A/N: Alternate universe! Holy Hay.
In this AU story, we look at the life of Twilight Sparkle, who in this story is an alicorn, and, moreover, the daughter of Princess Luna, faithful student of dear Aunt Celestia, the queen.
Summary- Princess Twilight Sparkle has never been outside the castle walls. She is pampered, smart, studious, and loyal to the quick. Never has she been denied something she wanted. Her life is perfect. However, everything is thrown into chaos when the castle in Canterlot is attacked and she must flee all alone to a small town called Ponyville.
Notes- Some characters ages have been risen. Like Spike's. Also, dragon ideaology is changed here, where there are several different types of dragons-from all sizes. Another- Ponyville is farther away from Canterlot in this story, out of sight of the city.
Pairings- Eventual Spilight, mentioned one-sided Sparity, mentioned fantasy-Blue BloodxRarity, other pairings pending.
Disclaimer- I own nothing~
-Moogle-
"Good evening, Aunt," the young princess greeted the queen, giving a respectful bow. "I'm here for more training."
The queen, Celestia, smiled at her student. "Good, Twilight Sparkle. You may rise, dear." Twilight did as she was told. "Now, what do you wish to learn today?"
Twilight smiled excitedly. "I was hoping to learn tranfiguration spells."
"Of course," Celestia chuckled, delighted by her young pupil's excitement. "Now, to do this..."
-Later-
"What did you learn today, Twilight?" a navy blue alicorn asked Twilight as she came into the room.
"Tranfiguration spells," Twilight answered with a smile. Then she frowned. "Mother, why is Aunt Celestia leaving again?"
"Twilight, you have to understand that as queen, Celestia has many royal duties," Luna answered. "I will actually be going with her," she added, trotting over to her daughter. She gave Twilight a nudge and smiled. "I trust you'll stay in the castle?"
"Of course," Twilight answered, smiling. Twilight read about other places in her books-Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Appleloosa, Cloudsdale-and she was fine with not being allowed out of the castle walls. She loved exploring the castle. There was always something new to see. She felt no desire to leave.
"I know I can trust you," Luna smiled at her daughter. "We'll be leaving tonight."
"Where are you going this time?"
"Everywhere. Our first stop, I believe, is Ponyville, then we will be heading to Manehatten."
"Alright. I'm sure I'll read all about it. I'll see you when you return, Mother!"
-That Night-
"Twilight Sparkle, you need to get out of Canterlot now. There are rebels who wish to take over Equestria, and you need to get away from the castle."
"But Aunt Celestia, Mother forbid me! You forbid me."
"Forget what we commanded you then, Twilight Sparkle. Your life is in danger. You need to leave now."
Twilight opened her eyes, staring into the darkness. She could hear the night birds singing outside. Everything was peaceful. "What was that dream about?" Twilight murmured, sitting up.
"Oh well," she sighed and tried going back to sleep. However, she found she couldn't sleep. Because of this, Twilight decided to stand and walk out onto her balcony.
She stretched her wings and legs a little. It would be so easy to just fly away, a little voice in her head told her. Twilight shook her head to clear the thought. "Mother and Aunt Celestia forbid me to." She started to turn around when she spotted something on the horizon. She looked closer at it and immediately knew it for what it was.
A horde of dragons, flying straight for Canterlot.
"Full grown dragons in Equstria?" she whispered, unbelieving. She had never heard of any dragons in Equestria, grown or not. "I must warn the others!"
Quick as a flash, Twilight had spread her wings and took off flying into the castle. Using her magic she moved many obstacles out of her path and flew as fast as she could to the pony who was in control while the two grown alicorns were gone.
"Sir!" she called, opening the door. "Si-" she cut off as she saw the stallion speaking with a dragon at the window. He turned to look at her, shocked.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle!"
Twilight stared at the scene in front of her. She knew immediately from the guilt on the stallion's face exactly what had happened. "Traitor! You commit treason! Disrespect! You-"
The dragon growled at Twilight. "Be silent, you insolent pony!" Twilight's mouth snapped closed. "Canterlot is now controlled by the dragons," the dragon declared. "Anyone who dares oppose us will burn!"
Twilight stared at the dragon before raising her head in defiance and her horn started glowing.
"Princess, no!" She felt herself being yanked away, just before a stream of fire engulfed the place she had been standing. Twilight whirled around to face one of the royal guards. "Princess, come with me," he whispered so the stallion and dragon couldn't hear his voice and recognize him.
Quickly the stallion led the young princess through the castle, listening carefully for any smaller dragons who could actually fit into the castle.
"Guard, where are we going?" Twilight asked, worried.
"Don't worry, Princess. You're safe. You'll be safe." After a few minutes that felt like hours, the two found their way to a passage that Twilight had never noticed before. "Come on."
Twilight hesitated, but then followed the guard through the passage. Soon, though, the smooth ground changed to jagged, rough ground, nearly tripping the young princess up. The walls also changed from smooth to rough.
"Watch your step, Princess. We've entered the mountain."
"What? But that... that means..."
"You're outside of the castle, yes. Outside of Canterlot. But your life is in danger, Princess. There's no other choice."
"A-are you coming with me?" she asked, her voice small. The guard was silent for several seconds.
"I'm sorry, Princess. You're on your own once we're out of this tunnel." They walked in silence for nearly as hour. The guard then stopped and turned to her. "Princess, you have to hide your wings."
"W-what?" Twilight seemed to be in disbelief.
"And your hair. If anypony else knows you're an alicorn, they'll know you're the princess, and the dragons and their pony allies may turn you over to their leader. Your hair and your wings give it away. Thankfully you haven't hit alicorn-puberty yet so you're still unicorn-pony height and that doesn't require hiding, but the fact remains."
Twilight bit her bottom lip. "What kind of spell does that?" she asked.
"Illusionary spells."
"Illusion? Illusion spells don't work on other magical beings-like unicorns and dragons."
"Normal ones don't, but you were taught by the very best," the guard smiled sadly at her. "Trust yourself. And trust me."
"Of course I trust you-wait, what are you doing?" Twilight's eyes widened as her mane and tail were suddenly sheared by the unicorn guard's magic. Her mane fell to the ground around her feet. "What did you do-"
"Calm, Princess! Illusionary spells are harder to do when you're trying to hide your mane or tail. Something can easily go wrong."
"O-oh... I knew that..." Twilight murmured, because she did know that. She was just shocked, but she understood. "A-alright... here goes nothing..." she closed her eyes and concentrated all her might on an illusionary spell that could fool even other alicorns. She felt the illusion slip over her, and she opened her eyes and looked at her side.
No feathered wings begging to be spread. She looked at her hair. It wasn't flowing in any non-existant wind or sparkling. Twilight closed her eyes to hold back her tears. It was good to know her magic was strong enough to even fool herself, but now she felt like a stranger to herself.
Of course she hadn't really changed on the inside, but that wasn't the point in her mind.
"You look wonderful, Princess. Soon you'll return to Canterlot and take back your place with your mother and the queen," the guard told her, turning to the stone wall. "You'll regain everything."
"If it's not all burned in the fires of the dragons," Twilight murmured, watching the stone wall disappear as the unicorn used his magic. "My mother said they were going to Ponyville. D-do you know where that is?"
The unicorn guard nodded in a direction away from Canterlot. "Keep going straight that way. Be careful, Princess, and we'll eagerly await your return."
-Later-
Twilight Sparkle ran as fast as she could in the direction the guard gestured, sticking to the shadows. She was wary of the dragons circling above. It had been several hours since the attack, and the sun was starting to rise. That meant Celestia and Luna were still alive, that was good...
Suddenly Twilight caught sight of a small town. It looked like it was rebuilding from a dragon attack; everypony was out fixing destroyed roofs and rebuilding walls. Everyone looked sad.
"I wonder if Mother and Aunt Celestia are there," she murmured, hurrying over to the town. "That has to be Ponyville."
As she approached, some ponies noticed her. A pink pony gasped and smiled in excitement while a white and purple pony gasped in horror. They both galloped over to her.
"Hi! I've never met you before! Where are you from?" the pink pony greeted, startling Twilight.
"Darling, what's happened to your hair? It looks like a knife was violently brought to it!" the white pony cried.
"O-oh... I'm sorry, but I live in Canterlot," Twilight explained, taking a step back. "I escaped when the dragons came. My hair was cut-"
"Cut, darling, cut? That's no cut, that's a sever!"
"You come from Canterlot? Pretty fancy, are ya?" another pony trotted over to them, this one light brown and blonde with a slightly-singed hat.
"I'm just here looking for my mother and my aunt," Twilight stated, glancing aside. She never realized how socially awkward she would be. Then she realized she couldn't reveal who her mother was. "I'm also looking for the queen."
"Queen? Gosh darn, silly filly, we ain't got no queen," the blonde chuckled. "Just Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
"Oh... she goes by Princess outside of Canterlot?" Twilight wondered aloud.
"What's your name, sugarcube?" the mare asked, glancing as a cyan-and-rainbow pegasus flew over.
Twilight hesitated. Well, she thought, Mother and Aunt Celestia told me that they never revealed to the public that I existed. It was to protect me... "Twilight Sparkle," she answered. She was relieved to find that none of them seemed to recognize it. "Who are you?"
"My name's AppleJack," the blonde answered.
"And I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"I'm Rarity, and this pegasus is Rainbow Crash-"
"Rainbow Dash," the cyan pegasus growled.
"Yes yes. And see that pegasus over there with the pink hair, with the animals? That's FlutterShy," Rarity told Twilight.
"Let's not forget Spike!" Pinkie Pie called out. "And Derpy Hooves, Cheerilee, Scootaloo, Snips, Snails, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom-"
"That's enough, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash groaned. She landed on the ground. "What brings you to Ponyville, Twilight?"
"I'm looking for my mother... and the princesses."
"Oh, the princesses left just in time, don't worry!" Another voice joined the conversation. "They were here just last night, and they left just before the dragon attack. And the moon set while the sun rose, so we know they're safe."
"Hey Spike!" the four Ponyville ponies called, but Twilight had frozen. Wasn't the place called Ponyville, not Pony-and-a-dragon-ville?
"As for your mom, we'll help you search for her," the dragon, Spike, said to Twilight, waving a greeting to his friends.
"D-dragon..."