Part of her mind stayed on Celestia’s words as she lost sight of the alicorn of the sun in the crowds, but she mostly lost herself in the fun of the celebrations. Her mind was completely diverted from everything the moment the buffet table was laid out and she and the other five who had traversed the Everfree Forest and completed Nightmare Moon’s Challenge dove on it with aplomb.
She was embarrassed of how high her plate was stacked until she saw Pinkie Pie was just about managing to keep a stack of cupcakes easily as tall as she was from tumbling everywhere. Luckily no pony said anything as the six of them retreated to a table safely away from the crowds around the hastily erected podium and dance floor.
“Rainbow Dash said you’d gone to the library.” Rarity commented, once they had eaten enough to stop being ravenous after their long adventure and could pace themselves between bites, “Does that mean you were packing?”
“She did?” Twilight blinked at them, having not thought any pony had seen her.
“Yeah, when I was flying with the Wonderbolts I saw you sneak off.” Dash commented, waving a hoof in her direction, “You weren’t thinking of sneaking off on us, were you?”
“No,” Twilight shook her head, letting out a soft sigh, “I was going to pack and get ready to go, but Princess Celestia and I talked and now I’m not sure what’s going on.”
“Ooooh!” Pinkie Pie’s squeal of delight attracted the attention of some of the surrounding crowds, “Does this mean you’ll be staying?”
“Maybe?” That was the best Twilight could offer. “She said she had to talk to the mayor, so she might let me stay but I don’t know, I don’t want to hold my breath.”
“It’s okay, I’ll do it for you.” Pinkie informed her, then took a deep breath and held it, causing Twilight to stare at her in astounded confusion as she tried to work out if the pink earth pony was serious.
“Oookay.” Applejack blinked at the extremely bouncy filly. She took a bite of her apple pie before she continued, “Well if yer are stayin’ in Ponyville or if yer ever visiting, then yer more than welcome ter stay with us if yer need to, there’s always room.”
“Thank you.” Twilight grinned at Applejack, grateful for the offer, “And the same goes for you girls, we might have to sleep in bundles on the floor, but you’re all more than welcome to sleep in my library with me in Canterlot if you ever visit me there.”
The fillies all started discussing slumber party plans at the same time, pleasing Twilight who had never actually had a slumber party before, only for the sound of a bell ringing to disturb their chatter. They turned towards the podium to discover that the mayor was stood upon it, looking a combination of delighted and nervous.
“Citizens of Ponyville, this Summer Sun Celebration has been full of trials and tribulations for all of us,” She said, “But I am proud that after the initial panic, we all pulled together to keep everything running while things were…unusual. Now however, we can finally relax and I can introduce Princess Celestia and, for the first time in a thousand years, Princess Luna. Please welcome them both to the stage.”
The applause that followed was a little hesitant to start with until Applejack and Rainbow Dash started whooping and hollering and then the crowd joined in, cheering and stomping their hooves on the ground as the two sisters stood together in public for the first time since Luna had fallen to the darkness of the Shadows.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts,” Princess Celestia started, looking around at the assembled faces, maintaining a benevolent smile and a calm demeanour as she spoke, “I must thank you for your patience over the last few days. I know that your plans did not go off quite as arranged but you all have managed magnificently.” That pleased the crowds who nudged and smiled and whispered pleased comments to each other. “There are a few ponies who, though, today would not have been possible without and I would like them to step forward please.”
The group at the table froze up as the Princess’s gaze turned to them and the crowd’s gaze followed. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Applejack as Princess Celestia gestured for them to come up to the podium.
Twilight herself only just managed a bit better as she led the group of six through the crowd, which parted for them, and up to the stand.
“Each of these ponies did something to help this event take place.” The Sun Goddess announced, “Fluttershy, organised the music for this wonderful event.” The yellow pegasus waved from behind Applejack but didn’t emerge otherwise, “Rarity did all the decorating in the hall and I do believe I saw her flitting around to make this square look beautiful too, despite being tired.” The white unicorn bowed and looked pleased at the round of applause, “Rainbow Dash cleared the skies and gave up this wonderfully cloud free day to play in.” Dash, who had already completed one thing she had always wanted to do today in getting to fly with the Wonderbolts, looked smug at the announcement, “Applejack and her family provided all the food you have been enjoying.” That got a rather loud round of applause, “While Pinkie Pie had been organising the whole thing and ensuring that each and every one of you has had fun.” Twilight chuckled as Pinkie bounced up and down on the spot at her round of applause.
“You know each and every one of the ponies I’ve introduced, but the sixth is new to Ponyville and that’s my personal student, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight waved and scuffed her foot nervously as the crowd turned to stare at her, “I sent Twilight here to keep an eye on the party planning and she did her job most admirably, but when things went wrong, she and the others all went out of their way to do something extraordinary to fix a mistake made a thousand years ago.”
Twilight could not help but wonder where Princess Celestia was going with this and she could see the same questions in the looks the others were sharing.
“A thousand years ago yesterday, my sister was replaced by a dark monster who wanted to destroy Equestria and in my folly, I sent her away with the creature. Twilight and her friends did something this morning that I could not. They brought her back to me. Without them, there would be no sun for you to celebrate in this morning and we owe them all a great debt of gratitude.”
Twilight was stunned as Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and all the guards bowed to them. The citizens of Ponyville followed suit rather quickly, leaving the six who had traversed the forest staring at each other in shock.
“It is through their Unity and their Harmony that this came to pass and I would be a foal to split them up.” Princess Celestia announced as she straightened, making everyone’s heads come up to, “So it is with this and the happiness of my student in mind, that I have decided that from this day forth, I am assigning Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville, to continue her studies on the Magic of Friendship.”
The cheer from the crowd, who were relieved to have the Elements of Harmony staying with them, in Ponyville, were drowned out by the excited squeals of the group of the six fillies as they hugged each other, delighted that they were not going to be separated.
“I ask that you treat them with all the respect they deserve.” Princess Celestia continued, “No matter which shape or form you may come across them in.” She continued, obviously referring to the fact that Twilight could transform into an alicorn, “And to you girls, I say thank you, and do not hesitate to visit Canterlot whenever you like. I am certain that we will be seeing a lot of each other in the future.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash saluted, while Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy bowed or nodded. Twilight, however had an entirely different and not completely dignified response and she hugged her teacher tightly, babbling her thanks, having been afraid that Celestia would abandon her if she chose to leave Canterlot.
“No, Twilight, thank you.” Celestia whispered back, hugging her too, “And I hope you’ll be happier here than you were in Canterlot.”
“I will.” Twilight promised, a bright grin on her face, though no one could see it, “I definitely will.”
No comments:
Post a Comment