Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

'Just make sure to let him know how you feel! If he wants to make amends, then you know that he is a keeper.' Twinkle Star said to Vinyl Scratch, who was in need of her services.

'Yeah! You're right! I'll go do that right now! Thanks, Twinkle!' The musician said, dropping a small pouch filled with bits onto her table. With that, she stormed out of the building to look for her partner who was somewhere in town.

She smiled at Vinyl's enthusiasm. Another relationship dealt with. She liked it when ponies took her seriously in matters that seemed most trivial. Some ponies think that there are "plenty of fish in the ocean", but there is always this one certain fish that matters most. Twinkle had made it her job to make sure that everypony can find their special somepony.

She looked beautiful to those who were into pegasi. Her yellow skin was a perfect comparison of her mother's, while her light blue mane swayed in the wind. She looked at her cutie mark, three pink hearts of differing sizes decorating her flank, partly hidden by her wings. The amulet she wore swayed around as well when she turned her head, which made her sigh as she remembered the pony she got it from. Her father, Oathbound had sacrificed himself apparently to rid the world of some threat. She was never told what it was about, but she missed him. Strangely enough, even though Oathbound had been able to use magic despite not being an unicorn thanks to his amulet, Twinkle hadn't learned how to use it. To all concerned, she was just a pegasus with a pretty neckpiece. Some of them had tried to buy it from her, but she bluntly pushed those requests aside as she angrily went into detail about what she had gone through to obtain it. This made her somewhat unpopular. When she was happy she was like a shining beacon of light that everypony flocked to. When she was angry she was sure to make everypony know. When she was needed for her skills when it came to relationships and dating however, there was nopony who could do her job better. She was the most successful love consultant in the town, even though she called herself a life consultant, since she provided advice on other matters as well.

But for all her expertise, she had not found her own special somepony. Yet she had not cared about it. She was content living with her mother, surrounded by friendly ponies who understood when to give her personal space and when to come and give her comfort. Her mother was the most passionate pony she had ever met and it was she who made her become a love consultant in the first place. In fact, if she wouldn't have chosen that way of life, her cutie mark could have turned out a lot different.

She didn't know much about her father's past. Only things she knew was that he was a friend of Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance and the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor. That was all she had to know. Oathbound was a great father to her when he lived. She wanted nothing more, nothing less.

Once her day was finished at work, she went to her mother's cottage where she lived. The cottage was as tranquil as ever, it's animal inhabitants giving the room a somewhat wild feel, but it still felt like all the animals knew what was expected of them, like organized chaos. Fluttershy gave her a welcoming hug, which Twinkle took with pleasure. The pink-maned animal lover was in the middle of calming a bear couple down when they were fighting. With that many animals around it was a miracle that Fluttershy was able to keep order at all. It just went to show how much she loved what she did.

Twinkle gave her a bit of assistance, being a lot of help according to Fluttershy but in reality she didn't share her mother's connection to the animal kingdom. Regardless, the situation was quickly brought back under control.

When it was done, Twinkle decided to retire to her quarters, as it was getting late. The guest room was redecorated to suit her needs, the crib where she spent her baby years was gone, likely somewhere easily accessible. Her father's picture was framed and hanging on the wall, a warm smile on his features. Twinkle took the amulet off and put it on the table before taking a smaller frame which had another picture of Oathbound. She gave it a brief kiss.

'Goodnight, Father.'

As she went to bed, she didn't see the frame on the wall glow, the pony in the picture moving his lips, voicelessly wishing the mare a good night.

When the morning arrived Twinkle was already up and about, preparing to make breakfast for Fluttershy. She didn't know how she did it, but Twinkle Star knew that her mother's tea was absolutely divine. As the pink mane-toting mare came down the stairs, her frail voice let Twinkle know that she had woken up. As she sat down to prepare for her tea, Twinkle's face appeared from her right and gave her brow a light kiss before she took an almost Pinkie Pie-ish demeanor.

'Did you have a good night, mother? I know I had! It was about this completely awesome trip to Canterlot where I went to meet Princess Celestia on a special assignment. Then, when I reached the palace, I found Twilight and Celestia in the middle of a ritual, see? And while they were doing it, I was told to give the amulet father gave me.' She toyed with the amulet a bit before continuing.

'Really?' Fluttershy said, interested even though she had just woken up.

'And when the amulet was taken off, it began to fly on its own! Crazy right? It flew towards this big circle with marks that glowed. When it was inside the circle, the light blinded me and then...'

She began to shed a tear unknowingly while looking at her amulet.

'Then... I saw Dad. He.. He came to hug me.. Then I woke up.'

Without warning she began to cry, laying her head on her mother's shoulder as she comforted her with pats on the back.

'I miss him so much..' Twinkle said once she managed to control her tears a bit, wiping a stray blob of liquid with her hoof.

'I miss him too, sweetie. But... I've accepted that he is gone. Hanging to the past will not fix anything.' She said, looking at a picture hanging on the wall. This one had Oath and Fluttershy and all their friends in a huge group photo.

'But I just wanted for him to be proud of me before he died!'

Fluttershy gave her a hug.

'But you already made him proud!'

Twinkle was not so sure of that.

'Are... Are you sure?'

'There is nothing that I could be more certain about, Twinkle. You are my little girl and I do not want to see you sad like this.'

She believed herself to the core. Twinkle was comforted by that. As their embrace was broken by Twinkle, she nodded to Fluttershy.

'Thanks, mom. I couldn't have asked for a better mother.'

Fluttershy closed her eyes and gave a smile.

'And I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.'

No sooner had she left the cottage, Twinkle felt all the braver, ready to face the challenges of the day. She spotted Rainbow Dash amidst the clouds, kicking them until there were no more spots of white in the sky. She took to flight and towards the cyan-skinned pony, who gave her a wave when she came near.

'Hey there, Twinkle! Up and early again, eh?'

'Hi, Rainbow Dash. Looks like I was not the only pony who decided to start early.'

'Are you kidding me? I was making sure you have an even playing field!'

Twinkle rolled her eyes at that before smiling to RD, whom she had agreed to race with that day.

'You ready, Twinkle? I'm not gonna make it easy on ya!'

'Bring it on, Dash. I'm going to win this time!'

'Brave words. Let's see if you can back them up!'

With that, she disappeared in a streak of colors, taking Twinkle slightly off guard before she blasted off in pursuit.

Though the sky had no clouds to hinder her movements, Twinkle noticed how Rainbow Dash was flying downward, where there were trees that would make her flying quite difficult unless she could dodge them. After Dash had gotten through the woods, Twinkle gritted her teeth as she prepared to mimic the rainbow-maned pony's perfomance.

She managed to twist and turn past the first two trees but then she hit an oak with a loud "thunk".

Twinkle's vision was blurry. She couldn't see any specific shapes, just differing colors. In the corner she could see a mix of blue, red and other colors, like a painter mixing up different colors to create new ones. She heard voices, but she wasn't sure if it was her head just making things up. She shaked her head a bit. It seemed to work for despite the increased throbbing in her brain she managed to make out more of her enviroment. The voices cleared up too.

'-ou hearing me, Twinkle? Twiiinklee?'

'Who-wha? What happened?'

'I thought we were racing, not crashing headfirst into trees.'

'Oww, my head...' The yellow-skinned mare said, rubbing her hoof on her head which had a small bump, hidden by her blue mane.

'Careful Twinkle, I think you might have a concussion.'

Shaking her head a bit to clear the dizziness, Twinkle rose up, a bit wobbly at first before she regained her balance.

'I think I'm fine.'

'Well I think you should see a nurse, that looked very painful.'

'Thanks, Dash, but I'm ok.'

As she said that, Twinkle heard a voice in her head, telling her to watch out. As if forced, she pushed Rainbow Dash out of the way before jumping in her direction as two axes hit the ground where they had stood moments before.

She wanted to take off with Dash, but her wings felt like lead.

'You are not going anywhere, whelp.' A demonic voice announced, causing pain in her head as she forced herself to listen.

'Wh-Who are you?'

A black-skinned pony with red iris', a purple mane and a cutie mark of a shield broken in half and an axe in front of it. He had a black amulet which glowed with a dark light.

He was flanked by two axes, blood-red in color and lightning seeming to arc between them as they hovered above the stranger. She looked at where she had stood a moment before, expecting to see axes there but they had disappeared.

Dash also stood up, looking a bit roughed up but it was understandable considering what Twinkle had just done. She looked over to the mare, then at the target of her attention, gasping as she saw him.

'You!? Why can't you just leave us alone!?' Dash cringed, facehoofing while at it.

The pony with the ebony amulet looked at the cyan-skinned pony, which caused her to swallow nervously. As if contemplating what Rainbow Dash said, the stranger stood there motionless for a second, before raising his hoof and throwing it to the side in one swift motion, causing a magical wind to throw her through the air and into the tree that Twinkle had hit, knocking her out instantly as she slumped to the base of the great oak.

'DASH!' Twinkle screamed, rushing to her side, relieved to feel that she was breathing. She looked at the cruel pony who had hurt her friend.

'Why!? Why do this? Why hurt my friends?' She practically yelled, her eyes welling up, threatening to drop their liquids down her cheeks.

The axes merged into one as the stranger licked his lips.

'Why not?'

With that, the axe started to come at her, the pony charging suite, his lungs expelling the air out of him in a battlecry.

Dash was still unconcious. Twinkle had no idea what to do. She curled up next to Rainbow Dash, her tears beginning to fall as she was panicking like never before.

'DAD HELP ME!' She screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing it was a vain attempt. She knew it was over. Any second now the axe would cut her apart.

Any second now...

She was too scared to open her eyes but was curious when the axe blow had not come.

Eventually she looked at her attacker and saw that a shield of sparkling blue light had blocked the axe. She noticed that her amulet was glowing.

Next the shield began to shapeshift, the mass of energy forming the shape of a pony. She didn't know what was going on.

'Father?' She said, staring intently at the magical power that had taken pony form. It looked at her and nodded.

The stranger looked upon the spectral pony that had appeared and instantly recognised it. He seemed to swell up with rage as his axe floated to the side and also grew in size.

'YOU!! HOW DARE YOU STILL CLING TO LIFE!!'

The spectre looked at the ground before looking back at the evil one's face.

'If I must defy death itself to keep my kind safe, then so be it.'

'You couldn't keep me contained back then, yet you still try!? Why you-'

'You won't break me.' The spectral Oathbound said, summoning an axe of blue power. He continued.

'No matter how hard you try, you can't shake me down. My love...' He looked back at Twinkle, who was tending to Dash. He looked back, his face steeled in determination.

'Is and always will be true. You say you are how I truly feel, I say you are wrong.'

'You wish to die a second time, I will gladly oblige you, fool!' The black-skinned one said before charging at him.

The two began to fight, each axe blow blocked, each parry counterparried. They were the equals of eachother. Eventually their axes started straining against eachother as the two began wrestling, trying to topple their opponent. Eventually their axes separated and clashed again, thunderbolt-like sounds emitting from them as they came into contact. Yet this time they were not so locked as last time and the red axe slipped, flying towards the two mares lying on the ground. As Twinkle was about to be hit by the stray axe, she gasped. Sensing this, Oathbound let go of the black-skinned stallion as he teleported in front of the axe, uncaring of his safety. Impossibly the axe hit him but didn't make him cry out in pain or have any reaction whatsoever. It was like the magical power had hit a brick wall.

'Hurt my kin, will you? Hurt my friends, will you?' The spectre said, almost looking like he was turning corporeal as Twinkle's amulet glowed on its own before coming off and placing itself on it's previous owner's neck. His axes swelled in size as the sapphire in the centre of the jewelry began twisting into a heart-shape, causing lightning to arc out of the amulet which made the black-skinned pony jump back. When it was complete in it's shapeshifting process, it shot out a beam of blue light, the blue axes joining the love-driven force as it passed straight through the blocking axes and hit the evil pony, who screamed in torturous pain as he was slowly losing his form. But like his life would depend on it, he stared at the spectre with hate in his eyes, his pain only intensifying it.

'Begone from this world, never to return!' Oathbound said, slowly making his corporeal presence fade away as the beam died out when the target had disappeared into nothingness.

Eventually the spectre looked at Twinkle Star, who was looking back a bit scared.

'...Dad, i-is that... y-y-you?' She stuttered, unable to believe that her father was here.

'Twinkle. I'm sorry that I had to come back to haunt you like this, but.. I didn't expect him to come back.'

She hugged the ghost's form as much as she was able to, making sure that she didn't fall through him. Her tears fell down her cheeks as all her emotional barriers were crushed after seeing her father come back after all these years.

'I've missed you Dad! I've missed you so much... *sob* So much!'

The spectre stood there silently for a second before laying his hoof around her.

'I've missed you too, Twinkle.' He said, looking intently at her as she raised her gaze to meet his own.

Soon he let go of her and hovered the amulet back to her neck as he took a few steps back.

'I'm sorry but I must go now. Rainbow Dash is going to be fine. She's not going to remember anything about this. It might not be the fairest thing to do, but... You can tell her she hit the oak and you won the race.' He said, smirking at her.

'But dad? Why do you have to go?' She said, stepping forward and towards her father.

He looked to the side, as if ashamed, but his spectral features prevented any of it showing.

'I no longer belong here. My time has passed. You must carry on with your life, for I cannot.'

Twinkle had come to that same conclusion herself, knowing how hard it was for Oathbound to leave his life behind to make sure that all his friends could survive.

'I... I love you Dad.'

'I will always be proud of you, sweetheart. For you are my little princess. Like I said all those years ago however, I shall never be truly gone. I shall always live on in your heart.' He said, pointing at the amulet.

With that, he opened a portal of some sort and stepped through it, leaving an unconcious mare in the care of her friend.

Rainbow Dash was feeling heavy. Her head hurt like she would have kissed a freight train. She didn't know what happened, but when she tried to move, she felt resistance.

'Dash? You okay?'

Twinkle Star. The race...

'Ow, my head...'

'Careful, I think you may have a concussion.' Strange. Dash felt like she heard that before. Talk about déjà-vu.

'What happened?' She grunted a bit, rubbing the back of her head.

'You hit an oak while we were racing. I decided to call the race quits while I tended to you.'

'Wha? But where-' The rainbow-maned pony said before looking around. It was a room with a portrait of Oathbound on the wall.

'You're in my house, silly. I couldn't leave you there hanging.' Twinkle said, blushing a bit.

The door to her room opened as Fluttershy came in.

'Oh, Rainbow Dash, thank goodness you are awake. Twinkle told me everything. You okay?'

'Yea, I think so. Just need to stretch a bit.'

And that she did. Her stretching was like that of a proper athlete. In a few minutes she was done as the two just watched her to make sure they could help her in case there was something wrong after all.

'Thanks for taking care of me while I was out, Twinkle.'

'No problem, Dash. You might want to prepare for the future though.'

'Huh?'

'You have some catching up to do if you wanna beat me in a race again.' She said, holding her tongue out playfully.

Rainbow Dash grinned at the mare with the cream-yellow skin.

'Oh you can bet on that!' She said, before blasting off.

Fluttershy came outside just in time to see her take off, rainbow colors following her as she did stunts of all sorts now that she had a chance to unwind.

'Mom, I've been thinking about what you've said.'

'Hmm?'

'You're right. Dwelling in the past won't help anypony. I've gotta move on. It's what he would have wanted.' She said, looking at the sky more than at Rainbow Dash's receding form.