Chapter 1: Prologue: Second Chance
Chapter Text
“Normal Speech”
‘Normal thoughts’
“Power”
“ Multiple peoples speaking at the same time.”
{Electronic speech}
special/flashback
~locations and transitions~
No Beta Reader
Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny Phantom
Heads up before you read, the MLP characters will be anthropomorphic.
Prologue: A Second Chance
If you were to ask Danny if he was having a good day today, he would look at you as if you were insane.
Like his usual days, he was late to class, which meant that he had less time to do the test that he hadn't even studied for, thanks to all the ghost fights, and got an F for all his efforts. Then the A-listers jumped him since Dash got an F on the same test.
Oh, and then there was the fact that the Ghost King was released from his prison and raging war on Amity Park.
“Look out!!”
A group of screaming citizens jumped to the side to allow a volley of Ecto blasts to fly past them and into a group of skeletons.
Danny lands behind them and throws up an ecto shield to block a swarm of arrows that another group of skeletons launched. “Get through the Ghost shield, I’ll hold them off!” He shouted over his shoulder to get the people moving.
Things couldn't have looked worse for Amity Park or Danny Phantom.
Apparently, Vlad had the brilliant idea of opening the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep again in the hopes of gaining the Ring of Rage to make himself all-powerful. The egotistical billionaire even found a way to tap into the Crown of Fire’s power, boosting his levels of strength far beyond what Danny could imagine or compete with.
But just like last time, he greatly overestimated himself and found himself at the mercy of the Tyrant king’s wrath. Finding his existence quickly extinguished.
At least, that is how the Box Ghost said it happened.
Now free and with both of his artifacts in his possession, it was to everyone in Amity Park’s surprise that they suddenly ended up in the ghost zone before they could even understand what was going on.
Unfortunately, that was just the start of their problems
In his first invasion, Pariah was pulling his punches for his own amusement, but now he was going full force. The Mad King wanted Amity Park destroyed and Phantom’s head on a pike to display to all that all hope was lost.
Danny was able to hold off the skeleton army long enough for his parents to activate the ghost shield to protect the citizens from them. Sending a blast at another group of skeletons, he heard his phone beep before he grabbed it and jumped in the air to avoid an attack from another group. He hit the green phone icon and pressed it to his ear. “Give me some good news, Jazz, I could really use it right about now.”
{Everyone In Amity Park made it under the ghost shield, but I don't know how long it will last.} Shouting could be heard in the background before she continued. {The Ghost Skeletons are attacking the shield relentlessly. If this keeps up, it might go down soon, leaving us with one less defense against all this.}
Danny felt a pit in his stomach as he worried about that piece of news. Turning his head toward the large green dome, he took a deep breath through his nose. “Hang tight, I’m on my way.” With that, he hung up the phone and rocketed over the down to head back toward the last line of defense.
Danny had been ushered into his home’s basement where all the teenagers and their parents were. He saw his parents handing out Ecto weapons to all those eighteen and older, this meant that he would be staying behind since Danny Fenton was only sixteen. He grew more worried when he heard his parents say that with the constant attacks against the dome, it was only a matter of time before it fell. “This is not good.” He muttered to himself as he watched as his parents got to the police officers and handed them blasters. He dropped his head into his hands before he dragged them down his face. “Damn it, Vlad, why the hell did you do something so stupid?” He let out a heavy sigh as he pressed his back on the wall before sliding down and slumped on the ground. Putting his arms on his knees he dropped his head, feeling defeated. “Not only was it stupid, it killed you and now the whole town is close to following.”
Jazz saw her brother on the ground, moved closer, and put a hand on his shoulder. “It's not over yet, Danny. Can't you beat him again like last time?”
Danny shook his head as he pushed himself off the ground. “Jazz, last time I had the Ecto-armor, something that boosted my powers a hundred times. Even then, I barely beat Pariah during that fight, and it wasn't even me beating him. I just got him in the sarcophagus while it was locked up.” His voice portrayed the growing dread as he continued. “But we destroyed the armor when Vlad set us up against each other, which means that I have no advantage against him this time.”
Jazz’s mood was dropping as Danny brought up the point and dropped her arms in defeat. “So, this is it, huh?” She had a sad smile as she looked at her brother.
Danny leaned back onto the metal wall and gained a hard look when he saw the despair on his sister’s face. He tried to think of what he could do against Pariah Dark.
The tyrant king was unlike any ghost he had faced before. He was insanely powerful like his evil future self, as intelligent as Vlad, and he had an army to bolster his overall might.
It was pure luck that Danny won last time by pushing him into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep in time for Vlad to lock it.
If Danny could give this situation a silver lining, it was that both Sam and Tucker were out of town on vacation with their parents. Something that Sam’s parents set up so they could get away from the crazy that was the Fenton household. He was sure that Sam’s mother was the one who made sure that Danny didn't know about it till they were already gone.
At the same time, Dani, the only other Halfa out there, was still exploring the world without a care.
But even if any of them found out, they would never make it back in time to help. Not to mention that with Amity Park in the ghost zone, they would have to head to Wisconsin to use Vlad’s portal, which he wasn't sure would open since he didn't know if Vlad had a security system like his parents’ portal.
He was brought out of his musing when the whole lab shook, causing everyone to fall to the ground.
Maddie got up from the ground and stumbled to the computer when the lab shook once more. She stared at the screen with her goggles wide as she saw the reading. “The Shield Dome is at 25%, it's not gonna last much longer!”
“PHANTOM!”
Everyone froze at the sound of Pariah Dark’s voice that resonated with power.
“FACE ME, YOU WEAKLING!”
Jack ran over to another console and pressed a few keys before a large screen displayed a security feed showing Pariah Dark at the dome's edge, attacking it with his mace. They watched as the ghost lifted his mace before smashing it on the shield, causing the room the shake once more.
“10%!!” Maddie yelled before she tried to divert power from anywhere else in the building to the shield in order to make it hold.
“If that shield goes down the ghosts will flood the city!” was Jack’s panicked cry.
Hearing this caused a lot of the families there to hold onto each other, fearing this might be the last time.
Jack pulled out his blaster and looked to the adults. “Everyone, get ready!”
Hearing this, all the adults grabbed whatever weapon they were given and gave one last look to their kids and elderly before they ran with Jack and Maddie Fenton in the lead.
Danny watched as they all left, afraid for them as this had turned out to be the last stand. He turned his head toward the screen on the wall that showed the towering king smashing the dome once more. He knew what the king wanted. He was the one who put him back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, and the king will not stop till Danny is dead. ‘He won't even stop there. He would make sure everyone in Amity Park was dead, meaning no one could stand up to him anymore.’
He couldn't allow that. He had to do something. “Jazz, I need you to-” He turned to his sister but paused when he saw that she was frozen in place. Not moving, not blinking, not even breathing.” He looked around and saw that the same thing was happening to the other kids. He felt something around his neck and looked down. That's when it hit Danny hard. “Clockwork.” was his shocked whisper.
Behind the halfa was floating the Ghost of Time with a blue portal behind him. “It has been a while, Daniel.” A small smile graced his face as he watched Danny turn to face him.
Danny didn't know how to feel seeing the time ghost. One thing he knew was that Clockwork was the most powerful ghost of all existence. The only thing holding the ghost back was the laws of time itself. “So……” He gave a nervous chuckle as he stepped toward the ghost. “Here to give me some last-minute cryptic advice, a warning telling me that I am about to do something stupid?...... or maybe here to give me help.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he pleadingly looked at the ghost. “Please tell me you are here to help.”
Clockwork’s smile became sad as he answered. “‘Cryptic advice’ unfortunately.” He watched as Danny dropped his arms before he continued. “You have faced Pariah Dark before while donning the armor, and while your powers were still developing. Now, you face the king of ghosts without the armor but with a better understanding of your powers and new tactics to use.” He moved the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve always fought more powerful ghosts and won, not with your power, but with your wit.” He brought his hand up and tapped Danny’s forehead to emphasize his point. He floated back with a smile on his face. “Remember, Phantom, you are a clever little Halfa. So be clever.” With that, he, his portal, and the medallion around Danny’s neck disappeared.
Jazz blinked when she saw an instant shift in her brother's demeanor. “Danny….?” She couldn't help but feel more worried as he turned to her.
He smiled at her as he began to walk toward the weapons vault.
Jazz followed, wondering what he was going to do. “Danny, what are you planning?”
Danny made it to the keypad and began to punch in the code. “What I have to do.”
“And what's that, Fentoenail?”
Danny and Jazz turned around to see all the kids from his school gathering around and looking at him.
Danny sighed as he turned back and finished putting in the code. “I don't have time for this, Dash. Things are bad and I have to do something to help.”
“And what would a loser like you be able to do?” Came Paulina’s snarky response, but it was clear that there was a tinge of fear and …..worry.
Danny moved to the vault door as it opened up slowly. He looked up as the arsenal was now in front of him. “What I can.”
Dash saw the weapons and smirked as he moved to enter the vault. “Well, I’m sure I can do a better job than whatever it is you think you can do.” He took one step into the vault before he was pulled out by the back of his jacket. He was thrown back in time as a blast hit where his foot landed. He looked up to see who threw him and was surprised to see it was Fenton.
“Sorry, but Dad installed a security system that made sure that no one but a Fenton can get inside the vault.” He entered the vault before looking around and grabbing a few things.
“Then bring them out so we can have some weapons too.”
Danny looked over his shoulder to see Valerie with her hands on her hips and looking at him expectantly. He shook his head as he pulled something off the wall. “No, this is something that I am going to do alone.”
Valerie did not like this answer as she moved to the edge of the door. “What kind of idiot are you to say you are going to do something on your own!?”
Danny grabbed the last of what he thought he would need and moved to stand in front of Valerie.
The rest of the kids saw him decked out for battle and couldn't help but wonder when he became the type to stand up to something like this.
He was the wimpy kid of Casper High.
The lab shook once more along with the electronic voice of the computer. {Emergency! Emergency! Power depleted. Ghost shield down!}
Danny stared Valerie in the eye. “I’m the kind of idiot who knows what we are up against and still going out there to stop him.” He moved around her but was stopped when she grabbed his arm. “Valerie, you are going to be the last line of defense. If things go bad, your gear will help you in stopping the ghosts.”
Valerie's eyes widened when she heard how he emphasized her gear. “....you know?”
Danny looked over his shoulder and smirked at her. “I knew from the start.” He continued to walk as she let go.
“Danny!” Jazz ran after her brother as he made it to the stairs. “Are you sure you can do this?”
He looked at his sister and smiled. He stepped down and hugged her. Pulling back he gave her one of his smirks. “Sure.” He took two steps up before looking up. “Computer, Code: AstroFenton377, Lock down the lab in two minutes.”
{Code confirmed. Lockdown initiated.}
He looked back at his sister and nodded. “Take care of yourself.”
“I should be saying that to you.” She watched as Danny ran up the stairs, leaving them behind. “Good luck, little brother.”
A Steel door dropped down, cutting Danny off from the teens.
Danny ran out the front door onto the street before looking up to see that the green dome was gone. Looking left and right, he saw that he was in the clear as he was sure all the adults had run off to fight the army. “Alright, Fenton, let’s hope your luck is on your side this time.” Standing firm, he cried. “I’M GOING GHOST!” His transformation rings ran across his body, shifting the gear he had into a more suitable appearance. His eyes glowed green before he bent his knees and launched himself toward where he knew the fight to be.
Pariah Dark stomped down the streets, leaving flaming footprints in his wake, with hordes of his skeleton soldiers behind him, with more scouring the city.
The moment the Ghost shield dropped, Pariah Dark led his army into the human city with the plan of taking any human they came across hostage. The more they had, the sooner Phantom would show himself.
Ever since the ghost king was forced back into the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, he had thought of nothing else but the one that trapped him in there once more. The child known as Phantom. Pariah Dark made a vow that if he ever escaped from this prison, he would kill Phantom in front of everyone. No tricks, no allies, just pure combat,
“PHANTOM, COME OUT AND FACE YOUR DEMISE!” The shout was so booming that it shattered the windows of the surrounding buildings.
“Fire!”
The ghost king raised an amused eyebrow as a group of humans started shooting at him with blasters. The moment the first shot was fired, a green ecto shield appeared in front of Pariah Dark blocking the shots. He didn't even need to raise his hand to channel energy into it. “Foolish humans, do you truly believe your weapons can harm the King of all ghosts!?”
“Well, how about these weapons!?”
Before The ghost King could react, a black-and-white blur shattered his shield into pieces before two metal fists slammed into his face, sending the king flying into the army behind him. Pariah Dark screamed in rage as he unleashed a wave of Ecto energy into his arm, destroying them. “WHO DARES!”
“I dare.”
Landing hard in front of Pariah Dark was none other than a fully armored Phantom. The boy was wearing black steel armor over his body with his signature DP logo on his chest, a jetpack whirring and ready to activate, and two large metal gauntlets around his fists pulsing with Ecto energy. A large blaster hung on his right side as it was attached to an Ecto belt around his waist. Strapped between his back and the Jetpack was a glowing Ecto katana that had whisps of green energy coming off it.
Pariah Dark grinned at the sight of the boy. “Phantom, finally arrived for your execution.” The Mad King straightened up as his ecto energy began to envelop his body. “I had yet to even begin exterminating the humans.”
Danny growled as he clenched his fists hard. “How original.” He threw his arm to the side as he stared hard into the King’s eye. “You did the exact same thing last time you were out, and just like last time, I’m going to take you down!”
Pariah’s laugh was filled with arrogant confidence as he brought up his mace to point it at the Halfa. “In our previous battle, I underestimated you. We fought in my castle, allowing you access to that wretched Sarcophagus. Last time, you wore that large armor that empowered you. Now-” He lowered his mace as his grip on it tightened. “- we are on even ground. Once I destroy you, I will conquer both the Ghost Zone and Human realm, destroying any who oppose me.”
Danny channeled his energy into his body as he glared at the king. “Not gonna happen!”
So the battle between the Halfa and Demigod begins
Danny grabbed the blaster before instantly charging it with his Ecto energy and sending off a shot at Pariah.
The king put up a stronger shield that blocked the shots with ease.
After a few more shots that did nothing, Danny dropped the gun blaster, before he threw his hands down his sides. They lit up as he charged his energy into them before he activated the jetpack and blasted off the ground at Pariah Dark, pulling his fists back.
The ghost king grinned as he dropped his shield before holding out his hands to catch the metal fists thrown at him.
A shockwave burst from the impact zone, throwing the cars around them back, yet Pariah seemed fine.
Not letting up, Danny’s eyes glowed brighter before he shot an ecto ray from his eyes into Pariah’s eye.
The king screamed in pain as he let go of the fits and grabbed his eye.
This gave Danny the time to jump up at the king, grab him by the throat, flip over the king’s head, and throw the tyrant over his shoulder. As the king flew from the throw, Danny charged a large amount of energy into his gauntlets before launching a powerful blast at the airborne king, sending the king further away.
He let out a sigh as he floated in place. Mentally glad that things were working so far, he began to float in the direction he threw the king and saw that he had thrown him over the citizens. ‘Whoops, I know that I was in the middle of a fight but that was too close. Glad no one was hurt.’ He saw that they were all looking at him in shock and awe. When his eyes landed on his parents, he couldn't help but sigh fondly, which seemed to snap them out of their shock.
They pulled up their blasters and aimed at Phantom. “ Freeze, ghos-”
“Are you crazy!?” one of the other adults shouted as he grabbed Jack’s blaster. “He’s the only one stopping that ghost from tearing us apart!” He shouted as he and a few more adults pulled the blaster from Jack’s hands.
“Don't be fooled! All ghosts are a threat!” Maddie shouted stubbornly as her blaster was taken from her as well.
Danny let out a fond huff as he landed in front of the group. He looked up at them thinking of all the troubled times with them. Sure, they may have wanted to capture him but they were still his parents and he loved them. He smiled as he floated up to be at eye level with them. ‘Heh, never really thought about how tall they were.’
The Fentons didn't know what he was about to do or why he was smiling at them but what he did next wasn't what they expected. They were brought into a hug with his arms around their neck.
Danny held them tight as he whispered to them. “No matter what happens, I want you guys to know you were the best. And I’m glad to have had you.” He pulled back and floated higher into the air. He looked down at them and held out his open palm in a wave. “Love you.” With his piece said, his smile dropped into one of determination and blasted off toward where Pariah Dark flew.
No one knew what that was all about and they could only watch as Phantom flew off.
One of the adults asked. “What the hell was that about…?”
For Maddie and Jack something in their hearts felt like it was dying.
And they didn't know why.
A few blocks away, Pariah Dark pulled himself out of the building that he had crashed into, looking more annoyed than harmed. Once he was out, he saw Phantom flying toward him at top speed, gauntlets charged with energy. With a mad grin raised his mace before slamming it to the ground, sending a wave of energy toward the halfa.
Danny saw the oncoming wave and pulled up, barely avoiding it, but didn't notice Pariah Dark throwing the mace at the same time. “ARGH!” The mace hit him dead center of his armor, embedding itself in it and sending him flying upward. He looked down at the mace, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull it out as it was forcing him upward. So focused on the weapon, he didn't see the owner flying toward him till he felt the large hand wrap around his neck tight enough to stop his yelp of shock.
“Very clever, boy.” The mad King grinned before he used his free hand to rip the mace out of the armor, taking a piece off, and squeezing the boy’s throat. “Not only did you catch me off guard, you were able to push me back.” He continued to crush the boy’s windpipe. “You did all that despite not having your special armor. You have gained much strength since the last time we battled, Phantom.”
Danny glared at the king, struggling in his attempts to breathe, only to remember that he didn't need to do so. Rolling his eyes from the condescending tone the king gave him, he grabbed the large hand crushing his neck with both hands. “I’ve…. Also learned a few new-” His eyes flashed blue as he brought his right hand to his left. “TRICKS!!”
Pariah’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw the boy swing his hand at him and found himself being encased in a block of solid ice.
Danny pried himself free before he brought his fists back and punched the ghost king back toward the ground.
After the Frozen king crashed into the ground, green flames burst from his body, freeing him from his ice prison and he glared at the boy as his anger peaked. “Prepare to perish, Phantom!” He raised his hand to his side, summoning his army with Fright Knight at the head. “End him!”
Danny cursed his luck. In order for his plan to work, this fight needed to be one-on-one, not have the army or Fright knight in the way. As he saw the army starting to make their way toward him, he charged his fists with energy to send out an Ecto blast. ‘Guess I gotta work harder.’ He was ready to fight them off.
Only for a blast of green fire to halt their approach.
He spun around toward where it came from and saw an army of the ghosts that he had met in the past. Ranging from Skulker to Frostbite.
“Great One, we will hold off the army! End the mad King!” Frostbite shouted as he froze a group of the skeleton army.
Ember McClain strummed her guitar, sending an ecto fist at the army. She turned to him and smirked. “You heard him, Babypop, end his ass.” She gave him a wink before she turned back and began to go through a solo, sending rapid fire at the army.
Danny smirked at how all his enemies and allies were here to help him when he needed them most. Turning back to face the king, he couldn't help but smirk wider as he saw the angered face of the king who glared at all the ghosts here against him. He flew down, pushing the jetpack to the max, to continue his fight with the king, something that was seen by the black flaming knight.
“You do not have the privilege to face off with the king!” On the ground, the Fright Knight pulled on the reins of his steed, causing it to neigh in preparation to charge. Before he could move, someone else slammed into the ground in front of him.
Standing at her full height and pulling out two swords, Pandora glared down at the dark knight. “Your battle is with me!”
“You dare challenge the herald of the King of all ghosts? Then face your doom!”
The two charged as they swung their swords at each other.
Pariah Dark cemented all those opposing him to memory so that he would destroy them. “Traitors! You shall all perish along with Phantom.”
“Don't bet on it, Kingy.” Danny shouted as he sent a blue Ecto blast at the king.
Pariah Dark saw the coming blast and hummed in boredom. He brought a hand up and sent out a torrent of Ecto flames to meet the cryonic blast.
The two blasts met, seeming to be equal in power, neither gaining any headway. The major difference was that Danny was using both hands and was clearly struggling to maintain his blast, even with the gauntlets augmenting his power a bit
While Pariah was using only one hand and looking unamused. “This is but a small fraction of my power, Phantom.” his face then turned into one of sadistic glee. “Here is half.”
Danny’s eyes widened in shock as Pariah’s attack almost instantly took over his own. On reflex, Danny flew out of the way, barely dodging the attack, and feeling the heat burn his skin. Looking back toward Pariah, he didn't have time to react as the king was in his face and backhanding him into the ground, leaving a trench in his wake. Danny could feel that the Jetpack was now out of commission as sparks flew from the destroyed device.
“I must say, I am disappointed, Phantom.” Pariah Dark floated down and landed so he would be standing over the fallen boy. “Oh, you have surprised me with your tenacity. You have caught me off guard and blindsided me several times in this fight. Most ghosts merely dream of doing such to me. But now, you are beaten, like all others that believed they could ever come close to my power.”
Danny felt some of his ectoplasm dripping down his chin and some on the side of his head from a gash he had. He pushed himself onto his elbows before he forced himself to throw a punch at the king, only for it to be caught by his large fist.
“Yet, you are not as strong as I had originally thought. I remember seeing you at your weakest when you were with that arrogant blue fool, and compared to then, you are only slightly stronger.” He brought up his other hand to catch the second fist the boy threw. “And now, here you are, on your knees, as you should be when facing me.” He began to crush the gauntlets, reveling in the screams of pain coming from the boy. He released the fists when he knew he had done enough damage.
Danny’s arms dropped to his sides with the gauntlets falling to pieces, revealing his bloody and potentially broken hands. “.....Shit….” Danny muttered in pain before looking up at the bored disappointed look on the king’s face.
“See,” A wicked smile crossed his face. “Though I did not receive the satisfying battle I wanted, I will enjoy killing you in front of those who supported you.” He turned and took a few steps away from the boy as he looked at the other battles going on. “You will be made an example to all who believe they can defy their king.”
Danny glared at the ghost king….before a wicked grin graced his bloody face. “You really shouldn't monologue, asshole.” He slowly got to his feet in a slumped position. He saw the king turn back to him as he ignored the pain in his hands and reached up to the blade he still had on his back. “Especially to a halfa.” He pulled out the blade as it gave an eerie glow to his face.
Before Pariah Dark could say anything, he felt something cold wrap around his feet. Looking down, the ghost king was shocked to see none other than a grinning phantom staring up at him with glowing blue eyes.
“We tend to be very crafty.” was the second Phantom’s taunt as he froze the king's feet to the ground.
“What-” Pariah was cut off when two black blurs shot out from the side and grabbed his arms. He was so caught off guard that the third and fourth Phantom were able to pull his arms apart before they froze them up to his shoulder, making it harder to move them.
“Heads up!”
was the call that came from behind the king who felt something kick his crown off his head. “NO!” The sudden loss of power strained his body, making it more difficult to free himself from the duplicates.
A fifth Phantom came up from the ground, catching the crown, and tossing it toward the original.
Danny caught the crown with his left hand as he smirked at the king. “Looks like things are going to be a little different than last time.” He put the crown on his head before gripping his sword and flew toward the king, weapon ready to strike.
The ghost king's eyes widened, believing that the boy was aiming to stab him in his core. Even though he knew that he could survive such a strike, it would weaken him to an immense degree. With a roar, he sent out a shot of Ecto fire from his eye, aiming for the boy’s head.
Had Danny truly aimed for the king’s core, the blast would have had his head blasted off. But thanks to something else being his target and his shifting body to strike his target, the blast only grazed the left side of his face, taking his left eye. Biting down the blinding pain, he continued his attack…taking Pariah’s right hand off.
“AAARRGHRRR!!!” Pariah Dark screamed in pain as he threw off the Phantom copies, resulting in them disappearing and sending their energy back to Danny. “MY HAND!!” The king’s remaining hand broke free from the ice as it gripped the stump that used to be his right hand. “I WILL DISEMBOWEL YOU FOR THIS, PHANTOM!!!”
Danny glared with his one good eye as he felt some of his energy return to him from the clones. “I’d like to see you try.” the venom in his voice was clear but it was only natural since he was missing an eye and his whole body hurt like a bitch. He quickly sheathed his sword and charged his fists with all the power he had before he slammed them into the King’s chest, sending the tyrant skidding back. Now with some more room, he quickly bent down for his real target.
The Ring of Rage
The plan was simple. Make four duplicates of himself and have them lie in wait as he faced Pariah Dark. he would fight the king and lose just enough for the king to lower his guard before the clones got a grip on the tyrant, giving him the chance to get his hands on the items that made the Mad king so powerful.
The Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage were now in his grasp.
He had no clue how these items would react to him or what they would do to him in return, but this was an all-or-nothing fight. No time for second-guessing now.
When Pariah Dark saw what Danny had taken from his severed hand, his face turned to pure shock and horror. “No, you are not worthy to wield that power! Only the King of Ghosts!” He shouted in rage as he used his remaining hand to send a blast at the boy.
Danny flew up to avoid the shot as he moved the ring to his left hand. “Well, looks like there’s gonna be a new king, baby!” His cocky voice gave him the courage to do what he was gonna do. He slipped the ring on.
And threw his head back, screaming bloody murder as white-hot pain flowed throughout his body
“YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Danny screamed, bolts of electricity shooting off his body, remaining equipment being blasted off, his eye flashing between neon green and icy blue, jumping from one to the other so fast that they were blurring together.
The scream caused the other battles to pause as they all turned to where it came from
Pandora had her sword locked with Fright Knight’s before they turned their heads toward the main battle.
Pariah Dark was surprised by the reaction before he gave a maddening laugh. “Foolish boy, my artifacts are known as the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage! It will destroy your Ice core and obsession within moments!”
Danny could feel that what Pariah Dark said held some truth. As more power coursed through his body, he felt his ice core being assaulted by the Crown of Fire, and his will being attacked by the Ring of Rage, both trying to destroy his very being. Despite this, he persevered. “You….. think a little……. Pain will stop me?!” He clenched his fist as he brought his head forward, determination clear in his one eye. “I…..felt more….pain….. When I died,.....when I fought Vortex…… Undergrowth……and Nocturne! I will…. Not ……bow…. To …..YOU!” He curled up on himself as his eye glowed blue and a blue aura took his body before an implosion sent out a shockwave that threw everyone off their feet.
The shockwave was strong enough to send the king flying, with a few cars crashing onto him. When the dust settled, Pariah Dark pushed the vehicles off himself before pausing in shock at what he saw. “What….. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?”
As the dust dispersed, Standing in the middle of a crater was Danny, eye glowing a brilliant blue and expressionless. Floating on his head was a crown made from pure blue ice with a frosty mist wafting around it, while on his finger was a white ring with a dark DP symbol. Phantom brought up his left hand to hover over the crown. “The Crown of Ice .” He lowered his left hand before bringing up his right to hover over his left eye, showing off the ring. “The Ring of Will.”
Those words snapped Pariah out of his shock and he rose to his feet in rage. “You believe you can steal my artifacts and use them as your own?!” His body pulsed with all the power he had despite no longer having his artifacts. “I WILL END YOU, PHANTOM!!!” He shot off toward Phantom, pulling his mace from his belt and raising it to strike down the boy.
Danny’s expressionless face slowly turned into a glare. “It’s over, Pariah Dark.” Danny turned to fully face the former king and took in a breath before unleashing his strongest attack.
The Ghostly Wail
“OowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOowOo~”
A powerful wave of blue ecto energy shot out from Danny’s mouth, poised to hit Pariah Dark straight on.
The tyrant, though, threw his mace to the ground before bringing his hand up to send his own attack trying to overpower the wail. He was able to slow it down, but Phantom’s attack was slowly closing in on him. “Is this truly the end?!” Was his shout, one that was drowned out by the wail. He growled as the blue attack was almost on him, causing him to feel the sheer cold burn his very being. ‘Not only will I find my end but to have lost my artifacts, and allow him to obtain the title of “King”? NO, he may have gained what is mine, but he won't live to use them.’ Focusing on a specific power he had, he canceled his attack, feeling the full force of the ghostly wail. He fell to his knees and raised one hand toward Phantom, channeled dark red flames, and shot it toward the boy. A sick grin crossed his face as it froze. ‘Goodbye, Phantom.’
The flame cut through the wail like a knife through butter and hit Danny in the chest. The result was a large explosion that sent Danny flying upward toward a building and ending the Ghostly Wail.
But it was done. Pariah Dark took the full power of the Ghostly Wail and was unable to handle it. His remaining arm and left leg were gone, the unbroken horn was destroyed, and his ectoplasm was dripping from several parts of his body that didn't have freezer burns.
Yet despite all this, the mad Tyrant had a grin on his face before he crumbled into pieces and the last light of his eye faded.
The second the glow of his eye was gone, a flash of light spread out over all of Amity Park, causing the green skies to be replaced with blue with fluffy white clouds.
This clear sign of Pariah Dark’s defeat caused cheers to come from both humans and ghosts alike as the skeleton army dissolved into goo.
Pandora stabbed Fright Knight’s sword into a pumpkin made of ice, sealing the knight into another prison. She smiled at her own victory before looking up at the sky. “He has done it once more.”
The cheering continued from all who fought against Pariah Dark.
None of which knew at what cost that victory came with
On top of a tall building, Danny Phantom held himself up by one hand against an Air conditioning unit. His head hung down before he pressed his forehead on the cool metal, gulping in any amount of air he could take as his entire body was throbbing in agony with white-hot searing pain focused on his chest. With a shaky hand, he gripped his suit over his log before ripping it off, revealing his chest. He grimaced at the sight of the wound he had dead-center of his chest.
A black scar that looked like it was splashed on his chest was visible right over his core.
The wound burned as if it was growing in size and he could feel himself growing weaker by the second. He tried to call upon his cryokinesis to ease the burning but he realized that whatever this wound was, it was snuffing out any ice he could muster. He suddenly felt not just the pain but more exhaustion than he ever felt before, bringing him to one conclusion.
He was dying.
With that realization, the arm holding him up lost all strength and he collapsed on the wall before turning around and sliding to the floor. Suddenly, all pain vanished as a clock hand appeared in the air in front of him before turning to make a blue portal and Clockwork came through.
“Well done, Young Phantom. Victory is yours.” His expression displayed both pride and sadness.
Danny looked up at Clockwork and stared at the Time ghost for a long second. “....you knew this would happen.” It wasn't a question, just a resigned statement.
Clockwork’s expression didn't change. “I know everything.”
Danny nodded as he leaned his head back on the AC unit before turning his head to the side to look at the setting sun that was frozen in place. As he watched the frozen sun, he thought about what was going to happen to him after this. Would he become a full ghost? Would he simply pass on? Or maybe some miracle will happen that would make everything okay? He knew he could yell at Clockwork for not saving him, not warning him, or even giving him some hint on what might happen. He could be mad at the world for everything he went through that led to this point and calling it unfair.
But he won’t, it wouldn't be right.
He had cheated death several times already. When he survived the Ghost portal activation. When he first fought Pariah Dark. When he fought Undergrowth. When he fought his evil future self and saw what he could become. Every one of his fights could have led to his death and yet he survived it all. It only makes sense that his luck would finally run out. At least he was able to save his friends and family.
His eyebrows rose in revelation. “Huh…..is this what they call ‘acceptance’?” He gained a small smile committing the sun to memory. “Always above my head, and never did I give the sun as much love as it needed, heh.”
Clockwork turned to face the sun as he put his staff’s pommel on the ground and leaned on its head. “Any regrets, Phantom?” He knew the answer already, but he wanted the boy to let them out.
“Danny gave a single weak shoulder shrug. “Meh, a few.” He admitted, imagining the warmth of the sun. “never got to go into space as an astronaut. Heh heh, can't count the time Technus took over the satellite. Never got to fall in love and have a family. A nice big one would have been nice. Never got to connect with Dani as much as I would have liked. She could have told me all about her trip around the world, she probably would have a lot to tell.” He wheezed out a weak chuckle as he pointed at the crown on his head. “I didn't even get the chance to use my new toys.” His arms dropped to his side as he turned his head to look at Clockwork. “.....tell me, Clockwork,..... Was there no other way?”
The Master of Time was silent for a long moment before he answered. “No…..it was either this or Pariah Dark winning before he went out to kill all who stood in his way.”
Danny could tell, there were more options but he decided to just trust the Ghost of Time. “So the death of two over the death of thousands.” He gave a small hum as he nodded. “I may be bad at math but I can agree with those numbers. Can't undo it all now, can we?” He chuckled weakly at the Time master before looking back at the sun. “Thank you for everything, Clockwork.”
Another portal appeared behind the Ghost of Time as he smiled at the boy. “You’re Welcome.” He turned to float in the portal before.
“Hey, Clockwork…..one more thing.” Danny smiled at the departing ghost. “I thought you could only bring others into your time-freeze with your medallion.”
Clockwork smiled as he gave one last look to the hero. “The medallion is more of a formality. I can do it whenever I wish.” His smile saddened as he spoke one last time. “Goodbye….. Danny Phantom.” He turned and entered the portal, allowing time to continue on.
Danny chuckled weakly as he leaned his head back. “And I thought I was cheeky.”
Throughout the city, the ghosts that were fighting against the army were throwing their fists in the air, celebrating their victory over the skeletons and Danny Phantom’s obvious victory over the tyrant king. They may not have been able to witness it due to the shockwaves blowing them away, but the appearance of the human sky was a clear sign of who won.
The dissolving skeletons was another clue to it.
“He did it!” Poindexter yelled into the sky in excitement. “Danny Phantom won again!”
Phantom’s Rouge Gallery had different emotions going through each of them. Some were peeved that their enemy/fighting buddy had beaten the strongest ghost they knew, but no matter how they felt about Phantom, they were happy to know the King was defeated once more.
Princess Dora landed on the ground in her dragon form before she shifted back to normal as she asked. “But where is Sir Phantom?” She looked around in the sky in hopes of seeing a sign of him.
“The whelp must have taken a thrashing from the fallen king.” Skulker crossed his arms as he snorted in amusement. “Defeating the king only makes his hide more valuable. His pelt will have more appeal once I obtain it.”
Frostbite growled as he glared at the hunter. “You will not lay a hand on the Great one.” He flexed his ice claw, to emphasize his point.
Pandora joined him by slamming her spear into the ground.
Before another fight could ensue, Kitty stepped in between all of them. “Ok, we just got out of a major fight and I don't think we need another one right after it!”
The three had to agree as they went through a fight that had exhausted them and the city had already gotten enough damage.
Kitty sighed in relief before she looked around for her boyfriend. She couldn't see him in the group and was about to call him till she heard his voice above them.
“Hey, guys!” Johnny looked down since he was floating over all of them. Seeing that he got their attention, he gestured to where he saw Phantom. “I see the kid…….and he doesn't look too hot.”
Kitty didn't like how worried her boyfriend sounded. She knew that he and Danny were not the best of friends and if Johnny was worried about Danny, made her worry since Danny was her friend.
Most of the ghosts that knew Danny flew up to join Johnny to move toward where Johnny said Phantom was. When they landed, they were shocked to see the state of the boy.
He was lying on the rooftop covered in wounds and dripping ectoplasm but the thing that caused a lot of them to freeze in shock was the crown and ring he now wore.
“Friend!” Wulf flew toward Danny wanting to help the boy.
All of Danny’s enemies and allies were equally worried as they saw how damaged he was, even the sight of him missing an eye. Despite how most of them fought against the boy, they respected him for his tenacity and cleverness he brought in their battles. They knew how powerful he was normally, and with how he held back for their fights to appease them, made their fights more for fun than anything malicious.
Seeing him so broken, uneased them all.
“Great one!” Frostbite flew to the boy’s side and knelt down to pick him up. “I shall take you to the Far Frozen in order to heal your wounds!” He reached down to pick him up, only to stop when Danny brought his hand up to stop him.
“Stop…. Frostbite….” He rasped out as it was even starting to hurt to breathe.
The yeti ghost frowned as he knew that he needed to get the boy to get healed quickly. “Great one, this is no time to be stubborn. These wounds are far too severe to allow them to heal on their own. If we don't get you to the Far Frozen quickly, you could-”
“My core is damaged.”
Those words hit all of them hard and they stood there in shock. Dora put her hands over her mouth in shock as her eyes watered, Wulf dropped his arms to the side before he howled into the sky in sadness, Kitty held onto Johnny’s arm who lowered his head while his shadow drooped, Pandora’s demeanor saddened before she pulled out her sword and held it downward with her lower arms in a sign of warriors respect. Frostbite pressed his fist to the round to try and hold himself together.
They had a hard time believing this. Phantom had taken on the strongest ghosts that existed and was able to find a way to get out of them victorious, so to hear his core was damaged just sounded impossible.
Dora floated over to his head before sitting on her knees and gently lifted his head to lay it on her lap. “Are you in pain, Phantom?”
Danny took as deep a breath as he could and forced himself to smile up at her. “It's mostly numb now.”
A heavy silence took the group as his breaths became shallower and shallower. There was only one thing they could do now.
Wait.
Danny’s vision began to fade and wasn't sure if he felt something fall on his face or if it was his imagination. He heard Dora ask him something, and it sounded like she was crying.
“Is there anything we can do for you, Sir Phantom?” Her tears continued to fall as she wept for her fallen knight. She cupped his face in order to clean his face from both his blood and her tears.
Danny thought about what he could ask them and figured they would be the best ones to do this new task. “Tell…… tell my family and friends….they were the best thing to ever happen to me.” he gave a small chuckle. “Even if they have their own weird quirks.” His smile became serious as he turned his head toward the large white blur he knew to be Frostbite. “And, Frostbite…..Dora… Pandora……I have a favor to ask.”
Frostbite nodded as he spoke. “Anything, Great one.”
Pandora nodded as she placed her upper right fist on her chest. “Ask and I shall see it done.”
Dora hummed in acknowledgment as she waited for him to speak as she cupped his cheek.
Danny smiled in appreciation. “There ……there’s another Halfa.” He heard some shocked gasps but continued. “She is younger than me….. And she hasn't unlocked all of her powers yet. Please…. Train her…. Protect her….guide her…. Till she is strong enough to be independent.” He smiled fondly as he gave his clone’s usual introduction. “Her name…. Her name is Dani Phantom, that’s Dani with an ‘i’” He chuckled as he imagined some of the raised eyebrows on everyone’s faces. “Tell her….. Tell her I’m sorry for not spending more time with her. Please protect her, not because she will be the last Halfa…but because I love her and want her to live her life to the fullest she can.”
Frostbite smiled as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. “We will fulfill your final wish, Phantom.”
Danny smiled before he turned his head to look into the sky. “And Skulker ……..don't you dare try and hunt her like you did me.”
Skulker huffed as he crossed his arms. “I make no promises.”
Danny smiled at his answer as he knew what he meant. “Thank you.” With that, he closed his eyes.
And took his last breath.
“Stop.”
Clockwork stared at the frozen image of Danny’s last moment displayed on the screen. He let out a sad sigh as Danny was one of the few beings that he interacted with and grew quite fond of the boy.
The time master had saved the halfa from disaster and saved his friends and family, including the slightly negligent teacher. But there are backlashes to ending a bad timeline. In stopping the evil Phantom timeline, other events took place.
Freakshow getting the reality gauntlet.
Vortex being freed
Undergrowth coming to earth
Nocturne setting his sights on Amity Park
And Pariah Dark waging war once more against Phantom.
Yet in all of them, Phantom came out on top, with the help from his friends and family. But now, Phantom’s luck had run out with Pariah Dark.
Clockwork knew the outcomes of this battle but it wasn't until certain points that he knew which ending would come.
Had Pariah Dark won, there would have been an extended war claiming the lives of both humans and ghosts. It would only be years of war afterward when Dani Phanom would use an improved Ecto suit made by the Fentons to finally end the Tyrant and avenge Danny Phantom.
If Danny had survived the battle, he would become the new king of the Ghost zone, making Dani his daughter and taking a wife…. Or wives, in some timelines that would have aided him in improving the Ghost zone. He would place his efforts in building a bridge between the Ghost Zone and the human world, trying to bring them together. Things wouldn't be perfect and there would be those who resisted the notion and do whatever they could to start a war to destroy the other side, but Phantom would once again come out on top. Making both worlds better for all.
But in this timeline, both fell by the hands of the other. There will be tears shed, anger shown, regret, and so much more. But like humans and ghosts, they move on.
Dani would take up the mantle of Phantom and protect Amity Park and later on the world from rogue ghosts after she was trained by Dora, Frostbite, and Pandora, as they promised. With the sacrifice made by Danny, new attempts at peace would be tried.
Sam would be devastated by the loss of her crush and best friend but after a few years, she would finally move on and find a lover. Who shockingly ended up being Paulina. It was a case of opposites attract and Paulina found that she took issue with the goth being so depressed. Sam would push for better relations for both the human world and the Ghost zone, making things better, even if she had to drag everyone into it kicking and screaming.
Tucker and the Fentons would take over the GIW, shutting down all departments that had to deal with ghost dissection and experimentation, turning the organization into law enforcement for ghosts that handle spectral citizens around the world.
Jazz would continue her studies into the understanding of the ghost psyche so she could help balance their obsessions and make better choices for their afterlives.
This future wasn't perfect, with lives being lost on both sides, but it was a bright future regardless.
Clockwork faced the frozen image of Danny once more. Despite the Time master knowing that the future was in good hands, he wished Daniel could have experienced all the things he wanted. But his hands were tied in this matter. Phantom’s death was a fixed point now and since Clockwork had already saved the boy so close to this period in time, any more interference would cause the timeline to collapse. He couldn't save Danny any more than now.
Or could he?
The Time Master’s mind raced through everything he knew as he tried to think of what he could do for Danny at this point. His death was a fixed point, that is true, but that is only in this world. If Danny were to be moved into a different world…. The boy could have a chance at a second life.
Reincarnation has been done before, hundreds of times, and Clockwork was more than powerful enough to instigate this with a person's soul. The main problem with this is that Danny would not be able to return to his own world, his time here is over. So the only solution now was to reincarnate in another world.
Clockwork may be the master of time but he knew someone who could aid him in space.
Bringing up another screen, Clockwork focused on shifting his view to many different worlds that he could send Danny to. Thousands upon thousands of worlds, and Clockwork could not help but find them all interesting for how Danny’s life would be like within them. But he wanted to look for one that would be perfect for this Danny.
So many different dimensions and timelines within those dimensions. Worlds that went to space but were at war, worlds that were stuck in the past with monsters, worlds with incredibly powerful beings but filled with so many problems that there was no way Danny could find lasting happiness.
His eyes instantly caught sight of a world that has alternates of itself. It was an… interesting world, a little strange and had its own problems but overall it was peaceful and full of life. He saw that there were other versions of Danny who were in the other versions of this world and he could see the boy finding happiness. Choosing one of the versions that could work, he chuckled as he saw what his future entailed if he was to be sent here. “Perfect.” He turned to the screen that showed the fallen Halfa. “I am sorry for not being able to save you a second time, Daniel, but I will give you a second chance at life.”
He turned around and held his staff in his hand as he called upon the one who would aid him in this matter. “Infina.”
Deep within a large elegant castle was an extremely beautiful woman who sat on a golden throne
This woman had pure white unblemished skin that had a soft hue of color reflecting her surroundings, and violet eyes that showed wisdom, power, and kindness. She had very long hair colored in blue, aquamarine, violet, and pink set in a rainbow pattern and flowing as if it was perpetually in water. She wore a pure white open-back cocktail dress but exposed a good amount of her well-endowed breasts and the slit of the dress showed that her legs were digitigrade with hooves instead of feet. On her head was a golden tiara that was adorned with purple gems and a large necklace around her neck with the same design but she had no other jewelry on her wrists or hands. A pair of pure white soft wings as large as her body came from her back, a long pointed horn coming from her forehead, poking out of her hair, and on her exposed thigh was an image of a blazing sun.
This was Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, the magical land of ponies.
There were three types of ponies that lived within these lands
Earth ponies, are those with a natural talent with the earth and are able to grow agriculture with ease, break rockets with little effort, and are most commonly known to be the most physically strong compared to the other types of ponies.
Unicorns were the ponies most adept with the magical arts, able to use magic such as telekinesis, conjuration, teleporting, and many other magical feats.
Pegasus or pegasi were known for their ability to fly through the skies at high speeds and were talented in controlling the weather.
But ponies were not the only ones that lived in this world. Griffons, Zebras, Diamond dogs, Buffalos, dragons, and many more different species.
Celestia, though, was none of the previously mentioned ponies. She was an alicorn. A special kind of pony that had the attributes of the others and was far more powerful than any of them could imagine.
And since Alicorns were so powerful, there were very very few in existence.
Celestia gave a quiet sigh as she maintained a stoic expression on her muzzle. She was listening to one of her advisors go about some matters that required her input. Despite her outward expression, deep down, she was sad.
Or rather, she was lonely.
Today, her mood was soured as her mind went to her sister, Luna. Luna was the only one that she could confide in whenever she needed to vent her frustrations. As her sister was one of the only few immortals that existed, they could talk to each other about anything they wanted as they would understand each other and were always there for each other. Yet, there was an incident that led to Celestia having to send Luna away after she had become Nightmare Moon, forcing Celestia to take up the rule of Equestria by herself, raising both her Sun and her sister’s Moon.
And such loneliness was something she could not share with other ponies. They could not understand.
“There is also the matter of fixing the train tracks a few miles south of here. Now, if we want to get them done in a timely manner, we may have to divert taxes for a time till they are ....”
Celestia listened to one of her many advisors, an earth pony, as he went on in a bland voice that almost made Celestia wish she could drop this matter and go to her room to try some of the sweets she stashed away.
“There is also the matter of guard rotation for the castle’s west-”
The advisor was cut off when the doors to the throne room burst open and a pegasus guard rushed in. “Princess Celestia!” He ran to the throne before taking a knee at the proper distance. “There is a matter that needs your attention!”
She instantly sat up straighter and gave her guard her full attention. Unlike her advisors, Celestia’s guards only came to her if a serious matter arose. Matters that required her power. “Rise.” She spoke with authority, causing the guard to stand up from his kneeling position. “What is the emergency?”
The guard stood straight as he reported. “A pack of Timberwolves has been spotted outside of Canterlot. It is assumed that they have established a den in that area.” the gravity of what he was saying could be seen on his muzzle. “Normally this would be something that the guards would handle themselves, but our unicorns have detected high concentrations of magic coming from the same area. Powerful magic.” He soon became worried as he continued. “When we attempted to close in on the den, we were overpowered by the Timberwolves. They are stronger than normal, and it was assumed that something is empowering them.”
That caused Celestia’s eyes to narrow.
Timberwolves were dangerous enough as they were, being practically invulnerable to all forms of attack other than fire. If something was empowering them to the point her unicorns couldn't handle them, they could become a serious threat to her ponies. “Take me to them, immediately.” She stood from her throne, spreading her wings to show that she was taking this seriously. Once she saw the guard turn to fly out of the throne room, she flapped her wings to fly after him.
After five minutes of flight, she found herself outside of Canterlot with a group of her guards at her side. Despite being the princess, she was no stranger to fighting. As they made their way through the forest, she saw a group of unicorns and earth ponies standing at the ready and she could feel the source of magic they must have reported. But it was odd. As she flew closer, she could tell that the magic felt cold. Not as if it was evil but more like she stepped into a snowy landscape with a soft gentle breeze brushing on her face. Once close enough, she landed with her pegasus guards landing behind her. She moved forward to join the unicorns and earth ponies in time to see a group of Timberwolves jump forward to face them. “Betas.” She scanned the pack as she didn't see what she was feeling. “Pegasi, distract the wolves! Earth ponies, when you see a chance, knock the wolves down! Unicorns, once they are down, destroy them with fire!”
Like a well-oiled machine, they followed her orders with the pegasi flying overhead and grabbing the wolves’ attention before the Earth ponies attacked them and knocked them into a pile before the unicorns blasted them with fire. Celestia would aid them if there was a stray wolf attacking one of her ponies, by lifting them into the air and throwing them into the pile.
Celestia stared at the piles of burning wood with a hard expression. She could tell that these Timberwolves were empowered by something as they were faster than normal and seemed to be slightly bigger in size. Not only that, they seemed to continue to move even after they were set on fire, till their bodies could no longer hold and fell apart. But something ran through her mind as she noticed something. “Where is the Alpha?”
No sooner had she said those words, was a large growl heard coming from the tree’s edge.
All the ponies looked toward where the sound came from and saw a large pair of red eyes peering at them. They watched as a large Timberwolf stalked out from the shadows.
The Alpha timberwolf was three times larger than the betas and it was clearly much stronger. It was actually a bit taller than Celestia, who was the largest pony there.
Celestia could feel the power coming off this Timberwolf and she focused on it to find out where this power was coming from. Her eyes landed on its chest and her eyes widened as she saw something, something that shouldn't be there. “Hold!”
All the guards paused as they were about to charge the beast and looked toward their princess as she walked forward to stand in front of them.
One of the guards asked. “Princess?”
She kept her eyes on the Timberwolf as she spoke. “Prepare your magic and wait for my signal.” She focused her magic, causing her horn and eyes to light up as she walked forward. She watched as the timber wolf growled at her before lunging at her. She instantly raised her hand, causing the Alpha to stop midair inches away from her palm. Regardless of how much power a Timberwolf was to receive, it would never be a match for her power. She pulled her palm back before thrusting it forward, sending the wolf flying.
The Alpha rolled on the ground before crashing into a tree. Growling in frustration and pain, he moved to stand once more on its feet and face the pony that threw him.
But Celestia had flown at great speeds toward the wolf and the second it was on its feet, she plunged her hands into its chest, staring into the wolf’s shocked eyes. Getting a grip of what she saw, she flapped her wings hard, yanking out the object causing the wolf to cry out in pain, doing a soft flip in the air as she held the object protectively in her arms, and landed behind her ponies. “Now!”
The Unicorns launched fire magic at the wounded Alpha, causing it to howl in pain as it burned to ash.
The Princess let out a sigh before looking down at the object in her arms. It was a pitch-black object with speckles and spots of white on the top of it. It was about the size of a football and the most shocking thing was that Celestia could feel magic pulsing off of it.
“Princess,” one of the guards called out, grabbing the princess’s attention. “Thank you again for aiding us in this matter. All Timberwolves have been accounted for. And forgive us for disturbing you.”
Celestia gave the guard a smile that seemed to make him blush. “There is no need to thank me. I am your princess and I will always help in any way I can.”
The guard nodded as he cleared his throat to get rid of his blush and was about to turn to the others till he noticed that she was holding something. “Princess, what is that?”
Celestia looked down at the object in her arms as she smiled. “This… is a dragon’s egg.”
Everyone there turned to her as they were surprised to hear this.
After returning to the castle, Celestia called all the castle’s doctors, scribes, and advisors to the throne room with the black dragon egg in her arms.
The egg was placed on a cushioned pedestal with all of those called examining the egg.
Celestia stood a few feet away with worry on her face. After a few minutes, she saw the doctor pick up the egg and smile at her.
“I am happy to say that the egg is in perfect health and has no damage anywhere. Even the shells of dragon eggs are sturdy from what I can see.” the Unicorn doctor said, making Celestia give a sigh of relief. “In fact, I would say that it is ready to hatch. It just needs extreme heat or a spark of magic.” She said as she moved to put into a basket bassinet.
Celestia smiled at that news. “That is a relief.” she turned to her scribes and asked. “What can you tell me about the egg?”
The scribes gathered around the egg, murmuring to themselves as a few of them looked into their books. After a few more minutes, the scribes turned to the princess with one of them speaking up.
“We can conclude that the egg was born not that long ago.” He looked at the egg as he continued. “A few months at best. How it got into the ‘hands’ of the Timberwolves is a mystery. Unfortunately, that is all we can tell you, Princess. The dragons are not very interested in sharing knowledge of their species.” He felt ashamed that he could not give any more information.
Celestia nodded and waved off his shame. “It is quite alright, you have done what I asked, thank you.”
The scribes smiled as a unicorn mare with gray fur, black mane, and green eyes stepped forward. “Um…princess, as we were inspecting the egg, I noticed something.”
Celestia looked to the scribe and gave a small nod for her to continue. “What did you notice?”
The mare hesitantly glanced at the egg before clearing her throat. “While ....while I was scanning it, I found….. I felt magic inside the egg.”
One of the older scribes who did only a preliminary exam scoffed. “Preposterous, dragons are unable to use magic.”
“I felt the same thing.” Celestia’s statement caused them all to turn to her with shocked expressions. “Dragons having magic is very uncommon but it is not impossible either. The Dragon overlord himself can use powerful magic that could rival my own.” That made the shock grow in all of the ponies. “But it has been a very long time since I have heard of a dragon being born with the ability to use magic, let alone seeing one.” She turned her head to the egg and smiled at it.
“Then what should we do with it?” can the inquiry of one of the surprised advisors. “Dragons are extremely dangerous creatures and I believe that it would be best to lock it away or get….rid …. of…” He slowly lost his voice as he saw everyone there staring at him in anger or shock with the doctor standing in front of the egg protectively. But what really got him shaking in his hooves was the glare that he was receiving from the princess.
“Were you just about to suggest that we lock up a baby that has done nothing wrong?” Her voice was calm but all of them could feel the anger radiating from her, causing the pony to almost piss himself. “Leave. Now.”
The stallion ran out of the room so fast that a dust cloud in the shape of his body was left behind.
Celestia let out a sigh as her anger died down. “Anyone else have a better suggestion?” she asked, warning them to not give a suggestion related to the previous one.
One of the other advisors spoke up, being careful with his words. “What if we use the egg in a test at your school, Princess? Hatching a dragon egg is no small feat and the dragon could learn alongside the ponies.”
Celestia liked that idea much more than the previous one, but before she could voice her agreement to that idea, the doctor spoke up.
“I’d advise against that.” She looked at all that gave her attention. “The egg is ready to hatch now . We could wait a few days, a week at most, but any longer than that, and the egg…..will go bad.” the implications were heavy, and told them that the idea wouldn't work. “And if what the princess said about the egg having magic, it would take an extraordinary amount of power to hatch it. Which makes me think a simple fire won't be enough either.”
Celestia gained a thoughtful look at this new piece of information. The dragon egg had a lot of raw power and not many ponies could just force the egg open without hurting the baby. There was only one pony in this castle that could easily hatch the egg. “I’ll hatch it.”
The words shocked everyone in the room as they watched as she picked up the egg from the bassinet and held it in her arms. No one said anything as they saw her horn begin to light up and the egg began to glow the same color as her magic.
Celestia struggled pouring her power into the egg and could see how no normal pony could produce as much magic into the egg to hatch it. There was no way a child from her school would be able to do it. She on the other hand had more than enough power to hatch it. There was a point where it felt that her power was not enough and she channeled more to push past this. Her wings spread out as her whole body lit up in brilliant light.
*crack*
The sound was heard by all in the room as cracks began to crawl around the whole egg. Then, the egg shattered, revealing the baby inside.
In Celestia’s arms was a small baby dragon.
From the looks of it was male. The baby had white scales with black fins running down his back to the tip of his tail and a black underbelly. He had a head of hair that jutted forward and fell over his right eye and two black horns were coming out of it that curved backward almost blending with his hair.
When the baby opened his eyes, Celestia’s heart melted as she gazed into innocent blue eyes. “Hello, Little one, I’m Celestia.”
The baby reached up, touching her muzzle in fascination, with claws too blunted to cut her. He made a baby gurgle as he ran his claws over her muzzle.
“He seems to be healthy.” Was the doctor's observation. “Would you mind if I examine him?”
“Of course.” The Princess gently lowered the baby for the doctor to take.
Only for the baby to start crying.
On instinct, Celestia pulled back the baby, causing him to calm down.
“He seems to have imprinted you as his mother.” One of the scribes said with worry in his voice.
Celestia was shocked to hear this as this was unexpected.
“This isn't good.” the doctor looked up at the princess as she continued. “If we take him away from you, he could become traumatized to the point of not being able to function normally.”
Celestia thought about what she could do now. And the only thing she could think of was. “Then I shall raise him.”
This shocked everyone there with one of them speaking out his worry.
“But, princess, you are the ruler of Equestria! To take care of a child-”
“I have made my choice.” The tone of finality cut off any more arguments. She looked back at the baby with a loving smile.
All who watched her could see that there was no changing her mind. And with the look she was giving the baby, she had fallen in love with the baby as well.
The doctor let out a fond sigh of defeat. Clearing her throat, she spoke to the princess. “He’s going to need a name.”
Celestia looked at the giggling baby in her arms as she thought about what his new name should be. White, black, and blue were his colors. He was found in the dead of night and could barely see him inside the Timberwolf. He was as mysterious and unseen, like a…. “Phantom.” She smiled wider as the baby began to laugh more at the name, clearly liking it. “I will name you Phantom.” she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
The baby enjoyed the kiss as his eyes became drowsy and he gurgled before falling asleep, snuggling into the breast of his mother.
End of chapter
Celestia pouring magic into the egg
This will be a more mature fic compared to my others
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Chapter 2: Celestia's light
Summary:
Danny has been reborn in the world of MLP as a dragon and his arrival has changed the life of the Princess of the sun.
Chapter Text
“Normal Speech”
‘Normal thoughts’
“Power”
-“Singing”-
special/flashback
~locations and transitions~
No Beta Reader
Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny Phantom
Links/image of what celestia looks like playing with baby phantom.
(I most likely will draw a better version of her but the idea will remain the same)
Celestia playing with baby phantom
Chapter 2: Celestia’s light
Celestia was sitting at her desk as she was going over some paperwork that was brought to her early that day. As she finished another piece of work, she put it in the “finished” pile and reached for another one, only to realize that it was the last piece she had. She smiled knowing that she was finished with work for the time being and sat back, letting out a sigh as having her breasts lean on the table gave her some relief but also made the underside a little numb. Now that her mind was free of the work she was doing, her mind went to a special addition to her life.
If you were to ask Celestia if she ever regretted her choice to adopt Phantom, she would immediately tell you: No.
Sure, there were moments that tested her patience and ability to maintain her sanity, but it was completely outshined by all the positives.
Waking up in the middle of the night and hearing him cry was outshined by holding him in her arms and having him cuddle into her as they fell asleep together.
~Flashback 1~
“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
Celestia immediately sat up on her bed at the sound of Phantom starting to cry. She threw off her blankets and ran over to the crib that was a few feet from her bed.
The crib was a gift from one of the ponies that already had a child that grew up. She was grateful for the gift and said that she would repay the pony when she could.
The answer she got for that was that she didn't have to since having her being a just ruler was payment enough and helping the princess in this way could be seen as repayment, yet nowhere close to worthy of all she had done.
Celestia picked the tiny dragon into her arms. “What is it, little Phantom? What do you need of me?” She began to rock the baby in order to calm him down. She saw him start to calm down but still had tears in his eyes. It almost looked like he had seen something terrifying and she wondered what it might have been. ‘Could it be that he had a nightmare? At such a young age? I would not think he had progressed enough to have those, though I do not know much about this matter.’ She saw him look up at her as if asking her to banish away the thing that caused him fear. She cupped his face with her fingers as he was so tiny in her arms, and wiped away his tears with the tip of her thumb. “If my sister were here, she would have been able to wash away your nightmares with ease. I do not have such a power so I cannot do it her way.” She held him tighter as he gripped her pink negligee. Thinking of something that she was told, she moved him so that his head was on her left breast and able to hear her heartbeat. She began to hum gently as she moved over to her bed and sat down. Seeing that he was easing up a bit more, she opened her mouth as the words of her heart reached her lips.
(play: “You’ll be in My Heart” by Phill Collins)
-“Come stop your crying, it’ll be alright~. Just take my hand, ho~ld it tight~” -
She began to sing as she brought her finger in front of him and had him grip it.
Despite the soft tone she used to sing the song, the words gently echoed through the halls, catching the ears of all that were still awake.
Ponyguards recognized the voice of their princess and smiled as they could feel the amount of love she put into the song.
A few unicorns that were in the library lowered the books they were reading and closed their eyes to listen to the soft tune.
The guards outside of the room looked at each other with a smile before looking ahead and continued to guard the royal bedroom. They would dare not make a sound as they did not want to disturb her.
Even if their princess had not already given the orders to not enter unless she called them, in fear of waking up Phantom, they did not want to ruin such a moment for Celestia.
As the song was coming to an end, she saw that he had closed his eyes in order to sleep. She smiled at the sight and was about to take him back to the crib, only to give a silent yelp at a sensation she felt on her chest. She looked down to see Phantom suckling on her nipple. It seems that in his snuggling, her negligee and bra had been lowered to allow him access to her nipple and began to suck on it. She sighed as she sat back down on her bed and slowly laid back, allowing her wings to spread on her bed. She laid on her back as she watched him suck on her breast, getting a late-night snack. She then winced when he bit harder on her nipple and she had to take a breath to stay silent as he continued to feed in his sleep.
She couldn't help but enjoy this and closed her eyes to join him in the peace of sleep.
~Flashback 1 End~
Such moments ended up being a daily thing afterwards and she rather enjoyed the company at night.
Then there were moments where she had to take him with her.
Not having anyone to watch him when she had to deal with meetings and important yet boring discussions, were moments she enjoyed when she brought him with her and he would try and get her attention by waving his little arms in front of her face since he would always sit in her lap. She would still pay attention to the meeting, but she had something to keep her from being bored as her advisors seemed to make it their mission to bore her with how dull their voices were.
~Flashback 2~
Celestia was sitting on her throne as this was the time when she would listen to her advisors or any pony that made an appointment to have an audience with her. The pony that was reading off a scroll was speaking in such a droll tone that made her begin to think that all those who were assigned advisor rolls were trained in a way that allowed them to speak with the enthusiasm of the dead.
“....the distribution of cyder had been only at 70% before we were able to repair the tracks but now that we have it back to its original state, it has increased to 85%. The reason we were not able to regain 100% is due to the backlog of products and not being able to see them all at the time. What was suggested is…..”
Celestia continued to listen to him drone on, maintaining her stoic visage, but it seemed that she was the only one who was doing so.
“Bah.”
Celestia shifted her eyes down to see Phantom looking up at her with his big blue eyes. She gave a small smile at him before looking back at the advisor.
“Bah!”
Celestia continued to look at the advisor but couldn't stop her smile from growing as Phantom stood up from her lap, using his tail as a third leg to stay upright, and began to wave his hands to get her attention. She brought her hand up to place on his head to calm him down, but it seemed that he wanted more.
Phantom puffed out his cheeks before he wobbled forward, since her legs were not as stable as the ground, and began to climb up, using her dress as a foothold.
Celstai couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he climbed up onto her breasts before she picked him up and held him in the air. “Must you really want my attention all the time?” She may have been trying to reprimand him, but her voice was void of any real weight to them as she was still smiling at him as he giggled and held out his claws to her.
“Forgive me, but should we continue this at another time?” The advisor looked away from his scroll as he watched their princess slowly raise and lower the new dragon prince. After the incident with the scribe saying that they should lock away the egg, it was suggested to never say anything that could get in the way of the two. And with how more and more attached the two were getting as the days went by, that rule became more prominent.
Celestia raised Phantom into the air once more as she softly laughed at his giggling. “No, it is alright. I believe the best thing we can do is to spread out the distribution. I believe we can have the cyder be sold in some of the other shops for a limited time so that we can have the products sold along with other eateries. Perhaps in bakeries and some specified restaurants. We only need to do this until we have removed the extra stock, then we can have the normal methods continue from there.”
The advisor was a bit surprised that she had heard his whole issue with the overstock and came up with a usable solution. Not only for the cyder but for other products that they may find overstocked as well. He had assumed that she may have stopped listening midway when the small baby dragon began to want her attention. But it seems that she can give her attention to the dragon and still listen to what is going on around her. “That would be perfect. I can send a notice to the farm so they can give their opinion on what shops they would allow to hold their stock for a time.”
Celestia nodded before she brought up Phantom and kissed him on the cheek, getting him to laugh before he tried to mimic her action.
~Flashback 2 end~
Now it was a given that he would be with her during those events and she would still be able to listen to her ponies.
Though whenever he couldn't be with her during those times, she would get the occasional question about where he was. Almost like it was out of the ordinary if he wasn't around.
This is not to say that he didn't cause his fair share of trouble to others. Such as the moment they discovered his enjoyment of gems.
~Flashback 3~
Another meeting was taking place, this time in a council room with all of the ponies sitting at a large table with Celestia at the head. The matter was more important and needed to only be heard by the people inside this room, not in the public audience chamber.
Celestia was focused on the reports that they were giving as she needed to focus on all the details. The Timberwolves were once again moving around and they needed to make sure that the den they made was not in a spot that could lead to dangers later on.
Phantom was once again with her but he was bored. His mother wasn't paying attention to him but the look she had on her face made him realize that he shouldn't bother her. He had been curled up on her lap as he tried to take a nap but he just couldn't find himself sleeping. He kept shuffling on her lap till he laid on his back. Shifting back and forth to get comfortable on his back so that his spines weren’t in pain, he looked up and noticed something. Peeking past her breast was something shiny. “Buu?” wondering what it was, he shifted to his tummy while keeping his eyes on the shiny thing. Wanting to know what it was, he began to crawl up the side of his mother and up toward the shiny thing.
Celestia could feel Phantom climbing up her side and wondered what it was he was doing. He hadn't tried to get her attention so she didn't notice him moving until she felt him start to climb on her wings. She had assumed that he would have slept through the meeting since he seemed to understand that this was serious. She winced and pulled her head back a smidge as she felt him use her ear to climb up to the top of her head. She looked to the side to see his tail disappear behind her mane. She felt him sit on top of her head and figured that as long as he stayed there, it would be alright. But if at any moment, she felt him start to fall, she would react. Focusing back on the pony, she continued to listen to how the Timberwolves were seen south of the castle yet moving down the mountain, she made a mental note to have a squad head over to cut them off before they reached Ponyville.
But suddenly, the pony froze and stared at her with a dumbfounded look on his muzzle. She raised an eyebrow at how he had stopped mid-sentence and looked at her as if she had gained another head. She then saw that the other ponies in the room began to look at her and gained the same look. She was about to ask what was the issue till she froze at a sensation on her head. She felt something dripping on her head and immediately reached up to grab Phantom off her head. She herself was stunned by the sight of him and what he had in her hands.
Phantom had her crown in his claws and was biting on it so that the gem that was in the center of the crown was part way in his mouth.
Phantom had made it to the shiny thing that he had seen and saw it was the weird thing that his mom usually wore on her head. He had seen it before but for some reason, he was really interested in it today. He frowned at seeing it as he thought it was something new and interesting. He was about to just lay down since he was already up here and didn't want to climb down, till his eyes landed on the purple thing that was in the center of it. His eyes shimmered in intrigue as he began to reach out for it, he got closer to it and eyed the thing. Once close enough, his forked tongue came out and licked the purple thing and his eyes sparkled in joy. Without a thought, he glomped on it and bit down on the top of the crown to try and eat it. With his mouth being too small and lacking a full set of teeth, his drool went down the crown and onto Celestia’s head. He ignored that as he continued to try and eat the very tasty thing she had.
Celestia stared at the baby dragon with a raised eyebrow as she saw him gum her crown. Her mind tried to come up with a reason for it till she remembered reading about how Dominant dragons had a taste for gems or jewels.
Dominant dragons can be considered the slightly more evolved version of the species, capable of walking, talking, and more cognitive reasoning compared to the Primal dragons. They have their own society that mirrors those of the ponies yet there is still an aggressive feel to the way their society lives.
Primal dragons are more animalistic in that they do not act like other races. As the name implies, they continue to walk as dragons of old, on all fours, and are more aggressive toward those of other races. They are still able to speak but their voices tend to be guttural and sound more like they are growling at you rather than speaking to you.
Despite how all dragons are born with the ability to stand upright, when they reach a certain age, they undergo a sort of metamorphosis where their dragon instincts take over and they begin to hoard items, whether it is their stuff or not. Depending on their upbringing, they could either remain in such a mindset; making them stay as Primal Dragons, or overcome it; making them dominant dragons.
It is also researched that it is more likely for a dragon to become a Primal Dragon if they are raised in the Savage lands as it is a rough environment with a survival of the fittest sort of mindset.
And if a dragon is raised in a more peaceful, civilized environment, they are more likely to become Dominant dragons.
As for gems, Primal dragons find the need to hoard treasures, piling them up as high as they can, finding or stealing them from other locations, and disregarding if they belonged to others.
Dominant dragons, on the other hand, have a different appreciation for treasures. They understand the value of coin and are more willing to part with any treasure in order to conduct trade with other races. Gems though, are like a delicacy to them and they would rather eat the gems than part with it. Like the ultimate sweet that they can't resist.
It is even rumored that if a Dominant Dragon is to give away a gem that they find to be the most valuable to another, it is the equivalent of a proposal, stating that the person is more valuable to them than the gem.
This behavior from Phantom made it seem that he has more of a Dominant Dragon’s mindset, which was the only reason he would be chomping down on the gem on her crown. ‘To have such a craving at such a young age.’ Wanting to move things along and not want him to eat her crown, she put him down on the table and began to gently pull the crown away from him.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't let go.
“Please let go, Phantom.” She gently tugged on it but he would keep his grip and mouth on it.
Phantom gripped harder on the crown and slobbered more. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to win against her in this, he began to chomp on the crown but didn't get much leeway on it, only getting a few small clinks for his trouble.
Celestia frowned at it as she tugged a bit harder and gave a slightly harsher tone. “Phantom.”
The tone actually made him jump and he bit down harder on reflex, causing the gem to crack.
*crack*
The sound caused all of the other ponies to jump in panic at the sound and were able to see the crack in the gem.
One of the ponies even fainted as Phantom had just damaged a symbol of power.
The sound made Phantom lose all fight in him and he sadly unwrapped himself from the crown.
Celestia pulled the crown away from him, lifted it up to examine the gem in the center, and frowned at how it was now damaged. She looked down at Phantom and saw him curl his tail around himself and shrunk in on himself. He looked utterly guilty at his action. “Phantom, do you realize what you have done?”
Phantom shrunk down even more and laid on his tummy as he covered his eyes with his claws.
The sight made Celestia’s heart melt as she did not like to see him in such a manner. Not only that, he was still only a baby, not even capable of speech yet. Which is a given since he is only a few months old. She let out a sigh as she could not punish him for the fault of his instincts. Her frown dropped and let out a sigh before she put the crown down and picked him up. She brought him up and held him in her arms as he began to sniffle.
He turned in her arms to hug her breast before looking up with a look of regret, clearly asking for forgiveness.
Celestia couldn't help but find him to be more intelligent as he already knew he had done something bad and was asking to be forgiven. She smiled at him before she wiped away his tears with her thumb. Feeling a need to appease him, she looked back to the crown before she reached out to it. She gripped a piece of the gem and ripped it off.
The pony that fainted had gotten up from the floor as he held himself up by his chair. Seeing her rip off a piece of the crown caused him to fall to the floor once more.
She held the piece up to him and he looked at it in interest.
He reached out with his claws and looked up at her as if asking for permission. Seeing her smile, he grabbed the piece into his claws before he brought it to his mouth and began to suck on it as if it was a binky.
The pony on the ground got up once more before plopping his head onto the table. His eyes refocused on the princess and saw the baby dragon using one of the royal gems as if it were a baby toy. His eyes rolled to the back of his head before he collapsed once more.
He was followed by a few more that could not take the sight anymore.
~Flashback 3 end~
Ever since then, she made an order to have gems of the best quality to be cut up into small pieces and delivered to her. She had the finances to buy them and it isn't like she gave him one every day. They were more like treats for him when he did something really good.
Phantom had brought a new light in her life with all the things she had learned from having him and what she had taught him. Not only that but it had banished a certain feeling she had been dealing with for so long.
She was no longer lonely.
Celestia smiled as she thought of Phantom. Not only that but her mind went to how he affected others. Such as-
*knock knock knock*
Celestia looked from the papers she was looking over and called out to the door. “You may come in.”
The door opened to show it to be one of her scribes, who looked nervous as if he had done something wrong. He was a pony that had brown fur, a disheveled tan mane and tail, and was wearing a gray dress shirt and black pants. “Excuse me, I am sorry to disturb you, Princess, but I wanted to ask…. If you have seen….. Prince Phantom?”
Celestia eyed the pony blankly. After a minute, she leaned forward, her breasts leaning on the table again before she spoke. “Are you to say that you have lost sight of Phantom when you were supposed to be responsible for him?”
The pony felt nervous at the tone she was giving him and he began to shuffle his hooves while twiddling his fingers. “I….I-I only took my eyes off him for a second and he disappeared! He simply vanished from my sight!” He gulped as he continued to give the reason he had lost sight of the little prince. “I-I am still in the process of looking for him but no one has seen him around the halls, library, or…..” He felt even smaller as the princess continued to stare into his eyes. Not being able to stand the look of disappointment given to him anymore, he screamed. “I’LLKEEPLOOKING!” He bolted from the room so fast that the door slammed shut from the wind.
The room was silent as Celestia stared at the door.
“.....is he gone?”
Celestia smiled as she nodded. “Yes, he is gone.”
Poking from under her breasts, popped the head of a young dragon who plopped his chin on the desk with Celestia’s breast weighing down on his head. He eyed the door for a few seconds before he let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”
Celestia leaned back before she reached for him on her lap before she held him in the air.
The dragon boy had grown in the last ten years but he was still small. He was wearing a white dress shirt with a royal blue vest that had gold lining and black pants that had a hole for his tail to go through. On the back of his vest was the symbol of her cutie mark, something he wanted. He said he wanted a mark like hers somewhere and even had tried to paint a sloppy imitation on his leg.
The little one couldn't get it on his hip.
And so, she had her cutie mark symbol embroidered on not only his vest but on a few other things he asked for.
Celestia smiled at Phantom as he dangled in her arms. “Why must you continue to escape from your lessons? You know that it is important for you to learn from your teachers.”
Phantom flopped his head back as he moaned. “But it's soooooo boring~. Droning Tone talks like he isn't trying to teach me but bore me to deaf.”
Celestia chuckled at his misuse of words. Choosing not to correct him on that, she leaned back and sat him on her lap before she began to run her hand through his hair. “I know that the way he speaks can be a little dull-” She looked down to see him give her an incredulous look. “-but he is the most well-educated pony that we have in the castle.”
“Nuh-uh!” Phantom threw his arms in the air as if he was offended by her statement. “You’re the most well-edumacated there is!” He looked her in the eye with such determination that you would be hard-pressed to deny his point. But since he was still a child, his determined look was still cute.
Celestia had to hold her tongue as he had once again mangled his words. Something he does when he gets over-excited and tries to argue a point. She hugged him into her breasts and placed a kiss in between his horns. “Thank you, little Phantom, and despite how that might be true, I do not have the spare time to be your instructor in everything.”
Phantom stuck his forked tongue out in annoyance as he crossed in a pout. “Mm should have.”
Celestia smiled at his pouting form before looking at the clock. Seeing that there was a lot of time before her next audience with her council, she figured there would be something that would cheer him up. “Well, since you are so adamant about having me teach you, how about we have a lesson outside? What do you say?”
Danny perked up at hearing how she was going to teach him again. Jumping out of her grip and onto the floor, he grabbed the bottom of her dress and began to tug on it. “Come on, come on! Let’s go!” He turned around with her dress still in his claws and began to drag her with him.
At least, he tried to.
All he ended up doing was having his feet slide on the smooth marble flooring with Celestia still sitting down. Which made sense since he barely reached halfway up her calf.
Celestia watched him for a few seconds with a smile on her face before she stood at her impressive height, picked him up, and held him in her arms with his cheek pressed into her chest. “Alright, Phantom, let's go.”
Phantom cheered as they were now on their way. “Yeah!” He rested his head on her chest as he could hear her heartbeat. After a few steps, he looked up with an inquisitive expression. “Hey, mom?”
“Hmm?”
“What does ‘ababament’ mean?”
Celestia chuckled at the question. “It means ‘eager’, and it is pronounced ‘adamant’.” She pressed her finger onto his nose as she said. “This is one of the reasons you should pay attention to your lessons.” She chuckled once more when he crossed his arms and pouted once more.
~Unicorn Training yard~
Celestia and Phantom were outside sitting in the center of the stone courtyard meant for unicorns to practice their magic.
Within the castle were several courtyards meant for training, with each set up for specific ponies and their talents.
One set was for earth ponies to practice with weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, or physical training. On one side of the training field was a set of wooden weapons so that they could practice their forms in spears, swords, maces, bows, and a few secondary choices. In the center of the field was an arena drawn in the dirt with white paint for the ponies to have spars. In the northeast corner was an area with weights to train in strength or speed. On the west side was a set of practice dummies with targets on them. In the southwest corner was a facility where medical and security unicorns were always on standby in case someone was hurt or a fight needed to be stopped before it got out of hand.
Another practice field set was meant for pegasi. These were the largest of the fields, not because they had more importance, but because it was set up with the pegasi in mind. It had an aerial obstacle track for them to practice their maneuverability as there were hoops, walls, and swinging pendulums. Should there be a need for them to practice for battle, they are able to set up dummies or targets through the obstacle course so they can practice their archery or spear throws. And like the Earth pony field, there are always medical unicorns at the ready in case one of them crashes too hard.
The fields for unicorns were set up for them to practice their magic with wide open areas set up with practice targets. Thesis practice fields were set up with stone so that if any wayward spell were to hit the walls or grounds, they would be able to handle the destructive power the spells could produce. One special thing about the unicorn fields was that there was an area on the northeast side that was close to being a miniature park in case the ponies needed to either read up on a spell they wanted to practice or if they needed to meditate in order to focus their magic pools. Around this small area was a barrier that a group of unicorns focused on so that no spell could affect or damage it. But unlike the other two, there are times when the field would be unusable as the unicorns that are meant to set up a barrier around the field and miniature park needed to take a break so that they do not overexert themselves. During those times, the unicorns would usually head to the library which was on the other side of the castle, since explosions and impact shaking could throw the books off the shelves if it was too close.
Celestia and Phantom were using the Unicorn field during the break time since they would only be practicing magical focus.
“Breath in through your nose and let it out your mouth as you focus on your center.” Celestia instructed Phantom, who sat in front of her with his eyes closed, to try to focus on the magic within him. They were trying to get him to access his magic consciously so he would be able to control it. Despite how she could feel great magical potential within him, if he could not control it, he could be a danger to himself and all those around him. She nodded as she saw him do as she asked. She smiled as he was sitting as still as he could, with his tail staying still as well. She spoke in a gentle voice so as not to disrupt his focus. “Good, good. Feel the magic within your center and follow the feeling go throughout your body.” She focused her senses on his magic and could feel how it was pulsing through his body. “Can you feel it?” She saw him slowly nod. “Tell me, can you explain how it feels?”
Phantom focused on the feeling he could feel flowing through his body and tried to understand how it felt. He wasn't sure how he could explain it so he imagined himself trying to grab onto the magic with his hands. His mind conjured up a massive orb above him as he stood there looking up at it. His imagination pictured him jumping up to it and grabbing some of the transparent wisps that were coming off the orb only to fall back to the ground with some of the wisp flowing through his fingers before returning to the orb. He wasn't sure how to describe it but he did his best as his imaginary construct rubbed his fingers. “It…… feels like…..cold air. Like …. When it was snowing and I tried to catch some of the snowflakes…..only to trip into a snow pile and make a snow phoenix.”
Celestia smiled at the memory since it was humorous to see the young dragon jumping in the air trying to catch the falling flakes before he tripped on his tail and fell face-first into a pile of snow. She ran up to him to ask if he was ok, only to see him begin to wave his arms and legs up and down before popping out of the snow with his face covered in the white powder and smiled up at her and said; “Look, mom, a Snow Phoenix”!
She came back to the task and continued her instruction. “Good, now-” She leaned closer to him and gently held his hands in her own. She ran her thumbs into his palms to open them up and moved them to face each other, a few inches apart. “Imagine that wind to flow the way you want it to. Try to flow it through your hands and into the space between your hands.” She still held his hands to help him in this task.
Phantom did as told and tried to manipulate the magic within him to his hands. His imagination came up with him holding a large fan, blowing the wind in the direction he wanted.
Celestia could feel his magic pulse into his hands before a small orb began to flicker in the space between his hands. She watched in interest as his magic continued to pulse, growing and shrinking in size from the size of a golf ball to the size of a marble and vice versa. She could feel more power being channeled into the orb and looked at his face to see that he was starting to strain. “Easy, Phantom, you do not need to force it.” wanting some clarification on how he is manipulating his magic, she asked. “How are you moving the magic from your center to your hands”
Phantom furrowed his eyebrows as he tilted his head to her while keeping his eyes closed. “I think of swinging a large fan to make the wind go in the way to my hands.”
Celestia nodded as she came up with why he was straining. “And you are swinging it harder to make more of the wind flow, right?” She frowned when she saw him nod. “That is why you are straining to move your magic.” Thinking of a way for him to better understand, she instructed. “Try to imagine the wind itself blowing left. Can you do that?” She smiled when she saw his face ease up before he nodded. “Good, now imagine that wind blowing right.” Seeing him nod again, she continued. “Now left.” He nodded. “Right.” Another nod. “Left.” A nod. “Right.” She had to hold in her laughter when she saw him start to tilt his head in the directions she was giving him. She noticed that his horns began to light up in the direction she gave. When she instructed left, his left horn would begin to glow blue. When she instructed right, his right horn would glow green. She was curious about why he had two colors in his magic but she couldn't feel anything wrong with it so she chose to investigate it later. “Good, now-” she brought her hands to the side of his head. “-imagine your magic flowing from-” She ran her hand from his head to the center of his chest. “-Your center-” She ran her fingers from his chest to his shoulders. “Up to your shoulders-” She ran her hands to his arms before wrapping her fingers around them and slowly moving her hands down his arms. “Down through your arms-.” She then cupped her hands around his own, making them form a cup. “To your hands…….. And make that orb of magic once more.”
Phantom did as he was told and imagined the wind to blow in the direction he figured his hands were.
Celestia could feel that his magic was no longer pulsing, now it was flowing more easily. Her eyes focused on the space between his hands and could see a small orb begin to grow. The orb grew smoothly and soon was the size of a small ball. “Ok, Phantom, now try and maintain the flow without putting too much into the space.” She saw that the orb kept its shape with it growing and shrinking ever so slightly. “Now keep it up for as long as you can. This will help you learn to control your magic flow. Soon, with enough practice, it will become second nature.”
For the next few hours, they sat there as Phantom continued to do this practice. He would occasionally put too much magic into it and it would burst, sending him rolling on the ground. He was never really hurt, just dizzy from the rolling but Celestia would be worried for his well-being, only for him to smile at her and get back to it. He was very excited about this since this was the first time he had been able to access his magic. Now that he could access it, he wanted to control it so that they could get to spellcasting.
Though Celestia will avoid anything far too dangerous for him.
She was now sitting a few feet away from him, reading a book but still aware of anything he might do. She turned the page of her book before pausing as she felt that his magic reserves were nearing their end. It was impressive for someone so young to have lasted this long. She closed her book, got up, and walked over to the young dragon. She paused at the sight of the young dragon as she could have sworn for a split second, his scales shimmered a different color. But it disappeared when she blinked. ‘Another thing I must investigate.’ Pushing that thought aside, she moved closer and spoke. “Phantom, I believe it is time for us to call it a day.”
Phantom opened his eyes and looked up with a frown. “But I can still keep going.”
Celestia shook her head. “No, your magic reserves are close to depleting, and we still have to appear for the next few ponies that will arrive in the audience chamber.”
Phantom frowned as he pulled his magic back and stood up. It was then that he realized how tired he felt since the second he got to his feet, he felt like falling back down as he felt drained. He shook his head before he took a breath, feeling better.
“Now do you see why we should call it a day?” She picked him up and began to carry him back to the castle. “Since you did such a good job, how about we go stargazing tonight?”
Phantom’s tiredness was quickly forgotten at the mention of stargazing. “Yeah!”
Celestia smiled at his excitement. Something to look forward to, but first; meetings.
Celestia was once again in the throne room, listening to her ponies as they brought up ideas, updates, and grievances. To her right was another throne, much smaller so that Phantom could sit on it. She decided to have him be part of these audiences so that he could learn how these go and for him to be part of it. Both Celestia and Phantom were not listening to the pony with serene smiles on their faces so that no one there would feel rushed or meek.
The pony that was speaking to them was explaining how there was an issue with his sales and asking for advice on what he could do to address this.
They had to handle these smaller matters as well, but it at least meant that things were peaceful.
Once the pony finished his inquiry, Celestia intertwined her fingers as she thought about the best piece of advice to give. She sat there for a minute and was about to give advice until Phantom spoke up first.
“Well, with how your stall is at the marketplace, there would be a supel-surple- Surplus! after the day ends. Maybe you can have your stall placed more closer to the shopping center so ponies might want to choose your stall rather than going to the marketplace.
Celestia smiled at him before nodding in agreement. “I believe that Phantom’s advice would be the best way to find more sales for your stall. Ponies that finish shopping would potentially feel peckish and instead of heading over to the marketplace, they may go to your stall. With word of mouth that goes around, your stall would get a good amount of customers.” She paused as she saw some of the other ponies that were waiting for their turn making notes about what was heard. Knowing how this strategy might be a bit overblown, she spoke up in a louder voice so that the others could hear it as well. “But with how this might be used by others, I believe that if we begin to use this, we should have a registration of spots to use temporarily so that the shopping center may not become another marketplace.
Phantom had to hold his laughter as he saw a bunch of the other ponies slump at how they would need to register to use the method.
The two continued to listen to their ponies on their matters with Phantom giving advice when he had something.
This always made Celestia smile as he was giving advice that benefits multiple ponies in ways she may not have thought of herself. Or maybe she is just doting on his ideas a bit and the ponies tend to like how he gives advice in a childish manner with him still working on saying words with multiple syllables.
As time continued, Phantom looked more excited about the passing of time.
Celestia knew why since once this was over, he would get to do what he enjoyed doing.
~that night~
“Leo……Leo Minor…….. Ursa Major…….Ursa Minor…. Draco, and Camelopardalis!”
Celestia smiled at how excited Phantom was every time he pointed out one of the constellations that were in the sky. She would look in the direction he pointed and could see the shape of the star configuration he called out. Seeing them made her smile sadly inside as these formations of stars were something that her sister had done. Luna was the more artistic of the two
Phantom had a star book in his hand with a checklist of constellations. He looked down at the book before he filled in the boxes of the ones he found. Once he checked them, he moved over the telescope in order to find more.
Celestia let out a sigh as she had a memory flash through her mind with every single constellation she could see.
Memories of Luna and how she spent time rearranging the stars to be a sort of show for the ponies that enjoy the night. The thought made her heart ache as very few ponies enjoyed Luna’s hard work, yet now, here sat two of her most dedicated audience.
“Hey, Mom.”
Celestia was brought out of her thoughts and looked at Phantom, who was looking up at the sky.
Phantom pointed up at the sky as he asked. “Why is there a picture of a mare on the moon?”
Celestia closed her eyes and took in a breath as she followed his claw pointing into the sky.
In the sky was the beautiful moon, giving off its elegant glow to the earth below. And there, on the surface of the moon was an image of a mare, curled into a fetal position with her hair flowing to the edge of the white orb in the sky.
Taking a breath, she moved closer to Phantom and picked him up before placing him on her lap. “There is a story to that. Would you like to hear it?” She saw him nod to her before looking up at the moon. “Long ago, before anyone could remember, there existed two sisters both loved by ponies everywhere as they were. One sister was one of the light while the other was one in the dark, but don't let that give you the impression that the sister in the dark to be evil. She was kind to all around her and would not wish harm to anyone. For ages, they watched over all around them as best they could but as time passed, there was an evil that crept up on one of them. Being the mare of the dark, many began to ignore her and pay attention more to the mare of the light. This made the mare of the dark jealous as she did not receive the love she deserved and soon that jealousy corrupted her, reshaping her into one who would not hesitate to hurt others. Not wanting the people to hate her, the mare of light chose to seal away the dark mare in the moon.” She had begun to run her hand through his hair as it was a comfort for her as she never took her eyes off the moon. “She had hoped that when the dark mare was released, the jealousy that gripped her would be extinguished and be free to be the loving mare she used to be.”
Phantom was entranced by the story and could not help but feel sad for the mare of darkness. To not be loved to the point of growing jealous and wanting to hurt others. “I hope she did get better and was able to see each other again.”
Celestia smiled as she nodded. “Yes, I believe they will.” The two continued to stare at the moon as she thought to herself. ‘A few more years, Luna. I hope to find those to bear the elements to their full extent to free you of your curse.’ She looked down at Phantom and smiled. ‘And I’m sure you will love Phantom and how he adores your star-filled nights.’
Meanwhile, in the hall of the castle, the scribe from earlier was still searching for Prince Phantom but still had no luck. “If I don't find Prince Phantom. Princess Celestia will never forgive me!” He looked around before running down the hall in search of the young white and black dragon.
End of chapter
Well, this chapter is the start of the child arc and shows that Danny is growing up nicely and the bond between him and Celestia.
This arc will be a couple chapters long so you will see a lot of world building and child Danny
Speaking of, I want to clarify (just in case) that everyone is anthropomorphic but I have it so for ponies, they have hooves for feet but still have hands and fingers. The reason I am doing it this way is because I feel that if I gave them hands and feet with their pony heads…… They just seem like humans with animal heads and a tail. So I balanced it out a bit more.
Currently working on Danny’s dragon look. Getting the shape of his head is a little difficult since there are so many different types of dragon heads. I kinda want to distinguish him from Spike.
Also working on Twilight Sparkle’s look so she doesn't look like EQ’s Twilight. I had a bit of an issue with their look so I am changing it a bit
Hope you look forward to the next chapter
Flames will be ignored.
Criticism is accepted
Ideas are taken into account and considered
Positive reviews are appreciated
Favs and Follows are motivation
And your enjoyment in reading this is the goal
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Chapter 3: A Setting Sun
Summary:
A typical day for Danny and Celestia,
But this day is about to become something special
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Normal Speech”
‘Normal thoughts’
“Power”
“- Singing-”
special/flashback
~locations and transitions~
No Beta Reader
Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny Phantom
I am not 100% on this chapter but I did my best and I hope you like it
Chapter 3: A Setting Sun
Soft breathing could be heard inside the royal bedroom as the soft light of the moon shown through the window. Laying on the large bed were Celestia and Phantom as they held each other in their arms.
Phantom’s tail twitched as his consciousness started to return. He silently groaned as he snuggled more into Celestia’s breasts, much too comfortable to even want to wake up. He peaked through one of his eyes to see that once again, her negligee and bra had slid down, exposing her nipple. His ears picked up the soft breathing of his mother and he could feel her exhale tuffle his hair. He slowly tilted his head up to look at the wall clock and saw that it was 5:45 AM. He whined before he shoved his face into her breasts, snuggling more into her as her body was soft with her breasts being comfortable pillows. He hoped that she didn't wake up so they could just sleep in more.
Unfortunately, her internal clock got her to wake up at 5:50 and her eyes slowly opened, and felt Phantom grip her negligee ever so tighter. She smiled as she knew that he had woken up already and just wanted to sleep in.
Ever since they had started to sleep together, he had been waking up with her, so he would wake up before the sun rose with her. Having to wake up at a specific time in order to lower the moon and raise the sun doesn't really give them much of an opportunity to sleep in.
She smiled at the little dragon before placing a kiss in between his horns. “Good Morning, Phantom.”
“Hrrrrrnnnnn. Do we have to get up? Can't we stay in bed?” Came his muffled whine, which was not new to either of them.
Celestia let out a fond smile as she gently tapped his back. “You know that we can't do that. If we sleep in, the sun will not rise and will ruin everyone else's day as they lose track of time.”
Phantom groaned once more as he pushed himself away from her. “They have clocks.” Now that it was clear that they wouldn't be sleeping anymore, he yawned, letting out a small squeak and showing off his fangs.
Celestia smiled at how cute he was before she herself sat up and moved off the bed. Once she was standing, her negligee and bra fell to the ground, causing her to frown. She let out a sigh as she picked them up and held them in her hand. She turned to the little dragon that was still on the bed as she held up the pieces of clothing. “It seems your claws have sharpened once more. We are going to have to file them again so that they are not as sharp.”
Phantom groaned as he looked at the pieces of cloth in her hand as she stood there wearing only her panties. “Again~?” He hated having his claws dulled as they felt tingly every time they were being filed. He knew they had to be so that he didn't cut anyone but he still didn't like it. Not to mention that she tells him that thanks to her figure, she has to get custom-made bras and they cost more.
Celestia leaned down, causing her breasts to bounce, and gently placed her hand on his head as she knew that he didn't like it. “We don't have to do it today, but please be careful, ok?” Seeing him nod, she placed her negligee and bra on the bed before taking a few steps back. Once with enough room, she stretched her arms and wings in the air, not caring about how exposed she was. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her since they were in the royal bedroom, which was in one of the towers and the guards will not enter unless called to do so. The only one that could see her like this was Phantom. Once she felt she had stretched her muscles enough, she lowered her arms and flapped her wings, causing a small bit of wind to blow in the room.
Phantom closed his eyes as the wind blew on his face. He was close to falling asleep with his eyes closed but he knew that he couldn't. He moved to the edge of the bed before lowering himself. He hung off the edge for a second before dropping to the ground.
Celestia turned her head to the bathroom door as her horn lit up, opened the door, and levitated her bathrobe to her hand. She walked toward the balcony door as she put on the robe, making sure that her tail would be in the tail slit. She opened the door and stood there on the balcony before looking up at the moon. She saw the image on it and let out a sad sigh.
“Mom, are you ok?”
Celestia looked down to see the big eyes of Phantom looking up at her. She smiled before she bent down, picked him up, and placed him in a sitting position on her arm. “Yes, I just have some things on my mind.” She looked up at the moon as her horn lit up before she lifted her hand toward the celestial body before she began to lower it.
As she did this, Phantom looked up at her eyes. He could see that something was bothering her and he wanted to ask what the problem was but he was afraid of causing her to feel more sad. That was something he did not want. He wanted to make her happy.
Celestia finished her duty, not bothered by the almost immediate change in light. Once her morning task was done, she walked back into her room, with Phantom still in her arms. “Now that we finished that, let us get ready for the day.”
Phantom nodded, looking to his left as she walked past the bed. “Bye-bye, bed! See you later!”
Celestia smiled as she walked into the washroom.
Celestia lowered herself as she let out a long content sigh, feeling the warm water of the bath soak her body.
The royal bathroom was massive, with an almost pool-sized tub on the far end left of the doorway, with a large shower thirty feet in circumference to accommodate Celestia’s wingspan, set with glass walls separating it. Ten feet from in front of the door was a double sink made for a woman her size and a mirror to scale. From the right of the door was the toilet that was closed off by another door for privacy in front of the toilet was a massive walk-in closet for both Celestia and Phantom.
Celestia smiled as she spread her wings and leaned her back on the edge of the tub, feeling the water warm up her feathers and fur. ‘A wonderful way to start the day.’ She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, feeling her mane get wet as well. She sat there for a few minutes till she felt something bump into her floating breasts and opened her eyes to look down at the sight of Phantom drifting in the water.
He was curled up in a fetal position with his head floating above the water while the rest of him was submerged. His eyes were closed as he had a look of content bliss, not caring that he bumped into her. He was so out of it that he may fall asleep once more in the water.
Celestia smiled at his expression before she reached over to one of the bottles that was on the lip of the tub. “Phantom, come here, please.”
Phantom turned his head with his eyes still closed and let out a small sound of curiosity. He moved his tail to propel him toward the sound as he remained in the fetal position.
Celestia picked him up from the water and put him on the lip of the tub. Opening the bottle and putting some of the contents in her hand, she began to scrub his hair, lathering the shampoo in it. “Make sure to keep your eyes closed.”
Phantom had a look of contentment as she scrubbed his hair. “Oh~”
Celestia smiled when she finished lathering up the shampoo in his hair. Once she was done, she rinsed her hands in the tub before grabbing another bottle. Body wash, specifically made for scales, before she began to scrub it on his body.
He began to giggle when she got to his tail as there was a spot in between the third and fourth fin from the tip of his tail that was his tickle spot.
Once he was now a ball of bubbles, she picked him up and moved over to the water spout, a large statue of a pegasus with its wings folded forward and holding a cloud in the air where the water comes out. Turning on the warm water, she slowly moved him into the water that came out, washing off the suds. After a minute, he was free of the suds and now completely clean. Once that was done, she saw him shake his head and had to part the hair that fell over his eyes. Seeing him smile up at her, she moved over and set him on the lip of the tub.
He moved to the side and picked up another bottle as Celestia turned around, being careful with her wings, and sat down with her back on the wall of the tub. He moved over to stand behind her before he put the shampoo in his claws and began to scrub it into her mane. He had to be careful not to cut her so he was going slowly, making sure to put enough pressure to actually scrub her mane.
While he did that, Celestia used her magic to bring another bottle to her. Body wash for ponies, specifically made for her fur. She put some on her hand before she scrubbed her other arm, enjoying this moment with Phantom.
Phantom was combing Celestia’s hair while she had her wings spread out, letting the last remnants of water dry in the air. Her fur was a little poofed out but that would be fixed when they put on clothing.
Phantom smiled as he brushed her hair to the point where it started to float once more. He had already gotten her tail after she had dried him off. His hair tended to go back to its usual shape after a minute of drying. Once her mane was all done, he hopped off the sink’s counter. “All done!”
Celestia smiled before she stepped away from the sink and brought in her wings before she shook them a bit. She then walked toward their closet so that they could get dressed.
Celestia grabbed a pair of bra and panties before she grabbed her usual dress and a set of clothing for Phantom. Once she had them, she walked back to the bedroom with Phantom running ahead of her.
He climbed up onto the bed as he was reached up for his clothes. “I can do it myself now!”
Celestia blinked at his announcement before she smiled and handed him his set of clothing. “If you are sure you are able to do that, then here you go.” She giggled as she saw him grab the clothing and move to the center of the bed so he could put them on.
Celestia slipped on her panties before she adjusted her breasts to fit in the bra. Reaching behind her to clip it on over her wings, she looked over to see Phantom putting on his vest. She giggled once more as he had indeed put the clothes on, but the buttons of the vest were misaligned, his dress shirt was sagging as it was not properly tucked in, and he was having trouble getting his tail through the slot. “Would you like some help?”
Phantom glared down at himself before he meekly nodded and walked up to her.
Celestia fixed up his clothing, nodded, and grabbed her dress before slipping it on. “Phantom, would you help me?” She turned around to expose her back to him with the zipper still down, while she held the front of the dress over her breasts to keep it up.
Phantom walked up to her and pressed his left hand on her back while using his right one to bring the zipper up. The zipper ended a few inches from the bottom of her wings.
Once she knew he finished, she brought the front of the dress up, brought the top of the dress, and wrapped it around her neck, making sure that the clip was set. Now that the two were dressed, she smiled at Phantom before speaking about what they were going to do today. “Well, Phantom, since we do not have anything important to do today, how about we go around Canterlot.”
Phantom was surprised to hear they could go out today before he cheered. “Yeah!” He jumped off the bed and ran toward the door, bouncing on his claws as he waited for her to open the door.
Celestia laughed at his excitement before she turned to the bed and used her magic to make it. After a few seconds of that, she moved over to him before picking him up. “How about we go the fun way?” Seeing him nod, she opened the door to speak to the guard. “Inform my council that I will be out today. If any very important matters require my attention, please signal me so that I may return.” Seeing the guards nod, she closed the door and moved to the balcony.
Phantom was vibrating in excitement as she made it there.
Celestia took in a breath and enjoyed the morning air before she spread her wings. With a quick flap, she floated off the balcony before she dove down from the tower and toward Canterlot.
“YIPPEE~” Phantom cheered as they flew through the air. He really enjoyed flying so any time his mom took him flying, he would always be happy.
“Phantom, please try not to go too far!”
The pair were now walking the streets of Centerlot with Phantom running around, looking through windows at all the products sold. Yet, thanks to his attention span, he would only look at the items for a few seconds before running off to another window.
Celestia smiled a the sight of him being a child while also being polite to all the ponies that recognized him and bowed in greeting.
However, it was almost impossible for him to go a few feet as he was one of the most recognizable ones on the street. He was the only dragon there. She was the one that they all noticed first since she did tower over all the other ponies, so she would be swarmed on occasion since it was a bit rare for her to make an appearance.
Before, she would usually spend her time in the castle working on all the things being a royal asked of her. When she made an appearance, it was due to an event that she was requested to attend. Yet, recently, she had been seen on the streets more often and the sight of the little dragon was a clear sign as to the reason.
“Prince Phantom, Princess Celestia, good morning!”
Phantom and Celestia turned their heads to the one that called them and saw that it was the pony that they had spoken to a few days ago during the public audience. Wanting to know how things were going with this new setup, they moved over to the stand he was in charge of.
Celestia smiled as he bowed to them when they got closer. “I see that you are using your reserved time wisely.”
He stood back up and nodded. “Yes, I thought that the earlier the better. Ponies are more likely to want something to eat early in the morning so I set up as soon as I could. Not to mention that my reserved time here is almost up so I should use my week as best I can.” His smile dropped as he remembered some issues that he had come across recently.
This did not go unnoticed by Celestia. “Is there a problem?”
The pony shook his head. “No, it is nothing that you need to worry yourself about.” He saw that she was giving him an encouraging expression and sighed. “Recently, there has been some theft at my stall. It isn't much, just a few apples and oranges, and one fruit bowl every time. It always happens when I take my eyes off it but I barely ever see the thief, disappear before I could get a good look. I don't really have a problem with it because they are cheap, even the fruit bowls are just a few bits
Celestia crossed her arms and thought about what could be done. “I can have one of the street guards come over and watch your stall so that it doesn't happen again.”
The pony waved his hands in front of him as he shook his head. “No, no, you don't need to go through the trouble. As I said, it is only a few apples and…….”
While the adults were talking, Phantom hopped up to hand off the side of the stand and sniffed the food the stand had. He remembered that he hadn't eaten breakfast yet and wondered if he could buy one of them. Dropping to the ground, he put his hand into his pocket with his tongue sticking out as he tried to find some bits so he could buy some. As he did, his nose picked up the scent of some apples. The thing was that he could tell it was coming from somewhere else. He looked around and saw that there were no other stands that sold apples. Feeling his curiosity get the better of him, he began to follow his nose toward the smell.
Celestia and the stand owner were too engrossed in their conversation to notice the little dragon wandering away.
Phantom continued sniffing the air as he followed his nose toward the scent.
Something that no one knew, not even him, was that his sense of smell was better than that of anyone’s. There was no real reason for him to test out his sense of smell. However, his stomach was enhancing his need to find food.
He followed his nose to a nearby alley and walked in.
Even the alley of Canterlot was clean as there is a group of unicorns that come in to clean the street of any trash or dirt. They even check the alleys as they are very methodical about their job.
Phantom’s ears picked up the sound of crunching. He followed the sound, coming up behind someone who was crouched down. Curious, he walked closer. “Hello?”
The call caused the person to jump before turning around and looking at the dragon in shock.
Phantom saw that it was a female unicorn with a red and yellow mane and tail with her color being yellow. She was wearing a simple white shirt and tan shorts.
The unicorn’s teal eyes looked panicked as she moved something behind her.
Phantom noticed that she moved some things behind her and tilted his head to see what it was. His nose picked up the scent of apples and the fruit bowl and figured out what this might be. He began to walk to the side and she turned to keep facing him while guarding the food. He stopped walking and looked at her. He wondered why someone like her would be stealing since from what he learned about Canterlot, there shouldn't be anyone on the streets. There were programs that were set up to help anyone in need, whether they were children or adults. Not only that but from her appearance she didn't look that dirty so she couldn't be someone that was on the streets. “Why did you steal from the stall?”
She didn't answer him, instead, she kept her guard up so that she wouldn't lose what it was she had.
The two of them stayed there for a minute with the male of them feeling something inside him. He didn't know what it was but something, deep within him was responding to her
Phantom shook his head and got back to what was going on here and broke the silence as he pointed at the food. “Why did you steal that? Are you living on the streets? Do you need help? If so, I can ask Mom to help you find a place that can take you in.”
The filly’s eyes widened as she was shocked to hear him offering aid to a pony he had never met before. Sure it was odd to see a dragon here, but that wasn't the first thing on her mind when she was caught. Her mind was going over a lot of things, but couldn't think of it long as someone was calling.
“Phantom! Where are you!”
She saw the dragon turn around and look toward the entrance of the alley. She took this chance to get up and run in the opposite direction. She stopped at the entrance of the alley before turning around in panic. She had left the food there and she wasn't going to leave it behind. She shut her eyes and focused, causing her horn to light up before the food lit up in the same light. The food levitated toward her and she caught them in her arms before she ran off.
Phantom heard the clopping of her hooves and turned around to see that she had run off. He wanted to chase her but he heard his mom calling him and ran back to where she was. When he left the alley, he saw her looking for him and called out to her. “I’m over here!”
Celestia turned to where the voice was and her look of worry melted into one of relief. “Phantom!” She ran up to him and picked him up in her arms. She hugged him to make sure that he was actually there. When she finished talking with the stall owner, she noticed that he had disappeared from sight. It caused her to worry a bit but she knew about his ability to disappear from sight, but after a minute of not finding him, she began to grow worried. Thankfully, she found him right after she called out for him and he wasn't that far away. “Where were you?”
Phantom turned around and pointed at the alley. “My nose picked up the smell of an apple and I followed it to the alley.”
Celestia let out a sigh before she poked his nose while giving him a stern look. “Do not vanish from my sight when we are out here. I was worried that something might have happened to you.”
Phantom’s ears pinned down in guilt. He didn't mean to make her feel worried. He never wanted to worry her. He shrunk in on himself as he mumbled out. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia sighed as she saw that he felt remorseful for his action. She sighed as she held him closer. She felt him snuggle into the crook of her neck and smiled at how he was always asking for her forgiveness when he did something wrong.
Much like the time he was caught with one of the gems she had hidden away. He had looked so guilty at that time, that he learned that he should be patient for something he enjoys. She had even given him one of his first lessons.
She put Phantom down and knelt down to put a hand on his head. “‘As long as you know you have done something wrong, you can learn from it’. Do you remember this lesson?”
Phantom nodded as it was something she would always tell him when he did something wrong. And he remembers this lesson to this day.
Celestia smiled as she nodded. “That’s my clever little Phantom.” She stood back up and gestured for him to follow her. “Let us continue our walk.” She saw him look at her in shock and understood why. “Despite how you worried me, I am not angry with you. Why should we end our time out here short because of a small mistake?” She took a few steps and smiled at him as he remained there. “Well? Let’s go.”
Phantom smiled as he ran up to her so they could walk side by side.
The two continued to walk the streets, saying hello to the ponies that would greet them and show them respect.
But now, the young dragon prince was not as enthusiastic as he was before.
Celestia noticed this and wondered what it was that had captured his mind. ‘Something must have happened while he was in the alley, but what?’ She was about to ask him what he had on his mind but was beaten to it by him
Phantom grabbed the hem of her dress and looked up at her. “Hey, Mom, there is somewhere I want to go. Can we?”
Celestia turned to face him and raised an eyebrow at his inquiry. “Oh, and where would that be?”
He looked around as if trying to come up with an answer before he told her. “I don't know.”
Celestia couldn't understand what his answer could mean. ‘He doesn't know where it is he wants to go? How can he want to go somewhere if he doesn't even know the location?’ She let out a frustrated sigh. “Phantom, I-”
“Please, mom!” He stared into her eyes, with a plea. “I…. don't know why but there is something….. Calling me. I know it sounds funny but something inside me is telling me to go there.” His voice softened to a whisper as he asked once more. “Please?”
Celestia had not ever seen him this eager to go somewhere. Usually when he wanted to go somewhere, if there was a delay, he would patiently wait for it, but here he was, wanting to go somewhere without hesitation. And to hear that something was calling to something within him, she felt the need to find out what it might be. To give him what he wanted.
In her heart, she knew the only time he would deny him something, was only if it was to protect him.
She loves him too much to deny him this.
‘I suppose……. It is only natural for it to grow as time passes.’ She nodded to him, agreeing to go with what it was that he needed. “Alright, but do not leave my side this time, understand?”
Phantom nodded as he turned in order to lead the way, but before he could take his third step, he found himself lifted off the ground and back in her arms. He felt her arms around his stomach and his head pressed into her breasts. He shifted his head so his horns didn't hurt her. His claws needed filing so he didn't know if his horns would hurt her.
“This way, you won’t get away from me, just point the way and I will follow your directions.”
Phantom smiled as he pointed forward.
As the two began their new journey, the ponies could not help but find them adorably. It almost looked like the princess was holding a little dragon doll.
As she walked, she couldn't help but think to herself. ‘I felt magic where Phantom was but it felt different from his. I wonder whose it was.’
Phantom would continue to point in directions as he focused on the feeling within himself and its pull.
Celestia followed his direction and after some time, she noticed that they were heading toward the edge of Canterlot. She wondered if whatever he was looking for was around there but it turned out that they still hadn't arrived at their destination. Phantom kept pointing her further and they were now walking past the city limits. It was once they stepped out of it that Phantom pointed to the right and she saw that there was a building a little off the road. She walked toward the building as Phantom’s focus was on it.
Phantom could feel that call get stronger and he knew that the building they were heading to was where it was, where she was. As he thought about why he felt that pull, he realized that it started when he met that girl. With the pull telling him to head to this building, he knew that she was there as well.
As Celestia got closer to the building, she realized what it was. “An orphanage?” She looked down at Phantom who was looking at her in curiosity. “Why did you want to come here?”
Phantom shook his head as he didn't know himself. “I just felt the thing in me call me here. It means that she is here, too.”
“‘She’?” She raised an eyebrow at learning that the thing they were looking for was a person. “Phantom, who is ‘she’?”
Phantom shook his head. “I don't know. I just saw her in the alley before you came and she ran away. I don't know why I feel a pull toward her but I know that we need to find her.”
Celestia looked up at the sign. She knew of this orphanage as it was one of the buildings that she had constructed many years ago when a large timberwolf attack caused a few families to be torn apart. She wondered about the pony that Phantom was looking for and asked. “What does she look like?” If they were looking for someone, she might as well know what she looks like to make the search easier. Phantom told her about her appearance and nodded as she now understood what to look for. She walked up to the door, careful that her wings didn't hit anything, and knocked on the door. She put Phantom down so that the two of them could walk normally.
It was only a few seconds later that a woman opened the door. She had a burgundy mane that had a few white streaks and brown fur. She was wearing a simple yellow shirt and gray pants. Her eyes widened at the sight of the ones standing at the door. “Princess Celestia, Prince Phantom!” She bowed in respect when she shook off her initial shock. Standing back up, she asked them. “My name is Miss Dandily, to what do I owe the visit?”
Celestia nodded in greeting to her before she spoke. “We are actually looking for a unicorn.” Before she could start to give a description, the caretaker spoke despondently.
“Oh, no, what has she done?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at that as she had yet to explain what the reason for their search was. “I have yet to describe the one we are searching for.”
Miss Dandily let out a sigh. “There is only one unicorn here. And she is a bit of a troublemaker to the other children. I am sorry for interrupting you but …..I was afraid that this day might have come.”
Celestia continued to be confused about this. “You expected this little unicorn to cause enough trouble that someone would come for her?”
The Caretaker clasped her hands on her lap as she shook her head. “I did not know if someone from such high standing would come for her. But she has been causing trouble for others for a while and there are times that I assumed that it might get out of hand. Especially since she has been going out recently.”
Celestia thought about what she knew and looked to Phantom. “Did she do anything to you when you met her?”
Miss Dandily looked at the little dragon and gave an apologetic expression. “I am sorry for anything that she has done to you. If she has harmed you in any way-”
Phantom shook his head. “No no no. She didn't do anything to me! I just saw her with some apples and a fruit bowl.”
Celestia’s unspoken assumptions were now confirmed. ‘So she is the one that stole the apples. But if she is at an orphanage, there should be some food for them since this place does not look run down.’ Wanting to know more, she asked the caretaker. “Is it possible for us to meet with her, Miss Dandily?”
The caretaker nodded. “As you wish, the children should be playing in the back.”
Celestia looked down at Phantom. “Is this alright with you?”
Phantom nodded as he could feel the pull coming from around the building.
The Caretaker walked out and the three walked around the building to the back. Since the building was outside of the cluttered streets, there was plenty of room for the children to play.
Phantom felt the pull get stronger and his ears perked up as he heard the sound of shouting.
As they got closer, the adults heard it as well and the three began to move faster. When they got to the back, they saw the unicorn they were just talking about hitting another pony.
Miss Dandily ran up to the children in a panic. “Sunset Shimmer! What do you think you are doing?” She pulled the unicorn filly off the colt as she thrashed in her arms.
The colt got up and moved over to join what looked like his friends. “Crazy two-colored Uni!”
Sunset Shimmer stuck her tongue out at the colt before she was put on the ground and looked up at the angry face of the caretaker.
“Why were you attacking him this time?!”
Sunset Shimmer lowered her head as she was being reprimanded by Miss Dandily.
Celestia knelt down to be closer to Phantom and asked. “Is she the one you saw?” She saw him nod and look at the scene intently. She focused on the little filly, and now that she was close enough, she could feel the magic emanating from her. In fact, she could tell that the little unicorn had more magic than someone her age should have. Her mind began to think of what this could mean but right now is not the time for that as Miss Dandily was speaking to the young one.
Sunset Shimmer stood there, not saying anything, with her head down. She held the hem of her shirt feeling smaller as the caretaker continued to reprimand her for starting a fight again.
While this was happening, the colt smirked with his friends as he pulled out an apple from his pocket, while another of his friends pulled out the fruit bowl from within his shirt.
This did not go unnoticed by Phantom as he wondered why they had it when he knew that Sunset Shimmer was the one he saw take them away. Thinking that something else was going on, he walked up to them. “Hey, where did you get those?”
The colts turned to the one who spoke and finally noticed both the young Dragon prince and Princess Celestia. At the sight of the princess, they all froze and turned to face them as they hid the things they had behind them.
Phantom noticed the look of guilt they had and knew that something was really going on. Stepping up again, he looked at them and asked again. “Where did you get those?”
The leader shook his head as if trying to deny that he had done anything. “I don't know what you are talking about!”
Miss Dandily had stopped reprimanding Sunset Shimmer and looked to the little dragon prince and some of the kids.
Sunset Shimmer looked over as well as she wondered what he was doing.
Celestia wondered what he was doing as well, and asked. “Phantom, what is going on?”
Phantom looked at his mother and pointed at the boys. “I saw them hide some apples and a fruit bowl behind their back. I recognize them from what she had before.” He gestured to Sunset Shimmer as he explained what he knew.
Miss Dandily, though, was confused as to where those came from since there were no apples or fruit bowls in the pantry. She hadn't bought any recently and planned on buying some for next week. She looked at the boys and sternly said. “Show me what you have behind your back.” she crossed her arms as they tried to not look guilty. After a minute, they conceded and brought them out. She looked at them and asked sternly. “Where did you get those?”
Not wanting to get into more trouble than they are in now, he pointed to a pair of earth fillies. “They had them!”
The fillies shrunk in on themselves as they were pointed at and were now the center of attention. Their eyes shifted to Sunset Shimmer who was looking at the caretaker.
Miss Dandily raised an eyebrow and looked at the fillies. “Is this true?” She saw them look nervous and could tell that they were hiding something. “If there is something going on, please tell me.”
“They didn't do anything!” Sunset Shimmer ran up to be in front of the fillies. “I took those things!”
Miss Dandily was shocked to hear this from her since this was the first time the little unicorn had actually said something in defense.
Celestia and Phantom were starting to think about what the real situation was. Sunset Shimmer was the one that Phantom saw with the items, the boys have them now but say that the fillies were the ones that had them.
Wanting to know what really is going on, Phantom steps forward to look Sunset Shimmer in the eye. “What is going on? I saw you with the items but the boys have them now. How did they get them?”
Sunset Shimmer kept quiet as she looked the dragon boy in the eyes. She stared into them for a minute and almost felt exposed by them. She tried to gulp down her words but she felt that she could tell him. She whined as she saw that she was the center of attention once more. She wrung her hands as she began to speak in a small voice. “I…..I got that food….. Because……” She seemed to not want to say anything about the issue but another look from the dragon boy gave her the courage to actually say something. “...they have been taking away the food from the girls and they never got to eat. I gave them the extra apples and fruit bowl so they had something to eat.”
The confession caused several different reactions from the newcomers.
The caretaker looked at the colts and gave them a stern expression as it made sense since Sunset Shimmer confessed that the items were in her possession, but now in theirs. Their guilty expression that told her that they wanted to run away, gave her more to believe in the unicorn.
Phantom smiled at how she stole those items in order to help others who were going a bit hungry, but it turned into a frown as he walked up to her. “You know that stealing isn't a good thing.”
Sunset Shimmer nodded and looked away. “I know but I didn't know what to do to get them something to eat. I don't know where the food was and I didn't want to make trouble for Miss Dandily!”
Phantom could understand that but still crossed his arms. “But you could have told her about this. Why didn't you?”
Sunset Shimmer felt all her energy die as she wrung her shirt. “I-I don't know.”
Could tell that she was getting nervous and decided to calm her down by putting his hand on her shoulder. “It's ok. You did it for your friends. And it reminds me of a lesson that mom told me about.” He paused as he tried to remember the words she used. After a second, it came to him. “‘Sometimes we do the wrong things, for the right reasons’.” He always wondered why she told him that lesson but figured that it was from a personal experience since she looked sad when she said it.
Sunset Shimmer smiled at him as she felt better by what he said. She knew she would need to go back to the stall owner and apologize and pay him back for what she had stolen.
Celestia was watching the two with an analytical eye. ‘She has a large amount of magic within her. If it is left unattended, her potential might be wasted. Perhaps, I can take her as an apprentice. I have not taken one before but with how my unicorn soldiers have said I have done a remarkable job with Phantom, it might be a good idea to do so.’ Her eyes then shifted to Phantom. ‘Not only that, Phantom felt a connection with her even though they had never met before. I wonder if she could be the new bearer of the Element of Magic. If not….she could be a very good companion for Phantom. She knows she has done something wrong but did it to aid someone else.’ After some thought, she came to a decision and looked at the caretaker. “Miss Dandily, there is something I would very much like to ask you.”
The caretaker had finished telling the colts that they would not be allowed to eat dessert or go out to play for the next two weeks when the princess spoke to her and she turned to face her. “Yes?”
Celestia knelt down next to the dragon and unicorn as she placed her hand on the unicorn's head. “I would like to take Sunset Shimmer to live with me and learn how to use her magic.”
This statement caused all of them to stare at her in shock but before anyone could say anything else, the princess continued.
“She has amazing potential in terms of magic, and I believe that I can unlock it for her. Not only that-” She smiled at Phantom. “She seems to have made a friend with Phantom and I can see them grow together in both magic and life.”
Miss Dandily was able to find her voice as she asked. “Does that mean that….”
Celestia smiled as she looked at the little girl. “I see no reason why I shouldn't. I have raised Phantom on my own. I believe that I can do the same with her. That is…. If she is willing to accept it.”
Sunset Shimmer didn't know what was going on anymore. She was just being scolded for stealing and yet, here was The Princess suggesting that she be adopted. Not only that, the princess said that she would help teach her how to use her magic. She didn't know how to feel about this. How should she feel? What should she say? She got her answer when the other girls glomped her into a big group hug.
“Congratulations!”
“Way to go!”
“You’re being adopted!”
Sunset shimmer was brought out of her shock and smiled wide as she hugged the girls back.
The boys felt jealous at how she was at first being in trouble, only to come out of it being adopted by the princess.
Phantom raised an eyebrow at Celestia as he wondered why the sudden action, but the smile she gave him washed away his confusion. Not only that, he couldn't help but smile himself as he was getting a sister.
Something about that statement felt familiar to him. But right now, this wasn't a moment for him.
It was a moment for her
Sunset Shimmer smiled up at Celestia before she finally found her voice. “Thank you.”
End of Chapter
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it is the second chapter of the childhood arc
Since Sunset Shimmer didn't have any real info on her background, I decided to make her an orphan so I don't have to make her parents. Also, the reason that I have her acting like this despite her personality when she is older is that I was thinking about how kids a lot of the times tend to keep their reasons to themselves or they don't really know why they do it.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even if I was a little doubtful about it.
Flames will be ignored.
Criticism is accepted
Ideas are taken into account and considered
Positive reviews are appreciated
Favs and Follows are motivation
And your enjoyment in reading this is the goal
So please read, Favorite, follow, and review
Chapter 4: Potential
Summary:
Sunset has a new path to life and Danny is there to help her when she needs it
Chapter Text
Chapter 4 Start
She never thought that her life would change so much in the span of a year.
For most of her short life, she had always thought of herself as someone who could look out for herself. Her parents left her on the doorstep of the orphanage when she was born so she had no idea who they were or what they looked like but that was fine. She had learned to accept that.
During her time at the orphanage, she had to fend for herself a lot of times when the other kids decided to take away her food or stuff just because they wanted to. That was when she learned to hide away what she had in order to use or eat it later on. She was always able to outsmart the bullies.
After being able to hide her things from the bullies for so long, they moved on to other targets. That was when she learned that she didn't want anyone to deal with it either, so, she began to help out other kids when the adults weren't looking. It is what gave her a bit of a protector vibe to the other kids who were being bullied.
But like all the other kids, she also wanted to have a family to call her own.
However, that seemed like something that would never be hers since all the ponies that came to pick out one of them, always seemed to brush her off and choose another kid. The bullies would always make fun of her, saying it was because her mane and tail were weird colors, or because she had a horn. She was the only one who had a multicolored mane and tail, and it was rare for a unicorn to stay in the orphanage for long or at all.
She knew it wasn't because she was the only unicorn in the orphanage, but after a while, the words started to sink in, and she was beginning to believe that nopony would want her.
Yet it all changed when she went to the marketplace and met up with a big lizard who walked and talked like all the ponies around.
He brought his mom with him to the orphanage, and suddenly, she was adopted by her; the princess! She couldn't believe it.
She had a home, a family… but…..
Did she deserve all of the new additions to her life?
Sunset Shimmer was taking classes at the Celestia School for Talented Ponies. She couldn't believe that she was here, with all these ponies that have been shown to have so much talent for their magic.
There were actually four schools that Celestia had established for ponies. One is the main school, while the other three are specialized for the kind of pony.
The first specialized school was that of Earth Ponies, which focused on all career choices for Earth Ponies.
The second specialized school was for Pegasi, focusing on the careers of the fliers.
The third one was for unicorns, which focuses on their future careers.
These schools take in ponies of all ages and build them up from their skill level, age, and dreams for the future.
For skill level, they will test you on your education level and ability to use their talent. Once they have an idea of where you are, they begin the education and work on improving you so that you can either catch up with others or put you in classes you are ready for.
Age is also put into consideration as they believe that making friends around your age will help make the school environment more appealing.
Dreams of the future help compile the category of classes apart from general education. Apart from mathematics, language, physical training, and social studies, there are elective classes that can be generalized and specified at the same time.
So if a group of ponies has a cooking talent, baking, or even being a waiter, a group of those students are put into one class so that they can build rapport with others and work alongside those who have a talent that can complement theirs. Waiter ponies will learn how to deliver food made by those who bake or cook to tables or locations that called for delivery. Those who cook can learn more recipes from others who have cooking talent and build their own talent. This goes for those that bake as well as restaurants that have dessert menus so bakers or dessert makers will have to work around cookers as well.
Not only that, but the schools also have boarding rooms, so if the ponies want, they can stay in the dorms so that they can continue to build friendships, be close to the school for convenience, or if they needed a place to stay.
Each school accommodates for the type of pony that they specialize in. Yet the main school possessed all the facilities for all of the ponies. While the specialized schools focused on one type of pony, the main school was to make sure that there was nothing separating the ponies from each other.
This is why Celestia's schools were massive in size so they could accommodate all these facilities.
Sunset Shimmer though had a bit more of a special circumstance.
She was tapping her pencil on the desk as she waited for the bell to ring. She was wearing a red shirt that had a sun on the front and was tucked in her orange skirt that reached halfway down her thigh. She kept looking at the clock as if wanting the clock's hand to move faster. Part of her wanted to use her magic to move the clock but not only did she still not have that much control over her magic, but the clock had a spell on it that kept it from being tampered with.
The class bell rang, signifying that it was the end of the period and the students began to pack up their things to head to their next class.
Sunset shimmer though, was the most excited of them as she practically threw all her supplies into her bag before running out of the class.
Some of the other students frowned at the sight as they saw her run out of the hall.
One of the male unicorns scoffed as he looked at his friend. "Look at her running out of the class, not caring about any of us. Thinks she's so~ special."
One of the females who heard him rolled her eyes at how jealous they were being. She was a bit envious of Sunset Shimmer as well but she didn't see Sunset Shimmer being high and mighty. "Don't be snooty. She is just excited to go to her lessons."
The male guffawed at that. "I would be too if I was being taught by the Princess."
"That's enough from you." Came the voice of the female instructor. "From her circumstances, I believe that she is just happy to spend time with her family. Imagine yourself if you came from her background."
The male student huffed and crossed his arms, not wanting to admit that he might also act like that if he came from an orphanage and was adopted by Princess Celestia.
Sunset Shimmer was running through the halls with a wide smile on her face.
"Hey!"
"Watch it!"
"Watch where you're going!"
Sunset shimmer spun around another student who was in the hallway as she called back. "Sorry!" She turned back and continued to run through the halls while avoiding crashing into anyone. Even after the five fifteen-minute break in between classes, her clopping could still be heard through the halls before she finally made it to the front entrance of the building and burst through doors.
Her last class was at the other end of the campus, so it took a while for her to get there.
Once she made it through the door, she paused for a second as her excitement turned into confusion. However, that only lasted a few seconds as she smiled once more and she ran up to the one who came to pick her up. She hugged the woman's leg before looking up and greeting her. "Hey, Cadence!"
Princess Cadence smiled down at the little girl as she patted her on the head. "Hey, Sunset."
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short, is the adoptive niece of Princess Celestia who was taken in by the sun princess a century ago.
She was a tall woman with her fur being a soft pink color that made her violet eyes, as well a soft violet gradient on the tips of her wings. Her mane and tail were reminiscent of Celestia's, but unlike the sun princess's, it did not constantly flow as if underwater, yet her mane did waterfall down to the small of her back. The colors of her mane and tail are yellow, deep purple, and magenta, with the base both curled to give a beautiful appearance to her. She had a figure that almost rivals Celestia. Her breasts and hips were wide but much slimmer than the sun alicorn with her breasts being G-cup compared to Celestia's I-cup. Her rear while not as full as Celestia's, still had some volume and cushion to their cheeks. Her stature also fell short of Celestia but she was still taller than normal ponies. Though many believe that the reason for all this was due to it being a feature for Alicorns.
For her attire, she was wearing a strapless sky-blue top with gold seams and hems, showing off a good amount of the top of her cleavage. Around her waist was an aqua blue sash that hung off her hip, and a baby blue skirt that went to her knees. For accessories, she had a fancy gold necklace that had an aqua-blue diamond heart piece laid just below her collarbone. Around her ankle were gold accessories with the same design as her necklace with its diamond heart ornament on the top of her hooves. On top of her head was a tiara with a solo purple diamond. This was different from her usual royal attire but she still had a regal air about her.
She used to be a Pegasus who had become worthy to transform into an Alicorn and become a princess herself. Celestia took her in when she was at her very lowest when the consequences of immortality had impacted her life. Cadence became very appreciative of Celestia helping her get through the heartache of losing the ones you love while you still remain. Now she rules her own kingdom that is a part of Equestria.
As for how she had met the young ones; when Celestia is called to deal with matters that took her out of her kingdom or were too dangerous to take them with her, the sun alicorn would ask Cadence to watch them till her return. She had known Phantom for much longer and was surprised to hear that Celestia had adopted another, but it was a pleasant surprise as she had fun with the little ones.
Sunset let go of the woman's leg before she looked around for someone. "Where's Celestia and Phantom?"
Cadence ran her hand down Sunset's hair before she answered. "Celestia received a report that required her personal attention. As such, she had to leave Phantom with me and we waited for you to finish your lessons here before I came to pick you up. Celestia will come over when she is finished to take you home so your magic lessons can begin."
Sunset felt a bit saddened that Celestia wasn't here to pick her up but she understood that the princess was needed elsewhere. "Ok."
Cadence could feel the emotion Sunset had and felt a bit sorry for the little girl, but it would only be for a short amount of time. She bent down and picked up the little girl before she opened up her wings. "Well, we should get back to my castle so we don't leave Phantom on his own for too long. I'm sure you've learned how he gets when he is bored."
Sunset giggled as she did learn how he gets when he is bored.
Cadence flapped her wings, gaining altitude before she flew off toward her kingdom.
Phantom was in one of Cadence's gardens lying on his belly with his chin on the grass as he was using his claw to draw stuff in the dirt. Cadence had left to pick up Sunset Shimmer from her school twenty minutes ago.
For an eleven-year-old, that could feel like forever ago.
He grew bored after the first few minutes so he started to just scratch at the dirt for no reason. It was after another few minutes that he began to make symbols out of it. He first drew Celestia's Cutie mark, then he drew ideas for his own cutie mark. He first drew another sun but with more straight flames, then a sun with stars around it, then a sun with a moon, and then the sun as a shooting star.
All of which were sloppy.
After that, he started drawing random things that came to mind. There was an octopus, an octagon, a hay burger, and then he started to write his name. The problem with the last one was that he wanted to make it look fancy, so he tried to make the letters thick. But he messed up on the P as he made the loop too big and it ended up looking like a large D. He gave up on it as he wasn't artistic so they were all sloppy. But he did like the way the P ended up looking like a D. It looked cool.
He layed his chin on the grass as his tail thumped the ground every three seconds. He stuck his forked tongue out, making sure not to bite down as he knew it would hurt. His eyes followed a butterfly fluttering around his head before it landed on his tongue. His eyebrows furrowed as he didn't like the feeling on his tongue. He wanted to bring it back in but he didn't want to scare away the butterfly so he did his best to just not move but his tail began to twitch left and right in discomfort. "Mmmm! Nnnnn!"
He wanted the butterfly to fly away already and much to his relief, it did.
Seconds later, Cadence landed a few feet away with Sunset Shimmer.
Danny blinked and looked in their direction as he got up and smiled, not only for the butterfly to leave his tongue but also for their arrival. He ran up to them, hugging Sunset Shimmer before he hugged Cadence's leg. Once he let go of her leg, he looked up at her face. "What took you? I've been waiting forever!"
Cadence smiled at how impatient Phantom was but she patted him on the head. "You're gonna have to learn to be patient, Phantom. I'm sure your mother taught you that didn't she?"
Phantom pouted as he crossed his arms.
Sunset walked up to him and stared at him to get his attention.
When he finally stopped pouting, he looked at her before his frown turned into a smile as Cadence knelt down to be closer to them. The three of them were now in a circle as they smiled at each other.
They each let out a small laugh before they brought their hands up. "Sunset, sunset, dragonfly awake~." The two children hopped on their respective legs before the three of them covered their eyes with their hands to open them a second later. "Clap your hands and do a little shake~!" They finished up by clapping their hands with the ones at their sides in a patty-cake manner before shaking their tails back and forth at each other. The three of them laughed at their little greeting before Cadence stood back up.
Once their laughing ended, Phantom looked at his new sister and asked. "How was school?" He was interested in this as he never went to school. He was always taught by the scholars of the castle and his mother. He was told that Celestia went through the same thing a long time ago and he smiled knowing that he was doing something his mother had done before.
Sunset thought about what she had gone through during her time in the school and answered. "It was fine. I learned more about biology." She waved her arms almost excitedly and asked. "Did you know that dogs have a better sense of smell than ponies? They can tell where stuff is and if it's food, they can tell what kind of food it is."
Phantom nodded in almost equal excitement. "Yeah, I heard that. I wanted to see if they could find stuff before, but I don't know anyone who has a dog. I wanted one myself, but mom said that I'm not old enough to take care of one." He crossed his arms and pouted at the memory.
Cadence chuckled at his expression before she knelt down and placed a hand on his head to calm him. "I'm sure that you will be able to get a pet when you are ready for it. Not to mention that with all the things that I know you have to deal with, you might not have time for a dog yet." She saw that what she said calmed him down as he understood that he had some responsibilities as the son of Celestia. Though he was the one who inserted himself in the matters in the audience chamber, as Celestia stated. Wanting to improve his mood more, and get them to understand where Celestia was at the moment, she spoke up. "Well, I know that you two were looking forward to Celestia's, but she is doing something very important and will return later in the day. But it should still give her enough time to instruct both of you." She looked the two of them in the eye and asked. "So….what would you two like to do?"
Phantom and Sunset looked at each other before they gained big smiles.
Cadence popped her head around a tree before she looked around for any sign of the children. "Now where did those two go?" She moved passed the tree and heard some giggling coming from the bush that was a few feet away. She smiled as she slowly walked over to it before she parted the bush to find a giggling Sunset. "Found you!"
Sunset jumped at the sound and looked up to see that she had indeed been found. "Aw, I thought I would be able to win this time."
Cadence laughed as she picked the little girl up. "It did take me longer to find you than last time. This makes it four times." She put the girl on her shoulder and turned around to look for the other child. "Now, help me find Phantom. He always has a way of staying hidden for much longer."
Sunset cheered as she pointed into the sky. "Let's go!"
The two scoured the garden in search of the elusive dragon, but they couldn't find any trace of him. They spent forty minutes looking for him, but they couldn't find him, in the bushes, the flowerbed, the trees, or around the fountain.
As Cadence started to get worried that something had happened to him, a flash of yellow was seen, and she and Sunset looked to see that Celestia had teleported to their location. "Celestia!"
The sun alicorn smiled at the sight of Cadence and Sunset, but she noticed that Phantom wasn't with them. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to return, but the matter I had was something I wanted to make sure was handled correctly." She waited for Cadence and Sunset to be in front of her, and as they were looking up at her, she spoke. "As happy as I am to see you two, where is Phantom? It isn't like him to not join you in greeting me."
Cadence took a breath before she started. "Well, we were playing a game of Hide-and-seek- and were in the middle of looking for him, but-"
"We can't find him!" Sunset interrupted as she felt a bit guilty for losing sight of Celestia's first child. She may also now be the princess's child, but she was still new, and she didn't feel like she had as much place here as Phantom did.
Instead of being worried, Celestia smiled. "I see he has gotten better at hiding."
Cadence sighed as she remembered how Phantom had gotten his name. His ability to go unseen. "How is it that I forget his ability to disappear?"
Celestia gave a soft laugh as she nodded. "With how boisterous he can be, it's hard to imagine how he can become silent when he wants to be." She looked around the garden before she softly called out. "Phantom, the longer you stay hidden, the longer it will take for us to get to our magic lessons." She suddenly buckled forward before she stood back up and looked behind her as she felt the one she called.
Sunset moved over to the side to see that Phantom was glomped on Celestia's back. "Where did he come from?" She huffed as she crossed her arms. "Phantom sneak."
Phantom gave her a cheeky smile before he climbed up to be on Celestia's shoulders and pressed his cheek on hers. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Celestia smiled before she reached over her shoulder, picked him up, and put him down. "You are so impatient, Phantom. Remember that I taught you impatience leads you to make rash decisions, while being patient can calm your mind and give you a clearer perspective of what is in front of you or help you come up with solutions you might not have seen before. Like when we are in the audience chamber."
Phantom nodded in understanding as he could see what she meant. When rushing, he tends to miss things, become pushy, and trip up a lot. But when he takes a slower step, he understands them better. He took a breath to calm his nerves and waited for his mother and Cadence to talk as he was sure they had something to say to each other.
Sunset Shimmer had watched Princess Celestia tell Phantom about patience and she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Sure she was now the princess's daughter but there was just something that got to her when she saw Phantom and Celestia interact.
Cadence took a step forward as she talked to Celestia. "So, how did things go? You were given such little details about it that you were unsure if it was an actual report or a false rumor."
Celestia nodded. "It was an actual report. I couldn't believe that another one was discovered in such a remote place but thankfully I was able to handle it better than the last one. After I had it examined, one of the suggestions given to me was what we chose to do and it has been taken in. And it was just in time too."
Cadence nodded. "Indeed. You have to let me know what the result of it is when things are settled."
Celestia nodded. "Well, it is a special event that is rarely ever done." She looked over to the children and saw that the two had gotten bored and were staring at each other. She was confused about what they were doing till they started to mirror their movements with each other. Celestia smiled at the sight of the two getting along. She was afraid that there might be a bit of a disconnect between the two since Sunset Shimmer was a very recent addition to their little family but it looked like Phantom had already gotten closer to her. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as Phantom began to complain about how she hadn't gotten him a dog. 'I swear this little dragon can always find a way to make it sound like it's my fault with that cute little pout he gives.' She clapped her hands to get the two's attention. "OK, you two, how about we get moving so we can start with our lessons? How's that sound?"
The two children stopped their little conversation before looking at the woman and cheered. "Yeah!"
Celestia nodded as she bent down and picked the two up, cradling one in each arm. She looked at Cadence and told the children to wave goodbye. Once they did, she gave her farewell to the alicorn of love. "We can speak more about my task after it is all taken care of. Thank you for watching these two while I was gone."
Cadence nodded as she waved goodbye to the three before they disappeared in a flash as Celestia teleported away.
~later~
Sunset Shimmer was focusing her magic in her horn, trying to imagine the spell she wanted to do. She clenched her eyes, focusing her magic to move to her hands before she threw them forward. She peeked open her eyes only to frown in disappointment when she saw that the rock she was trying to cast the spell on hadn't been affected. She bent down and picked it up before she gave a hard stare, almost wanting to throw it for not working. She looked to her right at Phantom and her frown grew when she saw what he was doing.
Phantom's horns were lit with magic along with his hands as he was focusing the magic on the rock. He smiled as he looked at the floating rock that began to bounce back and forth.
Celestia smiled at how Phantom had gotten the levitation spell down. She had been teaching them both this spell as it was a good starting point for anyone starting out. Phantom seemed to have gotten the hang of it quickly, much sooner than she thought he would but she was happy to see it. "Ok, Phantom, now try to have it spin only without moving from its spot."
Phantom nodded as he stopped it from bouncing back and forth before he stuck his tongue out in concentration to have it spin. It took a minute before the rock began to spin, slow at first, but then gained speed as it spun in the air. Danny's eyes watched as it spun and noticed that it had a pattern on it. He focused on the spinning pattern before his eyes became spirals as he got dizzy. "Wah~ hooo~" He fell back on his tail, causing him to lose focus in pain and disorientation, which sent the rock into the air before it fell on his head. "Ow!" He put his hands on his head to rub the spot.
Celestia knelt down and checked on the spot that was hit. "Are you ok?" She saw him nod at her with a smile and figured that it didn't hurt him. "Try and spin the rock slower next time. This is a method of control, so try and keep it spinning at a constant pace." When she saw him nod in understanding, she stood back up and turned to Sunset Shimmer. She saw the girl almost glaring at the rock and moved over to her. "How are things going, Sunset?"
The little girl jumped at the question and turned around so her back was to the princess. "It's fine!" She quickly responded as she tried to hide how she wasn't able to get it.
Celestia walked up to her and knelt down before she put her hand on Sunset's shoulder. "You do not need to rush things. Go at your own pace. Now, would you mind showing me how far you have gotten?"
Sunset whined as she held the rock in her hand. Her eyes shifted to Phantom who was once again making the rock levitate and spin in the air. She silently growled before getting back to the rock.
~night time~
Celestia and Phantom were getting ready for bed as she thought about the progress the two made. 'Phantom has made great progress in controlling the magic he has. He is able to keep the rock floating for a good while. If things keep going, he might be able to start more complex spells soon, though his education might slow things down. Can't have him lose focus on his other education.' She smiled at how Phantom was progressing. Her mind then went to Sunset Shimmer. 'She is having trouble controlling her magic and focusing on the necessities of the spell. I am going to have to work with her on channeling the magic through her body so she can succeed.' This was something she had noticed in all of the lessons they had. She had started them on Phantom's level but was realizing her mistake in that. Sunset Shimmer is not at his level just yet. She may have magic potential but not the teachings to use it. She will have to slow down and work with Sunset Shimmer more to catch up.
She knew that was her mistake and she was going to fix it.
"Hey, mom, isn't it time to sleep?"
Celestia looked toward Phantom, who was standing on the bed and giving her a look of confusion, before smiling. "Sorry, Phantom. Let's get some sleep." she walked over to the bed and picked him up before she laid on the bed so they could call it a day.
Phantom snuggled into her and fell asleep almost immediately, with Celestia following.
~later~
Phantom's ear twitched and he opened one of his eyes before he lifted his head from Celestia's breast. He looked toward the window with his ear twitching once more as he gained a look of confusion. 'What is that?' He would have ignored it but something about the sound was getting his curiosity buzzing. He looked toward Celestia's face and saw that she was still asleep. Looking at the arms that held him in place, he slowly began to wiggle his way out of her grasp. Since he was doing it as slowly as possible so as not to wake her up, it took a good fifteen minutes before he was able to slip away. But he paused when he saw that she was grasping around and figured that she was unconsciously looking for him. He grabbed a pillow and put it in the same spot so that she wouldn't realize he was gone.
Once he was free, he ran over to the balcony to see what it was that his ears picked up. He looked around to see if he could find out what it was and he was able to see something in the distance. Narrowing his eyes, he figured that it was at the fountain in the east garden. Nodding to himself, he turned around and ran to the door. He looked up at the door handle that was too high for him to reach. Thinking about how he would be able to open the door without his mother opening it for him, a lightbulb pinged on above his head. Sticking his tongue in concentration, the doorknob lit up in his magic before it slowly turned. He smiled as he whispered out. "Yes! Thank you, funny rock." He looked back to the bed to see that Celestia was still sleeping before he quietly slipped out of the room. He walked into the short hallway and paused as he saw that Sunset Shimmer's bedroom was open.
When Sunset Shimmer became part of the family, Celestia used her magic to create the room and made a wall and door to separate the royal rooms from the hallway. Now there was a short hallway that had three doors to it. The main one was the one that led into the bedroom of Celestia and Phantom. The second was to the side that led to Sunset Shimmer's room, and the last door was what separated the bedrooms from the main corridor.
Phantom saw that both the hallway door and Sunset Shimmer's door were open slightly. Wondering why they were, he walked over to Sunset's room and poked his head to see if she was still there. He knew that there were guards outside the hallway door so he chose to check on Sunset first since he didn't know how to get past them.
Sunset's room had the showing of being high class with a large bed with a canopy, well-decorated walls, and a fancy desk next to a balcony window. With the balcony window to the left of the desk, a door to a bathroom walk-in closet combo was to the desk's right. The bathroom only had a sink and toilet for personal use as there was a massive bathtub and shower only half a minute away. Instead of those in the bathroom, a walk-in closet was placed there for her to use. The closet was practically empty since she hadn't been there long but Celestia had said that over time it would fill as they go shopping in the future.
Phantom saw the stack of books on the desk with papers crumpled up around the wastebasket that was underneath the desk, with a few paperless notebooks as well. He saw some of the papers with notes about spells and magic theory. 'She's really been going through the notebooks.' He looked back at the bed and saw that she was lying under a sheet. He was about to leave the room when he saw that the balcony door was open. Knowing that it was cold that night, he walked in so that he could close the door to make sure she wouldn't be cold. Halfway toward the door, he paused as he saw that the shape of the figure under the sheet didn't match Sunset's size. Walking over to the bed, he pulled the blanket back to find there were pillows in place of the girl. He wondered where she had gone and looked around her room to see if there was a place she could be hiding. His eyes went to the balcony and wondered if she went outside through there. He walked onto the balcony, poked his head through the stone columns of the railing, and looked down at the extreme height. "She isn't a pegasus so I don't think she could make it from here." He returned back into the room and snapped his claws as he figured he could follow her scent. He sniffed the air and immediately realized it was a dumb idea. "Heh heh heh, the whole room smells like her." He walked out of the room and tried again and could tell that her scent was moving toward the hallway door. He tilted his head as he made it to the door and peeked through the crack to see that the guards were still there. 'How am I gonna get past them?' He thought about what he could do until his mind came up with something.
The guards standing outside the hallway door stood at attention, ready in case anything were to happen. Though they already knew that nothing major was going to happen, you can never be too careful.
A sudden rustling was heard to their right and they immediately turned to see what it was. The closest guard walked up to a potted plant that was in the corner with his spear at the ready.
The second guard asked. "Anything?"
The guard checking out the plant knelt down to check behind it only to grab a ball of paper. He opened it to read its contents and saw what it was. "Hmm ... it's nothing." He walked back to his spot and showed it to the other guard. "This was the only thing there. It's one of Princess Sunset's notes on magic." He turned it around and looked back at the notes. "She is really dedicated to learning how to do it."
"True." he stood back in his position as the other guard went into his. "It seems that you got used to calling her Princess really fast."
"Well, she is the adoptive daughter of Princess Celestia, why wouldn't I?"
"Well, there are some that are still not used to it or even reject the idea. Frankly, I think the girl is a nice addition. Our Princess has been happier with Phantom around and now with Sunset Shimmer here, it is like her mood has improved even more. Personally, I think she just needed someone close to her in order to truly be happy. Being the ruler of all of us, she shows her love for everyone, but it just isn't the same, you know."
"Heh heh heh, try and keep that to yourself. There are still the naysayers that still don't like Phantom being around."
"Pfft, they need to get over it. Phantom has been a big help to everypony. The ones that don't like him are just stuck in the old ways of things."
"True, but let's get back to our job." Seeing the other nod, they went back to facing forward and guarding the royal bedrooms. "...is it 'Princess Sunset' or 'Princess Shimmer'?"
"...I liked Princess Sunset but….. What about you?"
While the guards were having their little talk, they didn't notice something crawling on the ceiling.
Danny looked down at the guards with a cheeky smile. "He-he-he, Phantom sneak." He continued to use his claws to crawl on the ceiling to avoid being spotted.
Phantom continued to sneak past the guards that walked through the halls by staying in the shadows. And it helped that a lot of the ponies didn't look up as they walked by and even those that did, didn't notice him as he stayed still while on the ceiling and in the shadows. He should thank how high the ceilings were. But he was almost caught when some of the pegasus guards flew through the halls, with a few of them just a dozen feet below him. He soon found himself in an area with barely any guards and made his way toward a door that led outside.
He crawled through the door when none of the guards were nearby and sniffed the air to find Sunset. It was as he thought, her scent was coming from the area where he saw that weird thing from before. He found himself walking toward the west garden.
"Darn it!"
Phantom's ears picked out a frustrated whispered shout and began to head in its direction. Wanting to keep himself hidden, he began to crawl on the ground, with the only thing being heard was the clacking of his claws on the stone ground. He moved over to a tree and crawled halfway up the trunk before he looked around it to see who it was making the frustrated grunts. He was surprised to see who it was.
Sunset Shimmer had her arms up as she was channeling magic into them. She was trying to levitate a rock that was much bigger than the one they had been dealing with during their lessons. She was able to levitate it a few feet off the ground but only for a few seconds before it fell back down. "Grr." She took a breath to calm down before she tried to levitate the rock once more. She was able to keep it in the air a bit longer but her mind went back to earlier at how Phantom was able to levitate the rock easier with little effort and make it spin when Celestia instructed. She began to grit her teeth at the memory as the rock fell back to the ground. She clenched her fists before she kicked the rock with her hoof. But since she was still young she winced as it caused her hoof to hurt and feel tingling. "Argh!" She sat on the ground and held her hoof in her hands as she began to rub the spot.
"You ok?"
Sunset shimmer yelped in shock before she turned her body to look behind her to see Phantom's head popping out from around the tree. She was surprised to see him here and that she had been caught. Registering the question, she turned her back to him and snapped out. "I'm fine!" She was letting her frustration and anger influence her attitude toward him. She knew that she was being mean to him but she couldn't help it.
Phantom frowned at her attitude but he dropped down to the ground and made his way to her. He walked around and knelt down to look at her hoof. "No, you're not. Kicking a rock hurts. I know, I did it before and my claw hurt for a lot." He reached out and took her hoof into his claws before he began to rub the spot with his fingers making sure not to let the sharp tip of claws that were coming in to cut her hoof.
Sunset would have pulled her leg back but she just let him rub her hoof as it did make it feel better.
The two sat there for a minute as Phantom continued to make her hoof feel better before he said something.
"So, what's wrong?"
Sunset didn't expect the question and she shut her mouth and turned her head away so she didn't look into his curious eyes. She kept quiet for a second before she mumbled out. "Nothing."
Phantom didn't believe that as he had seen her frustrated growls earlier and he wanted to make things better for her. "Come on, Sunset, I know you are mad at something"
"I said it's nothing!"
"No, it's not. Just tell me and I can make it better."
Sunset growled at how persistent he was being and seeing his look of wanting to help got her to snap. "You're the problem." She didn't notice the look of shock on his face as she got up and continued. "Everything comes soooo easy to you. You can get the spell Celestia told you about so easily. Celestia pays more attention. Celestia spends more time with you! Celestia always helps you! Celestia only cares about YOU!" She kept walking forward, pushing Phantom with every emphasis on him. She had tears running down her muzzle as she stared him in the eyes. She herself didn't even realize that this was her own inner thoughts till she said it out loud. When she began to calm down, she turned around and wiped her eyes with her arm but they kept coming. "I've been here a year and I still feel like I'm a stranger! She doesn't spend as much time with me as she does with you and I hate it. You spend more time with her than I do since you stay here all day while I have to go to school. I wanna sit on her lap, have her run her hand through my hair, and have her look at me like she does you!" She thought about the look that Celestia gives Phantom when he gets something right during their lessons, but not once has she seen Celestia give her the same look.
Phantom was surprised to hear all this and felt terrible for allowing Sunset Shimmer to feel this way. As his mind went over what she said, something about it seemed to bug him. He looked down in thought for a second before he looked up and saw her quivering shoulders. Growing determined he moved his leg back as if ready to charge. He saw her start to walk away and made his move.
Sunset took a breath before she began to walk away. She said things she never thought she would say but it was too late to take it back and if Phantom blabs about it, she can't do anything. Before she could take her third step, she was tackled from the back and rolled on the grass that she moved Phantom to. After the rolling stopped, she shut her eyes in shock and suddenly felt that she was sitting down on something and there was a hand running through her hair. She opened her eyes and looked up to see that she was sitting on Phantom's lap as he combed her hair with his claws.
"You know you are being silly." He saw that she grew mad and cut her off before she could say anything. "You never saw how she looked at you when you were getting better at the spells she is trying to teach us. You never saw how she smiled at you when you talked about what you had learned in school and when you talked about what you thought was interesting. You don't know that she is trying her best to be the best mom to you despite how she has a bunch of other things she is doing." He continued to comb her hair and could feel that she was calming down, whether it was from what he said or combing her hair, he didn't know. "She is actually always watching you from behind and smiles at how fast you are learning. She told me before that the reason she is having you learn in school is cause she wants you to learn to make friends and to learn all the things you can. It is why you are in school cause they can teach you a lot of things that you couldn't before."
Sunset Shimmer heard what he said and thought about her previous interactions with Celestia. Her mind latched on to the moments when the princess was helping her out when she was having trouble channeling her magic. Sitting together figuring out how her magic felt with the princess telling her that she has a clearer emotional attachment to how her magic felt.
Whatever that meant.
Sunset remembered those moments and began to think about why she didn't see more of them. It was as she went through her memories that she started to realize that she stopped paying attention to Celestia and started paying attention to Phantom and how well he was doing in the same lessons. It was as she continued to think about the lessons, she began to pay more and more attention to him and how he was doing better than her. If what Phantom said was true, it would make sense how she didn't notice as she began to be jealous of Phantom and how he seemed to be the one Celestia paid more attention to. But she thought about before and how she would storm off when the lessons were over and most likely didn't notice Celestia. She had calmed down as she thought about how Celestia did pay attention to her but she seemed to have shut out those moments and focused more on how she paid attention to Phantom. She calmed down and curled up on his lap as she leaned her head on Phantom's chest since his combing felt nice
Phantom noticed this and he continued. "She didn't tell you this yet but she wanted it so that when you learn more and catch up, you will stop going to school and start learning from the scribes and scholars like me when I am in my lessons. But she wants you to make friends in school since you won't get a chance to do that a lot when you learn with me."
She was surprised to hear that Celestia was waiting for her to catch up before she joined them in their own personal lessons. With the realization of all this, she felt all her frustration leave her and felt embarrassed that she was taking out her inner turmoil on someone who didn't do anything. "...I just felt like if I didn't do better… she would send me back to the orphanage." She snuggled into his chest as she shut her eyes.
Phantom frowned at the very thought and couldn't believe that Sunset would think that. He looked down at her before he stopped combing her hand and he brought his finger up before poking her on the side.
"Ah! Hey! Wait! Hahahahahahahaha." She began to laugh as he began to tickle her. She tried to get out of his grasp but he used his body weight to get her to the ground as he continued to tickle her. "Hahahahaha stop hahaha stop! I give I give! Hahahaha." He finally stopped tickling her and she was heaving in some air as he laid on her back, keeping her pinned.
Phantom laid on her and looked down as he asked. "Are you done being dumb?" It took her a second before she answered as she was still trying to get her breath back. When he saw her nod, he smiled. "Good. She was never going to do something like that and she was excited to have you with her. You should also listen to your brother since I know best."
Sunset Shimmer giggled as she turned her head to look up at him. "But I'm older than you."
"But you are being dumb so you should listen to me."
The two laughed at their little banter before they got up off the ground.
Phantom held out his hand as he smiled at her. "Come on, we should get back to our rooms before we get caught."
Sunset Shimmer nodded as she reached out and grabbed his hand. She smiled at him before she got an idea. In a quick motion, she moved forward and kissed him on the cheek.
Phantom froze at the sudden action as he didn't expect her to do that. When he looked at her, she was smiling brightly with a slight tint to her cheeks before she ran off.
"Race you back to our rooms!"
"Hey, wait!" He began to chase her as she ran off.
The two ran toward where Sunset came from so they could sneak back, not noticing a figure coming out from the shadow of a stone wall, wearing a robe to cover up her body.
Celestia smiled at what she had witnessed and how Phantom had made Sunset Shimmer feel better. She had noticed that the little girl was being insecure about her placement in this family and she had been thinking about how to handle it. But it looked like Phantom had beaten her to it. "I should sit with Sunset more and ask her when she feels ready to leave her classes and join us. I believe that she should stick with the school a bit longer but maybe she wants to learn from the scholars here so that she can be around us more often. We can talk during the weekend." She smiled as she looked up at the tower and figured that she should get back before they did so that they believed that they weren't caught. "Speaking of school, I might as well bring them along for the upcoming entrance exam for new students." Her horn lit up in magic before her mind went back to how sunset shimmer kissed Phantom's cheek. A small smile appeared on her muzzle. One that almost seemed forlorn. She shook her head with a sigh before she teleported back to her bed so she could feign sleep so he would think he had got away scot-free.
~one month later~
"Mom, where are we going?"
The three were walking through the streets toward a specific location that Celestia wanted to bring them to. This was something that she had been looking forward to but this was the only time she would be able to have it done since there were no new applicants until a week ago.
Sunset Shimmer noticed Phantom pout as he didn't like surprises. She shoulder-bumped him to get his attention. "Come on, this has got to be better than sitting through Droning Tone's lessons."
Phantom groaned at the reminder of those lessons. One thing that he was sure about was that lessons with the boring-sounding scholar were a test of willpower. His will is strong but that tone could be the best knockout drug to exist.
Sunset shimmer had walked in on one of those lessons and she almost fell asleep when she heard his voice. She would believe that he was using a spell on his voice to do that since there is no way he should sound so dull naturally.
Phantom sighed as he looked at Celestia. "How much farther is it?"
Celestia fondly rolled her eyes as she looked down at the little one. "We are almost there."
Phantom huffed as they continued to walk through the streets with them pausing every now and then when one of the citizens greeted them.
As they continued to walk, Phantom perked up as something in his chest pulsed.
Sunset Shimmer noticed how Phantom went from bored to attentive. She wondered what got his attention but decided to keep it to herself for now.
Celestia noticed this as well and began to pay attention to his actions. The way he was looking ahead reminded her of another time he was like this. She didn't change her pace so as not to alert him that she noticed something. The thing that was the most interesting was that his focus was in the direction that she was leading them. 'interesting.'
Phantom didn't know what it was but something was calling to him and it reminded him that he felt this before. He didn't fully remember what moment it was but he knew that he felt it before. It seemed to grow stronger as they continued to walk. He didn't want to rush off as they were heading somewhere Celestia wanted them to get to. But he did notice that they were heading toward where the feeling was pulling him to.
After a few more minutes, they arrived at a school's auditorium. In fact….
"Hey, this is my school." Sunset Shimmer looked up at Celestia as if asking what the reason for them coming here was.
Celestia nodded. "Indeed. I brought us here because there will be an entrance exam happening here. I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise, with how the exam will be done."
Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow as she asked. "Why? What is the exam anyway?" She didn't know if the exam was different for every pony since she was let into the school thanks to Celestia's recommendation. That itself was enough to get her in.
Celestia smiled at the two before she knelt down to pat them on the head. "You will see when you two go inside. There is also a task I have for you two." Seeing them give her an inquisitive look, she explained. "I want you two to be part of the judges to see if the pony should be part of the school. I would do it myself but I have noticed that if I was present, many of the potentials would get nervous and not give it their all. When you have made a judgment call, come to me and I will listen to what you think about the pony. I will remain out here when you are finished. Can you do that for me?"
The two kids nodded as they high-fived each other before they ran into the building,
Celestia sighed as she shook her head at how excited they were. She looked up at the sun and could tell that they may have been a minute or so late but it should be alright since there were other official judges in the building. But something else was on her mind as well. 'Phantom must have felt another call to him if he was so focused on coming here when he didn't even know he was. I will need to keep an eye out for that.' She sent the two inside for multiple reasons. The first was because she knows Phantom has experience judging someone and has at times been the one to replace her in judging something if she had another task that took precedence. The second was to allow Sunset Shimmer to learn how Phantom did it so she could also learn the skill. The last and most recent reason is that she was sure that Phantom was "sensing" something, much like when he detected Sunset Shimmer. She has theories but she needed more concrete evidence before she made a solid assumption.
Phantom and Sunset were standing in the corner as they watched as the applicant tried and do the exam to the best of her abilities.
She was a unicorn around their age with violet fur, a purple mane and tail that had a streak of violet and pink flowing with her hair. She was wearing a white dress shirt and a red and black plaid short skirt.
The girl was named Twilight Sparkle and she was trying her best to focus her magic in her horn to send it into a dragon egg that was in a bay of hay.
Phantom was curious as to where the dragon egg came from since he never heard of a dragon egg being found recently, but then again, he wasn't informed about everything. But despite his curiosity, his eyes were stuck on the girl as she tried to make the egg hatch with her magic. He didn't know why he was so focused on her but his eyes didn't leave her.
Sunset Shimmer saw how his focus was on the girl and she puffed out her cheeks for a reason she did not fully understand.
Twilight was going around the egg, trying to get her magic to come out so she could pass the exam to be part of Celestia's school for gifted ponies. This was the most important day of her life and she couldn't fail. But no matter how many times she had thrust her arms forward to send magic into the egg, she just couldn't get it to work. "Come on, come on." She saw in the corner of her eyes that the judges were writing something on their clipboard and she knew that it couldn't be good. She had noticed the other kids in the corner but she figured that they were other applicants for the school. She shut her eyes as she tried one more time to get her magic to come out. But after another minute of nothing happening, her arms dropped to her sides as she saw the judges writing more on their boards. "...I'm sorry for wasting your time." She felt herself feel defeated with how, no matter how much she studied, she still couldn't pass the exam her parents had gotten her.
Phantom saw how flippant the judges were acting, in fact, he had noticed that they had been being with how they were treating her. To him, when judging, they must be fair and not demean the one taking the exam. He looked back to Twilight and saw how saddened she was and felt the need to make her feel better. He took a step forward so he could head down the stairs to her until…..
*FOOM*
A sudden explosion was heard and shook the whole building. Everyone looked outside the window to see some sort of wave of rainbow energy fly through the sky.
Twilight was so shocked by the sound, that she unconsciously shot out a beam of magic at the egg, causing it to hatch immediately, and revealing a small purple baby dragon with green frills.
Danny looked at the dragon and couldn't help but think. 'Was I that small?' His attention was taken again by Twilight as he saw her lose control of her magic and was enveloped with an aura of magic that caused her to float in the air.
Twilight didn't know what was going on as she felt her magic go out of control. She felt her hooves leave the ground and a magic wind was swirling around her. She felt embarrassed as her skirt began to fly up and she brought her hands down to keep it from showing off something inappropriate. In doing this, she began to shoot out beams of magic.
One beam hit the judges and put them in a bubble of magic keeping them in the air.
Another beam shot toward her parents and turned them into a cactus and fern.
Another beam was sent at Sunset Shimmer and Phantom, holding them in place as if frozen.
The last beam was sent at the baby dragon and caused him to grow in size where his head broke through the roof.
Celestia had looked into the sky when she saw what she had assumed to be a sonic boom with a rainbow pattern. She was surprised to see something like that and whoever did it, was someone she would like to meet. But her attention was taken away from it as she felt a massive surge of magic coming from inside the building. She turned around in time to see a large Primal dragon head coming out from the roof. "...Hmm…" She grew worried as the magic she felt was chaotic but not malicious. She quickly made her way inside so she could stop the magic from causing more damage.
Phantom and Sunset Shimmer were struggling from the magic that was holding them in place but they couldn't even move a finger.
Sunset Shimmer saw that Twilight was not doing it on purpose and was also in trouble as her magic was out of control and beams were causing damage to the room. Her eyes shifted to Phantom and was surprised to see what he was doing.
Phantom didn't like being held in place like this and he grit his teeth in frustration. He knew she wasn't doing it on purpose and also could see that she needed help. Despite the magic keeping him frozen in place, he twitched his fingers before they slowly clenched. With great struggle, he began to curl up with his claws clenching hard.
Sunset Shimmer saw Phantom moving despite the strength of the holding spell and as he slowly curled up, she saw his scales flicker from white to black and she could swear his eyes were flashing green. She wasn't sure though, since her vision was colored magenta due to Twilight's magic. Not wanting him to be the only one to be freed, she began to channel her magic to try and counter Twilight's. Her horn lit up before she channeled her magic into her body to try and dispel what held her in place. She almost lost her concentration when she saw Phantom throw his limbs out as the magic holding him burst away. Now she knew that the color change must have been a trick of the light since he was still in white scales. She shook away her confusion as she focused her magic more and was able to dispel Twilight's. She fell to the ground and sat on her knees as that was difficult for her to focus all that magic.
Phantom landed on the ground before running toward Twilight. He saw her panic as her magic was still going crazy and he threw his hands out to grab her shoulders.
Twilight was surprised to see someone grab her shoulders and looked to see that it was the dragon boy that was in the corner. She was able to calm down as he held her shoulders, causing her to lower down and her hoofs were once again on the ground.
The results of the magic going out of control were dispelled and the room as well as the occupants returned to normal.
She lowered her head as she had caused so many problems just from her magic going out of control, but when she looked up at the dragon boy, his smile made her smile back.
"I must say, that was a bit of a show, wasn't it, Phantom?"
Phantom looked over his shoulder to see Celestia walking up to them with Sunset Shimmer running up to him.
Sunset was still breathing heavily as she looked him over. "You ok?"
Phantom nodded before looking at Twilight and patting her shoulder.
Twilight, her parents, and the judges bowed to the princess as she made it to the group.
Celestia smiled at the little girl as her eyes shifted to Sunset Shimmer. 'So much potential. One of them must be the Element of magic. But if not, they still need guidance.' She looked to Phantom and asked. "And what would your verdict be?"
Phantom smiled as he walked up to the baby dragon that was now sucking on his own tail and picked him up before bringing him to Twilight. "She was able to hatch the egg easily and do all that magic afterward. I say she passed."
Celestia nodded. "Indeed, I felt her magic from outside." She looked at Twilight as she continued. "But without guidance, it could become a problem for her later in life. So, I have a proposal."
Twilight tilted her head as she wondered what the proposal would be. "Um…"
"Twilight, I would like to add you to be my own personal protégé along with Phantom and Sunset Shimmer here."
Twilight's mind couldn't fully register what the princess was saying. "Huh?!"
Phantom couldn't help but stifle his laughter at her dumbfounded look.
Sunset Shimmer was doing the same but was able to hide her smile behind her hand.
Celestia looked at the purple unicorn and asked. "Well? The decision is yours to make."
Twilight looked back toward her parents to see them excitedly nod to her. With her own excitement bubbling, she jumped into the air with a loud cheer. "YEEEESSSS!"
The ones closest to her looked up at her as she cheered and Phantom blushed as he saw white with a small pink bow. He looked away as Sunset Shimmer saw him blush and pouted for another reason she was not sure about.
Celestia held up a hand toward the still-in-the-air unicorn. "One more thing."
Twilight looked at the princess and asked. "More?" She fell to the ground and looked up at the princess ready to hear what she had to say. She was surprised when the princess knelt down, used her wings to block all but her parents' view with her wings, lifted her skirt ever so slightly, and pointed at a new mark on her hip. She looked at it and grew even more excited. "My cutie mark! Yay!" She began to bounce around as she finally got her cutie mark.
Sunset Shimmer saw this and frowned as she looked down at her own hip and how she still hadn't gotten her own. "No fair."
Phantom shoulder bumped her as he smiled at her. "You'll get yours soon."
"Gooo."
Phantom looked down at the dragon in his arms and saw he wanted to get to Twilight as he was reaching out to her. He walked up to the bouncing girl and got her attention. "I think he wants you to hold him."
Twilight paused her celebration and looked at the baby dragon before she took him from the older dragon boy's arms. She held the baby in her arms before looking at the dragon boy. "Thank you for earlier. Um… what's your name?"
He smiled as he put his hand on his chest. "I'm Phantom." He then gestured to his sister. "This is Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset Shimmer waved at the other unicorn girl with a smile.
Twilight nodded her greeting. "Hi, Phantom, Sunset Shimmer, I'm Twilight Sparkle."
Celestia smiled at the trio as the two unicorns could be the saviors her sister may need. But that would be for much much later.
End of chapter
There are also a few new fic ideas I came up with. A Ben 10 fic as well as a Female Danny Phantom fic.
Honestly, I was going to have Twilight's introduction be the next chapter but I could not make it long enough to be its own chapter without it being random things that had nothing to do with it. Had to look up for flashbacks of Twilight's past and her getting her cutie mark was the only one I could make work (not to mention it was the only one I could find.)
The song that Sunset, Danny, and Cadence did was something I figured I could make as something Cadence came up with. Twilight will still have her original but I made one sorta original for Sunset and Danny.
One thing I feel like I had to bring up is the sizes for the alicorns. Redknight gave me the sizes for the characters so what he says is law. However, I had to look up characters to use as a reference to understand what the sizes look like. One thing I gotta say: real-life sizes and anime sizes are not aligned at all. :P
Here are some characters that have similar sizes to Celestia and Cadence.
Garnet Mclaine (dragonaut), Rushuna Tendo (Grenadier) - G cup - Cadence
Aphrodite (records of Ragnarok), Yurishia Farandole (hybrid heart magias), Rangiku (bleach) - I cup -Celestia
I went through the animes I have watched and those are the ones that I found, though the Aphrodite one just made me laugh with the single clip that was just ridiculous. Even Redknight said he might have gone overboard with the sizes, which I thought was a bit funny. Though, since the alicorns are much taller than normal ponies, I guess it makes sense, in a way.
Knowing the sizes also helps me when I draw them for individual character sheets that I plan on doing and a potential movie poster-style cover art I'll make for this fic.
And I think that the bigger the size, the more inappropriate the woman is based on the genre the heavier sizes appear in.
Next chapter will be getting to the start of the series
Chapter 5: Internal struggles
Summary:
Twilight is worried about some upcoming dangers, but she is not sure if it is real. She goes to find out more about it to ease her mind. All the while, Danny has his own worries, but his troubles have to do internally. He doesn't know how to deal with it or the things that are flooding his mind
Chapter Text
Chapter 5 Start
Sitting in the royal library was a nineteen-year-old Twilight Sparkle, as she was reading one of the books that had caught her attention. It was a history book that talked about Celestia's rise to being the ruler of Equestria.
She had changed from the little filly she used to be when Princess Celestia, Prince Phantom, and Sunset first met her eight years ago.
She was a slim young woman wearing a white dress shirt with a form-fitting buttoned-up red vest over it, pushing up her perky C-cup breasts, and a plaid red and purple skirt over her wide hips that reached halfway down her thigh. Around her neck was a necklace that had a pendant in the shape of her cutie mark. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a strand framing the right side of her face.
She pushed up her frameless round glasses as she read the last passage of the book. "...only when an alignment is made after a thousand rotations." She thought about that passage and began to wonder if her theory could actually be true. After a minute of thinking about it, she closed the book and stood up from the table. She pulled out a small case, took off her glasses, and put them in the case before putting the case away. Once that was done, she undid her hair bun and shook her head as her hair fell to its full length, reaching her tail. "I should ask them what they think." She picked up the book and held it against her chest as she left the library.
Once in the hallway, she looked out the window and figured out what time it was and where they might be. She began to walk through the hall to her destination and to the two people she was looking for.
Sitting on the fountain lip was Sunset Shimmer, and like Twilight, she has also changed from when she was younger.
She had become curvier since then, with her breasts being D-cup, with her hips and thighs being proportionately thick. She was wearing a tight orange short-sleeve shirt that showed off her well-fit stomach and a black jacket over it. She wore jean shorts that were rolled up halfway up her thighs. Like Twilight, she had a necklace that had a pendant in the shape of her cutie mark.
She brought her hand up to the knob of the guitar she had in her arms and tuned one of the strings before she tested the sound. Satisfied with the tone, she nodded and began to strum a few notes. "Can someone give me the a~~nswers to my que~stion? Hmm hmm hmmmm~" She strummed some more notes as she thought about the song she had in her head. There were a few words she thought about already, but it wasn't finished.
Music became something of a hobby for her during her free time a few years ago. It started out as a joke, said to her when she started to tap her hand on the table she was sitting at in a rhythm. She continued to make random music like this till Celestia brought her to a shop that sold instruments. She found herself drawn to the guitar, both acoustic and electric, and it continued from there. Now she spends some of her time working on music or singing, despite it not being her talent.
"Sunset?"
Sunset Shimmer looked up to see Twilight looking at her expectantly. "Hey, Twilight, what's up?"
Twilight looked around as if in search of someone, but after not seeing any sign of him, she brought up her reason for finding them. "There was something I wanted to ask you two. Do you know where he is?"
Sunset smiled as she put her guitar away in its case before she got up and nodded. "Yeah, I heard him say he was doing some practice today, so he should still be there." She swung her guitar case over her shoulder and began to walk away as she gestured for Twilight to follow her.
Twilight ran up to walk with Sunset as she held the book tighter to her chest, hoping that they could be a second voice to her thoughts.
The two mares were walking through an outdoor corridor as the sun kept peeking through the columns.
Sunset looked at Twilight and asked. "So, what was it that you wanted to ask us? It's really rare for you, the bookworm, to ask one of us about something. You're usually the one who knows everything already since you've read almost everything in the library."
Twilight gave Sunset a pouting glare as she retorted. "Hey, you make it sound like all I do is stay inside the library."
Sunset chuckled as she nodded. "You kind of do. I've told you so many times that you should get out more. We even joked that you would live in the library if you had the option to." She smirked as she looked down at Twilight's hips before she pointed at them. "It's one of the reasons why your hips grew more than any other part of your body. If you at least went out and-" She was interrupted when Twilight slapped her hand to stop pointing at her hips.
Twilight blushed in embarrassment as she used her free hand to hold her skirt down. "I don't need you to point that out. Why do you keep pointing out my hips?" She normally didn't feel so self-conscious about her figure, but Sunset had this weird secondary talent to make her think about it. She knew that her hips and flank had volume to them, but Sunset didn't need to point it out. Heck, Sunset was the one that brought up the fact that stallions tended to look at her ass when she walks by, and quote; "They enjoy how your hips and tail sway when you walk".
It wasn't that she had a bubbly butt, but it was something stallions look at as they say it is one of her eye catching features.
Twilight usually ignored these sorts of comments, but when they came from those close to her, she couldn't help but feel self-conscious. 'I don't sway my hips!... do I?'
Sunset smiled as she threw her free arm around Twilight's shoulder. "I just like messing with you, Twi. You know I'm just saying this to get you to head out more."
Twilight gave a cute pout as she looked away. "Hmph."
Sunset knew that she should ease up on the teasing for now. Especially since Twilight would be going through another emotion pretty soon.
The two mares searched the Unicorn and Pegasi training grounds in case they saw any sign of him, but found them completely unused. They finally made it to the last one and found that he was, in fact, here, but what they didn't expect was to see another of their friends sitting on the ground outside the arena.
"Spike, what are you doing here?" Was Twilight's question as she saw her baby dragon sitting on the ground. She thought that Spike was going to stay in their room as he said he would be lazing around that day.
Spike had gotten only slightly bigger since his hatching, but for a dragon, he was already walking and talking as he should be. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and beige shorts.
The little purple dragon looked over his shoulder to see Twilight and Sunset walking up to him. "Hey, girls, you're just in time." He pointed ahead of him as the show continued.
Sunset and Twilight looked to where Spike pointed and saw who they were looking for.
CLACK CLACK CLACK*
Phantom ducked under the sword swing that would have hit him in the middle of his neck before he brought his own sword in an upward slash, but frowned as the swing missed. Before he could follow up with it, he had to jump to the side as a volley of arrows flew by him. He was able to avoid them before he brought his sword up to block the overhead axe chop from another pony. He shifted his sword so that the axe fell to the side before he slammed the pommel of his sword into the pony's stomach. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and sloppily brought his sword to block another sword jab coming at his side. He had to suck in his gut as his block was unsuccessful and his sword was sent flying. He bent back to avoid the next sword slash and lost his balance before falling on his back. Seeing the tip of the sword coming down on him, he rolled to the side in time to avoid it and was able to get on one knee, but he was assaulted once more by a volley of arrows. On reflex, he jumped into the air, into a continuous backflip, just before a pair of large wings spread out and he floated in the air. Smirking at how he now had an advantage, he dived down at them before he pulled up to coast the ground as he swerved left and right to avoid flurry after flurry of arrows. He brought his fists up before he punched some of the ponies in the shoulder, causing them to fall over. He looked over his shoulder with a smirk at how he was able to beat a few of them already. Looking forward, his eyes widened at how a wall was closing in fast. Unable to turn in time, he pulled his legs in and brought them forward as he slammed into the wall, causing the wall to crack from the impact. With some effort, he pushed himself off the wall and flew back into the fight. Unfortunately, another volley of arrows was sent at him and he was not gonna be able to avoid them. He shut his eyes as he focused. "Come on, come on!" His body gained a small haze of green before it became slightly transparent. Several arrows flew through him, causing him to be happy that it worked, but he couldn't hold it longer than a few seconds and effectively, so he soon became tangible and was hit by hordes of arrows, causing him to lose control and came to a skidding crash, face first, in the ground till he stopped in the center of the arena. "...ow."
The other ponies surrounded the fallen dragon before one of them smirked.
"Looks like you still need some work on that pass-through spell you came up with."
Phantom pulled his head out of the ground and looked up at them before smirking. "Talking to a dead dragon is considered bad luck."
Another pony chuckled as he pointed at Phantom. "You sure don't look dead."
Phantom chuckled before rolling onto his back, and feeling around the ground next to him till he grabbed what he was looking for. He brought up one of the arrows and put it vertically on his chest. "You've slain the dragon, but I give you none of my treasure."
"I don't think any of us wants one of your many star charts. They aren't that valuable."
Phantom threw the arrow he had in his hands and laughed as the tip bonked on the pony's head.
The arrow fell to the ground to show the rest of the arrows had a cushioned ball in place of an arrowhead.
One of the ponies that had been fighting with him with the sword pointed the wooden practice weapon at him before speaking in a lecture tone. "Your swordsmanship is still amateurish. After all this time, I thought it would have gotten better."
Phantom blew a raspberry as he sat up. "I'm better with my fists than I am with weapons."
The ponies around him rolled their eyes as they all began to clean up the mess that was made from this practice session. Despite what they just said to Prince Phantom, they all agreed that he was getting better. He still needed to work on his skills, but he was always improving, and in turn, they improved as well.
He got up from the ground and dusted himself off before rolling his shoulders and wings.
Sunset raised her arm in the air as she cupped her other hand around her mouth. "Danny!"
Danny looked over to where the voice came from and saw Sunset, Twilight, and Spike on the side of the arena. He saw Sunset waving at him, and he began to make his way to them.
The name "Danny" was something that the three of them had come up with when they were younger.
~Flashback~
A young Phantom, Sunset, and Twilight were in the library, each doing something they enjoyed since it was their free time, and their magical lessons had to be postponed since Celestia was called into a meeting.
Twilight was sitting at a table with a stack of books next to her while she read a textbook about some magical theory and its applications in the mundane. She enjoyed finding out about the different ways magic was used, as she wanted to find ways of making magic of her own.
Spike was sleeping in a tiny basket as it was his naptime. Twilight would occasionally look at the baby dragon to make sure he was ok.
Sunset was actually using magic to levitate a pencil in the air while an eraser was orbiting around her head. She looked at the table and focused on the paper lying there before she made it float next to the pencil. She then concentrated on writing something on the paper, but the wiggling pencil was only leaving scribbles.
Phantom, though, had a look of concentration as he focused on the journal he had in front of him, as he was chewing on a pencil. He pulled the pencil from his mouth and brought it to the journal, only to frown as he saw that the tip was bitten off. He blinked a few times before he stuck his tongue out and saw the tip of the pencil on it. He groaned before he brought the pencil tip back into his mouth and spat it out.
Unfortunately, the tip hit Sunset, and she lost concentration, causing all the items she was floating to fall to the ground. "Hey." She looked angrily at Danny, who, in turn, looked apologetically at her.
Twilight lowered her book and looked at the other two, who were sitting at the table.
"Sorry." He lifted up one of his claws and began to sharpen his pencil by shaving off the tip.
Twilight saw the pencil shavings with a frown. "You remember what Princess Celestia said about using your claws for such a thing."
Phantom stuck his tongue at her. "She isn't here, so mom can't say anything." he looked at his pencil and nodded before he began to write something in the journal.
Sunset picked up her dropped items before she looked at her brother to see he was focused on writing something in his journal. "What are you writing in that?"
Danny looked up at her and pursed his lower lip in thought before he figured there was no reason for him to hide it. "Well, I was thinking about something." He moved the journal to be between all of them. "You're full name is Sunset Shimmer-" He looked to Twilight, who lowered her book as she was interested in what he had to say. "-and your name is Twilight Sparkle."
The two mares nodded, but they didn't know where he was going with this.
Phantom pointed at his name and asked. "Then why don't I have a second name?"
The two girls blinked a few times before they looked at each other, back at the journal, and then at Phantom. In tandem, they answered, "We don't know."
Phantom nodded. "Neither do I. So I wanted to come up with a second name for myself." He turned one page back and showed a list of names he had come up with.
Twilight and sunset looked at the lsit with Twilight reading some of them out. "Draco, Drago, Demist, Dario….. Why are they starting with Ds?"
He shrugged as he tapped his pencil on the table. "I don't know. But something is telling me that it should start with a D."
Sunset hummed to herself before looking at Danny. "Why didn't you ask us? We would have helped."
Phantom laid his head on the table. "I don't know. Maybe I wanted to try and figure it out on my own."
Sunset smiled before she pushed him to half-sit on the chair, and she sat right next to him. "Well, now that we know, we are going to help you. Right, Twilight?"
Twilight smiled as she closed her book. "Sure, it sounds like fun." She got up and moved around to join them as the three of them were now sitting on the same chair. "Now, come on! Let's see what we can come up with."
Sunset giggled as she leaned on top of Danny's head, pulling on his horns to force his head to look at the journal.
"Hey, get off me, and let go of my horns!"
~Later~
Celestia was walking up the stairs as she was told her kids were on the second floor in one of the sitting areas. The meeting she was in took much longer than she would like, but she hoped she could still wiggle in a lesson or two for them.
Once she made it to the second floor, she walked toward the back, where she was told they would be. However, as she got closer, she saw something white peaking out of the sitting area but she couldn't tell what it was as a bookcase blocked the view from where she was. Feeling curious, she picked up her pace and paused as she came upon the sitting area her kids were supposed to be. But she couldn't catch any sign of them.
The entire sitting area had become white with mountains of crumpled up paper. If she wasn't so close up, she might have thought that a snowstorm came in and layered inches of snow. She looked down and picked up one of the balls of paper before looking back at the scene. "Phantom? Sunset? Twilight?" She then saw movement in one of the hills of paper before her look of befuddlement became one of amusement as she saw a black fin pop up from the paper and make it's way toward her. Her eyes tracked it as it went in a waving pattern till it was right in front of her. She crouched down and moved some of the paper balls out of the way and found Phantom's face smiling up at her.
"Hi, mom."
"Hello, Phantom, mind telling me where the other two are?"
Suddenly another stack of paper balls wiggled before it burst and Sunset gasped as if she had come out of water. "I thought i was never gonna get out of there."
Twilight's head popped up from a few feet away as she shook off a paper ball off the tip of her horn. "I can't believe we went through all these papers just for coming up with a name."
Celestia raised an eyebrow as she asked. "A name? A name for what?"
Danny smiled brighter at her. "A name for me." Seeing her confusion, he elaborated. "Well, everyone has a second name, and I wanted to have one too. So we came up with one that I can add to my first name."
Celestia was amused by this as she asked. "Oh, and what name did you come up with?"
Danny ducked back under the paper, and his fin was seen making its way to Twilight. Once it made it to her, it ducked down for a few seconds before Phantom popped back out with Spike, who was in his basket and chewing on a piece of paper, in the air. He lowered Spike down and grabbed the paper out of Spike's mouth before handing the baby dragon to Twilight, who calmed the baby dragon down before he started crying. He then swam back to Celestia before he handed her the paper. "This!"
Celestia took the paper and looked at the name that was written on it. She hummed as she thought it was a bit unusual. "'Danny'?" She looked at him and asked. "Why did you choose this one?"
Phantom's eyes shifted to the paper before looking at her. "I don't know. It just felt…..right."
Celestia looked back at the name and thought about what the name could mean. Something she learned about Phantom was that when he has a feeling about something, it was in her best interest to pay attention to it. But that would be for later. He seemed to really want the name and she was no gonna deny him this. "Very well, Danny Phantom."
Danny's eyes shined when he heard the name and smiled brightly.
Celestia smiled back at the little dragon before looking at the mess. 'Well, Danny, now that you have a new name to add to your original, I believe it is time for you to clean up your mess."
Danny looked down at the paper pool he was in. "Aw, man."
~end of flashback~
Afterward, they spent a few minutes figuring if it should be his first name or last name. They agreed that it sounded better as his first name. Now, most people still call him Prince Phantom, but the closest ones call him either Phantom or Danny, but they were leaning more toward Danny as it just sounds right.
Sunset smiled as she saw Danny make his way to them. Looking in her peripheral vision, she smirked as she saw Twilight starting her habit again.
Twilight Sparkle smiled brightly as she saw Danny making his way toward them. She began to shift back and forth on her hoofs and was using her right hand to twirl a strand of hair. She even started to bite the side of her lip as he got closer.
The funny thing was, she didn't even realize she was doing it.
This was what Sunset found amusing about Twilight. It was obvious that Twilight liked Danny for a very long time, as Twilight started doing these things over the last few years. But the only ones who didn't seem to realize it were Spike, Twilight, and, amazingly, Danny.
Spike most likely because he is too young to understand the tells.
Twilight because she most likely saw it as just enjoying being around him….. or doesn't even know she is doing it.
Danny… because he is clueless.
Sunset turned her head to see Twilight's twirling increase as he was now in front of them. She was pretty sure that the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt and sweating a bit did not help her.
Danny had gotten much taller over the years, and he was now a couple of inches taller than either of them. He had a lean, muscular build that was only to be expected since his workout consisted of magic combat and weapons practice. His hairstyle hadn't changed at all, though his horns had gotten longer and moved slightly past the back of his hair. His ears had gotten two spins in them, so they now had three membranes on them. He now had two small spikes that came out of the back of his mandible, just under his ears, with a few scales sticking out near them. His muzzle was no longer round and had gained a firmer shape. His claws gained a new feature as they had become retractable, so when they are retracted, they look like slightly sharp nails, and when they are out, they are claws that look like they could cut through metal.
The biggest changes he went through were both his legs and a new set of wings.
His legs had become digitigrade after what could be considered his first bout of puberty, while the wings came in during his second go through puberty.
For his first change, he had woken up one morning almost four times bigger than he was supposed to be and more primal than normal. Throughout the entire day, he kept growing in size and became very clingy to Celestia, Twilight, and Sunset. At the start, he just kept suggesting that they all do things together, no matter what it was.
Playing
Studying
Even taking a bath. He had practically forced them all into the bath at the same time.
As the day continued, he became more forceful, and since he was getting bigger, he soon kept them in one place by wrapping his whole body around them. Thankfully, the audience chamber was massive enough to accommodate his size, but since none of them could leave, no work or studies could be done. Thankfully, it only lasted one day, and it was embarrassing for him as his clothing was obviously destroyed at some point in his growth.
~Flashback~
Fourteen-year-old Danny groaned as he lay on the ground as he brought his hand up to his head as it was pounding. "Ugh, what spell is able to hit me like a meteor smashed into my head?"
"It is most likely a result of your sudden transformation."
He lifted his head to look toward his feet to see Celestia, Sunset, and Twilight pushing themselves off the ground and rubbing their eyes. "What's going on?"
Celestia tilted her head as she asked. "You do not remember?"
Danny sat up, rubbed the side of his head, and shut his eyes, trying to get rid of his headache. "All I know is that I have a headache and my body is sore."
"Kya!"
Danny looked to where the weird sound came from and saw that Twilight was covering her eyes with her hands, and Sunset had her head turned away. "What's with you two?"
The two young mares became more flustered and did their best not to look at him.
Celestia could not help but smile as she looked at Danny. "I believe it is due to your state of dress."
He tilted his head as he didn't understand what she meant till he looked down at himself. State of dress was obviously sarcastic, he wasn't wearing ANYTHING! He covered himself in embarrassment before he got up to his feet and tried to run away. Keyword "tried".
He barely got to his feet before he fell to the ground. As he was still frantic, he got up once more before he fell after trying to take one more step. After three more tries to run away, he looked down at his feet to wonder what was causing him to fall over. It was then that he got another surprise when he saw that his legs were no longer plantigrade (normal legs) but digitigrade (animal-type hind legs). "What the HAY happened to my LEGS!?"
Celestia smiled as she got up and moved over to him. "If I had to assume, it was due to your transformation the previous day. I would have to consult some others in order to be perfectly sure, but it is the only thing I can think of." She looked at his legs and figured he would need to practice walking again, but for now, she picked him up into her arms and began to walk toward the door. "Let's get you to the bedroom so we can get you something to wear."
"Cel… Mom, I can walk by myself!" He felt his face go red from embarrassment as he was being held in her arms, naked.
Celestia chuckled as she kept walking. "Your previous attempts say otherwise. Don't worry, it is not something I haven't seen already."
Danny covered his face with his hands as he wished he could disappear from sight.
Celestia caught his little hiccup, but she figured that this would happen when he figured out he was adopted. He figured it out fairly quickly after Spike was born. It did bring a pang of hurt to her heart when he started to make those verbal hiccups, but she knew that he still loved her and she him. He was just having a confusing time with the revelation.
Twilight peeked open an eye to see that they were gone before she removed her hands. Her face was still red as her mind still repeated what she had seen. She shook her head to try and remove the image.
Sunset cleared her throat as her cheeks were still dusting pink. She turned to Twilight to see her start to run her hand through a bit of her mane on the side of her face. "So….. what'd ya think?"
Twilight went completely red before her mind could not take it anymore, and she fainted.
~Flashback end~
Danny grabbed a towel and his shirt off a bench that was at the side as he wiped the sweat off.
Twilight's right hoof began to twist in the dirt as she watched him, as her hand began to twirl her hair even harder. All the while, in her mind, she was thinking about what she wanted to ask him and Sunset.
Sunset blushed at the sight and looked away as she was mentally asking why he had to do this in front of them.
Danny finished off and began to put on his shirt with some difficulty since he had to angle his wings in order to slip through the slots on the back of the shirt.
Spike ran up to Danny and began to bounce around him. "That was so cool! I can't wait till I get my own wings and I can do all the cool stuff you do!"
As the only other dragon he knew, Spike looked up to Danny as the cooler older brother. Danny was happy to be his older brother since he had been there since his birth and wanted to make sure that he did his best to help the little dragon whenever he needed help.
Danny chuckled at Spike's enthusiasm and knelt down as he placed a hand on the little dragon's head. "You should enjoy your time as a kid as much as you can. When you get older, there are gonna be a lot of things that will bug you, but I will say that when you get your wings, I'll show you all the flying tricks I know."
Spike smiled brightly as he jumped at Danny and hugged his neck. "That'll be awesome!"
Danny chuckled as he stood back up and put Spike on his shoulder. He flinched as something in his head pinged, but he did his best to hide it.
Sunset and Twilight did notice it, though, with sunset asking. "Something wrong?"
Danny shook his head. "Nah, just something I gotta deal with."
Twilight, though, walked up to him and held up her arms toward Spike. "Come on, Spike, we should let Danny walk on his own."
Spike shook his head as he grabbed onto Danny's head. "No way."
Twilight frowned at the little dragon. "Spike!"
Danny brought up a hand to gently grab one of hers and lowered it. "It's fine, Twilight, there is nothing wrong with him sitting up there. Trust me, I just had something on my mind."
Twilight blushed at the contact and nodded slowly.
Sunset watched the two in their little moment, but decided they needed to get things moving. She placed a hand on their arms as she looked at Twilight. "Ok, Twi, wasn't there something that you wanted to ask us?"
Twilight was brought out of her daze and nodded. "Yes, it's something important that I needed a second opinion on." She looked around before she whispered. "But can we talk somewhere private. I don't want too many to know this if it's nothing."
Danny nodded as he gestured for them to head somewhere other than the training field, as other ponies were coming in to start their training. "Let's head inside. We can hit the rest area since there shouldn't be anyone there right now."
The two mares nodded as the four of them began to leave the field.
The group was in the resting area meant for ponies after they had trained and gotten cleaned up.
There wasn't anyone there other than them and the cooking staff, but the staff wouldn't be able to hear anything since the equipment made too much noise.
The resting area was a wide open room with one wall being a window that shows the field, several sets of four red cushioned couches that surrounded a small table, and an eating area with a full kitchen and snack bar.
Spike was at the snack bar as he was looking for something to munch on.
Danny had a towel on his head as he had taken a quick shower and was drying his hair. "Ok, so what is it that you wanted to tell us?"
Twilight tightened her grip on her book before she looked at the two. "Have you two heard the fable 'The Mare in the Moon'?"
Danny and Sunset looked at each other before Sunset answered.
"I've heard the tale a long time ago. Think I even read a book about the story. Honestly, it sounded like a children's story with the fantastical way it was told. I thought it was just some toned-down way of how Mom got into power."
Danny nodded. "I think she told me about it when I was barely three or something, and I didn't pay much attention to it after a while. I forgot about it really until you brought it up here."
Twilight nodded as it was what she expected. She placed the book she was holding down and opened it to the page she was on, which had several notes and papers in it. "Well, there is something that I found out while reading the story." She moved the notes out of the way and pointed to a spot on the page as she read the passage. "It said here that after a thousand years, when the sun hovers over the moon, the lost mare of the moon will return to meet up with the pony of the sun again." She then grabbed one of the notes she had made and read what she found. "I got curious about this and began to date the time this story might have been made, along with when the sun would hover over the moon. From what I found, the story is about a thousand years old, and the day that the sun would hover over the moon referred to the Summer Sun celebration."
The other two leaned in as they looked at her findings.
Sunset asked. "Ok, so you're saying that the old folktale might have some truth behind it?"
Twilight nodded. "Not only that, I found some other documents that state a dark mare hides within the moon, waiting for her chance to return and bring about everlasting night to Equestria."
Danny frowned at the implications that Twilight was insinuating. "Are you saying that there might be an oncoming threat to Equestria?"
Twilight sucked in her lip before nodding slightly. "I don't know if this is real or just something that I am overthinking, but I wanted to bring this up with you so you can tell me what you think."
Sunset and Danny leaned back in their chairs as they thought about what Twilight brought up.
Sunset crossed her arms and legs before speaking. "It is a bit far-fetched if you ask me. It could be just something that the makers of the story saw as convenient for the story to give them some more credibility."
Danny put a hand to his chin as he looked at the book. "Maybe, but what if this is actually something to look into. Sure, the story is in a kid's fairytale book, but we shouldn't just ignore it if it means there is a threat on the way." He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "Say we do nothing. If this story turns out to be an actual warning, we will be open to whatever threat this is. But if we set up some precautions, we are ready to defend ourselves. Even if nothing happens, it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I say we bring this up with…mom and see what she has to say. She was around when the story was made…. I think, so she should be able to tell us if we are being paranoid about it or not."
Twilight smiled as she was afraid the two of them might think she was just being a worry pony and ignore it. "Thanks, guys."
Sunset and Danny nodded as they stood up.
Sunset picked up her guitar before speaking. "We should head over to her now. This is something important, so let's go."
Danny nodded. "And if this isn't anything, we still have some things we need to do for the celebration."
"Hey, are we leaving already?"
The three looked down to see Spike carrying a mountain of snacks. So many of them that you couldn't see his face anymore. They had a laugh at the sight before they helped the little dragon out and made their way to Celestia.
Celestia was in the audience chamber, standing in front of the stained glass window that depicted her raising the sun with her hands behind her back. She sighed as it was a reminder of the saddest day of her life. It was created long ago after her "victory" against Nightmare Moon, and the constructors of the castle made it in reverence to her. She appreciated the gesture, but it hurt her heart every time she looked at it. She would have removed it, but she felt that she needed this reminder. She needed to remember what her actions and lack of attention had done to her sister and what it cost her. It is why she was anxious about the coming celebration, as it was finally time for her to either get her sister back…..
Or lose her life.
And she had a plan. One that she was confident would succeed. She had a thousand years to plan for this, and she was ready. And Danny was the biggest help to her.
During her travels, when she brought Danny along, Danny would get these intuitions that pointed to one town. It was the same thing that happened when he found Sunset and Twilight. And, it made sense. The representations of the elements would reappear during the time they would be needed the most. Now that Danny confirmed their existence, she just had to set Twilight and Sunset into Ponyville to find them.
It was as she thought about Danny that her heart started to hurt once more.
Recently, Danny had become… distant. She didn't know why, but he had started to move away from her. No longer was he affectionate toward her, no longer did he want to spend so much time with her, and he wouldn't even look at her. He had grown up to be a strapping young gentleman and figured that maybe he just needed some space, so she gave it to him. But she had missed when he would come to her for anything. She missed when he would come up to her and show her one of his drawings, which had improved over time. She even had one of his drawings safely stored away, as it was of her and him sitting together and looking at the sunset. But they weren't that close anymore. She missed him. She missed having him stand by her side, she missed having him close to her, she missed having him in her arms, she missed how they would almost always have physical contact with each other.
She had many thoughts on what the reason could be, but she did not want to push the subject for fear of pushing him away.
However, she had to admit to herself, her love for him….. No longer stemmed just from raising him. She knew this was something taboo, but her heart ached and needed companionship, and despite the many lifetimes she had lived, she was still a woman. There were options that she could take that could ease the need, but her heart would no longer allow her to use such options.
She thought about Danny and how he had grown over time. She shut her eyes as her mind went over how strong, reliable, and handsome he had become. The hands she had behind her back grasped each other tighter before she took a deep breath to calm herself. She moved away from where she was standing and began to make her way back to her throne. There were more important matters that required her focus.
She suddenly heard the door to the chambers open, and she turned to see who it was. It was to her surprise that she saw Danny, Twilight, and Sunset walk in. As they walked toward her, she moved to meet them halfway. "This is a surprise. Our magical lessons were postponed for a the time being. Is something the matter?" She looked at each of them and saw a smile on Sunset's muzzle, a nervous expression on Twilight's, and Danny turning his head away. She said nothing on that and looked at Twilight, who was the one up front.
The three were glad that Celestia wasn't busy, as this was best to be kept between just them. They had sent Spike off to his room so the little dragon wouldn't be part of this heavy conversation.
Twilight looked up at Celestia as she felt nervous bringing this up. She looked back and saw Sunset giving her an encouraging smile while Danny gave her a side-eyed smile. She wanted to ask what it was that had Danny act like this around Celestia, but she held her tongue. She looked back at Celestia and took a breath. "You see, Princess, there is something that I want to bring up with you." Seeing the princess nod, she began to explain what she had discovered.
Celestia listened to her student in rapt attention and could not help but feel proud of her student's ingenuity. 'Leave it to Twilight to figure out the legend's authenticity, and thinking of ways to defend our home.' She waited till Twilight finished before she smiled at them. "I understand your worries, my faithful student, but you need not worry about such things. I can guarantee you that such a travesty will not happen."
Twilight, though relieved to hear this, looked worried still. "Are you sure? All the details point out that this upcoming Summer Sun celebration will be when the Mare in the moon will return, and-" She stopped speaking when Celestia placed a gentle finger on her lips.
The princess smiled down at her student before she moved her finger to the side of Twilight's face and gently rubbed her cheek. "You worry too much, Twilight. Such worries are something you do not need to concern yourself with. If anything, right now, you should worry about the preparations you must go check on tomorrow. Perhaps your worry about anything happening tomorrow might be stressing you out, as you are overthinking things. You should just feel excited about the celebration and your time in Ponyville. In fact, I want you to do something for me while there." Seeing Twilight nod, she smiled and looked at all three of them. "Make friends. Ones that will be a big part of your heart and you will cherish no matter what."
Twilight blushed at the contact and nodded enthusiastically. "I will, princess." She stepped back when Celestia removed her hand.
Sunset smiled as she stepped up to Twilight and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, it looks like there wasn't anything to worry about." She looked up at Celestia with a question of her own. "Is Cadence going to be there tomorrow? She said she might be able to make it, but I haven't heard from her.
Celestia nodded at her daughter. "She had informed me that there are some matters that she needed to finish, but she affirmed that she will be able to make it to the celebration. You should meet her, most likely the day before the celebration."
Sunset smiled at that, as it had been a few weeks since they had seen the Alicorn of love. "Sweet!" Feeling that things had been settled, she looked at Twilight. "Come on, Twi, we should get ready for tomorrow. I've still got a song I want you to hear, and give me your opinion on whether I should play it tomorrow."
Twilight nodded and smiled at her friends. "Maybe I am overthinking this. I should calm down and enjoy tomorrow." She began to make her way toward the door with Sunset and Danny following.
Celestia watched them leave before her eyes focused on Danny's back. Her eyes saddened before she called out. "Danny, can you stay for a moment?"
Danny stopped for a moment before he was about to walk again, but Sunset Shimmer placed a hand on his chest and shook her head.
"Just do this."
Danny sighed as he nodded. "Alright."
Sunset smiled before she turned around and pushed Twilight out the door. "Come on, this is for them alone."
Twilight just went with it, and they left Danny and Celestia alone.
Celestia stood behind Danny as he would not turn to face her. Figuring this was the best she was going to get, she spoke up about the important matter. "Danny, there is more to the legend that Twilight brought up."
Danny shifted his head ever so slightly to the right as he heard this, but still did not face her. "Like what?"
Celestia took a deep breath before continuing. "It is true that the Mare in the Moon will return, but I have already anticipated this and have already layed a plan that will resolve the issue."
Danny turned his head even more as his eyes shifted to the side. "Wait, so we should be on our toes for this!?"
Celestia shook her head. "Danny, I am telling you this as I need you to be ready for anything. I do not want Twilight or Sunset to be so worried about it as their eased nerves are a major part of my plan."
Danny thought about what Celestia was insinuating and grew worried. "They are an integral part of your plan, aren't they?"
Celestia nodded. "You as well, but they must not be compromised by worry and panic, if the plan is to work. I just want you to follow your instincts and feelings as they will lead you to success."
Danny nodded as he trusted her words. "I will do my best to protect them no matter what." He began to walk toward the door with his mind going over what she told him.
Celestia could not take it. He didn't even look at her as they spoke here, and she found herself rushing forward. "Wait!"
Danny froze when he felt Celestia wrap her arms around his neck from behind as her wings enveloped them both. He could feel her breasts pressed on his back and wings, he felt her head on his right shoulder, her flowing hair brushing the back of his head, and he could smell her scent all around him.
"Please, tell me what I did? What did I do to cause you to push me away so much that you won't even look at me?" She tightened her hug as she was on one knee and wanted to bring him closer to her. "Why won't you even look at me? Do you hate me so much?"
Danny felt his heart ache at what he was doing to his mother. "There is no way I can hate you." He brought his arms up to run his hands on her arms. "I could never do that." He leaned his head onto hers and felt her fur and hair on his face as his eyes closed. "I'm sorry for making you think I hate you but I'm just…..going through some things that I want to figure out on my own. Can you just let me figure this out on my own? Please?"
Celestia felt her heart ease as he heard that he didn't hate her, and she nodded. "Of course, but please don't ever hate me or leave me." She tightened her hug as she moved her right hand up to the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair.
Danny felt his nerves ease as he felt her run her hand through his hair, and his tail began to flick back and forth. "I won't." Despite how they were, he really wanted to leave right now.
After a moment more, Celestia placed a kiss on his cheek and let him go before she flexed her wings and folded them in.
Danny looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. "I'll try and get over this as best I can, and we can go back to how things were, Mom." With that, he walked out of the chamber.
Celestia watched him leave before she took in a deep breath. "For now." She turned around and walked toward her throne once more as her eyes focused on the throne next to it.
Danny walked out of the chamber and closed the door as he looked around to see that no one was there. He knew that Twilight and Sunset would be off getting ready for tomorrow, so he wasn't worried. Once he was sure he was in the clear, he moved over to the wall and placed his hand on it to keep himself up. "Damn it!" He looked down and grimaced at the sight as he took in a deep breath. After a few more breaths, he had calmed down and pushed himself off the wall. "'Best I can'... Right." He looked out the window and saw that the sun was lowering, and made his way to his room as he was ready to call it a day.
~later~
Danny was sitting at his desk as he leaned over a journal that he was working on. His mind was going over several things, but he was still unable to make sense of it.
Suddenly, the door of his room opened as Sunset walked in with her hair wet and wearing only a towel around her body.
Danny had turned his head to see who it was and jumped in shock. "Sunset! What the hay!"
Sunset smiled at Danny's reaction but moved over to the side toward his dresser. "Oh, relax, I just forgot to grab this, and I needed it once my hair is dry." She picked up a hairbrush that she had left here last time. "Unless you want to do it yourself?"
Danny saw the brush in her hand and shook his head. "Sorry, not today. I've got some things to go over." He closed his journal as he tried his best not to look at her wet body that was only covered by a towel. "And did you have to come here right after you took a shower?"
Sunset shrugged. "I needed this, and I wanted to ask you something."
Danny turned to face away from her. "Again, you needed to do this right after you showered because~?"
Sunset moved over to stand behind him. "Did you talk things over with Mom, or are you still being weird?"
Danny sighed as he slumped back and looked at the ceiling. "I cleared things up, and she understood my standing. It's just a bit of some personal matters I gotta get through."
Sunset smiled as she was worried about the two, but hearing him confirm that there was nothing really wrong, she was relieved. She hugged him from behind and leaned her head on his back. "Good, I don't like how things got bad between you two. Just stop being dumb and get back to how you used to be."
Danny could feel her breasts pressing on his back and did his best to remain calm. He looked down and his eyes widened when he saw her towel had fallen off. He cleared his throat as he tapped her arm. "Sunset, your towel."
Sunset looked down and saw that she was naked and hugging Danny. "Whoops." She let him go and picked up her towel and held it in her hand. "Anyway, since you aren't going to do my hair, I'd better head back to my room so I can get ready for bed. Later, Danny."
Danny turned around to bid her a goodnight, but he froze as he saw the back of her bare form leaving his room with a sway of her hips and tail. Once she was out of his room, he moved over to the door and closed it before he leaned on it and let out a sigh. "Damn it." he looked down and grimaced again at the sight of his bulge.
This was the issue. Ever since his last transformation, his view of the females around him began to change. When he figured out he was adopted, that was just a blow he was able to get over. But after his second transformation, it just got worse. He became extremely possessive of those he cared about and was starting to react in ways that he thought he shouldn't have. It was tough keeping himself grounded, but it was him against his instincts, and those instincts like to hit hard.
It didn't help that there was another issue that arose after his second transformation.
He walked over to his desk and opened up the journal he was just working on. It was full of drawings of random things that came to his mind.
A hexagon with a bulb on top.
A weird-looking soup thermos
A blue headband
Two sets of orange goggles
A combat boot
A red beret
A pair of gloves, one being white and the other being black
A green ring
A green flaming crown
A green flaming F
A stylized D
These were things that kept popping up in his head, and he had no idea why. At random moments and even in his dreams, he would get these vague, foggy images that he felt were important, and he would draw them in the chance he would be able to figure out what they meant. So far, he had no success. He knew these were important and racked his brain to try and figure it out. He felt like he needed to remember these as an important part of him, and did what he could to do so.
He let out a sigh as he flipped through the pages as blurry figures were seen, and he could not clear up the fog. After he got to the last page, he closed the journal and put it away before moving to his bed. He flopped face-first on the bed and groaned at how things were going in his life. His tail flicked in irritation as he mumbled in his bed. "Why can't my life be easier?" His mind was going through so much that he was sure that he would shed scales from stress.
After a few minutes of this, he figured that he should just get some sleep and look forward to heading to Ponyville. Sure, he now had a task to protect Twilight and Sunset, but he was going to do that anyway.
They were his after all.
End of chapter
Well, Danny has a lot on his mind, and he will have a bunch more entering his mind as the story goes on.
This was a bit difficult for me since it is delving into the M section, but I don't want to just jump right in.
Build up, my readers, build up
I am working on character profiles of the characters to give them visual reference, but it is slow going
things are going to get heavy in many aspects as the story continues but I hope you continue to read and enjoy this fic
There is a post on my profile that explains what is going on IRL with me, but the short version is that there are issues at my job and I've lost a lot of free time.
Anyway, tell me what you think about the chapter, and I hope you look forward to what happens next.
Just to let you know, there will be lemons in this fic. Wish me luck, cause I'm not used to writing them.
Chapter 6: On our Way
Summary:
Danny and Celestia have a small talk about what is bothering them. Although not much is said, they still love each other. and that might be the problem.
Danny, twilight, sunset, and Spike are on their way
Chapter Text
TO ALL READERS
Many of you pointed out that I messed up on calling him Danny. I would like to inform you that I did mess up, but not on that. It turns out that I believed I had already written a scene that was in my head, but I did not. It was so detailed in my head, I thought I wrote it in. I went back and inserted the scene so you can reread the last chapter to see where the name came from.
WARNING
This chapter has some Lime moments. These are MOMENTS, not full scenes, and they are limes, not lemons. So it is delving into the M rating, but nothing major happens. This is just a warning to those who are iffy on that kind of thing.
Chapter 6 Start
Celestia lay on her bed as she stared at the ceiling with her arm on her forehead. She turned her head to the clock on the wall to her left and saw it was one in the morning. She couldn't sleep as her mind was going over so many different things about the upcoming events. She sighed as she sat up and shifted off her bed. She stood up, forgoing grabbing her robe as she had no plans of leaving her room. She began to walk back and forth at the end of her bed with her arms at her sides. After several rounds, her arms lifted up to wrap around her body as her worries continued to grow. "Was this really the best I could come up with? I am relying heavily on the connection the representatives will have thanks to the elements, but what about their own feelings? Not only that, Danny's connection with the elements is still unknown." She tightened her arms around her body, lifting her breasts up before she slid her right hand up the front of her left nipple and to her face. She placed her hand on her forehead as she continued worrying. "I never got the opportunity to find out what the connection he had with the elements was. What if it's harmful to him…. No, Danny has no negative elements in his body. I wish I knew what it was that connected Danny with the elements, but it's too late now."
Her mind then went to the fact that they would be facing her sister. "If I am to see this plan work, I will need to be indisposed, otherwise, it will just be a long, drawn-out battle that could cause harm to our ponies. But what if I were to at least help out in some sort of way-"
She continued to pace back and forth with her mind going over alternatives to her plan. She would come up with one alternative, but it would be tossed aside as it was either too late for it, or it wouldn't even be efficient. All the while, despite her room being far away from most of the residents of the castle, the clopping of her hooves could be heard by her neighbors.
Something had woken Danny up in the middle of the night, and he slowly opened his eyes before he begrudgingly sat up with a groan. He brought a hand up to his face and let out another groan. "Why can't I remember any of these…. Weird dreams." He thought about what he could remember from his dream, but much like the other times, they were just out of reach.
He would occasionally have dreams that he was sure meant something, but every time he went over them when he woke up, nothing from them made sense or was clear.
This time, the only thing he could remember was flashes of green, a blue flame, what he thought might have been a golden necklace, or the feeling of ice.
He looked down at his shirt and saw there were large gashes on it, and frowned at how he had cut up his shirt again with his claws. He ripped his shirt off since it was easier for him than just trying to preserve it before he shifted to the side of the bed and got up. He tossed the shirt to the floor before heading toward his desk and grabbing his journal. He thought about what he could remember and the foggy images before he grabbed his pencil and was about to draw what he could. But he paused when he felt something else was off. It wasn't really a supernatural sense, but it was telling him he needed to do something. He then realized what it was, and he put his pencil down before heading toward his door. He opened his door and looked out into the wide hall to see that there wasn't anyone there. He looked toward the door that led to the rest of the castle and saw it was closed, which meant that the guards were most likely still standing there. He came out of his room, walked past Sunset's room, which had the door slightly open, and made his way toward Celestia's room. He now stood outside the room and could hear the clopping of her hooves.
The thing that woke him up was more of a feeling that something was off, as even if he could hear her hooves in the hallway, he wasn't sure he would be able to hear it through two doors and some distance. Forgoing knocking as he was used to just walking in on her with no hesitation, he walked in and spoke. "...Mom?" When he fully entered the room, he froze and blushed heavily, as he saw that his mother was pacing around her room, naked.
Celestia did not notice when the door opened, but when she heard Danny call her, she stopped in her pacing and looked toward him. "Danny?"
Danny shook his head and cleared his throat as he asked her. "Is there something wrong?" He did his best to maintain eye contact with her. It was kinda hard to do when he had to look up to look her in the eyes, and that meant looking past the large breasts. "I had a feeling that something was bothering you, mind telling me about it?"
Celestia smiled at how he was worried about her. He would always be the one to listen ot her when there was something that was on her mind and she couldn't come up with ways to deal with them on her own. She nodded as she walked over to her bed.
Danny had to continue to keep his gaze up as he followed her since, when she turned around, he got a clear view of her ass. Her well-volumed rear had a soft sway to it, and her tail that would just grab his attention. He was sure that his hand would find them firm to squeeze each one and to see how well they would fit in his hand, then run his fingers through her tail to feel the silky flow of each strand. It was almost tempting for him to reach out and- 'STOP IT, Phantom! For mom's sake, I should not be looking at her in such a way!' He looked down at his right hand and saw that it was slightly extended as if he was close to following up with the precious action. He grabbed his wrist and pulled it down immediately. 'Damn it! Focus!'
Unkown by phantom, his pupils dilated back to their usual roundness as he followed her to the bed.
Celestia was unaware of these actions as she made it to her bed and sat down. She patted the spot next to her and felt relieved that he sat right next to her. She sighed as she spoke about her worries. "Remember how I mentioned I had a plan for the upcoming situation?" She turned her head to him and saw him nod. "Well, I am worried that it might not be enough." She held herself with her arms as if trying to keep herself together. "I'm afraid, Danny. I…." Her mind started to go over scenarios where things went wrong and Danny and his friends would meet their end. "I… I fear that something might go wrong and I won't be there to help." She took a deep breath to stabilize herself.
She was able to calm down, but Danny could tell that she was still worried. He leaned in till his shoulder was leaning on her arm as he looked up at her. "You asked me to protect them, and I will. I can promise that we will get through this, and you will find that you have nothing to worry about." He leaned his head on her arm and reached out his hand to place on her leg. He gently ran his hand up her thigh, brushing her fur.
"Thank you, Danny." Celestia lowered her hand to be on top of his as she looked down at him and felt comfort in his words. He always knew what to say to ease her heart, and having him so close made her heart beat soothingly. She lifted the arm he was leaning on, and as he began to fall into her, she quickly picked him up and held him within her arms. She held his back against her stomach as his head was slowly buried in her breasts. She wrapped her arms around him, under his arms and wings, and lowered her head to be in his hair. She layed on her back with him on top of her. "Danny, I know I am asking so much of you, but know that you, Twilight, and Sunset are precious to me. I cannot see my life without any of you. Can you promise me something?" She ran her hand over his chest and mentally commented to herself that he had grown sturdy, with her subconsciously caressing him.
Danny was blushing as he was now being held by her, and the feel of her gentle fingers on his chest. Gulping down any sort of voice breaking he knew he would have, he asked. "What is it?" He blushed again when he felt her soft breath brush in hair.
Celestia smiled as she slowly inhaled, taking in his scent. "Promise to always come back to me, no matter what. Please?"
Danny shifted his head up to look at her as she looked down at him. "You don't need to ask me that. I will always come back, no matter what."
Celestia smiled as she held him tighter. "That is all I ask of you for now." Feeling reassured that Danny would do his best to return with the others, she decided to ease his own worries, if he'd let her. "Now, are you willing to tell me what it is that is bothering you?" Seeing him ready to deny it, she used one of her hands to hold his maw shut. "Now, before you try to deny something that you confirmed earlier, before we went to bed, I just want you to confide in me. Or at least, talk about anything that might make you feel better."
Danny thought about whether or not he should tell her how he had been for a while now, but with how it involved her, he decided to keep it to himself. No matter what, he would not destroy any sort of connection he had with her. She was too important to him, and not only her, but this moment is with her right now. He did a small shake of his head. "I don't think I could talk to anyone about this. I've got several things bothering me, but I guess I can share one of them. I've ….. Been having these dreams recently. I…. don't know what they are about, and I can't remember anything about them except for a few blurry images. I don't know what they mean, but something in me is telling me that these are important. It's the fact that they feel important to me that I want to figure it out on my own. It might just be my ego talking, but if I don't find this out on my own, it might just take away from the importance. I think the only downside is that they wake me up at random times, and I don't have a say when I actually wake up."
Celestia frowned as she heard this. She wished that he had told her about this, as she would have done what she could in order to help him out, even if she did not have the power to delve into dreams, but he wanted to find this out on his own, so she would respect his wishes. However. "Danny, if you were having trouble sleeping because of these dreams, you should have told me about it, so I would have been able to help you." She held him tighter as she pressed her cheek to the top of his head. "I love you, Danny, and I would do whatever I could to help you. Even if it was for something simple." She shifted so his head would come out from between her breasts and be next to her nipple. "In fact, I have a method that can ease your mind so you can have a more restful sleep. If you will let me."
Danny tilted his head, deeper into her breasts, by accident, and asked. "What method?" His eye flicked to the pink nipple right next to him and he gulped as he tried to focus on her face.
Celestia lifted her hand to be in front of his face as her index finger lit up in magic. "It is something I did to make sure you slept peacefully, long ago." She moved her finger in front of his face. "If you will let me." She smiled lovingly when he saw him nod, and she moved her finger to the center of his forehead.
Danny wasn't sure what she was doing, but once her finger pressed on his head, he felt his energy leave him, and his eyelids started to get heavier. It wasn't long until he lost consciousness, and his breathing steadied.
Once he was asleep, Celestia's horn lit up in magic as she focused on a spell she created some time ago. Her breasts shifted ever so slightly before they increased in one cup size. Once they stopped growing, white liquid began to stream out of her nipple and down her breasts. She used her hand to move Danny's face to have his maw right next to her left nipple and gently placed it into his mouth. She let out a gasp as her face flushed as he began to suck on her breast, drinking in her breastmilk. "That's it, my little Phantom, drink as much as you like. This is meant for you alone."
For several minutes, Danny would suck on her breast, drinking the abundant flow of milk that came from her.
Celestia's breathing became heavy as he continued to suck on her and she cradled him so that he would have full access. His suckling became more forceful as he slowly buried his face deeper into her breast, causing her face to heat up, and she started to pant. Each time he sucked, her wings would flicker as she started letting out soft moans while she watched him suck on her breast. "NN~!" He suddenly sucked hard enough on her nipple to cause a loud moan to come out of her as her wings opened wider. Her eyes widened at the sound, and she used her right hand to cover her mouth. She then realized what was going on with her, and she cleared her throat and gently pulled him away. "Easiy, Celestia, I should not be going there." She shifted the arm that held him, she layed on her side with him still in her arms. She smiled as she felt him curl into her body and nuzzle deeper into her chest, as she leaned her head down to take in his scent more. She whispered to herself not to wake him up. "I am a failure, aren't I? To be this way with someone I raised. But maybe I can talk to you about this one day. I won't place more on you when you are already with your own burdens. And if I must hold this burden myself for the rest of eternity, I shall. Having you with me can be enough." She curled herself around him as she closed her eyes. "But know that you are my little phantom, and that will never change." She closed her eyes and slept with him.
Unknown to either of them, Sunset Shimmer was sitting on the floor outside of the room, with her right hand under her shirt and the other in her pants. She had been peaking through the crack of the door and watched Danny as he sucked on Celestia's breast and the moans that were coming from the princess. She didn't realize she was pleasuring herself until she had let out a moan at the same time Celestia did. Now that the two in the room finished that little moment, she pulled her hand out and looked at the glistening shine on her hand. She whispered out. "I was not planning on doing that." She had heard them talking and was planning to slowly come in and give her own support if they needed it, but things kinda took a turn, and it ended like this. She got up off the ground and tiptoed back toward her room, which was kinda hard to do since the floor was polished marble and hooves tend to make sound. As she slowly lowered her hoof with each step, she brought her hand up to her mouth to bite down on her nail in nervousness and, unintentionally, tasted herself. She paused as she looked at her hand and, in the spur of the moment, placed a finger in her mouth and ran her tongue around the tip. Her face began to burn as she tasted herself before she realized what she was doing, her eyes widened, and as fast as she could, she ran to her room. She quietly closed her door and pressed her back on it as she heaved in air. "Ok, this is not how I thought this was gonna go."
~next morning~
Danny, Sunset, Twilight, Spike, and Celestia were in front of the castle with a carriage in front of them. On the back of the carriage was a trunk and several packs that were fastened to the vehicle. Sitting at the driver's seat was a pair of unicorns, while two pegasi were standing in front of it with an extended handle next to them.
Spike was wearing a small pack with some things he wanted to bring along on this trip. He was bouncing on his feet as he was ready to head out.
Each of the young adults were wearing cloaks of different colors that covered their bodies with the hoods down.
Twilights was a deep purple with gold edges.
Sunset's was a dark orange with gold edges.
Danny's was Onyx with gold edges.
On the back of each cloak was a picture of Celestia's Cutie Mark. These cloaks were to show that they were the representatives of the royal family and there to see how things were going for the celebration.
Spike had a small cape that was the same color as Twilgiht's cloak.
Celestia looked at each of them as she asked. "Are you sure you have everything?"
Danny nodded as he shifted his cloak to show a satchel hanging on his shoulder. "Yeah, we made sure that we had everything we might need for our checkups." He smirked as he gestured with his head toward his left. "Twilgiht checked our satchels about five times before we even left the room."
Twilight sheepishly smiled with a small blush. "I just wanted to make sure we had everything."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Even though we were sure of that after the second time, and put everything back in the bag."
Spike looked up at Twilight before asking. "That reminds me, weren't we supposed to give-"
"I'm sorry I'm late!"
Everyone looked back at the castle to see another only running toward them.
This pony had bright yellow fur, red mane and tail that had purple and burnt pink streaks, and thick glasses on her nose. She was wearing a thick turtle neck sweater with rolled up sleeves, and a short red skirt.
The interesting thing about this pony was that, if you ignore the glasses and color, she looked almost exactly like Twilight, even her hairstyle. The only difference between the two physically was that her hips were smaller than Twilight's, but her bust was bigger by a cup.
This was Moon Dancer, a friend that Twilight made during her time in Celestia's school. The two became friends thanks to their love for books, and when Twilight met up with Danny and Sunset, she was introduced to their group of friends.
It was thanks to Danny and Sunset that Twilight was still good friends with Moon Dancer, since there were a lot of times that the purple mare would be buried in her books, and she would forget some events Moon Dancer invited them to.
Moon Dancer made it to the group before she placed her hands on her knees, as she was out of breath. "Sorry…. I ….. Lost track…. Of time…."
Danny gave an amused smile before he reached into his satchel and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here."
Moon Dancer looked up at what was offered and gratefully accepted it. She took a swig of it before she felt better. "Thanks, Danny." She looked at the bottle and realized that it was already open. "Was this used before?"
Danny looked at the bottle and realized that he had given her the one he had used not that long ago. "Oh, sorry, I think that was mine from early morning."
Moon Dancer blushed as she realized that she had just gotten an indirect kiss from him. "I-I-I… It's ok." She meekly spoke as she handed it back and lowered her face to block her blush.
Sunset eyed the girl and the bottle as she felt irritated at that little bit.
Celestia rolled her eyes as Danny had done something that made another of his admirers flustered. She knew that Danny had this effect on many in Canterlot, and he didn't even realize it.
Danny is the most sought-after bachelor in Canterlot, thanks to his charisma, kindness, power, looks, and status. His being a dragon was also something that attracted many mares, as it was rare to see one that wasn't primal. He is on the cover of several magazines as the most attractive male in Equestria, and there were several articles or panels that discussed who might be the first to be part of his harem. This was a major talking point with the mares as the female-to-male ratio was 10:2 in all of Equestria, and mares, of varying ages, who were interested in him wanted to be his first.
And since Danny doesn't even read or care about magazines, he has no idea he was that popular. Well…. At least for that reason. Being royalty is still a reason to be swamped by paparazzi.
Twilight smiled at her friend as she walked up to hug her. "Moon Dancer, I'm glad you made it."
Moon Dancer hugged Twilight back before they separated. "Barely, I was working on my presentation all night and barely got any sleep."
Danny chuckled as he pointed at her hair. "I can tell. You've got a couple of strands sticking up."
Moon Dancer brought her hands to the top of her hair as she blushed in embarrassment at being unpresentable. "Oh, no, is it that bad?"
Danny shook his head as he stopped forward and reached into his satchel. "No, there are just a few strands. Hang on." He pulled out a brush that he had for situations like these.
The reason he had a brush was because, a lot of times, he ended up fixing Sunset's, Twilight's, and Celestia's hair when it got messy for one reason or another. He started this when he was young, and it just became a thing.
He moved behind Moon Dancer and began to brush her hair.
Moon Dancer blushed at how he was fixing her hair and looked up to see Sunset smirking at her. Worrying about what that smirk could mean, she panicked when she saw the orange mare start to talk.
"Hey, Danny…"
Moon Dancer waved her hands in front of her in panic in an attempt to stop her.
Sunset saw this before she continued. "If we don't get going, we are going to lose a lot of time. It does take a while to get to Ponyville."
Danny looked up toward the sun before looking at his mother and then back at Sunset. "I guess you're right."
Moon Dancer let out a sigh of relief, but was a little disappointed that he had to stop.
Danny moved to be in front of Moon Dancer before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, before we even think about leaving." He reached back into his satchel and pulled out a small present. "Here, I don't know if we will be back in time for your party, but just in case-"
Moon Dancer took the present and was about to open it, until three more popped up in front of her. She looked up to see that Sunset, Twilight, and Spike were holding up presents. She gently took them and smiled at them. "Thanks, guys, but you didn't have to."
Danny raised an eyebrow at the comment before smirking teasingly. "Really, huh. Then I guess I can take back the first edition of Spells and their mispells by Star Swirl the Bearded since you don't want it." He held his hand out expectantly with the same smirk.
Moon Dancer's eyes widened before she looked at his gift and used her free hand to rip off the wrapping paper to see it was indeed the very book he mentioned. "Oh, my Celestia! This is one of the rarest books to ever exist! And it's a first edition! All other editions are copies that have missing pages and rewritten sections! How did you get this?!"
Danny's smirk widened as he put his hands on his hips and looked at his mom. "I don't know. Mom, how did I get it again?"
Celestia chuckled at Danny's antics as she placed a hand on his head. "You merely asked me to see if I had any of the copies, and I was able to find several kept in pristine condition."
Moon Dancer blushed as she should have figured that he would have had his mother's help with it, since Star Swirl was the one who taught the Princess. She held the book close to her chest as she mumbled. "Thank you."
Twilight looked indignantly at Danny. "Hey, how come I didn't get one?"
Danny shrugged as he looked at her. "Maybe I'll get you one for your next birthday. Besides, last birthday you wanted some science materials, including some of my own scales for an experiment that tested out how I am able to phase through stuff and turn invisible for a time. And as I recall, you still haven't figured it out yet."
Twilight blushed as she looked away.
They all had a laugh before Celestia spoke up.
"You should get a move on. As sunset said, the more time you have, the more you can get done." She knelt down to be more at eye level with them. "Remember to meet up with the mayor before you get started. I made arrangements with her so that you may stay at the library while you are in Ponyville."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "So Twilight gets to live from one library to another."
"Hey."
Everyone had a laugh at that while Twilight blushed.
Sunset smiled wider before asking. "Cadence is going to meet us there, right?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, she will meet you sometime next week. She is still trying to finish some duties she had and will make her way to Ponyville in time for the celebration." She stood up and looked at the three. "Enjoy your time there, and I will see you in two weeks."
Seeing the hidden worry in her eyes, Danny smiled. "We'll be fine. The worst that can come from this would be Twilight, reading all of the books before we come back."
"Why is everyone being mean to me today?"
Danny then looked at Moon Dancer. "Hope you enjoy your presents. And we will see you when we get back."
Moon Dancer nodded. "I will, and thank you, Danny."
Sunset leaned on Danny's shoulder as she looked at Moon Dancer. "Hey, we got you gifts too."
Moon Dancer blushed again. "Right, sorry. Thank you, too, Sunset, Twilight, Spike."
Spike jumped up onto the back of Danny's head and grabbed his horns, and started tugging. "Come on, let's go! We have a whole party to set up!"
"Ah, hey, Spike, easy on the horns."
Twilight picked Spike up off of Danny's head and cradled the baby dragon in her arms. "Let's go, Spike." She began to walk to the carriage with Spike in her arms and Sunset following.
Moon Dancer waved them goodbye before looking at Danny. Gathering all the courage she could, she spoke up. "Hey, Danny?"
Danny looked at her and asked. "Yeah? Woah!" He was surprised when Moon Dancer suddenly hugged him. He chuckled at the action before she let him go and turned away.
"I- I'll see you when you get back!" Moon Dancer then ran off with her gifts in her arms.
Danny watched her leave with a chuckle before looking at Celestia. His smile dropped as he spoke in a more serious tone. "We'll all be back. Don't worry, I will make sure everything is ok."
Celestia smiled softly at him. "I know you will." She leaned down, brushed his hair to the side, and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Be careful."
Danny nodded. "I will." He began to walk toward the carriage and lifted one foot to enter. Before he entered fully, he looked back and smiled at Celestia before continuing and sat down across from Sunset and Twilight.
Once the door of the carriage was closed, the unicorns in the driver seats lit up their horns in magic before the whole carriage gained an aura of their magic and slowly started to float off the ground.
The pegasi grabbed the handlebars next to them and spread their wings out before flapping off the ground. Once they were sure, they had a good hold, the pegasi began to carry the carriage into the air and flew off toward Ponyville.
Celestia continued to gaze into the sky some time after they had vanished from sight before she turned and entered the castle. "And so the countdown begins."
~Later, carriage~
Spike had his head sticking out of the window as he watched the passing ground below them. He leaned further as he was in awe at the height. "Wow, we're so high up- whoa!" He found himself being lifted away from the window and sat down next to Danny.
"Easy, Spike, we don't want you falling out of the window." Came Danny's reprimand as he had picked the baby dragon away from the window and set Spike next to him.
Spike looked up at Danny with a frown. "But we're so high up. This is higher than the castle tower. And besides, you'd catch me if I fell."
Danny pursed his lips in thought. "Yeah, I would, but do you really want to worry Twilight for falling out of the carriage?"
Spike looked at Twilight and saw the worried expression she had. "You're right, sorry." He slumped in his seat before he felt Danny place a hand on his head, and he looked up to see the smiling face of the older dragon. He then got up from his seat and moved over to Twilight and sat in her lap as she placed her hands on his shoulders.
Twilight looked down at Spike. "Thank you, Spike. If you fell out, I wouldn't be able to catch you. I know Danny would be able to, but I would worry every second you weren't here."
Sunset nodded. "I get it, to be this high up is amazing, but those of us without wings have to be careful."
Danny crossed his arms as he looked at her. "Why do I feel like I am being attacked here?"
Sunset gave a small laugh. "Because you are."
Twilgiht smiled as she looked out the window. "Have you ever been this high up before, Danny?"
Danny leaned his head out the window and looked down. Bringing his head back in, he shook his head. "Don't think so. I've been pretty high but not to this level."
Sunset snapped her fingers before pointing to Danny. "There was that one time you tried when we were kids. You tried to see how high you could go."
Danny tried to remember the time she was referring to until it hit him. "Oh, yeah. That was when I first got my wings. Tried to reach the stars, but since I wasn't used to my wings at that time, I ended up getting super tired and fell from the sky. Mom grounded me for a month, and I was not to use my wings for anything over three feet above the ground." He chuckled as he leaned back in his seat. "With her using her 'royal voice' I was probably traumatized and never tried to see how high I could go again."
The girls laughed at the idea of him being grounded by Celestia.
Spike looked toward Danny as he asked. "Hey, Danny, you ever been to Ponyville before?"
Danny nodded as he shifted in his seat to move his tail. "Yeah, been there once. However, I didn't really stay for long. We only ever visited the place once, and it was for something that mom didn't really tell me. We went, we wandered around a small area, met up with someone, and then left." He looked out the window as he remembered something else. "Though I do remember that there was some weird feeling I got when I was there. But it was so long ago that I don't even remember what it was like."
Twilight hummed in thought as she brought up an idea. "Maybe you will feel it again while we are there."
Danny's head twitched before he looked at her. "You're right about that."
Sunset raised an eyebrow at the way he said that. "Why do you say it like that?"
Danny looked back out the window. "'Cause we're here."
They all looked outside the window to see that they were landing in the town square of a very lively town.
Danny could feel several points of interest, but he wasn't sure what it was or really where they were.
Once the carriage came to a slow stop, the occupants got up from their seats and began to make their way out.
Twilight was the first to step out with Spike by her side. She looked around at how lively the place was. It was a very happy place from what she could tell, and it brought a smile to her face. She brought her hand to the simple broach that held her cloak up and fixed it so that her cloak covered up her body.
Sunset was the next to come out as she adjusted her cloak so that it hung behind her more like a cape. She put her hands on her hips and spun around as she made her way to stand by Twilight's side. "This place looks fun."
Twilight nodded. "We might have a lot of things to do after we get our tasks done."
Sunset nodded before she looked back at the carriage and watched as Danny came out. She raised an eyebrow at how he set his cloak.
Danny's cloak covered his whole body as it reached the ground, and he had his hood up, covering his face.
Sunset looked him up and down and if she didn't know it was him, she would have assumed that he was just a shady alleyway salespony.
Twilight tilted her head as she asked. "Danny, why are you covering your entire body?"
Danny looked at her as he answered. "I'm trying to stay incognito. This is to make sure that no one will recognize me."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "And we aren't recognizable?"
Danny pulled out a pair of gloves before putting them on and pointing at them. "As ponies, you can pass off as just potential look-alikes of the rumors. But a tall black and white dragon is a clear sign of who I am." He looked around till he saw that they were next to the mayors office. He couldn't help but smile at the skill of the transportation ponies for landing them right next to where they needed to be. He looked at the unicorn drivers and pegasi. "Thank you for bringing us here. If you will, can you stay here as we meet with the mayor and have her lead us to the library?
One of the unicorns lowered his head in a bow. "Yes, sir."
Danny nodded as he looked at the girls and Spike. "Come on, let's meet up with the mayor."
They all nodded as they entered the Mayor's office. As they walked in, they saw a pony standing in front of a cabinet.
Danny cleared his throat to get her attention. "Excuse me." He watched as the mare turned around and looked at him in curiosity.
The mare turned around and saw who it was that called her.
She was an older mare who had a light taupe color. Her mane and tail were silver with a few white streaks, and on her nose was a pair of half-rimmed glasses. She wore a navy blue business suit with a black pencil skirt, a white undershirt, and a teal neckerchief. Her clothing hugged her figure, as despite looking up there in her years, she was rather curvy with a slightly heavy top.
The mare looked at the newcomers and smiled. "Welcome. You must be the representatives from Canterlot that the princess sent."
Danny took off his hood, shifted the cloak to reveal more of him, and nodded. "Yes, we are. My name is Phantom, this is Twilight, Sunset, and Spike."
Each of them did a small bow to the mayor as they were introduced.
The mayor was surprised by the sight of Danny. "Oh, my, I have not seen a dragon such as you before." She looked over Danny before she nodded to them. "Forgive me, I was just surprised. My name is Mayor Mare. Now, I suppose you are here for me to point you in the direction of the library."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, once we drop our things there, we can begin our supervision of the events and catering for the Summer Sun celebration."
Mayor Mare nodded as she moved to a nearby table and placed some documents she was reading down. "Indeed, the sooner you get something started, the more you can get done. Now, allow me to lead you to where you will be staying during your time in Ponyville."
Danny and the others nodded as they all made their way out of the building and back to the carriage.
While all of them were in the carriage, Mayor Mare sat next to Danny as they were making their way toward the library, thanks to the directions that the Mayor gave the drivers.
Danny was keeping Spike busy as they were comparing body parts, with Spike saying that he wanted the same kind of claws, wings, frills, and legs Danny had when he got older. They were poking each other's fingers with Danny extending his claw to overtake his fingertip.
Mayor Mare would side-eye the two on occasion as they interacted, as she was interested in the features the older dragon had.
Twilight started a conversation with the mayor as she asked about the locations of the ones in charge of the main sections for the party.
Sunset was writing down the information they would need for later on, as Twilight was the one getting the information.
Mayor Mare listed off the groups and what they were working on, and went over the subgroups. "- and that is all of the subgroups. The ones in charge of them are all specialists in what they do and were specifically selected for the tasks."
Twilight nodded as she asked. "Who are the ones in charge, and where can we find them?"
Mayor Mare placed her hands on her lap as she listed them off. "For catering, we have the Apple Family that is in charge of bringing in the main portion of the food. The one at the forefront would be AppleJack, a hard-working mare that enjoys an honest day's work and goes above and beyond to get the job done. You can find her at the Apple farm, which is in the fields south of the square."
The Mayor looked out the window at the sky. "For the one in charge of weather, we have Rainbow Dash. A bit of a rambunctious one that enjoys a good competition and can come off as a bit of a lazy one, but she will always do what she can for those around her. She is set to make sure that there are no clouds during the event and make sure that to reschedule any potential rain that might have occurred that day to be moved to a more proper date. Her housing is in Clouddale, which hovers in the sky not far above Ponyville." She let out a sigh as she used a hand to fan herself. It was warm inside the carriage, and she had just come from an air-conditioned building. She did a single tug of her collar to feel some cooling air.
Danny caught the action in his peripheral vision and figured that it might be too hot in the carriage since there were a lot of ponies inside, and Sunset actually produces a little more body heat than most ponies, though nowhere near those whose talents deal in fire-based magic.
Mayor Mare was able to breathe a bit more relieved as she continued. "For decorations, we have two mares on the task. You won't find any ponies more opposite from each other than these two. For the proper area meant for Princess Celestia, we have Rarity Gem. A proper lady who enjoys fashion, style, and grace. With her talent in dress design, styling, and seamstress, she has an eye for making things look extravagant. Rarity can be found at Carousel Boutique on the east side of Ponyville. For the general celebration and party, we have Pinkie Pie, the most excitable pony I have ever seen in Equestria, who will go to lengths even I don't understand to make sure everyone has a smile on their faces and that a party is up and ready. She is in charge of setting up the decorations for the outdoor events and desserts. She works and lives with Miss Cupcake in Sugarcube Corner, which can be found a few blocks south of the square." She once again tugged on her collar and tugged on her jacket to cool herself off. After not cooling off as much as she liked, she unbuttoned the top button of her dress shirt, causing a small tuft of fur to spring out.
Danny noticed this and figured he should do something to ease her discomfort. Holding up his hand in front of his maw, he took a deep breath before letting it out as blue mist that spiraled in his hand before a snowball appeared. Once that was done, he crushed it, allowing blue particles to spread throughout the carriage, cooling the small area.
Spike laughed as he watched the sparkling particles float around, and he tried to catch some of them.
Mayor Mare watched in awe at the action before looking at Danny.
Seeing her about to ask, he elaborated. "It was getting warm in here, so I decided to bring the temp down a bit." He winked at the mayor as he leaned back in his seat.
Mayor Mare smiled in appreciation and nodded in gratitude. Now more comfortable, she finished up. "Thank you, now for the last one of importance, we have Fluttershy, who is in charge of our music. We will be using an aviary choir for the build-up to the introduction of Princess Celestia, and later we will have Vinyl Scratch, our resident DJ, to continue the party. Vinyl Scratch is out of town for the moment and will return in time for the celebration, but Fluttershy can be found in her cottage, in the forest on the east side of Ponyville. Those are all of those in charge of the setup for the celebration."
Sunset Shimmer finished writing down all they needed to know and looked at the Mayor. "Do they have a schedule that we need to work around, or can we pop in at any time?"
Mayor Mare shook her head. "At the moment, each of them is given leave from their jobs so that they can work on these tasks. You can meet up with them at any time."
Twilight nodded before she looked down at the jumping Spike, before grabbing him mid-jump and placing him on her lap. "We can work with that. We will meet up with them as soon as we can to make sure everything is ready." It was then that the carriage came to a stop, and she looked out the window. "Seems we have arrived."
Danny hummed before he put on his hood and moved to open the door. He stepped out and turned to the occupants before holding out a hand to help each of them out.
Each of the mares were grateful for the aid, before they all stood there looking up at the large tree house that doubled as a library.
Danny couldn't help but be impressed. "Wow. Never saw a library made out of a tree before.
Mayor Mare smiled as she stepped toward the door that led inside. "It was hollowed out long ago by a scholar and made it into his personal library and dwelling. After his passing, it became a public library, but since no one took up residence, it has gone unused for a time." She opened up the door and turned on the lights.
Danny, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike walked in and looked around to see that it was rather spacious higher floors.
The first level's walls were layered with books and a few reading areas, while in the center of the floor was a counter where people would check out the books. It looked like there was another level with books and reading areas, but there was a blocked-off staircase on the second floor that led to what they assumed was the living area.
Spike began to run around as he thought it was incredible.
Twilight was in awe at the sight. "This is incredible." She always found new libraries to be something to see, as she was used to the one in Canterlot.
Danny pulled his hood down as he looked around. "I see some books we haven't read before, so we got something to do during our free time."
Sunset gave a chuckle as she shook her head. "More like we will have to find ways to pull Twilight away from something new."
They all laughed at that, even Twilight blushed as she was starting to think they were right.
Mayor Mare smiled at the four before she walked up to Danny. "Here are the keys to the building. I will leave it to you to settle in."
Danny held out his hand as she placed the keys in his palm. He nodded in gratitude before he pulled his hood back up. "Give us a moment to get our stuff, and we can have the carriage take you back to the office."
Mayor Mare nodded in appreciation. "Thank you very much."
After a few minutes, all of the things on the carriage were placed in the library and they were now standing outside of the carriage as the Mayor looked at them.
The Mayor adjusted her glasses as she looked up at the library. "It is good to see life back inside this library, no matter how short. As Mayor, I am pleased to have you with us and hope you enjoy your stay. If there is anything you might need, please visit me at my office." She held out a hand for Danny to take.
Danny nodded as he took her hand and gently squeezed it. "I'm sure we will. We might just pop in for a visit, so you will see us again."
Mayor Mare smiled. "I look forward to it." She stepped into the carriage and bid them a good day before she closed the door, and the carriage began to leave.
The four watched the Mayor leave before they walked back inside. Once the door was closed, they took off their cloaks and hung them on a coat rack.
Danny stretched his arm over his head with his wings opening to full length, before he let out a sigh. "Well, we should check this place out and figure out where we are going to sleep. We can start our investigation tomorrow."
Sunset nodded as she stretched her arms. "With how long we've been sitting in the carriage, moving around is good for us."
Twilight was eyeing the books as she wanted to see if there was something she hadn't read yet, but she agreed with the other two. "Alright, let's get started." She moved over to the large trunk so they could start settling in.
End of chapter
First off, Mayor Mare kinda just got away from me. Don't really have any plans for her. I'll leave it to reviews, cause, as I said, I don't know.
I gotta go back to a chat I had with Redknight as we talked about the body proportions for each of the mares, and I kinda forgot. There are a lot of things I gotta check to make sure I get the things we talked about. I am also working on character profiles of the mares of interest so we can have visual representations of what they look like. Proportions are a bit extreme, but with the nature of this fic, it makes sense, and I will do my best to make it balanced between story and sexy time.
I hope you all look forward to how this plays out, as Danny is gonna have more troubles heading his way. Wonder how he takes it. :P
Not much else to say since this is sort of a filler chapter.
Chapter 7: Taste of Apples
Summary:
The representatives of Canterlot are off to check on the food preparations for the summer sun celebration. they are Eager to see how well the food turns out, while the Apple Family is happy to have newcomers join them at the table. Danny will meet some new friends while there, and they will find him to be an interesting person to meet.
Chapter Text
Chapter 7 Start
Danny, in his common pajamas of black pants and a white shirt, groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window next to his bed. He lifted his head and scrunched up his eyebrows as the horizon was not what he was used to seeing, and he didn't recognize the window frame. It took him a minute before he remembered that he was no longer in the castle. He dropped his head back on the pillow and let out a whine as his tail slipped out from the blanket and slumped onto the ground. "Not even in the castle anymore, and I still wake up early." Part of him was telling him that he should go back to bed and just sleep in. Another part of him was telling him that he should get up and start the day early.
The loudest part, the one that was telling him he should just sleep in…, lost the fight, and he rolled out of bed and fell to the ground with a loud thump. "Ow." He now had a feeling that today was going to be a hectic day, especially since he landed with his left wing folded under him. Rolling once more, he lay on his stomach with his chin on the floor. "I am a dragon of the night, son to the Mare of the sun, brother of one morning mare, and friend of someone that would wake up early in order to get as much done in the day…. How the hay did I get into this band of morning mares?"
His ear fin flicked as he heard movement outside and knew what was about to go on. "Ugh, sounds like everyone is up." He let out a sigh as he pushed himself off the ground. "Might as well do the same."
Sunset, who was wearing a muted yellow pajama set with small orange suns on it, opened her eyes and sat up on her bed as she rubbed her face. After taking a breath, she looked around at the unfamiliar room, and much like her brother, it took her a minute before she remembered that she was not in the castle anymore. "Oh, right, we're in Ponyville." She stretched her arms in the air before she slumped and got out of bed. Once she pushed herself to her hooves, she immediately collapsed to the ground. She blinked a few times before she looked down at her hooves and tapped them onto the ground. It was then that she felt the familiar sensation of her hooves being asleep. "Aaah~, sweet Celestia, why do my hooves have to be asleep first thing in the morning?" She shifted her hooves to get some blood flowing through them again, but it was taking longer than she would have liked.
She looked at the clock, seeing that it was a bit early, and she knew that Danny wouldn't wake up for another few minutes or so, which meant that she needed to get up and head toward the bathroom, as she was not gonna let him hog it when she needed it. It took her a moment to get to her hooves and stay upright as the tingling in her hooves really made it hard to move. After a few steps, she was able to get feeling back in her hooves.
She moved over to her case and opened it up to grab a change of clothes and her robe, along with her toiletries, before she started to move over to the door to head to the bathroom.
Twilight shifted to place her hooves on the floor as she stretched her arms behind her, revealing her violet pajama button-up shirt and pants that had purple stars on them. She hummed as she felt her muscles loosen up before she let out a contented sigh. She got up from her bed and moved over to Spike, who was sleeping in a tiny bed at the foot of her bed. She smiled as she saw Spike hugging his pillow. She crouched down and gently shook him. "Spike, it's time to wake up."
Spike groaned as he shoved his face into his pillow. "Nnnnnnnrrrrnnnnn, do we have to?" His tail flicked at her hand, almost telling her to leave him to sleep.
Twilight smiled wider as she moved her hand to his head and gently rubbed it. "I know you want to sleep, but we should get started since we have something we have to do." She giggled as she watched Spike groan again and roll to his back. She knew that he would get up in a few minutes, so it was time for her to get ready herself. She moved to the end of her bed and grabbed the clothes she had already set out last night for today. She nodded as she had everything ready for the day.
The three older teens opened their doors at the same time and came out to the hallway, noticing each other and the single bathroom that was at the end of the hallway, closer to the stairs.
Twilight's was at the end of the hallway and the biggest of the three.
Sunset's room door was on the left wall about ten feet from Twilight's
Danny's was fifteen feet on the right wall from Twilight's, and the closest to the bathroom door.
The three noticed each other before their heads snapped to the bathroom door. Each of them shifted their gazes to each other, and the atmosphere became tense.
Eyes shifted.
Ears flickered.
Hooves and claws twitched.
Danny made the first move and turned to run for the bathroom, but he didn't get there fast enough as Sunset jumped on him.
"No, you don't! I get to be the first one!"
Danny looked back at Sunset. "Try and stop me!" He started to drag himself toward the bathroom, but he was stopped when Sunset grabbed his chin and started pulling his head back. He turned and started to push her head back as she did the same to him.
While the two were childishly trying to get to the bathroom faster, Twilight pressed herself against the wall and tried to shimmy her way past them so she could get to the bathroom. She was able to step over them and move a few feet away from them. She smiled as the two seemed too preoccupied to notice her, and she pushed herself off the wall and nodded as she was about to head to the bathroom.
"Oh, no you don't!"
Twilight felt something wrap around her ankle, and she looked down to see Danny's tail wrapped around it. Before she could do anything, her leg was pulled and she fell to the ground. "Ah~! Danny!" She giggled a few times, with Sunset joining her in it.
As the three continued to mess around on the hallway floor, another resident came out walking down the hall, yawning, and dragging his blanket behind him with a set of bathroom supplies on top of it.
The two mares then found themselves being held around their waists by one of Danny's arms. Twilight in his left and Sunset in his right
Danny sat on the floor with the two on his lap, with his arms around them and his head in between theirs. He looked left and right at them with a smirk on his face. "It looks like I win this, and I get to use the bathroom first."
Sunset groaned as she wanted to be the first one to get there, but Danny was able to subdue both of them at the same time. Though Twilight didn't really fight back, and just surrendered instantly. Still wanting to be the first one to get ready, she smirked mischievously and turned her head toward him.
Danny still had his victorious smile on his face and was about to tell them that he would be getting ready first, but he suddenly felt a pair of lips on his right cheek. He froze as the lips remained on his cheek for a few more seconds.
Twilight leaned her head forward and saw Sunset kissing his cheek. Her eyes slightly widened at the sight before her brows furrowed, and she gave a tiny pout at the sight. She was irritated by it, but her mind still could not register why. Her mind went over the reasons from Sunset doing something unnecessary to just not being able to wash herself yet, and feeling morning irritability. Whatever the reason, she stretched her leg and kicked Sunset's hoof, getting the sun mare to stop.
Sunset looked at Twilight and smiled wider.
Twilight returned the smile with a pouty glare.
Danny was able to shake off his blush and turn to look at Sunset. He was about to say something until the three of them heard the bathroom door close and turned to look at it.
Twilight looked at the door's base and saw the tip of a familiar blanket. "Spike."
The three sat there frozen in shock as they stared at the door for a minute until it finally hit them.
Danny blinked and said. "Spike beat us to it."
The three couldn't believe that they lost to someone who wasn't even fighting for it, and they fell back in disbelief.
After Spike finished in the bathroom, Twilight was the next one to get ready and was able to finish in a quick manner. She came out of the bathroom wearing her clothes and a towel wrapped around her head.
When she came out, Danny was asked to help her with her hair, and he complied while Sunset went into the bathroom next.
Sunset took a bit longer in the bathroom than Twilight, but she came out in her robe and was drying her hair.
Danny ended up doing her hair as well and styled it to her normal look. Once he finished the two, he finally got his chance to get ready.
He had little issue with his hair since it always returned to his usual look once it was dried.
They each got dressed and were ready to start the day. Once they reached the first floor, Twilight spoke up as she grabbed her satchel.
"Is everyone ready to get started?"
Danny was heading to the kitchen, but stopped when Twilight spoke. He tilted his head as he asked. "So soon? Shouldn't we get something to eat first?"
Twilight turned to look in his direction. "I felt like we could get our task done first, and then we could find somewhere to eat in town. It will give us a reason to explore."
Sunset, who was sitting on a chair and smoothing out the fur around her hoof, looked up at Danny. "She has a point. We're in a new place, so we should check it out whenever we can." She pushed herself up from the seat and moved to the others. "And it shouldn't take more than an hour to check how the prep is going. So why not?"
Danny looked between the two and shrugged. "I guess that works. Besides, it looks like it is two against one, so I lose." He moved over to the coat hanger and grabbed his cloak before slipping it on.
Twilight smiled when her idea was accepted. She looked over to the kitchen and called out. "Spike, are you ready?"
Spike's head popped up from behind the counter as he was chewing on a green gem.
Danny noticed this and narrowed his eyes. "Spike….. Is that from my gem stash?" Danny had a stash of gems in a sack for whenever the urge to have a treat hit him. He doesn't reach into it that often since he has other things that can take up his attention, but he does have it for a general snack in case the situation calls for it. At times, he would offer a gem to Spike as a treat, but much like all kids, they, at times, have the urge to get one without anyone knowing.
Spike flipped his head to have the gem fly into the air before it fell into his mouth, and he quickly ate it. Once he swallowed it, he shook his head. "No." He ran around the counter and grabbed his bag before joining the others as Twilight handed him his cloak, as they all now wore theirs.
Danny and Twilight shared a look before they nodded.
Danny lifted up the hood to cover his head as he mentally told himself. 'Gonna have to hide that sack when I get back.'
The four were making their way toward the Sweet Apple acres, as their first stop was the Apple family.
Spike was holding the parchment that had the checklist and what they needed to confirm with the Apple family when they met up with the one who was the poster girl of the family, Applejack.
Sunset looked at her brother and asked. "Do you really need to wander around like someone you don't want to meet in an alleyway when we are out of the more bustling part of town?"
Danny shifted to look at her. "I am not taking any risks. I've been hounded by the paparazzi more times than I would like, and I know how hungry for any sign of me any time I leave the safety of the inside."
Twilight looked to her right at him and stated. "But we aren't even in Canterlot. Would they come all the way here just to get a picture of you?"
Danny looked at the purple unicorn, and she could feel the deadpan through the shadowed face. "Do you remember year 997 AC when I was super late for the lessons we were supposed to have that day?"
Sunset thought about it and nodded. "Yeah, you came bursting into the room without any warning, and you didn't tell us what the hay happened."
Danny shook his head as he looked at his sister. "The reason I was late was because I was in town that day, and the paparazzi were out for blood. And I was a sheep ready to be eaten by the damn vultures. I was able to get away from them, but they were relentless. They chased me all over the city, and I couldn't get away, as even the pegasi were crazed."
Sunset rolled her eyes at how terrified her brother was acting about the paparazzi. Though she kind of understood it since she would also be chased by them but she has gotten used to it and is able to use her magic to get away. Danny is more battle-oriented, so he doesn't have all the tricks she and Twilight could do. "Well, I think you can take it off once we get on the farm. Since it is private property, we should be somewhat safe from them."
Danny looked around before nodding. "Yeah, I guess so."
Spike looked up at his older brother figure and spoke. "Well, we should almost be there. If what the directions the Mayor gave us is telling me, we should be able to see the farm over this hill."
The group walked up the hill and paused at the sight.
The Apple farm was massive, with acres, and acres, and acres of land filled with apple trees. Looking to the left, Apple trees. Looking to the right, Apple trees. When they looked ahead, it was more apple trees, and if they squinted, they could see the tops of a building poking out from above the trees.
Danny narrowed his eyes at the tip of the building and figured that he should get a better look. He stepped back, behind the others, spread his wings, before flapping hard and launched into the air. Once he was high enough, he could see more of the farmhouse just ahead of them. "Well, at least we know that is where we need to be." He was about to drop back down to the other till he felt something off to his right and looked in that direction. He knew this feeling, and he felt the need to check it out.
"Hey, Danny! What do you see?!" Came the shout from Sunset as they were waiting for him to come back down.
Looking down, he pointed in the direction of where they needed to go. "The Farmhouse is in that direction! It's not that far, so head over there to get started! I'll meet up with you in a bit.
The group was confused as they had no idea where he might want to go if they were so close to their first stop.
Twilight cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back. "Where are you going?!"
Danny turned his head back to where he felt that presence. "I'm just going to check something out. I'll be back soon." Without waiting for a response, he flew off toward the forest.
Sunset pursed her lip as she watched her brother leave. 'Where the hay is he going? What could possibly be over there that he would ditch us?"
Twilight had similar thoughts as she had no idea why he would just suddenly fly off.
Spike scratched his head as he asked the mares. "What do you think he is checking?"
Sunset frowned before looking at the other two. "I don't know, but I plan on finding out. You coming?" she began to walk in the direction Danny flew off.
Twilight watched Sunset walk away before she shook her head and ran after her, with Spike following. "Hey, wait up!" Once she caught up with Sunset, she picked up the little dragon before they began to run after Danny.
Danny flew over the sea of trees at a slow speed as he wasn't sure how far away his goal was. But he could feel it, he could feel it getting closer as he flew in this direction. 'I know I shouldn't have left them to do this job, but…. I just gotta know.' He soon landed back in the forested area as he felt that he was closing in on whatever it was that was calling him. It would be better if he were on the ground so that he doesn't end up flying over it. He even kept his hood down so he could see better as he looked around. He brought his wings in and had them cling to his body so they would not take up space, and made it look like he had a tailcoat under his cloak. Following the feeling, he continued to walk through the forest with his senses alert. That was until he came out of the forest line and was now at the edge of a massive lake.
The lake was a clear, crystal blue, with sunlight glistening on the surface, giving it a majestic glow. A few leaves fell from the trees and landed on the water, creating ripples that grew before they faded, and the soft wind would take the leaves off the water.
Danny walked up to the water and took a knee at the edge before he dipped his finger into the water. He could feel how cool it was and smiled before he cupped some of it in one hand and splashed it on his face, before running his hand down. "Man, this is one hell of a lake." Remembering what he was here for, he looked around for any sign of what it was he was sensing. Not seeing anything but the lake, he refocused on his senses and could tell that whatever it was, it was in the water. He stood back up and crossed his arms as he let out a sigh and sarcastically spoke. "Great, just what I wanted, a midday swim." One of his toe claws tapped on the ground, digging up some of the dirt under his foot. He felt the dirt on his claw and looked down, and chuckled. "Mom would be mad if I did this in the royal chamber." Feeling a little mischievous, he flexed his foot and dug his claws into the dirt. He was enjoying the bit of freedom of using his claws until he heard a soft splash, and he looked up toward where he heard it. He saw a dark spot grow, meaning that something was surfacing.
He was shocked to see a figure appear from the water, and he blushed at the sight.
Bursting from the water was a mare that looked like she was enjoying the cool air on her wet form. She stood up as the water reached her thick thighs and barely reached her cutie mark. She lifted her arm and ran her hands down the back of her hair, which caused her large breasts to bounce. Since she wasn't wearing any clothing, her orange-red nipples glowed with the water that slid down them and onto her light golden orange fur with small bits of white tufts on her chest. Her mane and tail were golden yellow, with her mane long enough to reach the water, and the strands of her tail and mane flowing with the water. On her hip/flank, her cutie mark showed three apples with two leaves each.
Danny froze in place as he was completely shocked.
The mare had a look of contented glee as she ran her hand down her hair, to her shoulders, and whipped her hand in front of her. "Hooeeeee~, nothing like soaking in the cold water after a hard day's work."
She had just finished a whole morning of apple-bucking, and since it was getting close to the Summer Sun celebration, it was getting much hotter than the other days in the summer, so she felt she could have a dip in the water to refresh herself. She shook her head before she brought her arm under her hair and threw it over her shoulder, before she decided that she had spent enough time refreshing herself, so she should get back to work. She began to make her way back to the lake edge and thought about what she needed to do today. With bales of hay that needed to be moved into the farm, she could get that started after getting back to the house and looking over what they planned to have ready for the Celebration.
She tilted her head to the side to let any water on her ear to fall out and began to wring her hair as she closed in on the edge. Once the water was at knee level, she looked up to start looking for her clothes and froze in surprise. Standing just fifteen feet away from her was a stranger staring right at her.
The two of them just stared at each other for a solid minute, until a bird chirped, snapping them out of their trance, and they both reacted.
"WHAT THE HAY!?" Applejack immediately let her hair go, turned to the side, and moved her hands to cover her chest, with her hair clinging to her hand, and slapped around her breasts.
"SORRY!" Danny tried to step back, but thanks to his digging his claws into the dirt, his foot got caught, and onto his back, hurting his tail. Still panicked, he rolled onto his belly before getting back to his feet and turned away from the bare mare. "I didn't mean to spy on you! I didn't know anyone would be here or taking a swim!"
Applejack lifted her tail so that it would cover her nether region as she eyed this stranger. "Well, who the Hay are ya an' what are ya doing ere'!?"
Danny turned his head as he was about to respond to her, but -
"Keep yer eyes away!" She shouted at him and saw him turn away from her. She looked around for her clothes and saw them where she had left them, a few feet away. She began to slowly make her way toward them as she spoke. "Keep your head down and don't look!" She saw him shift his body so his back was toward her, and he even crouched down before putting his hood up. Seeing that he was now completely covered, she made it to her clothes and began to quickly put them on.
Danny placed his hands on the ground and began to dig his fingers into the dirt as he tried his best to calm down. However, it was extremely difficult since he could still remember her bare form. He remembered the strong muscle tone of her body, with her abs being a prominent feature, and strong thighs. She had muscle, but thankfully, not overly muscular. The thought of her cute face and the freckles on her cheeks made her more charming. Then there were her breasts and how they might feel between his fingers, and how they might melt in them, and what sounds she would - 'Whoa! Stop!' He unsheathed his claws, and they cut deeper into the dirt as he tried to calm himself down.
His eyes narrowed as hot breath came through his gritted teeth. The sound of clothes rustling was making things harder as he could imagine what clothes she was wearing and how she would look in them. Thoughts of what he could do with her if he ripped them off, and potentially what it might feel like to dominate.
He bit on his cheek, hard enough to hurt, but not enough to bleed, which was difficult since his teeth are sharp. The pain brought him back down from his sudden impulse, and he was able to ease up his reaction. It didn't mean that he was in the clear, as he could still hear her putting on her clothes
Applejack brought up her ripped jean shorts, buttoning the loop that goes above her tail. She kept her eye on him to make sure that he didn't do anything. "Well, ya gonna tell me who ya are?"
Danny was glad for the sudden conversation starter as it would take his mind off his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he began to explain himself. "I uh, I'm a representative from Canterlot sent in order to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I am with two more representatives, along with my little brother, sort of, and we are meant to meet with someone named Applejack since she is the one in charge of the catering. I swear, it was not my intention to see you….. Uh…. like that. I just came here cause something caught my attention."
Applejack continued to put on her clothes as she listened to his explanation. As she listened to him, she tried to see if there was anything in his voice that told her he was lying. But as she tied her front-knot, she was sure that he was telling the truth.
Something that Applejack prided herself on was the ability to tell when someone was lying. She didn't know how, but she just had a gut feeling when someone was telling the truth. There might have been times when she would miss it, but she trusted her gut, and right now, her gut was telling her that she should trust him.
There was one time she ignored her gut feeling, and she would never again ignore it. She promised herself she wouldn't.
She walked up to be right behind him and looked down at his back. "Well, pardner, ya found her."
Danny felt that she was right behind him and turned around at her words. He was met with the sight of her large breasts in his face. He had to take a step back and looked up as she was a bit taller than he was. He saw her lean her weight onto her left leg as she put her hand on it while the other hand rose to place a hat on her head. He made a few more observations of her now that he wasn't panicking.
She was taller than him, not as tall as Celestia or Cadence, but she was tall. If he had to guess, she was about seven, seven and a half feet. Her hooves were rather thick, with the fur around them tipped white and scruffier. She was wearing a red plaid shirt that she tied in the front, showing off her abs and hugged her E-cup breasts tightly, with sleeves rolled up to show off her muscles. She had jean shorts that hugged her ass rather nicely, and was low enough to see the crease of her legs with the ripped legs high enough to see her whole cutie mark on her thick thighs. Around her wrists was a rope bracelet that had a woven charm that looked like her cutie mark. Her mane and tail were tied at the edges by red bands, and on top of her head was a worn-out Stetson hat.
He looked at her face and saw her freckles and her cheeks and was right that they made her look cute, especially since she had scruffs of fur on the side of her face. He looked into her forest green eyes, which looked back at him with mirth. Part of him couldn't help but think she looked like an Amazon, but there was another word that came out in a whisper. "...mommy…" Quickly catching himself and coughing to cover up what came out of his mouth, he asked. "So, you're-"
"Appleja~ck!"
Applejack turned around and smiled at the sound of her name being called.
Danny looked past her and saw another mare running their way.
The new mare was younger, but it didn't look like it by much.
Applejack watched as the younger mare stopped in front of her before addressing her. "Applebloom, whatcha need?"
Appleboom was a young mare who had yellow fur that was smoother than her older sister's. Her mane and tail were apple red, with her mane being tied into a ponytail by a large red bow. She was wearing a loose green plaid shirt and fresh jeans that were rolled up to her knees.
Danny noticed that she didn't have anything that depicted her cutie mark and figured that she either hadn't gotten an accessory to show it or she still hadn't gotten her mark yet. A word came to him when he saw her, one that seemed to fit her. She was perky. She was shorter than he was, about a foot and a half or two feet shorter.
Applebloom was about to say something to her sister, but she noticed the newcomer. "Who's this?"
Danny immediately thought that the southern accent must be a family trait since both of them had it.
Applejack gestured toward Danny. "This here is someone from Canterlot. Said he was here to check up on our food for the Summer Sun celebration."
Applebloom looked at him in awe. "Wow, you're from the big city. What's it like? I only ever heard about it from ma friends, but she never been there yet."
Danny smiled at how excitable Applebloom was. "It's different, I can say that." He could go more into the details of Canterlot, but he was sure that it would take too much time.
Applebloom then paused as she looked him over with a curious expression. "But, what are ya?"
Applejack looked at her sister with a chastising look. "Applebloom."
Danny chuckled. "It's fine. I've been asked that before." He looked at the younger of them and answered. "I'm a dragon. There aren't many around, so it makes sense that I would be asked that."
Applejack nodded as she herself had never seen one. "Yeah, never seen your kind in these parts. Gotta ask, you said there are others like ya, do they look like ya as well?" She eyed him and could not deny that he was a very appealing, tall drink of water.
Danny thought about the other dragon he knew, and he could not help but laugh. "Well, I wouldn't say that he looks exactly like me, but - "
"Danny!"
It was Danny's turn to turn around to see Sunset, Twilight, and Spike run up to him. Remembering that he had left them behind, he abashedly waved at them. "Oh hey, guys, sorry for flying off like that."
The three made it to stand in front of him, with Twilight letting Spike down, with the two mares panting heavily as they had been running for a while.
Sunset lifted her head and glared at her brother. "Mind telling us why you left us behind to fly all the way here?"
Twilight was about to put in her own two bits, but she saw the other two that were here with Danny, and she immediately blushed before she moved over to Spike and covered his eyes.
"Wha-, hey, Twilight, what's going on?"
Sunset saw Twilight do this, and she looked at the two other mares and saw the reason for Twilight covering Spike's eyes.
Danny was a bit curious as to why she was doing that till he looked back at Applejack and saw that her clothes were getting wet thanks to her not drying herself. As such, her top was becoming somewhat transparent, and her nipples were becoming more visible. He blushed before turning his head away.
Applejack looked down and saw her shirt getting wet and used one arm to cover that part. "Sorry 'bout that. Had to rush in getting ma clothes on." She shifted her gaze to Danny with an accusatory eye.
Danny coughed into his fist as he made sure that he didn't turn to look at her just yet.
The group was now walking toward the farm with Applejack and Applebloom leading the way.
Danny was in the center of the group with Twilight at his left and Sunset at his right. He had even lowered his hood since he was already outed as a dragon, but it seemed that these two Apples didn't know who he was; they just saw him as a dragon from Canterlot. Spike was on Danny's shoulder as he was looking around, occasionally looking down at Applebloom, who was talking to Danny.
Applebloom was walking backwards, with Applejack at her left, as she looked at Danny with her arms behind her back. "So, what are ya here to check out on? Are you here to see how good the food ma family makes is?"
Danny hummed in thought as that wasn't one of the things that they were sent to check on. In fact, their task was rather vague. They were meant to check on the food, but how far are they allowed to go?
Sunset looked at her companions as she pondered the question. "Was there anything specific we needed to check when we came here? Far as I know, we were just told to check up on things."
Twilight thought about it and also came to the same conclusion as her other friends. "I….. don't know. Maybe it is up to us to choose how far we go with this."
Applejack looked over her shoulder as she brought up an idea. "Why not try out some of the food stuffs we plan on having during the celebration?"
Spike gripped on to Danny's horn and tugged it. "Yeah, we haven't had anything for breakfast, so we should get some food from this!"
Applebloom giggled as she looked at the little dragon. "Well, if ya are needin' food, we got ya all set." Her eyes then shifted to Danny, thinking that having them stay for some food would be a good way for them to stick around a little longer.
Sunset noticed the look Applebloom had, making her suck in her lower lip before she became curious. "Hey, Applebloom, are you part of the cooking done?"
Applebloom nodded as she straightened up and proudly puffed up her chest. "Yep, I worked on several apple fritters that are gonna be part of the menu."
Sunset smiled as she gave a feigning impressed gasp. "Really? How old are you? I doubt a kid would be part of the food prep."
Applebloom's eyes lingered on Danny for a moment before her eyes began to shift to look at the trees. "I'm uh… sixteen."
Applejack looked down at her little sister as she hung her hands off the edge of her shorts. "'Sixteen', huh?" She gave her sister an incredulous expression with a hint of amusement.
Applebloom blushed as she looked up at her sister. "Well, I am." She shrunk into her shoulders as she mumbled out. "... at least I will be…. In a few months…. Maybe."
Applejack laughed at her little sister's embarrassing lie. She might not like them, but these kinds of little fibs are nothing but amusing. "Well, when ya do reach that age, ah might need to get ya something that will make things easier."
Applebloom tilted her head as she had no idea what her sister was talking about, but she didn't get the chance to say anything about it since Applejack spoke up again.
"Well, we're here!"
Danny's group walked up to stand next to Applejack and looked down the hill to see a large farmhouse in the middle of an area that was set up to host several buildings and smaller gardens, and apple trees.
Sunset gave an impressed whistle. "Wow, never thought I'd see a farm like this."
Danny chuckled as he looked at her. "That's because we be city folk." He said that last part in an accent reminiscent of the two Apple ponies they were with.
Applejack chuckled as she slapped Danny's back, causing him to stumble a bit, while Spike remained fine since he was holding onto the older dragon's horns. "Well, Ah may not know much about city folk, but one thing I know everypony enjoys, is a good ol' fashion filling meal. Now come on, we better get ya ready for the family."
Twilight and Sunset looked at each other with the former asking. The Family?"
They all walked until they were standing in front of the large farmhouse.
Applejack held up a hand to tell them to hold up as she walked up to the front door.
Applebloom giggled as she watched her sister.
Danny eyed the orange mare with a critical eye as he noticed in his peripheral vision that the young Applebloom was inching away from them. He raised an eyebrow at that before looking back at Applejack as he saw her pick up a triangle. "Why do I get the feeling that you set us up for a trap?"
Applejack smiled at him before bringing up the triangle. "Now, what makes ya'll say that?" She brought up a metal spoon and jangled it in the triangle. She tilted her head back as she shouted toward the sky. "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"
Danny, Sunset, Twilight, and Spike were curious about what the call was supposed to be for, but they didn't get to ask about it since they started to feel the ground under them begin to rumble, with pebbles bouncing around.
Twilight spread her legs to maintain her balance as she looked at the older dragon. "Danny?"
Danny knew what she wanted to ask, and he told her. "I don't know." He could even feel Spike flailing on his head while holding onto his horns.
Sunset was now on her hands and knees as she couldn't stay on her hooves. She looked up to the right before her eyes went comically wide as she shouted out. "Stampede!"
Danny and Twilight turned to their right in time to see the wave of ponies running in their direction before they were overtaken by the bodies of ponies steamrolling over them.
Spike lost his grip when they were hot, and he went spinning straight up into the air. "Woah~~~~!"
Danny, Twilight, and Sunset couldn't see anything other than a random assortment of colors and flailing in random directions that they didn't know which way was up, down, left, right, or even if directions were even a thing. Suddenly, they were sitting at a long table, with Twilight directly at his right, followed by Sunset. Their eyes were spinning around their heads until they shook their heads to get their sight back.
Twilight looked at Danny until her eyes widened, and she began to look around until she heard something above her and looked up in time to see something purple falling toward her. She lifted her arms and caught Spike before placing him onto her lap.
Spike's head was lolling back and forth as he mumbled out. "Uh…. if that was my first flying lesson, I want a refund."
The three older teens looked at the little dragon as they chuckled while Twilight held him closer, as she was glad he was safe.
Danny smiled as he saw he was safe, before he felt a hand on his left shoulder and looked to see Applejack smiling down at him.
Applejack's hand on his shoulder could feel the muscle he had underneath his cape and shirt, but pushed that thought aside to get back to the matter. "Let's introduce y'all to the Apple family." She waved her hand toward the new wall of ponies that were now standing on the other side of the table.
Twilight looked at all the ponies that were in front of them and whispered to Sunset. "Do we have time for this?"
Sunset whispered back. "I don't think we have a choice." She looked at the ponies and could see eager faces on each of them.
Danny stretched his head up to see if he could see the other side of the crowd of ponies. He couldn't.
Applejack patted Danny's back as she started. "This here's Applefritter."
Applefritter brought up a plate of apple fritters before placing it on the table.
"Applebumpkin." Applebumpkin brought up a plate of apples covered in caramel before she placed it next to the fritters. "Red Gallon." Red Gallon brought up a set of cupcakes that have a slice of apple on them. "Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Droodle, Apple-Tart Baked-Apple Apple-Brioch Apple Cinnamon-Crisp -" She took a deep breath as there were still some more that needed to be introduced. "Apple-slice Apple-bits Corned-Apple App-App Apple-juice Apple-sauce-"
As Applejack continued to name members of the Apple family, plates, bowls, cups, and platters of food were set up on the table in front of them as it continued to be placed, filling up all of the long table. Once the ponies' plate was set, they would sit at the table in random order.
Applejack finished taking another breath before she was interrupted.
Applebloom jumped out and landed in a seat on Danny's left, and she placed a few Apple cupcakes. "Applebloom." She reintroduced herself as she smiled cutely at Danny, as Applejack paused and looked around.
Applejack frowned as she couldn't see one of her family members. She mumbled to herself. "Prob'ly still working the fields." Figuring she could introduce him later when they meet up, she finished up her introduction of the family. "And finally, Granny Smith."
In a rocking chair, an extremely old pony, wearing a baggy purple shirt, a long white skirt, and a shawl over her shoulder, was sleeping. She barely reacted to her name, with a twitch of her eye, and slowly woke up as she looked up at the crowd. "Hoo-wha? Soup's on?" She slowly stood up from her chair and made her way toward the table. Extremely slow.
Applejack looked at the slow-moving pony and smiled sheepishly at the ones from Canterlot. "Sorry, she must be tired." She looked at Applebloom, who nodded before the younger Apple ducked under the table and moved over to Granny Smith.
Applebloom helped the aged pony to the table and made sure that Granny Smith was seated comfortably before she nodded and went back under the table and slipped up to sit next to Danny again.
Danny saw the younger pony sit next to him and chuckled as he placed a hand on her head, causing Applebloom to blush.
Applejack smiled before she sat next to Applebloom. "Well, that is some of the Apple family; most of the others are probably out doing their own thing. Got many in town working on some other plates that we're preparing for the celebration. Well now, we got all the introductions set, let's see how the food came out."
At the word was said, everypony began to dig into the food, ready to enjoy the meal. The whole scene became an event of a large family meal with everyone chatting and passing stories.
Danny was impressed by the amount of food and was about to look for something he could try, when he saw Spike just grab what he could and began to eat in Twilight's lap. "Easy, Spike, pretty sure there is enough food for everyone here."
Spike looked up at Danny with his cheeks bulging out, full of food. "Few phy few fo kfo fa foll phay wiffout food."
Twilight tapped the top of his head as she brought a napkin to his mouth and began to wipe the food that slipped out of him. "Don't talk with your mouth full."
Danny chuckled again at his embarrassed blush before he looked back at the table and saw that there were several plates already emptying out. Panicking, he grabbed a few articles of food and placed them on his plate.
Twilight and Sunset did the same thing as they were also busy looking at the younger dragon.
Danny looked at his plate and considered what he should eat first.
"Try the Ample Apple Appetiser, it's a good way to start a meal." Came Applebloom's suggestions as she placed a plate of sliced apples that had a soft yellow sauce on them.
Danny looked at them and smiled as it looked like a good start. He nodded in gratitude before he picked one up and took a bite. He hummed in delight as the flavor was tangy but also sweet.
Applebloom looked at him expectantly. "Well? What do you think?"
Applejack chuckled as she looked over her sister's head at Danny. "Applebloom is the one that made many of the appetizers." She placed a hand on Applebloom's head, causing the younger pony to whine. "This is the first time she worked on them appetizers on her own. Before, she was a helper, but she said she was old enough to do it herself. Looks like she did good for her first time."
Applebloom shoved Applejack's hand away before she turned and gave a cute, pouty glare at her. "Ya don't have ta tell em that!"
Danny looked at Applebloom before eating another one. "You did a good job with this. Mmm, if you are this good at appetizers, I look forward to seeing what else you could make."
Applebloom smiled brightly and blushed as her tail began to sway back and forth. Her thoughts shifted to her getting the chance to make food for him again, with them living together in one household.
Sunset was interested in what he was eating and asked for one herself.
Danny held up the plate for her, and both Sunset and Twilight took one and ate one.
The two mares nodded as they also agreed that it was good.
Applebloom puffed up her chest in pride, being praised for her appetizers.
Danny placed the plate down before he reached over to grab an empty plate, and he started to grab different foodstuffs.
Sunset did the same as they were here for a reason, even though this was not how they expected to do it.
Twilight grabbed two plates and grabbed a few of them, and started to fill up the plates for her and Spike.
As Danny started piling up the food, Applebloom would explain the food he grabbed and who was the one that made it. Danny would talk to both her and Applejack as he asked how it was made and the ingredients that were used. The three inspectors were impressed to hear how every one of the Apple ponies were running around the kitchen in order to make all of the food. Danny thought it was amusing to hear how many of the ponies would jump over one another in order to get to a stove, oven, or cutting board in order to make the next step of the dish.
Conversations were tossed around with many of the other ponies asking the Canterlot denizens about how food is dealt with in the city. This was a bit of an embarrassing moment for them as they had to tell the Apple family that a lot of the food that they ate was made by others, and they had little experience in cooking.
Danny even joked about how now that they had this chance, they would eat their fill here so that it would last for the entire time they would be in Ponyville.
Jokes were thrown around, causing Danny, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike to burst out laughing. Danny was even able to add to it, as his quips would make a story funnier.
When they got to the Apple pie, it was Applejack's time to gloat as she was the one who made the apple pies.
Original Apple.
Apple slices.
Apple bits
Cinnamon Apple.
Apple crust
Apple Spice
Apple caramel.
To say that she made sure she got many different types of apple pies was to say nothing. She went all out in making them.
Danny's group could not help but try each of them, each having trouble saying which one they enjoyed more.
After a bit of arguing and Applejack going over how she made them, with Applebloom mentally noting how she should learn how to make them herself, it was decided that drinks should now be served, and this was a different experience altogether.
Danny put down his apple-burger as he saw some of the ponies across from him having a drink.
Sunset patted her chest as the food she was eating was going down slowly. She also noticed the drinks and asked. "Since when were there beverages?"
Applejack smirked as she looked at the sun mare. "Drinks ain't sent out till well inta the food."
Twilight wiped her mouth with a napkin and asked. "Well, how do we get one?"
Applebloom smiled as she announced. "Like this!" She raised her hand in the air with one finger up.
Applejack saw this and smirked. "Aw, no ya don't!" She reached up and raised her middle finger so she would now be holding up two fingers.
Applebloom frowned at her sister but just sighed in defeat as she kept her arm up. Suddenly, a glass filled with an orange liquid came flying through the air, and Applebloom caught it in her raised hand. Once in her hand, she brought it down and took a sip.
Danny stared at the drink before he stood up and stretched his neck to look over everypony's head to see who it was that threw it. The thing was that he couldn't even see the end of the table, just the manes of everypony there. "How the-?"
Applejack and Applebloom thought the befuddled expression he had was amusing, and the older of the Apples leaned back and got Sunset's attention. She gestured to her own hand and held up one finger while mouthing out that Sunset should do what Applebloom did, but with one finger, but for her to wait for Danny to look the other way.
Sunset didn't know why, but she followed Applejack's instructions and waited till Danny looked in the other direction and raised her hand with one finger up.
As Danny was looking in the other direction, in case he might have missed some unicorn teleporting the drink or something, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw something flying straight at his head. "Geh!"
Danny ducked under the projectile, which was caught by Sunset.
Sunset brought down the drink and noticed that it was different from what Applebloom got. Hers was a mug that had a similar clear brown liquid, but this time it had foam on top. She looked at the Apples and was going to ask why her drink was different, but decided to just try it. She took a sip of the drink, and her eyes widened before she took a larger swig. She lowered her mug and looked at Applejack. "Man, this is good. What is it?"
Both Applejack and Applebloom looked at each other before they spoke in tandem, with Applebloom holding up her drink. "Apple Cider/Apple cider."
Spike saw the drink and felt that he should get one too. He raised his hand in the air with one finger held up.
Applejack looked at the young dragon and spoke up. "Ya better hold up two fingers for yours."
Spike wondered why he had to hold up two but just went along with it and held up two fingers. The issue was that since he was so small, the ponies were blocking him from view. Grumbling at not being seen, he jumped off of Twilight's lap and began to climb up Danny's body till he was on Danny's head. Once he could see over the heads of everyone, he raised his hand in the air again. After a second, he saw something flying toward him, and he stood up in time to catch the glass.
Danny's eyes shifted up before he tilted his head down, causing Spike to slip off his head, and he brought his hands up to catch the younger dragon. He put Spike down and looked at Twilight, seeing that she did the same, but much like Sunset, she got a mug instead of a glass. Feeling slightly left out, he raised his hand with one finger and got himself a mug. Looking at his drink, he felt curious and looked at Applejack. "So what is the difference between one finger and two?"
Applejack laid her arm on the table and lifted her other hand in the air, ordering her own drink. Unlike the others', her drink came sliding around plates and bowls until it slid into her hand. She smirked as she took a swig of her drink before looking at Danny. "The difference between them is how strong they are. The Apple Cider we got's got a stronger buck to it. The Apple cider that Applebloom and Spike's got is more casual." She ruffled Applebloom's mane and smiled at the whine she got from her. "It's why Ah made sure she didn't order these." She held up her mug to emphasize her point.
Applebloom pouted at how Applejack was making her look like a little filly when she was old enough to know what she wanted. "Applejack! Stahp treating me like a filly."
Applejack smiled as she placed her mug down. "Ta me, you are a little filly."
Applebloom huffed as she placed her drink down. "But Ah'm old enough ta get with any pony I wanted!"
Applejack blinked at her sister before she pursed her lips. "Ah suppose ya are." Her eyes shifted up to Danny as he was taking a large swig of his drink. Thinking of wanting to test out his aptitude, she called out. "Hey, Danny, think ya up for a little game?"
Danny raised an eyebrow at her as he was intrigued by this. "What kind of game are you thinking?"
Applejack held up her mug. "Bet I could drink you under the table."
Danny looked at her mug and was unsure if he should. "I don't think I should take part in-"
Sunset shimmer stood up and wrapped her arm around Danny's shoulder and held him close. "Come on, Danny, why not. We already know that the food is all set for the celebration so why not celebrate here and now!"
All the ponies around heard a drinking contest brewing, and they all cheered.
Twilight looked at Sunset. "Should we really do this? We came to write up a report on the food."
Sunset smiled at Twilight. "Oh, come on, Twi, why not? We all know what we plan on putting on the report, and it shouldn't take that long since we've written longer papers for smaller things."
Danny looked between Twilight and Sunset before looking at Applejack as she gave him a confident smirk. Smirking back, he held up his mug. "You're on!"
Cheers were heard as the two began a drinking contest.
Twilight, Sunset, and Spike cheered for Danny while still eating food
Most of the Apple family were cheering for Applejack, with a few cheering for Danny to be polite. Applebloom, not surprisingly, was cheering for Danny.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes and groaned as she slowly sat up from the ground. "Ugh~." She brought her hand to her bloated stomach. "I ate way too much pie."
"Hrrrnnnn, but it was all good. I don't think we've ever eaten so much in one sitting." Sunset sat up next to Twilight as she held her head and stomach. "But I think next time we should hold off on so much of the apple pastries."
Hearing snoring between them, they looked down to see Spike napping peacefully on the ground with crumbs all around his mouth.
Twilight smiled at the sight, before she looked around for the other dragon they knew. Not seeing any sign of him, she looked at Sunset and asked. "Do you know where Danny is?"
One of the Apples, which none of whom were affected by the meal and were cleaning up the massive table, looked at her and spoke up. "He is helping out Applejack with some farm work cause he said he needed to work off all of the food and drink he consumed."
Twilight groaned as she couldn't think of even moving right now. "How does he have the energy to even get on his feet?"
Sunset laughed before lying back on the grass. "You should know by now that Danny is a different breed of weird. He can do things that we don't understand and we should just accept it."
Twilight nodded as she knew that Danny just had energy that could keep him going. She had never once seen Danny actually tired. But she decided not to think about it right now since she still needed to get over the food her body had consumed.
Applejack pushed open the farm doors, revealing a typical barn with piles of hay in the corner, with some small hay mounds here and there. Danny and Applejack walked into a side barn as the female was getting Danny to help out with some farmwork that was set up to be done after the celebration, but Danny said he needed to do something in order to work out the amount of food he had.
"Ya, sure ya wanting to help out with ma work? We don't need ta do any of this till after the whole thing."
Danny smiled as he stretched his arms. "Hey, you were the one who offered this when I said I needed to do something to burn off all the drink we had." He smirked at her as he remembered the reaction she had when they finished up.
Applejack pouted as the memory hit her, too. "I still say that ya cheated. You had ta ta beat me in drinking all that." She knew he didn't, but she was somewhat proud, being one of the best drinkers of Apple Cider. Danny, though, was able to keep up with her, and it looked like he wasn't even affected by it.
Danny looked at her with a smile on his face. "I don't like cheating. Always been a thing with me, but I've always had this thing against cheating. Even when it was super tempting, I always choose not to."
Applejack nodded. "Well, Ah plan on beating ya next time." Applejack stood by a beam and gestured above her. "Well, for this, mind getting the bales of hay up top and tossing them down for me? Should be a good way to get some work done."
Danny looked up to the second floor above them and didn't see anything wrong with it. He figured that he would be able to fly up there and get the stacks. He shifted his cloak before he relaxed his wings and allowed them to unfurl from his body.
Applejack's eyes widened as she saw him spread his wings. "Well, howdy, didn't know ya had those." She looked his wings over and was in awe at how majestic they looked. But when she noticed something, she brought it up. "But Ah don't think yer wings will help ya here.
Danny looked at his wings and realized that his wings were too big and he would not be able to open them. "Looks like you're right. They would have made things easier, but I guess I won't be able to." He puffed out air from his nostrils before he looked around and saw a ladder with planks for steps that led to the upper level, and figured that would be the way. "Guess, I'm doing this the old-fashioned way." He brought his wings in and had them folded at his back.
Applejack smirked as she flicked her hat up. "Wouldn't using yer wings be cheating?"
Danny walked over to the ladder as he looked at her. "It's not cheating if it's natural. Besides, using my wings would be the same as using my arms, but they have to work harder since they have to lift my weight." As he got to the ladder and placed a hand on it, he chuckled as he remembered a lesson he got when he first got his wings and turned to look at Applejack. "My mom told me that I should make sure not to gain too much weight, cause it's my wings that will have to carry all of it, not my legs. She said it caused her wings so much strain when she started to gain weight…. In a certain area." He turned to face the ladder and mumbled the last part as his mind went to his mother's chest. He shifted his head to look over his shoulder with his eyes focused on Applejack's chest. He mentally noted how they were not as big as his mother's, but he shook that thought away as he needed to focus on other things.
Applejack noticed the action but kept silent, feeling a little bashful at how he was appreciating her body. She never thought about whether she was visually appealing to others or not, but now that Danny showed up and was appreciating her body, in a very cute, bashful way, she can't help but feel like a filly with a crush. It didn't help that she also saw Danny as a rather….. Attractive. She was going to keep this a secret from her friend Rarity, cause she knows that the romantic in the proper prissy pony would gush over this, saying something about love between different species or something like that.
Applejack's eyes went over Danny's form as the cloak was no longer covering up most of his body, thanks to his wings being out. She could see the lean muscle in his legs as well as the defined tone of his arms. His tail also looked strong, capable of lifting heavy things on its own, and she wondered how tight a grip it could have. Even though he was faced away from her, she could hazard a guess at how toned his chest is based on the other muscles she could see. She realized that her mind was starting to go in a direction that she should not think of at the moment, and her cheeks grew red. She lowered her hat in order to hide it. Her mind then went to her sister, and she pursed her lips as she wondered if Applebloom was seeing the same thing she was.
That was something else to worry about.
Danny was able to get back to what he was supposed to do and looked down at his foot as he lifted it on the first step before looking up and was about to start climbing. He put his weight on the first step, before his foot immediately dropped to the ground with a thump. He blinked a few times before he looked down to see that the first step was broken in half.
Applejack heard this and moved closer in order to find out what it was. "Something wrong, Sugarcube?" She made it to his side and looked at what he was staring at, and saw it was the first step. She saw that it was broken in half with his foot in between the two pieces. "I know the food ma family makes is good, but Ah didn't think you would eat enough to break ma ladder." She gave him a teasing smirk as he gave her an offended glare.
Danny wanted to quip back, but when he looked back down at it, he noticed something. "...I don't think it was my weight that broke it." He stepped back and bent down to pick up one of the pieces. Once in his hands, he gave it a flat look as he saw that it didn't break; it was cut. Danny's eyes shifted down to his feet, focusing on the claws. 'I know that they can be sharp, but come on.'
Applejack was leaning forward to see what he had in his hand. She saw his eyes shifting to his feet, and she was able to figure out what the issue was. Standing up, she put her hands on her hips. "Well, Ah hope ya ain't planning on doing that to the rest of our ladder." She looked at the said object before focusing on the step that was cut. It wasn't that big of an issue; they could fix it later on and deal with just skipping the first step, but if Danny cut the rest of them, it would be more problematic.
Danny shook his head. "That would just cause issues for everyone. Imagine me stepping on each step, only to fall to the ground. Then I would have to keep jumping to the higher step, only to drop back to the ground, most likely bonking my chin on the steps that aren't cut yet." He looked up at the number of steps and couldn't help but think that it would hurt with each bonk.
Applejack giggled at the thought as she imagined Danny doing that. After a minute of getting her giggles under control, she looked to her left and saw another way for Danny to get up to the second floor. Walking over to another wooden beam, she grabbed a rope that led to the ceiling, and was close enough to the second floor for Danny to use. "Well, with yer wings and ladder out, hope you got muscle in those arms of yers."
Danny stood up and looked at the rope in her arms, and couldn't help but purse his lips to the side. "I feel like we are just going through every option there is." Walking toward her, he asked. "Is that even strong enough?"
Applejack nodded as she tugged the rope. "Should be. This rope is used to lift anything too big ta carry up the normal way. Unless you weigh more than some heavy farm equipment, Ah doubt you'll break it." She held out the rope for him to grab.
Danny took the rope and looked up. Looking back at his feet, he decided that he would climb the rope without using his feet unless he wanted to cut the rope into pieces. "Alright, how many of those hay stacks do you need?"
Applejack looked up as she tilted her hat back with her hand. "Five should be enough. I'll be down here to catch them, so just toss them down."
Danny nodded as he grabbed the rope with both hands. He paused as he suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. "Huh, …. For some reason, I feel like I've done this before."
Applejack tilted her head and asked. "Really, when?"
Danny could feel something in the back of his head, but he shook his head to get rid of it. "I don't know." Figuring he should just get moving, he gripped the rope and jumped to start climbing up the rope with his legs bent back to avoid using them. He started to pull himself up to the second floor at a decent pace. As he was ascending, the weird sense of familiarity kept nagging him.
"Ha. Just like climbing the wires up to the Ops center."
The rope Danny was climbing flashed into what was a yellow gooey substance, till it flashed into rope again, but with outside scenery and buildings he had never seen before. He clenched his eyes as his head started pounding at these images that overtook his vision. Due to him being out of it, he reached up but grasped air while his other hand let go. Since he was already close to the second floor, he ended up falling from a fair height and was so shocked that he didn't think to grab the rope.
Applejack's eyes went wide when she saw him fall from up high, and she shifted her hooves to be ready to catch him. "I got ya, partner!"
Danny, on instinct, tried to open his wings to stop his fall, but thanks to his being close to the beam, he ended up hitting it and causing him to spin in the air, and he was now falling face-first. "Oh, hay!"
Thanks to the sudden change, when Applejack caught him, she ended up losing her footing and fell back into a small mound of hay. "Oof!"
Strands of hay flew into the air thanks to this, and Applejack held onto Danny with her eyes closed. She slowly opened them to see a few strands of hay on her nose, and she blew them off before looking down. She smirked at the sight of Danny being buried in her chest. "If ya just said ya weren't that strong, Ah would have told ya ta help out in another way." 'Though ya might be able to help me scratch a certain itch Ah got now.' With the way they were lying, she didn't see anything wrong if things moved a little faster than usual.
Danny looked up at her as he heard what she said, and he glared at her. "I am anything but weak." With the amount of training he went through at the castle, he had some pride in his strength. He brought his arms up and wrapped them around her arms, pinning her. He could feel the muscle of the mare and wondered if he would be able to keep her pinned.
Applejack was shocked by the action and saw a smirk on his face. Her surprised expression turned into a smirk before she spread her arms out, breaking free from his grasp and rolled around, putting him into a half nelson.
Danny was surprised by the action, but he would not be beaten by her. He slipped his tail between them and pushed her up enough to slip out of her grasp. Turning around, he grabbed her arm and pinned her to the hay.
Applejack was able to bring her hooves in and push up off the ground before she slipped her arm out and brought it around his neck and held his head.
Danny brought his foot forward behind her hoof and kicked it out from under her before they fell into the hay again. For several minutes, the two wrestled, rolling around in the hay, each slipping out of the other's grasp and trying to get the upper hand.
"Applejack! Danny! Ya here?" Applebloom came walking into the barn as she was looking for them. Hearing noise inside, she walked in and froze as she saw them in a compromising position, with Danny hovering over Applejack, both breathing heavily.
Applejack and Danny turned to look at Applebloom with flushed faces and were about to jump out from what they were doing till-
"No fair!"
Before either Danny or Applejack could say anything, Applebloom tackled Danny, which caused the three to roll. Danny was able to get a hold of Applebloom and was about to explain what was going on, but Applebloom was able to slip out of his grasp and started to wrestle him as well.
Applejack smirked as she joined in, and the three were now in a wrestling match, with the two Apples trying to pin Danny down. The girls were each able to grab one of his arms and press them down to the ground. They both looked at Danny and said in tandem. "Pinned ya/pinned ya." They couldn't hold it as Danny was able to roll back and slip his arms out of their grasp and tackle them both.
After a few more attempts and hay being thrown into the air, along with Applejack's hat, Danny finally pinned the two on some hay, Applejack on the left and Applebloom on the right, with his left hand holding Applejack's hands above her head and his right doing the same with Applebloom's. His tail was pressing down on Applejack's legs while his right leg was pressing on Applebloom's.
The three were breathing heavily as they had worked up a sweat rolling around in the hay.
Danny smirked down at the two. "I pinned you."
Applebloom smirked back as she countered. "Only cause we let ya."
Danny chuckled as he slowly pushed himself off them. "Yeah, sure."
Applejack smiled mischievously before she slipped her hoof between his feet and swiped them from under him.
Applebloom flipped up and jumped at him, moving his arms above his head and straddling them in reverse, while Applejack straddled his waist, using her hooves to keep his legs down and her knees to keep his wings on the ground.
The two looked down at the shocked dragon and leaned closer to his face before they both said. "Pinned ya again/Pinned ya again"
Danny groaned in defeat as he conceded. "Fine, you win."
The Apples smiled before getting off him and helping him up.
Danny took a breath and smiled at the two. "I think that was a good enough workout for all the food we ate."
Applebloom nodded as she moved closer to Danny. "Bet ya never thought you would wrestle around with two mares, did ya?"
Danny smiled as he shook his head. "Nope, I can honestly say that never crossed my mind."
Despite how there were some implications there that Danny obviously missed, Applebloom still giggled at him.
Applejack did notice it, and she felt that she would need to talk to her sister later. Moving things along, she grabbed her hat off the ground and placed it on her head before she spoke up. "Well, Ah say we head back. And don't worry about the help. Ah can handle it mahself when the celebration is all done."
Danny wanted to argue, but Applejack and Applebloom were already making their way out of the barn. He still wanted to help out, but if they said that he didn't need to do it right now, he would have to do it another time. He could tell that it was dusk and there was little time left in the day. "If you say so, but I will pay you back for the food. It was really good." He caught up with the two and turned his head to keep a gaze at them.
Applebloom smiled and looked up at him. "Well, we sure as hay won't deny you coming back later."
Danny nodded. "Well, the apple meal is good enough to come back - oof." He was interrupted when he walked out of the barn and turned the corner, right into someone.
Danny shook his head and rubbed his nose before he looked at who he bumped into. Looking forward, he didn't see a face, and he started to look up and was surprised at the sight.
Standing at seven and a half feet was Big Macintosh. He was a rather imposing figure who had clear signs of muscle. He had a head of dirty blonde mane and tail, and red fur. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt and long jeans that had a few tears here and there. In his mouth was a straw of hay that just hung there. He had a set of tools thrown over his right shoulder and a large sack under his other arm.
Danny thought Applejack was tall for a normal pony; heck, she was the tallest pony of the Apple family, from what he saw. But this guy was taller than her by half a foot. If he had to say, this stallion was almost as tall as Cadence, which was something since she was an alicorn.
For some reason, Danny felt apprehensive when he saw him.
A flash took over Danny's vision, and this big pony was replaced by another figure that had blonde hair and a red jacket with white sleeves.
Applejack saw who it was that Danny walked into and smiled. "Bic Mac! Where ya been? Were you out in the fields all this time?"
Big Mac looked at his sister and smiled. "Eyup. tilling a bit of land, but I didn't finish till it was plum time to call it a night."
Applejack nodded as she looked at Danny and patted his shoulder. "Danny, Ah want ya to meet our big brother, Big Macintosh, or Big Mac, fer short."
Danny blinked at the weird person he saw before the image vanished, and Big Mac was all he saw. He looked up to see the welcoming face of Big Mac. He shook off his apprehension and smiled back. "Hello, Big Mac. I was helping out your sisters with some farmwork, but it kind of got out of hand."
Big Mac looked into the farm and nodded. "Welp, sometimes things happen, and we get no work done. We'll get it done when all da food is made and gone."
Applejack nodded as she looked at Danny. "Maybe then ya can come by and help out."
Danny nodded as he still felt that he should help. "Sounds like a plan."
"Danny!"
The group looked over to the right to see Sunset, Twilight, and Spike walking toward them.
Twilight was still groaning as she held her stomach with her left hand; a clear sign she had eaten too much. Despite this, she was carrying a half-dazed Spike in her right arm.
Sunset waved at Danny as they got closer. "Hey, I think we need to head back and do our report. I would say we should do it tomorrow, but you and I both know that Twilight will throw a fit if we don't get it done on time."
Danny looked up at the orange sky and nodded. "Yeah, we should start heading to the library." He looked at the Apples and nodded in gratitude. "Thank you for the meal and hospitality. Before we even write the report, let me tell you, everything you made was delicious."
Applebloom smiled as she stepped forward and held her hands behind her back, and cutely shifted on her hooves. "Well, maybe ya can come over again when you have the time to try out more of our food."
Danny nodded with a smile. "No doubt we will." He looked at Twilight and Sunset. "Let's head back and put him to bed." He began to walk with the other two, with the Apples waving them goodbye.
Big Mac looked at his younger sisters and shifted the hay he had to the other side of his mouth. "Hmm." Seeing the light they had, he wondered what might have caused it. Looking back at the leaving group, his eyes focused on Danny's back and nodded as he figured it out. "Eyup."
The group made it back to the library just as the sun was disappearing on the horizon, and they immediately started making the report on the food. Each of them worked on sections of the food. Appetizers, main dishes, and desserts.
Danny worked on his report on the Appetizers.
Sunset worked on the main dishes.
Twilight worked on the desserts.
They would throw out things they thought about each of the courses, adding to each of the reports.
Spike would also put his opinion on the food, with a few nitpicks, saying that it would be better if they had some gems in the pies.
It didn't take long until the report was finished; it didn't even take an hour. Now, all they had to do was make a copy of the report and send it out.
The group sat at the table that was in the center of the library and looked at the set of papers that waited to be copied, and the only one who had the best chance of making a copy of them in such a quick manner was in the middle of groaning.
Twilight thought it was a miracle that she was able to make her report, but she chalked it up to each painful pulse in her stomach, telling her the flavor of the food that caused the pain. She was leaning her cheek on the table and let out a soft moan of pain. "Next time, I'm avoiding the pie."
Danny chuckled as he got up and moved over to Twilight and started rubbing her back. "Maybe just have one slice next time."
Twilight shifted her head to her chin. "I tried, but I kept getting offered different versions of pie, and I couldn't say no."
Sunset nodded as she was also offered the food in the same way. She was also feeling the strain, but her body was burning it off a little faster than Twilight was. Metabolism and all that. "Want me to make the copy?"
Twilight held up a hand. "No, I got it." She lifted her head and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "Ok." She shut her eyes and focused on the spell as her horn lit up and the magic flowed to the papers.
The magic encircled the papers for a few seconds before another set of papers identical to the first appeared next to them.
Twilight let out a breath and felt a little better since using magic can help burn off the food she had just eaten. "There, now all that's left is to send them out."
Spike, who was next to Twilight, perked up at that and raised his hand. "Ooh, I can do it!" He tried his best to hide his yawn, but he had to cover his mouth as he failed.
Danny smiled and placed a hand on Spike's head. "Sorry, Spike, if you send it, you might get the response while sleeping, and burping that harshly while asleep might hurt."
Spike slumped as he wanted to send the message.
Danny saw this and said. "You can send the next one. For now, I'll send it."
Spike nodded as he looked up at Danny.
Danny patted Spike's head before he reached over and grabbed one of the sets of papers. He flipped through the pages to make sure that everything was there before nodding. He took a deep breath before breathing out blue flames. The papers turned into ash before flying off through the window and towards Canterlot.
Sunset watched the report leave before looking at the set they still had. "Alright, so what should we do with this one? Do we turn it in today or wait till tomorrow?"
Danny looked at the clock and thought about the question for a minute. "Well, I think there is time for a drop off." He then looked at Twilight and the droopy Spike and hummed in thought. "Hmm, though maybe we should -" He paused mid-sentence before he placed his hand on his chest, and he let out a gasp with blue mist coming out of his mouth before it reformed into a rolled-up scroll. He held up his hand and caught the scroll, and smiled. "Wow, I think Mom was just waiting for an excuse to send us a message."
Sunset looked at the scroll with a smile. "Yeah, it hasn't even been ten minutes, and she already sent us something."
Twilight lifted up a hand and tried to defend. "Princess Celestia most likely goes through hundreds of papers a day. Reading our short report must only take seconds for her to read."
Danny and Sunset blinked a couple of times at Twilight before they chuckled.
Danny shook his head. "That is actually true, but that is usually for reports, royal decrees, or something else official. When it comes to more personal things, she tends to be random. She either reads it slowly so she can take in every word, or she places it aside for a singular moment before sending a message to the other party that has nothing to do with the one she just got."
Twilight wanted to refute, as she could not see Princess Celestia doing something so irresponsible, but she had to remember that these two were her children, so they had more authority on the matter than she did. Sometimes she had to remind herself that they were Celestia's kids.
Sunset grabbed the scroll and undid the string holding it before opening it up and reading it. "Phantom, Sunset, Twilight, Spike, how are you four doing?-"
Danny raised an eyebrow at the name. "Wow, she must have really been emotional when she wrote that, if she is using my original name."
Sunset nodded with a smile before she continued.
[I know that you are tasked with looking at the preparations that are set for the Celebration, but I have the utmost confidence that you will succeed in no matter what task given to you. But are you four doing well? Let me know if there is anything that is causing you issues, and I will send a messenger in order to fix anything. Did you make any friends? Let me know if you made any friends, cause I would like to know if you are enjoying your time in Ponyville.
Twilight, I know you probably started reading the books of the library, but make sure that you go out and enjoy the sun every now and then.
Sunset, make sure that you don't tease Danny or Twilight so much, as I know you like to get reactions out of them.
Spike, make sure you listen to your mother, older brother, and aunt, especially since you are in a new area and things are different there than it is here in Canterlot. I hope you make a lot of friends while there and that you make sure that you let me know.
Danny, please make sure that you look out for the others. I know that you will do everything you can in order to accomplish your task I gave you. Please take care of yourself, and I look forward to seeing you again, all of you.
Princess Celestia]
Danny nodded as Sunset finished reading the scroll out loud. "Oh, yeah, she is very emotional when she wrote that." He looked at Twilight and saw a bit of a blush on her face, knowing very well that the reason she was blushing was because Celestia called her Spike's mother. He knew that Twilight had a sort of inner desire that she only ever told Sunset and him.
Twilight would at some point love to become a mother. It might have been a desire that grew after she had become a mother for Spike, at an extremely young age, when she didn't know the full extent of what it entailed, and she loved Spike as such, but there was a little inkling of wanting to have another child. But she also pushed this desire down as she was afraid that Spike might feel like she didn't care for him.
Sunset Shimmer and Danny understood the fear, and they kept it to themselves.
Though Danny didn't know when it would happen since he had barely seen Twilight interact with any other male while in Canterlot.
Twilight was very much the same.
Sunset, on the other hand, had a feeling who it was that would be the one who could potentially be the father of this future child Twilight wanted; it was almost comical how she seemed not to realize her own attachment, while Danny seemed not to get it!.
Danny, wanting to get things back on track, grabbed the other copy of the report and spoke up to the others. "I'll drop these off at the office. If I leave now, I should be able to get them in before it closes."
Sunset looked at her brother and asked. "Why don't we all go and turn it in? We made the report together, so we should all pitch in on our responsibilities."
Danny nodded. "Yeah, it would make sense, but…." He turned his head toward Twilight, who still looked a little strained thanks to the food. "It would be best if I head over while you watch over Twilight. It looks like she should sleep off the coma she is about to go into, and Spike should head to bed anyway."
Sunset looked at the others and nodded. "Alright, I'll stay here and look after these two." She looked at Twilight and saw that she was already losing consciousness. "Wow, I get that the food was that good, but to knock someone out a few hours later."
Danny chuckled as he grabbed his cloak and opened the door. "Imagine how everyone will be after the party. I'll be back."
"Later."
Danny walked out and closed the door of the library, and saw that no one was outside at this time. "Hope I can still drop this off." He draped his wings on his shoulders before swinging his cloak around and clipping it over them. He started making his way toward the Mayor's office, hoping he would still catch it open.
Danny made it to the office and was pleased to see that the lights were still on. "Great, looks like there's still ponies inside." He made his way to the office door and checked the doorknob, and smiled when it opened. He walked into the office and looked around, only to see that the mayor was the only one left. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already in the late hours and figured that the others had already gone home for the night. He still considered himself lucky that the Mayor was still in, so he could turn in the report to the highest authority. Still, he respected the mayor for still working after working hours when he knew that a lot of workers back in Canterlot would clock out the moment the clock hit closing time.
Yet here she was, sorting papers into file cabinets.
Something that was starting to cause issues for Danny as she would bend over to put files in the lower drawers. His eyes even focused on the hand that came back and adjusted her pencil skirt. Realizing that he was staring, he shook his head and cleared his throat since she didn't know he was here. "Sorry if I am intruding."
Mayor Mare jumped slightly at the sudden voice and stood up before turning around to see Danny standing at the entrance. "Ah, Phantom, I was not expecting you to show up so late."
Danny smiled as he shrugged his shoulders as he walked in and closed the door. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to work this late. If there wasn't anyone here, I would have just come back in the morning to give this report to you."
Mayor Mare nodded. "Well, with how things are going, I will have to read the report tomorrow. There was a misfile earlier today, and I have to go through all the paperwork that was given today so I can put it back into the right folder."
Danny looked at the amount of papers that were stacked all over the office. "Um…. didn't anyone ask if they could help you out?"
Mayor Mare nodded. "Yes, but I told them it was a simple misfile and I could handle it myself."
Danny was dumbfounded by this so-called "simple misfile". Shaking his head, he placed his report down on an empty table so it wouldn't be lost and unclipped his cloak. "Ok, well, I can't very well let you handle all this on your own. Please allow me to help you file all these."
Mayor Mare was surprised by his offering of help. "I can't ask you to do that. You already have your own task that will take up your time."
Danny smiled as he walked up to a stack and picked it up. "Consider it a selfish request, as my conscience won't allow me to just let you do this on your own. Let me ease it so I don't feel guilty later." He smiled at her, hoping she would allow him to help.
Mayor Mare had a tint of pink on her cheeks as she saw his charming smile. She cleared her throat before becoming professionally friendly. "Very well, first thing you can help me with; can you sort that stack in alphabetical order based on last name?" She looked at the papers she had in her hands and began to go through them. "I believe those files are meant for licenses and the owners of them. The names should be-"
"Here you go."
Mayor Mare paused in her explanation and looked over her shoulder to see Danny with the stack of papers in his hand. "What?"
Danny held the stack in one hand while his other flipped through the top of them. "I organized them in alphabetical order based on the Ponies' names. I even separated them based on the kind of licences they have, from food-based businesses to general goods, and specialized shops.
Mayor Mare placed her stack down and took the one he had. She looked at the papers and saw that it was indeed as he said. She looked up at him in wonder and asked. "How..?"
Danny picked up another stack of papers and started going through them. "Back in Canterlot, I did a lot of office work, organizing a lot of files, papers, and books before putting them in proper locations so things would be organized. I've got experience doing things like this, so it wasn't that hard."
Mayor Mare continued to look at him in awe. "That is… incredible."
Danny shook his head. "Thank you, but it's just practice. Now, shall we?"
Mayor Mare nodded. "Yes, thank you."
With that, the two started to organize the stacks of papers before they moved over to the filing cabinets and sorted them out. After a bit of time, they finished filing the files in the bottom cabinets and started to put them in the higher cabinets.
However, it became a bit difficult since the ladder they had was missing the top three steps, making it very difficult to reach the higher cabinets.
Danny looked at the ladder and asked. "If the ladder is missing those steps, how did you get the files from up top?"
Mayor Mare smiled with a bit of embarrassment. "One of my unicorn workers brought them out for me. I told her that they would be ready for filing in the morning."
Danny blinked a few times at her before he let out some air from his nostrils. "Makes sense."
Mayor Mare decided to move things along, and she walked up the step ladder with a stack in her arms. Once at the highest one available, she started to stretch up, trying to reach the ladder. "Since we finished the first set so early, we should at least-" As she stretched, her hoof slipped on the metal step ladder, and she fell backward.
"Whoa!" In a quick motion, he slid under her and was able to catch her in his arms.
Mayor Mare blinked in surprise from not only the fall, but also being caught by Phantom. She blushed at how she was being held and did her best to hide it as she adjusted her glasses
Danny looked at the mare in his arms and let out a sigh of relief. "Maybe I should be the one to try and reach the upper cabinets since I am taller." He slowly let her down and looked her over to make sure she was alright.
Mayor Mare fixed her suit before she nodded in gratitude. "Thank you for saving me, Phantom." She looked up at the height they had to reach and saw that even with his height, he wouldn't be able to reach them. "Though I believe we are still lacking height to efficiently organize the files." Thinking on what they could do to do this, she came up with a rather..ludicrous idea. "However, if you are willing…." She moved over to a desk, unbuttoned her suit jacket, and slipped off her ascot.
Danny watched her do this, and his eyes widened in surprise. His pupils dilated into slits as he saw her slide off the jacket and her shoulder blades move as she placed her jacket on the desk. The white dress shirt she had was very form-fitting on her body, and it just seemed to make her seem more appealing.
Mayor Mare turned to look at Danny and asked. "If you are able, you could perhaps give me a lift so I can place the papers in their proper place.
Danny gulped as he eyed her body. He was confident that he could lift her up, tenderly, but he clenched his eyes shut, took a breath, and exhaled slowly. Clearing his throat, he nodded. "Sure, if that will help."
And it sure did help in organizing the files.
But it was close to tormenting him since he would always stand behind her and gently grasp her waist and lift her up. He would stay there, holding her up, and his snout ever so close to her flank. His fingers would slowly slide on her waist, feeling her curve and how well-fit she was. Her tail flicked back and forth, causing his eyes to get a close-up view of the base of her tail and the tail hole of her skirt. He could see a hint of teal and black peeking out of the hole, and he started to imagine the kind of lingerie she had. 'For Mom's sake, is this some kind of torture?'
It only got worse for him as Mayor Mare started to tire, and she loosened up her shirt. He knew she didn't know what she was doing to him, but he was mentally begging her to stop.
After a few more times of Danny dealing with this torture, they finally finished, and the office was now free of stacks of papers.
Danny felt relieved that he had helped her fix all this…. And that he was no longer close to losing it. He looked over to her and saw her walk into the main area, rubbing her shoulders. Analyzing her body language, he had an idea of what the problem was. "You alright?"
Mayor Mare placed her free hand on the backrest of a seat before she slowly sat down. "Oh, it is nothing to worry about. I just have some strain on my shoulders." She looked over her shoulder at Phantom as she smiled. "A mare my age can only handle so much now." She shifted her gaze forward before looking down at her chest. At one time, she was proud of her chest size, but now that she was an older mare, she wished they were smaller or weighed less, as they only put strain on her muscles and joints. She looked around her office and let out a sigh as she knew that when she was younger, she could have handled all of the paperwork at a much faster pace. Despite that, she was very thankful to Danny and would do what she could to pay him back.
Danny, seeing this kind of discomfort before, started making his way toward her.
Mayor Mare continued to rub her shoulder in an effort to ease the strain, not noticing the shadowed silhouette with glowing eyes behind her. She lowered her hand as she felt she could do all she could for her shoulders and let out a sigh of relief. The next moment, she jumped when she felt a pair of hands gently slide down her shoulders before a pair of thumbs began to apply pressure. She looked up to see that Phantom was right behind her and rubbing his thumbs on her. "Phantom?"
"Shhh." Danny smiled down at her as his hand began to knead her muscles and whispered. "Just relax and let me help you a bit more."
Mayor Mare was about to argue this as she had already gotten so much help from him, but she didn't get the chance as the soreness she had in her shoulders started to slowly fade. She even started to relax, almost unnaturally. Even his voice seemed to have this….pleasing effect on the ears.
Danny's eyes began to shimmer as a slight glow was seen on his horns and hands. When he did this for his mother, he learned that if he applied a bit of magic to his hands, it would ease the person and mend the muscles he applied it to. His thumbs began to do circular motions on her shoulder blades as his fingers pressed into her fur.
Mayor Mare tried to sit up straight, but whatever it was that he was doing was making it hard for her to maintain a straight posture. Her head leaned back as her face slowly dropped into a trance. It was like her whole head could feel every motion his fingers did, like waves flowing up. But his hands began to slide back, and his thumbs moved to be in between her shoulder blades as his fingers moved to be in the center of her back. Her back started to curve more, chest rising up, as the sensation of bliss began to wash throughout her whole body. Her hooves began to fidget as his hands began to go lower, as the pleasure was reaching new heights. She leaned her head back and looked up at him through hazed eyes. She could see the focus he had in making sure he applied the proper massage. She stared at him with sparkles starting to appear in her vision. Her breathing even started to become heavy, and her glasses started to fog.
Danny's magic slowly began to form a barely visible veil that took the shape of her whole body. It is meant to ease the body, remove any stress, and revitalize the muscles. He would do this every time he massaged his mother, and she would always feel like she had regained her energy. His hands shifted to her arms and began to knead her biceps, lifting them so her shoulders rose before he slid his hands up to her shoulder and then to her neck as he slid his fingers across the sides of her neck.
Mayor Mare's arm dangled at her sides as she gave herself up to his gentle hands. She continued to stare up at him, and she could feel her chest start to feel a little too tight.
While Mayor Mare was enjoying the massage, Danny was doing his best to focus on the task of making her feel better. Yet, despite how he tried to focus on his hands, his eyes kept catching glimpses of down her shirt. With where he was positioned, it was hard not to see them, and it didn't help that her breathing would continuously lift and drop them. He ended up staring at them as he continued, until he saw that her heavy breathing had caused the next button of her blouse to pop open. Forcing himself to get back to what he was doing, he whispered. "Are you feeling better?"
Phantom's voice had turned into honey for her ears, and it was almost like each syllable would massage her brain, sending sparks of pleasure right down her body. She wanted him to continue to speak, she wanted him to continue to touch her, she wanted to hear more words of honey come from his lips so she could get a taste, but she remembered the differences in age between them. She was too old for him and already past her time. She had to hold back a gasp as his hands moved to the sides of her stomach and moved across her muscles. She could feel his hands move up higher to just hit her ribs. 'A little higher…..higher~.' Her thoughts were getting the better of her. She shakingly brought her hand up and placed it on his, getting him to stop. "Ph-phantom,-" She gulped as she tried to keep her voice steady. "I believe that is enough." A voice in the back of her head, and an urge in her body, was telling her to let him continue, but her responsible mind was telling her to stop this. "I feel so much better, thank you."
Danny smiled as he removed his hands from her. "Hope you feel better."
The small veil that enveloped her body dispersed, and she felt much better. It took her a moment to regain her senses before she stood up and took a breath. The massage he did made her feel so much better. She held onto the chair she was sitting on as she turned to him. "That was….marvelous, Phantom. Thank you."
Danny smiled at her as he felt he should correct something. "Call me, Danny. All my friends do." He could see she looked so much better due to his massage, though she was breathing a little heavier. It was then that he noticed his reaction and used his cloak to hide it. Urgently looking at the clock, he realized he had stayed much longer than he was supposed to, and nodded to her. "Glad I was able to make you feel better and help you out with all your work. I should head back so I don't worry the others."
Mayor Mare nodded slowly as she walked him to the door. Once they were at the door, she spoke. "Thank you for bringing me the report and helping me organize my work. I truly appreciate it."
Danny nodded. "It was no problem." He opened the door to the office and walked out. "If ever you need help with something like that again, let me know."
Mayor Mare's mind thought about the kind of help that he was offering, and she had to keep her mind focused and believe that he was talking about the filing. Choosing to keep the conversation flowing, she nodded at him in return. "Should I need your help, I will be sure to let you know, Danny. Have a good night."
Danny smiled back at her. "Good night, Mayor Mare." He took a few steps away from her before he spread his wings and jumped into the air, flying off toward the Library.
She watched him for a few more moments before she re-entered the office. Once the door was closed, she let her visage fall and placed a hand on the wall. She pulled on her shirt to let some air touch more of her fur. "Oh, Sweet Celestia! His massage was…. Heavenly." Her body felt like it had regained its energy from before she started working. Even to the point that she felt her vigor from her younger days again. She fanned herself with her hand as she had gotten a little hot under the collar. She pushed herself off the wall and walked back to her desk as she continued to fan herself. Since she had finished her work, she should grab her effects and start making her way home. Once at her desk, she was able to take a breath to calm herself down before looking down and realizing that her shirt was unbuttoned one more button than she thought. "Oh my." She buttoned up her shirt, straightened herself out, and finish up in the office before she grabbed her items and turned off the lights of the office. Locking up, she put on her suit jacket and began to walk toward her house. 'Perhaps I can ask him to give me another of those massages, with those strong hands of his.' She was almost eager for the next time he would help her.
Danny was flying in the air as he covered his face with his hands. "What the HAY is wrong with me?!" While he was massaging her, which was something that was a bit intrusive, he could not help but feel the urge to run his hands over more of her body. To feel more of her, and he knew for a fact that he shouldn't think like that around her. It was the same as earlier at the Apples when they were wrestling in the barn. He is a newcomer and he has no right for any such interactions with them. Sliding his hands down his maw, he looked down before he saw something that would help him out. "Perfect!" Shifting his wings, he twirled in the air before diving straight for it.
Sunset and Twilight were now in their pajamas as they were getting ready to call it a night, and looked toward the door when they heard it open. They saw Danny walk in and were about to greet him, but paused when they saw that there was a bit of water dripping off his hair, which drooped from being wet.
Twilight ran up to him in worry. "Danny?! What happened?" She looked him over in case he was hurt anywhere.
Sunset joined her, but she was less frantic than Twilight was. She looked up at his hair and saw that it was close to air drying, but it was still mostly wet. "You okay?"
Danny took off his cloak and rolled it before he nodded. "Yeah, I just had an accident and fell into a bit of water." He wasn't going to tell them that he dove into a lake in order to calm himself. He put the wet cloak under his arm as he started to make his way toward the stairs. "I just need to get into a change of clothes and throw this into the dryer." Before he could get far, he felt his shirt being grabbed and was suddenly pulled back and spun. He fell back into a seat with his eyes spinning. He shook his head to get his sight straight and saw Sunset standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.
"We need to get you dry before you start leaving a water trail all over the floor. We shouldn't leave any damage here since we are only sticking around for a couple of weeks." After scanning him with her eyes, she looked at Twilight. "Twi, mind getting a towel to dry his hair?"
Twilight nodded before she walked at a brisk pace while also trying not to make too much noise, as she had put Spike to bed before Danny arrived.
Danny looked up at Sunset and argued. "Sunset, I can just phase the water off me outside. You don't need to-" He didn't get to finish as she used her hands to shut his maw. He blinked in surprise before looking up at her again.
Sunset smiled as she kept him quiet. "But you aren't that good at using that spell yet. So it's better to do this instead."
Danny still wanted to argue. "Sun, it's too much-"
"I'm back." Twilight came back downstairs with two towels in her arms. She made it to her friends and handed one over to Sunset.
Sunset took the towel and smiled in gratitude before she turned to Danny with another teasing smirk.
Before Danny could say anything, his shirt was yanked over his head so fast that he was sure that Sunset had used another phasing spell on it to do so.
Twilight blushed at the sight, but she forced it down before she draped the towel over Danny's head and leaned forward to begin gently drying his hair, making sure not to hurt his horns.
Danny groaned at being dried like this and was about to at least get Twilight to stop, but when he looked through the opening of the towel, he could see under her pajama shirt since it was rather loose. His eyes hyper focused on her breasts that swayed back and forth under her shirt as she ran her hands over his head and since she wasn't wearing a bra. He gulped before he shifted his eyes elsewhere. 'I only just finished CALMING DOWN!' He flinched as he felt Sunset start gently rubbing a towel over his wings.
Sunset was drying off his wings, secretly enjoying this, as she always wanted to touch them, but he never allowed it. She knew that his wings were sensitive, especially the spot in the middle membrane where his joint is. She slid her finger over the spot and smiled as she saw him flinch at the touch. She wanted to continue to do so, but she was legitimately doing this for his benefit and to keep any wet stains from showing up on the floor. Though she will not deny she enjoyed the sight of his shoulder blades.
One thing that many misunderstand about dragon skin is their texture. Despite how they look, not all of them feel like scales or have a prickly texture. Danny's white scales were so smooth that you could slide a hand over and not feel anything prick your fur, even more so his black underbelly.
Spike, on the other hand, has a few patches where his skin is rather rough before it moves to the prickly texture you would imagine scales to be like.
Dragons have different textures of scales and there is still no knowledge as to what can cause the texture to become one or the other.
So Sunset's fingers would slide easily on his wings.
Danny's tail twitched in response to feeling the two dry him off. But he could tell that Sunset was done drying him and was just messing with him now. He wanted to say something to her, but the feeling he was getting from her hands killed any words that would come out. 'Sweet, Mom, grant me strength to get through this….please?'
End of chapter
Now I hope you enjoyed this super long chapter
One thing I want to bring up first is about Applebloom. I am seriously unsure about adding the CMC. The reason I am considering them is that I saw a drawing of each of them being older, and I suddenly had the thought of them being with Danny. But since I am on the fence, I am making them an in-between ages of Danny and Spike, so they could potentially end up with either.
Now, as for Spike, I have started making a list of potential harem members for him. I had to look up of characters that would work for Spike and I found a couple of them. Now, even though Spike will get his own harem, he will NOT, I repeat, NOT have any lemons. His harem will mostly be childish fluff and cute moments.
Spike and Danny will have brotherly moments about this, but that will happen later on.
Ok, I was asked if I could make a height chart so everyone could understand where everyone was in height. I am working on this. I am drawing each of the characters and placing them in a chart to show how tall they are, as well as what they look like and what they are wearing. I already drew Danny, Spike, and Rainbow Dash. Right now, I am working on Rarity and Pinkie Pie. It is a large drawing, but you can see Danny and Spike on my Deviantart page.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this super long chapter and look forward to the next interactions.
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