Author's note: This is the final part of the first arc of this story. Having reached the extent of the pre-written material I had, my update schedule is moving to probably once a week or so for the next arc of this story. As always, thank you all for your comments, and I hope I don't disappoint with the coming sections.


Herding – Twilight Sparkle

"Twilight…."

From her cozy position in the middle of the pony-pile that her herd slept in the previous night, the soft voice and gentle shake barely registered in Twilight's mind as she slept on; blissfully surrounded by the ones she loved.

"Twi… c'mon, wake up."

"Nnngghh…." Twilight responded unintelligently, her sleep-addled brain finally rousing her.

"Twilight, the princess is coming!" The voice insisted, and Twilight opened her eyes to see Spike staring down at her, resolutely not looking at any of the other mares surrounding her. He'd been acting uncomfortable the last two nights with Twilight's insistence on sleeping with her friends, especially with Rarity's inclusion.

"Go ahead" Whispered Pinkie Pie from where her muzzle was positioned on Twilight's back. "You need to talk to her. It's important."

Twilight was about to ask how Pinkie knew that, but decided that it was just one of those things that she'd never get an explanation for. So she squirmed out from under her pink friend, and away from the warmth of Rainbow's shoulders and wings, eliciting only a small sleepy groan from the Pegasus.

"What time is it?" Twilight asked, seeing the darkness around her broken only by the moonlight streaming in the window.

"Too early." Spike responded sleepily, his voice scratchy with the irritation that accompanied late night letters delivered via his tummy.

"Oh Spike," Twilight sighed, ruffling his scales like a foal's mane. "You need to go back to sleep. I can wait for the princess."

Spike would have protested, were it not for exhaustion, and he moved to the stairs. Twilight stopped him gently with a hoof, and led him to Pinkie's side, in the gap she had left. "Lay with the girls, Spike. They'll watch over you."

Wary, but too tired to protest, Spike nodded slowly and lay down, making only a token protest when a butter-colored wing sleepily drew him into the pile.

"Watch him and the girls for me, Pinkie?" Twilight asked in a low tone right at the pink filly's ear.

"You know I will, Twilight." She responded, extending her neck for a nuzzle. "Always and forever."

When Twilight was sure her herd and her "little brother" were settled, she trotted into the kitchen, her magic igniting the stove and putting some of the princess's favorite tea on. A glance at a clock showed it was still several hours till sunup, but the scroll left on the table only stated that Princess Celestia was on her way, and apologized for how late it was.

Not a minute after she had set the tea on to boil, the room was filled with a bright light that quickly faded to reveal Celestia standing in the kitchen, a broken look on her face.

"Twilight… I'm so sorry," The alicorn whispered, tears falling down her cheeks for the first time Twilight could ever remember.

"Princess, it's alright," she began hesitantly, unsure of what was breaking the Princess's heart, but was cut off.

"No… no its not. Twilight… I've been distant…. And… I tried everything I could think of to get your magic back. Luna and I have poured over every book in the library, consulted every scroll we could dig up…"

"Princess-" Twilight cut in, a slightly bemused expression crossing her face, but Celestia didn't seem to hear her.

"I went back to my old castle, where Luna and I reigned a thousand years ago. I even managed to find Paradise estates, but…. But there wasn't anything there."

The teakettle whistled, and, feeling mischievous (and slightly hurt at the lack of contact from her teacher, though it sounded like the Princess had good reason) Twilight didn't comment, just magically poured the tea into a glass and levitated it to the Princess.

"Thank you, dear" Celestia said absently before continuing, "I even tried to find the fabled Rainbow of Light!" The princess paused to sip at her tea, knowing it would calm her frazzled nerves and hopefully soothe some of her agitation, "But I think-"

Twilight tried oh-so-very-hard to keep the smirk off of her face, lifting her own tea glass to her lips when Celestia fell into a shocked silence, staring at her student as if Twilight had suddenly turned into a three headed rabbit. She slowly looked at her teacup, suspended in her own magical field, then at Twilight, whose own glass was held aloft by Twilight's glowing horn, before her eyes rolled back in her head and she pitched backwards in a faint.

"PRINCESS!" Twilight gasped, rushing to her teacher's side, the joke forgotten. When she reached her, she looked down as the alicorn recovered from her swoon and fluttered her eyes open.

"How?" The princess asked from her prone position, her voice filled with confusion and wonder.

"I don't know." Twilight admitted, helping Celestia to stand. "Yesterday afternoon, the girls and I had gone running together, and fell asleep in a big group. When I woke up…" she shrugged, "When I woke up, my magic was back."

Celestia stared at Twilight, whose eyes opened wide in a realization.

"Oh! Maybe I can…" she trailed off and concentrated, her horn lighting up until a flash lit the room, and a restored tiara of the element of magic appeared on the table between them. "Oh good! It worked! I wanted to return this to you, so you could put it where it belongs." Twilight said, beaming at the thought of pleasing her teacher.

Minutes passed, as Celestia stared at Twilight in awe, before shaking her mane out.

"Twilight… I can't even begin…." At a loss, Celestia just sipped at her tea as Twilight squirmed under her scrutiny. "Twilight, I'd like to bring Luna here. While she and I are mostly equal in power, she is much more like you, and has been studying magic as long as she's been alive."

Twilight nodded, excited at the prospect of seeing Luna again, who she considered a good friend or even a big sister, compared to Celestia who she was slightly in awe of as princess, teacher, and mother figure.

Celestia looked off into the distance for a moment, a silver ball erupting from her horn, before she turned back to Twilight.

Luna appeared in the room a moment later, looking as ragged as Celestia did when she entered.

"You wished to see me, sister?" Luna asked. Celestia just mutely pointed at the tiara on the table, which Luna took in, and then turned to Twilight, eyes wide.

"Did my sister….?" She trailed off as Twilight shook her head and levitated the crown, making Luna fall on her haunches with a lost look on her face. "I will NEVER understand you, Twilight Sparkle." She said with a bit of a pout on her face.

Celestia giggled, while Twilight shuffled uncomfortably. Luna finally shook off the shock, and then began pacing around Twilight as she had when the unicorn had conjured wings several weeks prior.

"Incredible." She said after a moment, " I think you're actually more powerful now than you were before." She seized on the idea, and thought a moment before asking hesitantly, "Twilight, when was the last time you suffered magical exhaustion?"

Twilight looked confused. "Magical Exhaustion? That's just an old pony tale that parents tell unicorn foals to keep from practicing too much magic too soon." Despite her confusion, she rattled off the fact with pride, only to receive blank looks from the two alicorns. Luna placed a hoof over her face in resignation.

"Where did you hear that load of manure?" She asked, getting a shocked look at the language from her sister, though Celestia seemed equally curious.

"Well… I mean… I've never seen anyone who had it, and I've done… I mean… not to brag, but I've done more magic than any unicorn I've met, and I've never worn myself to the point of fever or loss of magic. Even when I made my wings it just made me a little weak." Twilight responded slowly.

The two Princesses exchanged a long look.

"Tia… why did you not tell her about this?" She asked, and Celestia looked sheepish.

"I didn't think it was important until it actually happened… I had assumed that it had occurred before."

The three were silent for a long moment, before Luna turned back to Twilight. "Ok, look. Magical exhaustion is the point where a unicorn's horn gets too overloaded with magic and has to stop channeling. The unicorn gets weak, and usually has a high fever for a few days, and during that time can't do magic." She turned and looked at the closed door to the living area before continuing, "It keeps unicorns from using up all of their magic at once, because if they do, there's very little chance of getting it back, which usually doesn't matter because the unicorn is dead at that point anyway. Twilight… you are the first unicorn that I could find any record of to not suffer sickness, depression or death from losing your magic, and I suspect your friends are the reason why."

Celestia's eyes lit up. "Of course!" Her sister and her student both looked over to her at the sound of her epiphany. "Twilight, do you know of any other ponies with a dragon familiar?" Twilight thought hard a moment, but shook her head, "But you were told that was the entrance exam, weren't you? To hatch the egg?"

"You mean it wasn't?"

Celestia laughed merrily, "Of course not! We'd be up to our eyeballs in dragons if it were! Twilight, that test was to see how much magic you possessed! It was meant to drive you to the point of either giving up, or the point of exhaustion, and the examiners would measure the results to determine if a pony were magical enough to get in. With all the chaos of you actually hatching Spike, not to mention everything else, it never occurred to me to ask for their results!"

"I don't understand…" Twilight admitted, not entirely sure where this was going.

"Twilight, you told me in a letter that you and the other girls got your cutie marks at the same time, when Rainbow Dash made her first sonic rainboom, correct?" Twilight nodded. "And that event sparked your magic to the point where you were able to do the impossible and hatch a dragon. Twilight… Think about your friends. Think about the things you all can do. Pinkie's unusual sense of the future. Rainbow's performing at speeds no other Pegasus is capable of. Rarity's ability to find and refine gems, even really rare ones. Applejack's strength. Fluttershy speaking to the animals…. Twilight, when you said that the rainboom connected you, I think you were more right than you know." She smiled. "When you found the sixth element, what was it you needed?"

"A spark…"

"Exactly! The spark of friendship! And that same spark, multiplied by the feelings of love for your herd, must have been what reignited the magic inside you!"

Luna shook her head, "I never stood a chance against you, did I?" She asked ruefully, before holding up a hoof. "No, don't answer that. My sister may be right, Twilight. Your magic may have come back because of the change in how close you and you're herd are. Or maybe it was something more mundane, that it just needed time to recharge. But whatever the reason, you are a very lucky unicorn. Both for your magic… and your friendships." She turned to the window a slightly lost look on her face. "I envy you that friendship." She whispered.

Twilight moved to the night princess's side, and worked her way under the alicorn's wing. "Maybe our friendship isn't the same as I have with the others, Luna, but… but I see your sister like a second mother to me. Would you like to be my big sister? I could use someone that I can turn to when I have problems I can't talk to my herd about."

Luna looked down at Twilight's earnest face, and at the proud smile Celestia was wearing, before tears gathered in her eyes. "I'd like that… little sister." She whispered, hugging Twilight closer, joined only a moment later by Celestia, who held the two close to her side, tears of her own falling on the darker coats of the ponies she held.

They stayed that way for several minutes before Celestia realized that Twilight was about to fall asleep in her hooves.

"Twilight, go back to bed sweetheart." She whispered. "We may never know the truth but this is something to celebrate. Your magic is back, and you have your herd. We'll celebrate it when we're all awake and able."

Twilight nodded sleepily, and then opened the door to head back to the others. Luna and Celestia watched as she nuzzled Rainbow's wing open again, and rejoined her herd, with her little dragon sleeping in the center.

"She's amazing." Luna whispered, then turned to face Celestia. "And just how much of this was your doing?" She asked, her voice slightly accusing but mostly curious.

"Not a single bit." Celestia replied. "I've never caused a herd to form, or named an Alpha. And while I had been hoping for this, you know as well as I that this isn't something that can be forced."

Luna nodded slowly. "Has she asked you about it yet?"

Celestia shook her head. "Not yet. I suspect that with everything that has happened the last few days, she hasn't thought to question too deeply. I know before her friend Rarity was hurt she intended to, but obviously that never happened."

Making a face, Luna turned to leave. "I still think you should have executed that… that… stallion." She spat out the final word, unable to think of an adjective vile enough.

"I don't like executions, Luna. He has been gelded and will pay for his crimes in hard labor for the rest of his life."

"Shoulda banished him to the moon." She muttered as the two princesses headed outside, teleporting themselves to their palace. Upon arrival, she headed back to the library, this time to find one of the few books in existence that actually addressed the subject of herding for her new "little sister."

It was the next afternoon that Celestia got the letter she'd been expecting from her student.

Dear Princess Celestia;

This week I learned that Friendship really is Magic, and that sometimes, even friendship isn't a deep enough emotion to express how we feel about other ponies inside us. So I am writing to ask you if you can help me with something. You always taught me, when I was a little filly, that when I got older I would find somepony special. But I think I found 5 special someponies… and even though it feels better than anything I have ever felt, I don' t understand completely. What does herding really mean? As an Alpha, what am I responsible for?

Your faithful student;

Twilight Sparkle.

Chuckling at Luna's forethought, Celestia jotted down a quick note, picked up the book from where Luna had laid it next to her, which dealt with that very subject, and laid her horn on it, teleporting it to her student's side.

My Dearest Student:

Here is a book about that very subject. I'd like you to read this over the next few days, and report back to me your findings. I look forward to see how your herd's experience differs from the "standard" herd of a Stallion-lead earth pony herd.

As always, your loving teacher,

Princess Celestia.

End of Part One