Twilight's vacation had officially ended yesterday. With her bags packed and Spike in tow, they enter the high speed train to Canterlot. And although she was excited. She was also very nervous. Since this was the last day she would go to Canterlot for a long time since her home is about to change to a whole new place and that is because the cafe at Ponyville will be her next permanent home for the foreseeable future.
As Spike looked at Twilight he could tell that Twilight was nervous about this whole cafe thing. But there was little he could do to help Twilight, especially since he himself also felt that same nervousness. Instead he decided to ask more things about his new workplace.
"Hey Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yeah?" Twilight asked curious.
"I forgot to ask you about my work hours." Spike said. He saw as Twilight posture turned serious, her nervousness all but forgotten.
"Ah. Yes. I did forget to mention some other details as well. First up, we will open the cafe from eleven O' clock in the morning to six O' clock midday. Meanwhile during the evening, we will be open from seven to eleven in the evening. But the kitchen is closed in the evening. Instead it turns into a cocktail bar. I will be working with a different employee during those hours. Allowing you some free time instead." Twilight explains.
"So seven hour work times. Correct?" Spike asked.
"Yes. Although my work time is twelve hours each day." Twilight said.
"I must ask. What makes the bar in the evening stand out from the local pub?" Spike asked.
"Oh! That is a very good question. So instead of serving alcohol in the normal sense. I will server cocktails instead. With a DJ or musician as partner for the night. So I am both bar-pony and bouncer at the same time. Meanwhile whoever performs that evening will be my partner for the evening." Twilight explains.
"Will you require my services during the evening as well?" Spike asked.
"No. I made sure to insulate the ceiling in such a way that you won't hear any music coming from the bar during the evening. Besides, the evening hours is only six hours long. From seven to eleven." Twilight added.
"So are there any performers ready to perform at our location?" Spike also asked.
"Yes. For DJ we have DJ Pon-3. For musician we have Octavia Melody... maybe. For comedian we have Pinkie Pie." Twilight said, when she spoke about Octavia her voice turned a little uncertain.
"Comedy, EDM and classical music?" Spike said to himself.
"Basically. Yes." Twilight said.
"Comedy and EDM will work. That much I am certain of. But classical? I don't know." Spike said uncertain.
"Neither do I. It could work, but I am not sure how many classical music lovers there are." Twilight admitted.
"Will she do it alone?" Spike asked.
"No. I have a violin and trumpet ready on stand by." Twilight said.
"Hm. Alright. Anyways, did that make your nerves a bit less tense?" Spike asked one last time.
Twilight smiled, "Thanks Spike. But there is more than simply the cafe that has made me nervous." she said.
"Oh?" Spike simply said.
"Remember that I gain princess status right before I entered the resort?" Twilight asked.
"Oh." Spike said as he realized the amount of pressure that was on Twilight all of a sudden.
"Exactly. But thanks for trying." Twilight said with a small smile.
The rest of the train ride was calm. Spike atleast increased Twilight's mood to happy if nothing else. Even if she was still stressed out. Regardless, this was going to go quite easy. Not that Twilight was aware of that.
As soon as they had arrived at the train station. Twilight and Spike both headed towards Twilight's home. As soon as they arrived, the knocked on the door and Shining Armor opened the door.
"Ah. Welcome back! How was the vacation?" Shining asked.
"A lot more interesting. Anyways, this is my new partner. His name is Spike. Spike this is Shining Armor, he is my brother." Twilight introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Spike said.
"Likewise." Shining said curious.
"So anyways. The reason my stuff isn't coming here is because I have gone ahead and started the moving process." Twilight said.
"I am aware. Your parents are at your cafe helping the movers place everything into place." Shining said.
"Ah. That does save me some time. Now, I am going to give you Spike for a few hours. I need to talk to my sisters for a bit, alone." Twilight said less excited.
"Sure. I can share your new partner some secrets about you." Shining smiled towards Spike. Spike seemed curious about these secrets.
"Very good. Have fun you two." Twilight said, her eyebrows raised slightly while she walked off.
Twilight then proceeded to walk towards the castle. On the way there, she sees a lot of guards with a full moon symbol on it. Which meant that Moon had gotten her own guard, while Twilight was away. Though Twilight mostly shrugged it off.
Twilight approached the entrance. And the same guards from before the vacation was standing there.
"Your highness." They both saluted and opened the door with their magic.
Twilight simply sighs, "Thank you, sirs." She said before entering.
"Ah Princess Sparkle. How may I be of your service?" The assistant of Celestia asked. He just happened to be standing just outside the court room.
"Where are my sisters?" Twilight simply asked.
"They are currently residing inside the court room. Having tea... with a prisoner." The assistant said with clear disdain.
"They must have their reasons. Let me in." Twilight simply dismissed.
"Alright. Please do be careful alright?" The assistant showed genuine concern.
"Do not worry. I managed to do whatever that disaster was as child. I can handle a single prisoner." Twilight said with a smile before entering.
Twilight entered the court room and was met by an, interesting scene. Just like the assistant mentioned, Celestia and some random prisoner were having tea. But after a second look, the prisoner was clearly a changeling.
"Hi sis!" Twilight said overly friendly.
"Twilight. Have you met this lovely chum?" Celestia said, her tone was unusual.
"Ah. You must be... Nice to meet you. I am princess Twilight Sparkle. Which changeling queen do I have the pleasure of speaking to right now?" Twilight asked as something clicked in her mind.
"Guess." The changeling answered.
"Ah. My apologies for my lack of presence in Canterlot. I was having a lovely vacation in the dragon lands. At the Golden resort. You may release my sister now. I have found an reliable way of infusing love into food without the need of a pony. Even Changelings are able to generate love through this new method." Twilight said.
"Is that so?" Chrysalis asked, "How may we be able to do so?" she added.
"You see..." Twilight then proceeded to explain the total process anyone uses to make food in general. And then how to infuse love into it. Primarily enhancing the fact that it's so easy, after enough trial and error they would have probably discovered it themselves.
"Very good. I put your sisters simply to sleep in their bedrooms. I will allow them to wake up." Chrysalis said as her horn lit up and then grow dim. Her disguise was removed and they teleported away.
After a few moments of waiting for her sisters to wake up, Twilight could tell that they were moving quite fast upon her location and since it was a lot more than the hoofclops of three alicorns. Twilight was now also expecting some guards. Which she guessed not a moment too soon.
As soon as the doors were exploded open, three rather angry looking alicorns with a platoon of guards to each side entered the room. As Celestia lit her horn to scan Twilight, it became clear that she wasn't a changeling at all.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" Celestia said as she hugs Twilight.
"Where did she go?!" Moon shouted agitated.
"Gone. She went back to her hive." Twilight calmly said.
"How do you know?" Luna asked confused.
"I had a lovely chat." Twilight simply said as she pushed Celestia off her face.
"And the changeling?" Moon asked, her voice lowered quite a bit.
"What do you think?" Twilight asked in return, her eyebrow raised at Moon.
"Very well. Thank you guards. Please go on high alert for a while. But the intruder is gone, for now." Moon instructed.
"Yes, your highness!" Both guards saluted, before walking off.
"So, explain yourself! How would you know such a insect?" Moon questioned.
"Simple. I ran into her hive in the past. My relationship is quite platonic, but friendly. Not quite friends, not quite enemies either. I give them another source of love and they leave us alone." Twilight explained.
"So, like a merchant?" Luna asked.
"Think of it more friendly, less greedy. So far, all they have done is being annoying. At the most! But when they are calmed down, they are good ponies." Twilight said optimistically.
"But love sucking..." Luna said somewhat skeptical.
"And since when has grazing grass not caused problems in the past?" Twilight rebutted.
"Touché." Luna said as she gave up.
"Still. Infiltrating a castle owned by royals is a bit far, don't you think?" Celestia asked somewhat worried.
"Annoying, yes. But I doubt they did anything while being here, no?" Twilight suggested.
Moon sighed, "Fine. We will let it go. For now!" Moon said somewhat annoyed.
"Anyways." Twilight said as she switched topics, "This is not what I am here for." she said.
"Yes we know. You are moving. Today correct?" Moon said. Despite her tone being sad, she looked impressed nonetheless.
"Yes. I am destined to help the main six after all." Twilight explained.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
"Inside of Golden Resort sits a statue, a statue of Luna and Moon's mother." Twilight simply said.
"What?!" Moon and Luna shouted at the same time.
"When I used a special spell on it. It revealed a prophecy about a chef that will be hailed as Equestria's greatest and most important chef. This chef's duty is to assist the Element of Harmony wielders. She also knew the name of the greatest chef in Equestria, she spoke my name out loud." Twilight explained.
"So everything that happened. All this time, was fate?" Celestia asked.
"So it would seem." Twilight simply said.
"But, the disaster? Was that fate too?" Luna asked.
Twilight and Celestia both sighed at the question, "No. Unlikely." Celestia said faster.
"Though it might have been one of the many outcomes possible that day. We just happen to get the worst one." Twilight explained.
"Regardless. Thanks to my own mother, I am now free on four hooves. Something that wouldn't have happened otherwise." Moon said slightly excited.
"That is probably true." Celestia said after a few moments of thinking about it.
"Anyways. This is my last day in Canterlot. Atleast for a long time to come." Twilight said as she once again switched topics.
"I am truly disappointed that we could have you staying much longer. But I understand. This cafe is where all your blood, sweat and tears is going towards. And I suppose that, the whole element of magic thing was also merely a path forwards." Celestia admitted.
"Which means you living in Ponyville was also a matter of time. You will meet lots of new ponies and reunite with lots of old ones. This is difficult but an important step in life." Moon added.
"We won't be going anywhere else. If you feel tired, exhausted, or simply homesick. You will know where to find us. And unlike you, we are immortal. Time has no meaning for us." Luna said somewhat excited.
"Alright. Then this is it. Before I go and grab my partner and go towards the cafe. There is one last thing I want to do." Twilight said determined.
"Which is?" Celestia asked.
"Group hug?" Twilight offered.
"Group hug!" The other three answered. As they all grab each other and hug one another.
After the group hug, Twilight spend her day wandering Canterlot, one final time. She took a look at the commerce district, a place where she met an certain diplomat. The forest, a place she rested often during her stay as a student. The district for the poor, a place she transformed both ways. And finally, the noble district. A place she had called home, most of her life.
All of this has come to an end. She was about to truly move out and move on. The past will never be forgotten, but Twilight has to move on. With Ponyville going to be her new home, she decided to do one final thing. She placed some flowers on the graveyard inside of the district for the poor. Next to the church she had build.
Now done with what she set out to do. Twilight walked back towards her home. As soon as she arrives, She spots Spike discussing his own excitement towards his new home towards Shining Armor. Twilight could tell that Shining looked sad at the facts, but he played it cool. Like the real big brother that he is. Grabbing Spike, Twilight gave Shining Armor, one final hug. Before also walking towards the train station.
As the train arrives and Twilight stands before the doors that will close as soon as the train starts moving. Twilight looks over Canterlot and says: "One door is closing, but another one is opening. This isn't the end. No, this is the beginning. Of a whole new adventure!"
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No matter what, time always moves forward. Maybe not for you. But certainly for others. This is the start of the end.
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