relatively small population spread across a large amount of land, because of that, gathering all the required information for a census was a rare event that took years to gather and compile into useful data. Luna had heard much quiet complaining from census workers employed by the Crown that the methods for gathering data were slow, inefficient, and had a high margin of error; one had even said that they were wasting their time and that the census was useless. Something which Luna was pretty sure that they wouldn't have said aloud had they known she was in earshot. Twilight lead the way to the Ponyville Public Library. Luna noted its uniqueness as a building by the fact that it was not really a building in any traditional sense. Twilight opened the door to the hollowed out oak tree and Luna followed her inside, listening to the floorboards squeak as she trotted over them. The actual library itself was a single room lined with bookshelves along each of the walls, and there were several pieces of furniture: mostly sofas and chairs for ponies to sit and read in. There was a staircase at the far end which she presumed went up to Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom, there were two other doors along the walls that went to other parts of the tree, each with a sign on them stating: ‘not for public use’. The Ponyville Public Library was a magnificent building filled to the brim with books, Twilight had to be very happy living here. However, there was something very important about the Ponyville Public Library, a detail that could not be ignored. Luna figured that this had to have been the most important detail that could be seen. The Library was completely empty apart from Luna and Twilight; it was devoid of any pony life. Luna glanced around at the many books on the shelves. There was so much knowledge that could be found here and it was going unused by the population of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was likely the only resident of Ponyville to fully appreciate what this town had. Luna frowned at the books; it was a sad sight to see. ‘Is everything alright, Your Highness?’ Twilight asked. Luna didn’t have the heart to tell her that everything was not alright with this. ‘Yes… just admiring the collection,’ Luna said simply. ‘Oh! Well thank you!’ Twilight said with a smile and raised her hoof to point at the stairs. ‘My bedroom is upstairs; you can sleep in my room for now. Spike and I have been getting one of the spare rooms ready for your arrival, but we’ve still got a little more to do.’ Luna smiled and thanked Twilight for her hospitality. ‘Where is the little dragon, anyway?’ Luna asked as she started to trot over to the stairs. ‘Oh Spike? He’s out running errands for me, he should be back soon though’, Twilight said as she trotted over to the sofa and sat down on it, opening up a book. ‘I’ll let you know when lunch is ready, and—’ ‘That is quite alright, I ate a large breakfast before leaving, I will not be hungry for a good while, I think,’ Luna said, offering Twilight Sparkle a polite nod for her hospitality. ‘Thank you though.’ ‘Oh no trouble! I’ll let you know when Spike starts on dinner later this evening then,’ Twilight added as Luna continued to trot up the stairs. Luna nodded and trotted up the stairs and went into Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she looked around and discovered the curtains were already drawn. The room itself was rather dark. Good, just as she liked it. Luna trotted over to the bed and laid herself down on it, getting comfortable and thinking about what she had seen today. Luna… Luna’s head shot up. ‘Who—who is there?’ she asked. Luna… ‘Who goes there?’ Luna called out. There was no response. Luna shook her head, disappointed with herself. Being out in the sunlight must have disoriented her more than she thought. She laid herself back down and closed her eyes. Now it was time for rest.
IIChapter 2 ‘—All I’m asking is just a few overcast days, it’s not like that’s going to be the end of the world!’ Twilight Sparkle cried out. The sound of frustration was clear in her voice as she stood at her desk in the library. What she was asking wasn’t impossible; it wasn’t even anything remotely dangerous. Just one or two days where the clouds covered the town so that the sun’s harshness wouldn’t constantly be shining down on Princess Luna while she was to take up residence in the town. ‘Twilight, Ah don’ think ya really understand just what yer askin’ o’ the town with this!’ Applejack said, stamping her hoof against the ground. Generally speaking, Twilight and Applejack got on pretty well with each other. In fact, as Twilight thought about it, this was most likely the first major argument the two of them had gotten into. After speaking with Princess Luna on how the sun had been affecting her, Twilight had immediately gone to Rainbow Dash to ask about the possibility of changing up the weather to help the Princess of the Night feel more comfortable for the duration of her stay in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had gotten incredibly nervous at the suggestion, and when asked for an explanation, she had told Twilight to talk to Applejack about it. Twilight could see now why Rainbow Dash had gotten nervous at the suggestion. Twilight herself would have never guessed that Applejack would have gotten so hostile at the idea of changing up the weather schedule. ‘Then enlighten me Applejack,’ Twilight snapped back at her. ‘What am I asking of the town?’ Applejack let out a scowl at Twilight’s attitude. ‘Fine, Ah’ll put it fer ya plain n’ simple, Ponyville’s a rural town, what do we do in rural towns?’ Applejack asked, a look of annoyance on her face. ‘Apart from be incredibly hostile to a simple suggestion at the get go?’ Twilight asked, rolling her eyes. Applejack ignored the comment and continued to speak on the matter. ‘We grow food out here. We grow just enough to feed ourselves, and we got it worked out so that th’ crops got just enough rainwater, an’ just enough sunshine to grow. If y’all go around messin’ with th’ weather, then th’ crops ain’t gonna grow right, and we won’t have enough food to feed the town!’ Applejack exclaimed. Twilight frowned at Applejack’s explanation; there was a term for this: subsistence farming, something that was—much to the dismay of professional organiser Twilight Sparkle—practised by every food grower in Ponyville. When Twilight had first come to Ponyville she had seen how the Apple family farm operated. The work was hard, the hours long, and the pay off at the end of the day was little. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there were easier ways to do it, or maybe it did, judging on Applejack's attitude towards it. She’d made the mistake of making suggestions to change things up to help the Apples get more out of their harvests, only to receive a ‘thanks but no thanks’ with a hostile undertone at the suggestion. Twilight gritted her teeth, struggling not to come back with a snide or hurtful remark. ‘Course, Ah wouldn’t expect ya city folk ta understand that, ya’ll don’ ever have ta do anythin’ yerself up in yer fancy Canterlot with yer fancy magic,’ Applejack said plainly. It was as if Twilight’s mind had been held together with a single string, which said string had just snapped. She had half a mind to blast Applejack out her front door with a torrent of arcane magic. She might even have, had Rainbow Dash not been there to step in. ‘Okay… I think that’s enough for now!’ the pegasus mare said, as she pushed her way between the two. ‘Applejack, go home. Nothing’s going to get done right now with you two at each other’s throats!’ Twilight blinked, she had almost forgotten that Rainbow Dash had been here at all. Applejack scowled but said nothing; she turned and trotted back towards the door, opening it up before turning her head back to look at Twilight. ‘This ain’t over, ya hear? Not gunna just let ya throw off the weather cycle and kill off all our crops!’ Applejack added with anger in her voice as she slammed the door behind her. Twilight let out a sigh; she had never fought with Applejack like that before. Heck, she’d never fought with anyone like that before. She turned her head to look at Rainbow Dash and offered her fellow mare a small smile. ‘Since when are you the voice of reason?’ she asked. Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle. ‘I know? Crazy right? You know stuff is messed up when I have to be the voice of reason!’ Twilight chuckled at the joke, but sighed and shook her head. Now that she had stopped and thought about it for a moment, she felt bad about what she'd almost done to Applejack. Twilight never thought herself as even being capable of such hate, but this argument with Applejack had brought out the worst of her. The thought consumed her, if not for Rainbow Dash— 'Twilight? Are you okay?' Rainbow Dash asked, waving her foreleg in front of Twilight's eyes. Twilight blinked, snapping from her daze, before turning to her fellow mare and offering her a smile and a nod. 'Yeah... yeah I'm fine, I'll be fine,' Twilight said simply, before glancing up at the stairs leading to the second level, and her private living space. 'I'll be fine, I think I'm just going to go take a nice, long bath and relax.' Rainbow Dash nodded her head in understanding. 'I'll see you later Twi,' she said with a wave before departing. Twilight waved her goodbyes before keeping her promise of a nice hot bath to herself. She trotted up the stairs, moving slowly as not to disturb the sleeping Princess Luna and trotting into her bathroom, turning on the hot water, and allowing the tub to fill up. Watching as the steam began to roll off the top of the water; she climbed inside, lowering herself slowly into the water and sitting back. 'Ahh...' Twilight said as she closed her eyes for a moment. She chuckled a bit as she felt a little bit like Rarity. She sat back, and tried not to think about Applejack, Princess Luna, or the weather, now was the time to relax. … Princess Luna had fallen asleep; she was in the middle of a dream world. She was Princess of the Night, after all. If there was anyone more qualified to determine if this was a dream than she, then she might as well consider herself out of a job. She knew that this was a dream because she found herself in Canterlot, rather than Ponyville, but this was no Canterlot that she recognised. Actually, the more she looked around, the more confused she was. She had assumed that this was Canterlot, because of the altitude. There was no place in the civilised Equestria that was higher up than Canterlot, but as she looked around, she discovered that there was not a single thing that looked familiar. The buildings were metal, some of them rising to well above 100 metres. She looked to the ground, finding not cobblestones at her hooves, but a black tar like substance that sprawled out in every direction. She looked up to the sky above her and saw a balloon unlike any she had ever seen before, far larger than what she was used to, and in the rough shape of an éclair. There was a low whine on the air, getting louder as if something was coming towards her. This place was unlike any that she had ever seen. She took a step forward, before she felt something slam into her. … Princess Luna's eyes shot open, and she sat up in bed, glancing around, her mind began to panic as she had forgotten where exactly she had fallen asleep at. It took her a moment, but she eventually recognised that she was in the bedroom, that Twilight Sparkle had offered her sanctuary in. She let out a sigh of relief, putting the dream out of her mind. If being Princess of the Night had taught her anything, it was not to dwell upon one's dreams. She let out a yawn and glanced around the room, looking at the window next to the bed. The drapes were still drawn, and it made the room dark as night. Luna used her telekinesis to pull them open, allowing the sunlight to filter in. It was still daylight, though it now seemed to be later in the day, as the sun was in the western sky, and its' light bounced right into her eyes as she looked. Could she not escape it? Luna shut the drapes quickly, blacking the room back out, and gently rubbing her eyes. It was futile, she was still seeing spots. She waited a few moments, blinking every so often as the spots on her eyes began to fade. She climbed out of the bed, landing on her hooves with a wooden thud against the floor, before trotting over to the bedroom door, and going out into the library proper. She looked down at the first level; Twilight Sparkle was standing at her desk, her nose buried in a book, and occasionally scribbling something onto a piece of parchment paper with an owl feather quill. According to what her sister had said, this bit of behaviour was so normal that she should be on the lookout if it wasn’t happening. If it is not, then something is wrong. Luna absent-mindedly watched Twilight as she scribbled down her notes onto the parchment paper, Celestia had always said that Twilight's focus on her studies was second to none, but she couldn't help but feel like there was something more going on here than just a love for learning. That was when it happened. Twilight dipped her quill into the bottle of ink, but upon bringing it out, accidentally knocked the bottle over, spilling the ink onto her work. Princess Luna suddenly felt a sharp wave of anger on the air, a feeling that she was all too familiar with. 'Ah... DAMNIT!' Twilight cried out in frustration as she leapt into action to clean up the mess she'd just made. ‘Twilight Sparkle,’ Luna called out to the unicorn from the top of the stairs. Twilight looked as if she was about to jump out of her skin, and whirled around to face the Princess of the Night. ‘Is everything alright?’ Luna asked, as she began to trot down the stairs. ‘Oh… Princess Luna. I’m sorry I didn’t…’ Twilight began, before stopping herself and biting her lip. ‘No, no not really,’ she added finally before turning away and using her telekinesis to pull a towel from the kitchen to mop up the ink that she had just spilled. ‘What troubles you, Twilight?’ Luna asked as she joined her fellow mare, helping her to clean up the mess. ‘You don’t have to do that,’ Twilight said. ‘I know that, you know that. You are merely stating so to avoid the question,’ Luna said, turning to her host and offering her a small smile. ‘Now I ask again, what troubles you?’ Twilight frowned and bit her lip again, turning her head away to look out towards the evening sky. The sun was setting; soon it would be night, and the problems of the day would be behind them. ‘I... I had a fight with my friend Applejack this morning,’ Twilight said, almost as if she didn’t believe it herself. ‘Tempers flared, and I… I came close to hurting her.’ Luna’s jaw dropped, stepping back from Twilight in surprise. ‘Twilight Sparkle!’ she cried out. ‘I know! I know!’ Twilight said as tears began to run down her face. ‘Twilight, we are Equestrians!’ Luna said. ‘We do not get angry!’ ‘I know! I know!’ ‘We do not hate! We do not hurt others! We live together in perfect harmony’ Princess Luna added, stressing her final words. ‘I know! I know! I know!’ Twilight cried out as tears began to flow with full force. Twilight turned her head to look at the Princess of the Night, barely able to contain her sobs. ‘I’m sorry…’ ‘It is not me that you need to apologise to,’ Luna said plainly. Twilight nodded, before turning away from the princess, throwing open the door to the Library and running off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Princess Luna sighed in relief. Such thoughts were dangerous for a pony. Anger, frustration, hate, such emotions always lead to violence. Still, they had happened. This was Equestria; this was not supposed to happen here. They could not be allowed to happen here. Princess Luna could not allow Equestria to stop being perfect. She needed to talk to her sister.
IIIChapter 3 Books, such a simple thing really, if one is to look down at a book and examine it without opening it, they will discover that it's little more than pulped wood, or a limed hide from one of the lower animals that live in the wilds of Equestria, cut thinly into sheets, and bound together to make a book whole. Without opening a book up to see what is inside, it is very easy to misjudge them, very easy to be ignorant of the threatening messages that books have the potential to carry. This book that I am looking at— one of the few that I am actually afraid to open— is one of those books. I have spent countless hours alone, locked up here in the restricted archives of my own personal library, deep below the regular library at Castle Canterlot looking at this book. Staring at the gold leaf letters printed on the cover, but never daring to open it. The Earth Pony Way, by Oberlander Cromwell. This book has not been opened. Since its original printing one thousand years ago, this particular copy of the book has never been opened. The words it carries have never been exposed to the open air. I have made sure of that. I had even gone so far as to loop a belt around the book, holding the cover closed as to dissuade myself from ever opening it. I know what the book says of course. I was one of the first to read it when it was published. I had to know what dangerous thoughts Cromwell was having run though that sick and twisted head of his and you can rest assured, that the words of this book were most certainly dangerous to my rule. There was only one option, of course, and that was to round them all up and destroy them. At the time I was proud of such an accomplishment. Only a thousand copies were ever printed before I got to them, and nine hundred and ninety nine were destroyed. Why did I keep this one? To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. This book was the last of its kind, a simple thought from me and the heresies contained within it would be gone forever. It would rid me forever of a problem. So why didn't I? Why did I not do what I had originally set out to do? Guilt, perhaps. It's not like anyone would miss this book. By the thousandth year of my reign, alone without my sister, everypony in Equestria had long forgotten the famed political agitator, Oberlander Cromwell, Duke of Fillydelphia, scientist, statesman, renaissance pony. They weren't about to start remembering him any time soon. A single thought from me and the book would burst into flame. It would become ash on the floor, a problem, nevermore. Now that I think about it? I know why I never destroyed that book. I kept it around because it and the other books like it I'd hidden away, never to be read by the eyes of my little ponies had been my only true companions over the last millennium. The only ones I could ever be truly honest with. I let out a sigh, as I used my telekinesis to place Cromwell's book back on the shelf with all the others. Rising to my hooves, and straightening my crown before turning to leave the secret library for yet another day in the life of Princess Celestia. The time I spent in the secret library was the only time I ever truly had to myself. The original architects who had designed it for me were long dead. As were the builders who had dug it out of the side of the mountain in which the wonderful city of Canterlot hung from. I was the only one left who was aware of its existence. The secret library was hardly unique in that regard. There were plenty of places lost to the passing of time. Some of them were rediscovered. Many places still, even in the hundred years since my death have remained hidden from the prying eyes of the modern ponies. Some will remain lost forever. Heh, it's kind of funny really. That had been what I'd wanted. Now? I can't even tell anyone where to look for them. In a way, I guess that means I'd accomplished what I'd set out to do, those one thousand and three years ago. Yay me. Trips to the secret library far below Castle Canterlot had been part of my morning routine. I always woke myself an hour before dawn, heading down to the library to stare at the covers of the books I'd hidden away, before eventually wandering back out of the library for sunrise. Over the last thousand years, the ponies of Equestria had said that I raised and lowered the sun each day. In the back of my mind, I'd always wondered just how many of them had continued to believe that was indeed true. There had been many intelligent ponies over the years to claim it wasn't the case. That the sun and moon moved on their own and that they could prove it with mathematics. Many others who were willing to consider the ‘Self Moving Celestial Bodies theory’ said that if it was working in that manner, that I had purposely designed it that way as a test of their faith in me, only for the first group of mathematicians to call that idea absurd. I, of course, remained silent through the whole affair. I would not be the one to admit that I did not understand the advanced mathematical formulae that the mathematicians and astronomers were presenting. I didn't want to look bad, and after I failed to make any kind of response, the debates eventually died down. I'm not sure who that says more about, them or me. I would stare out absent-mindedly into an easterly direction, and before I knew it, the sun would be peaking over the horizon and lighting the day for the little ponies I ruled over. They were free to go about their business, and accomplish what they had set themselves to do for that day, even if it was nothing at all. Afterwards, I would retreat indoors to my private bath, drawing water until the tub was full, and allowing myself the comforts of the warm water. I bathed multiple times a day, for no other reason than I simply could. There honestly wasn't much for me to do throughout the day. Even though I was the de jure central authority in Equestria, and technically speaking nothing could happen without my expressed approval, in practice, that was just not always the case. The Principality of Equestria was a large nation, with a small population spread over many thousands of square kilometres. The few major metropolitan areas that existed, Manehattan Fillydelphia, and Cloudsdale, were too far away for me to have hoped to rule directly. In practice, the dukes and earls of their respective fiefs could rule their land on their own, doing whatever they would have liked. Some like the Dukes of Manehattan and Cloudsdale, did so. Others chose to refer to me for every important decision that came about as they were technically supposed to, sending pegasi couriers to Canterlot to deliver the request for a decision personally. It was boring, tedious, and half of me wanted to berate the dukes and earls who ruled in this manner for lacking initiative, but I always stayed silent, stamping a yes or no onto the letters sent to me, and giving them back to their couriers without another word. Several hours of meeting with these couriers later, I would retire to my chambers, have another bath to relax, and afterwards would read a book for enjoyment. Books. Books were always my companions. The ones I read were always recent literature. There was a twofold purpose, partly for enjoyment, and also to determine if they needed to be destroyed in secret, and have my own copy join the others locked away in the secret library. Books I deemed unacceptable had dwindled in number over the last few decades. By that point, I had not needed to add a book to the secret library in fifty years. Though, I am no longer certain if that had been a good thing or not. Every now and then, at least once a week, I would receive a letter from Twilight Sparkle, documenting something she had learned in Ponyville. I always enjoyed Twilight's letters. They broke up the monotony of my days. The letter I had received on that day came not from Twilight, however. Instead it came from my sister. I read over the letter carefully, taking in every word as it documented the encounter between Twilight Sparkle, and her friend Applejack, and the malice that the two had shared for each other. I understood immediately why Luna had contacted me. Such anger coming from someone as powerful as Twilight was dangerous, and needed to be corrected quickly, lest something terrible happen. I had made up my mind. I would be going to Ponyville to insure that the anger that had built itself inside Twilight would not become a threat.
IVChapter 4 Twilight Sparkle ran as she had never run before, tears streaming from her eyes. Princess Luna was right. What she had done... it was unspeakable, intolerable in their society. She had to make things right with Applejack lest she ruin things forever between the two of them. She ran until she found herself at the edge of Apple family property, and she slowed herself down to a trot. Perhaps running had not been the best choice. She was already exhausted, her breath was heavy, and her lungs burned. She stopped for a moment, taking deep breaths and allowing herself the chance to recuperate. If anything, this would give her time to think about what she was going to say to Applejack. Twilight mentally kicked herself. This wasn't like her either, rarely did she become so emotionally charged that she threw all caution to the wind and dashed at her problems head on without any thought as to how she was going to actually deal with them. She was so unlike herself today. She'd stepped outside the controlled setting that she struggled to keep her life in and was now playing things loose. She smirked, she was acting like Rainbow Dash. She looked up at Applejack's farmhouse. She couldn't avoid this any longer, she was here and she needed to find something to say. Twilight took one last deep breath before trotting up to Applejack's home and giving the door a knock. 'Ah'm a comin'!' Applejack's heavy dialectic voice called from somewhere deep within the farm house. Twilight heard the sound of her hoof steps marching down the stairs growing louder and louder... or maybe that was the sound of her heart beating... Applejack opened the door, looking outside at Twilight and offered her a scowl. 'An' what do ya want?' she said her voice stinging with hostility. Twilight frowned and glanced down at the wooden planks lining the porch. 'Applejack I... I came to apologise...' Twilight began as she looked back up at the earth pony mare before her, surprised to find that her scowl had been replaced with a frown. Applejack glanced down at the floor and let out a sigh before nodding her head. 'Come on inside...' she added, her voice trailing off as she held the door open wider for Twilight to enter. Twilight took her up on the offer and went inside, Applejack shut the door behind them and they walked over into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. 'Applejack!' Twilight began. 'I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper at you, it wasn't right and—' 'No Twilight, Ah need ta be apologisin' ta ya, not the other way 'round,' Applejack said with a frown. 'Ya'll were just tryin' ta make Princess Luna feel a bit more comfortable while she's here in town, and Ah wasn't willin' ta listen ta what ya'll even had ta say.' Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Applejack was quick to interrupt her again. 'Let me finish, Twi. Ya'll know how Ah am about this farm, it's everythin' Ah got. All mah family has got. So Ah don't like it when sudden changes come 'round that impact how Ah run mah farm. An' changin' tha weather is just that,' Applejack said, taking her hat off her head and brushing her mane out of her eyes with a hoof. 'But tha' don' make it right ta get mad at ya for it. Yer just doin' what ya think is right.' Applejack paused for a moment, and gritted her teeth, looking very nervous before swallowing hard, it was as if what she was about to do was very, very difficult for her. 'Ya got yer proposal on ya?' Twilight nodded her head, and looked to the saddlebags adorning her flanks. She lit her horn and pulled the proposal out of her bag with telekinesis and passed it to Applejack. Applejack looked at it for a moment without opening the folder it was in before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. 'Yer mah friend Twi, Ah knows Ah should have more faith in ya. Ah know ya'll wouldn't do something if ya knew it end up hurtin' me and mah farm... so imma go over yer proposal with Big McIntosh and see if we can make it work,' Applejack said before setting the folder down on the end table next to her. She looked up at Twilight and offered her a small smile. 'Sound good ta ya?' Twilight nodded her head and wrapped her forelegs around Applejack in a tight hug. 'Oh Applejack... I'm sorry for getting angry.’ Applejack returned the unicorn's hug, patting her friend on the back and letting out a sigh of relief. 'On a posative note. Thisis somethin' ta write to Princess Celestia 'bout.' Twilight chuckled, indeed it was. Before she knew it she was already planning what exactly she was going to say. She and Applejack, having patched things up, parted ways, and Twilight returned to her home in the library. She pushed open the door and trotted inside. 'Spike!' she called out to her little dragon assistant. 'Come here please! I need you to take down a letter to Princess Celesta!' 'That will not be necessary Twilight, for I am already here,' the voice of Princess Celestia called out to her. Twilight jumped in surprise, nearly hitting the ceiling. Low and behold, none other than her mentor, Princess Celestia herself was sitting on the sofa in her home, sipping a cup of tea, waiting patiently for her to return. 'You have learned something about friendship?' Celestia asked as she took another sip from her cup. Twilight paused for a moment before nodding her head. 'Dear Princess Celestia... today I learned that even close friends are not always going to agree with each other. Sometimes we'll have vastly differing ideas about how to deal with a situation, but no matter what it is, it is imperative that we always listen to others point of views and take them into consideration. We can't allow ourselves to get angry over something and let it destroy our friendship; as long as we are willing to work together we willl always find a way.' Twilight said, finishing her summary of the lesson learned. Princess Celestia finished her cup of tea, setting it down on the coffee table. She looked up at Twilight and smiled. 'Surely, an excellent lesson... however...' she said, her voice trailing off. 'However?' Twilight asked, looking at her mentor with confusion. ‘However... the circumstances in which you learned it were unacceptable,' Celestia said as her golden magical aura enveloped her horn. 'Princess? What are you...?’ Twilight started, before she felt her head begin to ache. There was a sharp pain, as if somepony had just shoved a metal rod into her brain. Twilight collapsed onto the floor before her mentor, clutching her head and screaming. Princess Celestia rose from her seat, standing over Twilight and extending her wings out to their full wingspan. She lowered her head and touched her horn to Twilight's. Twilight continued to writhe in pain, screaming, and incoherently begging Princess Celestia to stop before her body became still on the floor. A small moment of panic overtook Celestia, had she over done it? No. Twilight was still breathing, she had merely fallen unconscious. It had been a long time since she had last resorted to this kind of magic. Princess Celestia frowned as she pulled her head back away from Twilight's. Frowning as she picked her student up off the floor and took her up to her bedroom. 'I am sorry you had to experience that Twilight,' Princess Celestia said as she walked with Twilight into the room, where she placed her student down on the bed, and pulled the covers over her. 'Memory modification is not pleasant... fortunately for you, when you wake up, you won't remember the pain. Or the desire you had to do harm to your friend,' she added, aware that her student could not hear her. She wasn't saying it for Twilight's benefit. She was saying it for her own. Princess Celestia tucked Twilight in, and quietly departed Golden Oaks Library for Castle Canterlot. … I took no pleasure in what I did to Twilight Sparkle that day. The Modification of one's memory is painful, a truly deplorable act to be sure. At the time, however, I saw it necessary to curb the aggression of my subjects. I wept for Twilight for what I had to do to her, but it was necessary! … 'Sister?' Princess Luna said as she approached. In the darkness of the night, my sister blended in perfectly. My eyes, ill prepared for the darkness of night could barely make her out. 'Luna?' 'Yes sister,' 'You have dealt with Applejack?' 'I have done as you instructed, sister.' I nodded my head in understanding. 'I take no pleasure in this Luna... but we do what is necessary.' 'Of course, sister.' I nodded my head and bid my sister farewell. It had been too dark to see then, but I know now that my sister had been very upset by the day’s events. It was on this day. This day marked the beginning of the end.
VChapter 5 Sunlight filtered in through the curtains of Twilight Sparkle's bedroom as she slept, the light shown onto her eyes, rousing the sleeping mare from her slumber. Twilight let out a loud yawn as she stretched out her legs and rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. The time read as half past eight in the morning. Twilight sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, letting out another yawn. Her head was pounding; she took her hoof and began to rub her head. She'd felt a headache like this before. The first time had been the morning after the first time that she had ever tried cider at Pinkie Pie's suggestion. She had learned something very important from that experience: If Pinkie Pie wanders up to you with a mug in hoof and asks you to try it, the answer is always no. It took her a moment to realise where exactly she was. She blinked and found herself sitting on her bed in her bedroom, the same bedroom that Princess Luna was supposed to have been sleeping in. A small amount of panic overtook her; she hadn't... slept with the Princess of the Night, had she? Not in the same bed? Twilight didn't remember going to bed, she must have been tired and wandered in here and gotten into bed with Princess Luna... or something. She looked around and discovered that Luna was not in the room with her. Though, that wasn't exactly comforting either. She hopped up from her bed, exited her room and went downstairs. She stopped when she reached the bottom step; somepony was in the kitchen making something... it smelled like pancakes. She trotted over to the kitchen door and pushed it open. Walking inside, she discovered Princess Luna at the stove with a frying pan and spatula in her telekinetic grip. The Princess of the Night turned to look at Twilight as she entered the room and offered her a pleasant smile. 'Ah! Twilight, good morning,' Luna said with a polite nod. 'I was just about to come and wake you. Breakfast is ready!' 'About that, did I—' Twilight began before being interrupted. 'You fell asleep while studying at your desk last night, so I put you to bed and slept on the sofa,' Luna said with a smile as she took the last pancake from the pan and put it on a plate. 'Oh...' Twilight said. That was a relief to know that she hadn't done anything inappropriate. Princess Luna smiled and took the plate of pancakes and set them on the table, distributing them equally between three plates, one for her, one for Twilight, and one for Spike. The door to the kitchen opened up again as the sleepy looking baby dragon stuck his head inside. 'I smell pancakes,' Spike said as he walked up to the table and took a seat. 'Princess Luna made breakfast,' Twilight said as she took a fork and knife in her telekinetic grip and cut herself off a piece of pancake. She accidentally scraped the knife against the plate, filling the air with a squeaky shrill of metal against ceramic. Twilight cried out and clutched her head in pain. 'Twilight Sparkle? Is everything alright?' Luna asked, looking concerned. 'I'm fine...' Twilight said looking up at her. 'I've got a headache this morning... but it'll be fine.' Princess Luna nodded her head in understanding. Breakfast was mostly quiet. They kept conversation to a minimum to keep from agitating Twilight's headache and by half past nine, her headache had subsided. Now it was time to go about the day and get done the things she needed done. Twilight had made a 'to do' list for the day and it was time to get started on it. The list was shorter than usual, only taking up fifteen centimetres of a roll of parchment. Much to her surprise, the box for the first item on the list, 'grocery shopping' had already been ticked off on the list. She rolled up the list and trotted back into the kitchen. 'Princess Luna?' she asked, giving the alicorn mare an odd look. 'Did you go grocery shopping this morning?' 'I did,' Princess Luna said with a nod as she finished wiping off one of the dishes from breakfast and set it in the drying rack with her telekinesis. ‘I hope you don’t mind. I was awake and I took the money you had set aside for groceries. I got us everything we need for this week.’ 'You didn't have to do that,' Twilight said, offering her a smile. ‘It was the least I could do. You have graciously taken me into your home and have done more than what is necessary to make me feel comfortable,' Luna said with a smile as she finished washing the dishes. 'That, and cook.' 'No complaints here!' Spike said with a yawn, patting his belly to indicate his fullness. 'Where did you learn to cook, Princess?' 'I often cooked for myself when I was younger. We did have servants that were there to cook and clean for us, but at the times I preferred to be awake at they were always asleep. I learned to fend for myself for the most part,' Luna said as she put the last dish into the drying rack and hung up the towel that she'd been using to wash them off. From what Twilight knew of the nobility, to do so was unimaginable. Most would not tolerate the inconvenience of doing something for oneself. 'Well, I certainly do appreciate your abilities, Luna I wish I was able to cook,' Twilight said with a chuckle. 'Ah yes... I heard that you are forbidden to go within ten metres of one of the kitchens in Castle Canterlot, My sister has even considered making it an indictable offence for you to attempt to cook anything within the Canterlot city limits,' Luna said with a smirk. 'Don't remind me...' Twilight said with a sigh before looking up at the Princess of the Night and giving her a smile. 'Well, I hope you won't mind if I head out for a bit, I do have a few other things on my list to attend to.' 'Not at all, I will see you when you return,' Princess Luna said offering her a smile in return as Twilight departed the kitchen. She placed her saddlebags on her flanks and headed out the door, with the ‘to do’ list in her telekinetic grip, to finish up the things she had to do today. Now that Princess Luna had taken care of grocery shopping for her, it left a very short list for today. She had to stop by the post office to send out the order form for the new books she wanted to add to her collection in the library. Since Spike was only good for sending letters to Princess Celestia, she had to resort to the standard postal service for everything else. Then she would stop by the school house to discuss her plans with Cheerilee for greater accessibility of library materials for the foals in her class, but that wasn't until later. After a quick stop off at the post office, Twilight soon discovered that, after finishing that errand, she was free for the rest of the morning. Twilight smiled, she could only imagine what she'd do with her new found free time... 'Hey! Twilight!' the voice of Rainbow Dash called out to her from above. Twilight looked up and saw Rainbow Dash sitting on a low hanging cloud not three metres above her. 'What's up?' Rainbow Dash added as she leapt off the cloud and landed expertly on the ground. 'Oh hey Rainbow!' Twilight said with a smile. Well... nothing now really. My list of things to do got much shorter on me.' Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shook her head. She found Twilight's obsession with having a 'to do' list for each day to be silly and otherwise completely unnecessary. ‘Twilight? You ever think about just going with the flow? You know, just letting things happen?’ she asked. ‘Never,’ Twilight said adamantly. Rainbow Dash shook her head again and sighed before looking around the street to see if anyone else was nearby. ‘Hey Twilight?’ she asked, having been satisfied with the results. ‘Is everything okay with you and Applejack?’ ‘Applejack?’ Twilight asked before shaking her head and giving her friend a small chuckle. ‘Rainbow Dash, Applejack and I had a minor disagreement about the weather schedule. Of course we’re fine!’ ‘Minor disagreement… right,’ Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes. ‘Glad to hear it Twi, I got to get back to work. I’ll see you later,’ Rainbow Dash added with a wave before leaping into the air to get back to ‘work.’ Work. Rainbow Dash? Right, sure. Rainbow Dash’s general workday consisted of lounging around on a cloud ‘supervising’ the rest of her weather team. Twilight wasn’t fooled for a minute. Though… Twilight did have to admit, something that Rainbow Dash had just said had stuck with her. Her disagreement with Applejack on the weather schedule had been relatively minor, why would Rainbow Dash be so concerned about it? She turned her head to look down the street; she must have done it too fast, as it sent a sharp pain through her head. She cried out and brought her hoof to the aching spot instinctively. That time was pretty bad. She even considered heading over to the doctor’s office to get it looked at, but ultimately decided against it. It was just a twinge, nothing to fuss over. She turned and went on back to her day with the thoughts about her disagreement with Applejack completely gone from her mind.
VIChapter 6 Rainbow Dash sat back on her cloud resting place, letting out a yawn and stretching her limbs. She loved the feel of the soft cloud against her. Clouds were where she belonged, that she knew for certain. She opened one of her eyes on occasion to 'supervise' the rest of her weather team as they worked to arrange the day's weather patterns. She could do it all herself in under a minute, of course, she was just that awesome. She had made a decision when she got her job to let the others on her team earn their pay. A lot of ponies called Rainbow Dash lazy. She resented such accusations on her character - she was doing her team a favour! Yep. A favour, she thought to herself as she let out another yawn and rolled over onto her belly, looking absent-mindedly towards the horizon. That was when she noticed it, something distant, faint coming right towards them. She reached around to her saddlebags and opened them up; she pulled out a pair of binocular goggles and sliding them over her eyes. She reached up and began to adjust the focusing click wheels until she could see clearly. Up ahead, Rainbow Dash could see that a large group of ponies were pulling several carts down the road coming from the west. Rainbow Dash let out a grin and pulled the binocular goggles off her eyes and placed them back in her bag before turning back towards the town and yelling out in excitement. 'Hey everypony! We've got a trade caravan coming up the road! Half a click out!' she called out to the town ponies as they went about their business. Everypony stopped and turned to look up at Rainbow Dash for a moment, processing what she had just said before turning to each other and chattering with excitement. Traders from the west! This was truly going to be a treat. Rainbow Dash hopped off her cloud and landed expertly on the ground. She needed to go tell her friends! … 'A trade caravan?' Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow as she gathered with her friends in the town square. 'Oh yes darling!' said the elegant voice of Rarity as she and Fluttershy joined with Rainbow Dash and Twilight in the town square. 'Trade caravans are fairly common among the western cities; they’re usually centred around Manehattan. They bring unique goods with them wherever they go!' Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement. 'You never know what one of these guys are going to have! And they don't usually come this far east, so this ought to be good!' Rainbow Dash added with clear excitement in her voice as the trade caravan pulled into the town square and parked their wagons and began to set up. 'Why not?' Twilight asked, sceptical over the matter of the caravans. 'If they're so great, then why do they not come around here?' 'Because they're centred in Manehattan, darling,' Rarity said, as if the answer should have be obvious. 'It's an awfully long trip on hoof, which makes journeys this far prohibitively expensive. They must be desperate.' It took Twilight a moment to realise why Rarity would think that. 'The rail lines?' she asked. Rarity nodded her head in affirmation. 'They're still building the lines between Manehattan and Canterlot provinces, but when they're finished it'll make long distance trade cheap, and practical. It's also going to put the trade caravans out of business because they won't be able to compete.' 'That's terrible! Those poor ponies are going to be out of work!' Fluttershy said, speaking up for the first time in their conversation, and making her friends remember that she was there. 'If the railroads are going to hurt the caravaneers then maybe we shouldn't build them?' Fluttershy asked. Rarity merely sighed and shook her head. 'Casualties of progress, Fluttershy, we can't just keep doing things the same way we've always done them for the sake of the fact we've always done them that way! Otherwise our society and culture stagnates!' Rarity added, looking fairly nervous about the idea. 'I mean, could you imagine! Moi, being forced to wear the same spring ware spring after spring after spring for the sake that I've always worn them?! I can hardly imagine a worse fate!' Rarity finished her argument with that bit of dramatic flair that her friends had come to expect from her. They all groaned on the inside and shook their heads. Rarity however failed to notice and turned to look at the caravan to find that they'd finished setting up. The caravan master was an grey earth pony stallion. His mane was a bright orange, cropped short with eyes to match. Strapped to his flanks were two large canvas saddlebags that covered up his cutie mark. He looked out to the crowd that was forming before him and smiled brightly. 'Ponies of Ponyville! My name is Montana Ulan of the Ulan Trading Company, based out of Manehattan. I bring to you today many one of a kind goods that you shall not find elsewhere! Come! Take a look!' the caravan master said gleefully as he stepped behind his cart. The ponies of Ponyville murmured amongst themselves as they lined themselves up in an uneven mob to take a look at the carts, hoping to find something that struck their interests. Rarity however, merely shook her head and sighed. Twilight looked at her and raised an eyebrow. 'What? Did he say something—?’ Rarity raised a hoof to quiet Twilight. 'Allow me to translate the business speak for you,' Rarity said, and cleared her throat. '"Everything in this cart is randomly assorted pieces of junk that I have no idea as to what any of it actually is, and should you ask me about it, the explanation I will give you will be nonsense that I have made up on the spot as to not make myself look like a complete idiot."' 'How do you—' Twilight began again before Rarity interrupted her. 'Darling, I run a business. I speak the same language that he does,' Rarity said with a smirk before trotting over the carts to take a look at them. 'Still, that doesn't mean that we won't find anything interesting. Let's take a look.' … Carrot Top's eyes burned. She blinked and raised her hoof over her head. Sunlight was shining brightly into her bedroom, the sun's harsh rays bouncing right into her eyes. That was how it always was, of course, no matter its position in the sky. The sun always seemed to be in the perfect position to get into one's eyes. She let out a groan of annoyance and pulled the covers over her head as she rolled over in her bed. It had to be somewhere in the order of ten o'clock in the morning by now, and after the long night Carrot Top had just had, she was more than perfectly willing to stay in bed for the rest of the day. She rolled over and let out a curse as she felt something jab her in the stomach. She pulled the covers off her head and looked down on the bed to find the book she had been reading late last night laying there. Social Theory of Modern Rejectionism. Carrot Top let out a yawn as she picked up the book and set it on her bedside table without a thought, then laid her head back down to meet her pillow. She lay there for only a few seconds before promptly sitting back up and taking the book in her grasp. Setting it down on her bedroom floor and sliding it under the bed where no one would be able to see it. Maybe she was being paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Carrot Top had moved around too much and now she found herself wide awake. She frowned and shook her head before throwing the covers completely off her and climbing out of bed. She let out another yawn before lying back down on the floor; limbs sprawled out to stretch for a moment before getting back up and neatly making her bed. Her mind wandered back to the book that she had been reading late into the night, now safe under her bed. She was content that unless someone was actively searching her house that it would go unnoticed until it was time for her to read more from it once more. Carrot Top was different than most of the ponies in Ponyville. For one thing, she was a social liberal, those who considered themselves on the left wing of the political spectrum were rare in the rural areas of Canterlot Province's South and West Division, where small towns like Ponyville littered the countryside and were mostly homogeneous when it came to ideology. Secondly, she was a rejectionist, a subscriber to the thought that one's cutie mark should not determine their role in society. In other words she didn't agree with how equestrian society operated in the slightest bit. The idea behind cutie marks was that they were meant to tell ponies, the owner and others, what they were good at in life, otherwise known as their 'special talent'. Equestria's social structure therefore, revolved around placing those with administration related cutie marks in administrative rolls, farming cutie marks in farming rolls, and so on and so forth. Carrot Top, for example, had a cutie mark of three carrots, which had suggested that she had a talent for growing the root vegetable. Well, it wasn't exactly wrong. Carrot Top had a small garden in which she grew fresh veggies for her to eat. Her home sat upon a small bit of land, just over half a hectare. The amount of land she owned was very little, and otherwise surrounded completely by Sweet Apple Acres. She had to admit that she wasn't exactly sure where her property ended, and the Apple family's began. Fortunately for her, Big McIntosh had said that it was alright with him if her garden encroached on their property a bit. In any case, her cutie mark told her, and others, that she was good at growing vegetables. The problem with that was that the life of a food grower did not satisfy her in the slightest bit. Despite it being her so called 'special talent' she had no interest in growing carrots. The truth of the matter was that she absolutely hated carrots, she didn't just hate the physical specimen; she hated the very idea of carrots. She hated everything about them. She didn't like their taste, she didn't like their look, and she most of all hated the constant reminder of what her life was supposed to be according to her cutie mark. Even her residence was a reminder, for it had the basic shape and colouring of a carrot. When she had had the place built, it had been for the irony of it, but the irony had worn off very quickly and it turned into more resentment. Carrot Top didn't want to grow carrots, but it didn't matter what she wanted as far as society was concerned. Carrot Top had attended the University of Canterlot, majoring in journalism with a minor in sociology. She'd graduated in the top five per cent of her class, despite multiple ponies telling her that she was wasting her time, and that she should focus on the area that her cutie mark suggested that she would be good in. Carrot Top had ignored them and went on to graduate... however when it had come time to find a job in her desired career, she'd been turned down by every newspaper company in Canterlot Province. Her credentials hadn't mattered to these companies in the slightest. Her cutie mark wasn't journalism related, so they passed her over for less qualified journalists with a cutie mark of a newspaper or a camera. Carrot Top had been forced to admit defeat, and returned to Ponyville with a degree that no one cared about. Her cutie mark suggested that she would be good at farming, so as far as society was concerned, that is what she would do. Well, Carrot Top didn't eat carrots, so all of the carrots that she grew she contributed to the Ponyville co-op. Ponyville was an Apple town, in more ways than one. Food markets were dominated by Sweet Apple Acres, apples were cheap and plentiful, and the Apple family had a practical monopoly on the food market. The co-op had been founded by other food growers who were too small to effectively compete against Sweet Apple Acres on their own. Everypony who contributed pulled their resources together for an equal share of any profits. Co-op money kept Carrot Top a float, she wasn't rich, by any means, but she wasn't poor either. Apples were the cheapest food item in Ponyville, but the co-op had one thing to their advantage. The Apple Family dealt only in apples, and not everyone wanted apples all the time. However, that didn't keep the other farmers from worrying. If the Apple Family were to ever wise up and diversify their crops... they would be in trouble. The Apple Family owned a lot of land, more then everyone in Ponyville combined, and there was a lot of it that sat unused. Carrot Top shook her head, now was not the time to think about the Apples. She let out another yawn and headed into her washroom to clean herself up for the day. Her mind wandered back to rejectionism. She wasn't the only rejectionist in Ponyville, fortunately for her she had a good number of friends who agreed with her politically. Colgate, who had an hourglass for a cutie mark, was stuck in a dead end job working as a receptionist and administrative assistant at the Canterlot Province South and West Regional Hospital here in Ponyville. Cheerilee, the teacher at the Schoolhouse in Ponyville who had been able to make up some nonsense of a story as to what her cutie mark of three sunflowers with smiling faces in the middle of them to somehow be related to teaching. Cheerilee was the only one of her friends to actually have a job doing what she wanted to be doing. And then there was Flitter, who was a couple of years younger than the rest of her friends, still in university, studying cultural anthropology, but was quickly discovering that society would be expecting her to take up a job in a weather facility. The four of them made up the core of a group known simply to them as 'the club’; they'd kept the name vague intentionally. Rejectionism was seen to be socially subversive to the order of their society, and it was not taken kindly to by the majority. They each kept their subscription to rejectionist thought a secret. Carrot Top didn't think what could happen to them if it came out to the public as to what they really thought. That was enough thinking about it, Carrot Top had determined, now it was time to get on with her day. She turned on her shower and stepped inside, knowing that her day would consist of the same unending nonsense that it always did. Carrot Top hated her life.
PrologueAll Good Things Prologue When you were growing up, did your mother and father ever tell you the story of how Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends defeated the evil Nightmare Moon and restored balance and harmony to Equestria? At least for a little while? It’s been a long time since then, by my reckoning a hundred and four years. Things have changed a lot since then. I look down upon Equestria to find it has become radically altered from what I remember; not all for the better, but most of it. It’s been a very long time since Twilight Sparkle defeated Nightmare Moon, but the story has lived on to this day as the stuff of legend. No one believes anymore that a princess raised the sun each day. I cannot say that I blame them, considering what happened, what I can tell you though is this: there are a lot of things that happened back then that you don’t know about - that no one knows about - because Twilight Sparkle and her best friends worked very hard to insure that the truth would remain hidden. But I know. I remember it plain as day, if you will pardon the pun. I remember when he first walked into my throne room in Canterlot and I named him Baron Ponyville. I remember when the Everfree Forest burned. You all don’t, because it didn’t happen this time around. You don’t know what happened the first time Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon and restored harmony to Equestria, but I know. I can tell you if you like. I want to warn you though, what I am about to say may shock you; you may be appalled at the actions that were taken on all sides. You have every right to be, because no one - not even I - did the right thing. You’re still here; I suppose that means you’re interested. Well, sit down then, and let me tell you a story of how things unfolded the first time around. All I ask of you is this: everything that I am about to tell you will sound outrageous, and will go against what you have been taught. I ask you to leave your preconceived notions at the door, listen to my story with an open mind, because I assure you. Every word that I say, no matter how grand, no matter how strange, no matter how outrageous it may sound, is absolutely true. Oh, how I wish it wasn’t. … I suppose if I’m going to tell you how things unfolded on the first time around, I should speak to you a bit about my little sister. Oh Luna, I am so sorry for everything that happened to you. Princess Luna is an oddity; anyone who was alive one hundred and four years ago will remember that, to be certain. I myself have to question where she picked up that habit in her speech, because she did not do that the first time. The story of how all our troubles began the first time around started thirteen months to the day after she had returned to us, and I made the greatest mistake that I could have ever made in my entire life. I sent her away. ‘Tia…’ Princess Luna said with a frown as she brushed her short blue mane out of her eyes. ‘Don’t you “Tia” me, little sister; your full power has yet to return. There is something in your heart that is keeping you from reaching your full potential. Twilight Sparkle will help you to find out what that is, once you regain your power, we can rule together as we did before,’ I had said simply, offering my sister a reassuring smile. That was the first lie. Princess Luna let out a sigh, but nodded her head in agreement. ‘You are right, of course, as you always are,’ she said as she turned away from me, and stepped into the sky chariot waiting to take her away from Canterlot and to Ponyville. ‘Don’t worry,’ I said reassuringly. ‘Twilight Sparkle is a master of studying magic, she will help you to regain your full power, and once you do, you’ll be ready to take up your rightful place by my side, once more.’ I offered my sister a pleasant smile as I motioned for the two of my pegasi guard to take her away to Ponyville to stay with Twilight Sparkle. As I watched them ascend into the bright blue sky, getting smaller and smaller as they flew away towards the west, a thought popped into my head. I let out a sigh of disappointment. ‘Luna, I’m only doing what is best for you’, I said quietly to myself as I turned and trotted back inside the castle. That was the second lie. ‘Princess Celestia?’ a voice called from down the corridor. I turned my head towards it as I walked. ‘Princess Cadence,’ I said, nodding my head. If there was anyone who was overlooked during this time, it would have to have been Princess Cadence. Truly speaking she wasn’t really a princess, not anymore, anyway. Not one of Equestria, in any case. Princess Cadence was descended of the last Crystal Emperor, a thousand years ago, the royal family of the Crystal Empire fled across the ocean, where they would found the Crown D’Arago… but that is a story for another time. ‘Has Princess Luna already gone? Am I too late?’ Cadence asked between laboured breaths. It sounded as if she had galloped half way across the castle. I merely nodded my head in affirmation. ‘Yes, you just missed her, unfortunately,’ I added with a frown. ‘She has gone to see Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville.’ ‘Is this a good idea?’ Cadence asked with a frown. ‘Yes, it will do her some good to get out of the castle,’ I said with a nod. That was the third lie. Cadence nodded her head in agreement. ‘You’re right, of course… I just wonder if she’s ready for it,’ Cadence added with worry in her voice. ‘Luna will be fine,’ I said simply. That was the fourth lie. I have learned something about myself over the many years that I’ve lived. I am very, very good at lying. … You want to know something? I’ve had a lot of time to think, here, by myself. I will say this about being damned to an eternal purgatory: it gives you a lot of free time to reflect on your actions. I used to not think it was my fault, but the more I think about it? The more I discover just how wrong I was. I wish I had figured that out long ago. I guess I’ve grown up a lot. Heh, that’s funny, three thousand, three hundred and forty three years of living, and I’ve grown up more in the one hundred years since my death. I really do hope that you all can appreciate the irony of that. I just wanted to keep everypony safe and happy; I failed them and became my own worst nightmare. I just want you all to know, that Luna is not at fault for what she did. I am.
