I do not own MLP

Chapter Twenty Seven: Castle Sweet Castle

A week passed and Twilight was helping Fluttershy clean her animals, thoroughly. Once they were finished Fluttershy wiped some mud off her head saying. "Phew! Thanks for helping me get them so fresh and clean Twilight."

"No problem!" responded the princess with a smile. "Happy to do it."

"You probably can't wait to get back to your castle and take your own bath, huh?" the animal caretaker inquired causing Twilight to get a little worried. She didn't want to go back.

"Aren't there more animals that need cleaning?" she asked looking around trying to hide the fact that she didn't want to go back.

"I think you and I are the only ones left." the yellow pegasus replied as she touched her mane with a muddy hoof. "And I can't wait to get the mud out of my mane!"

Twilight looked around for any muddy creature when she spied Angel cleaning his ear around a mud puddle. So she pushed him into it.

"Oh no! Angel got dirty!" she gasped earning a glare from the rabbit. "I'd better stay longer to help give him a bath, too."

Fluttershy watched as Twilight put an angry Angel back into the tub and began scrubbing him.

Once Angel was clean the two ponies took him back to the cottage to dry him off. Fluttershy took a bath while the purple pony began to dry him.

"Thank you ever so much for staying to give Angel a bath too." the pink maned pony told Twilight as she watched her friend dry off the rabbit. "But, um, I think he's dry."

The alicorn looked and Fluttershy before removing a towel. Angel looked normal for a moment before his fur poofed up.

"Goodness, it's gotten late!" the pegasus pointed out glancing out the window. "You really didn't have to stay all day. Not that we don't appreciate it. Isn't that right?"

Angel just glared. Twilight just began to dust the house earning a worried look from Fluttershy.

"I for one am exhausted." yawned the kind mare making sure to exaggerate it to make her point. "Plus, I really need to rest up for the big pancake breakfast tomorrow!"

The dark purple maned mare just continued to dust so her light yellow friend continued. "And I'm sure you have to get the castle ready..."

"No! The castle's... fine." spoke Twilight finally paying attention her ears lowering before she got an idea. "But maybe I'd better see if Pinkie Pie needs help with the pancakes!"

Twilight flew off to help out with Pinkie who was ecstatic for the help. The alicorn did her best to stretch out staying there under the guise of the right pancake. Though they ran out of time so they just went with all the pancakes.

At the castle the girls enjoyed their pancakes happily while Twilight fell asleep at the table.

"The are delicious, Pinkie Pie!" complimented Applejack after swallowing, the pink pony grinned as she replied stacking pancakes onto her plate. "Thanks! Twilight spent all night helping pick the flavor. I kept thinking we'd found the right one, but she insisted I make even more to try. And more! And more! And More! And More! It was like she never wanted to..."

"Leave?" Fluttershy finished looking very worried.

"Exactly!" giggled the party planner as she took a bit out of her pancakes. "Eventually we ran out of time so we just went with Everyberry Anychip Surprise. The surprise is I lost a measure spoon in the batter. Somepony's gonna get a very special pancake!"

"Up all night, huh?" asked Rainbow Dash thinking about it looking worried as she pointed towards their friend. "Is that why she's so... uh... out of it?"

All the girl's looked towards the slumbering friend.

"Um, I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but has anypony else noticed that Twilight's been a little too helpful lately?" Fluttershy questioned looking at all her friends. "Now that you mention it, she was lendin' a hoof at Sweet Apple Acres the other day and stuck around till near midnight. Dug up fifty tree-plantin' holes when all I needed was ten."

"She spent an entire afternoon rearranging a single gem drawer at the boutique!" Rarity told them a little surprised. "An entire afternoon!"

"You think that's weird?" scoffed Rainbow crossing her forelegs in front of her chest. "She raced me, like, a hundred times the other day and lost every time! She just kept going! Best out of ten. Best out of twenty. Best out of a hundred! I mean, I know hanging out with me is awesome but it was like she'd rather keep losing than..."

"Leave?" finished the pink maned mare next to her.

"Yeah, who does that?" asked the rainbow maned pony with a confused look. Twilight snored before falling onto her pancakes.

"Somepony who is avoiding something that's who." Applejack said before looking at her friend as Pinkie smacked her cakes into the air and ate them. "Soon as she wakes up we are going to find out what."

Suddenly the pink pony spat out a measuring spoon onto Fluttershy's pancakes. She squealed. "I WIN!"

"I'm pancake!" Twilight said with a start as she lifted her head. "I mean, awake!"

"Uh, Twilight, is there something you want to tell us?" inquired the farm pony as all her friends stared at her.

"You know how much we appreciate all you do for us." Rarity told her lifting the pancake off of Twilight's horn and Pinkie snatched it with her mouth. "And we simply adore having you around. But... we worry you might be... ahem... avoiding something else?"

"Oh." sighed the princess looking down. "Has it been that obvious? The thing is... I know it's silly, but I-I've been avoiding... this place."

"Why in Equestria would you want to avoid such a gorgeous castle?" gasped the white unicorn in shock. Pinkie Pie passed by saying. "Yeah! This place has everything! Big tall ceilings that make you feel tiny! Shy new floors that are cold to the touch! Brrr! And it even has looooong empty hallways!"

Pinkie's voice echoed out before she said. "Okay, I get it."

"This castle is amazing." sighed Twilight looking at the ground. "But it just... it doesn't feel like home."

"Oh? Is that all?" chuckled the fashionista placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Why, you simply need to decorate, darling. Make this space your own!"

"It's just so daunting!" the Princess of Friendship explained waving a hoof around her. "Look how big it is! I-I don't even know where to start!"

"You can start by letting us do it for you." the white unicorn told her with a smile before levitating a mirror. "We will make the castle of your dreams while you go to the Ponyville spa for some much need rest and relaxation. I'm saying this with love, but... have you looked in a mirror lately? I've never seen you look this..."

"Frazzled?" completed Fluttershy causing Rarity to nod as she continued. "Yes! That is absolutely the word I was going to use!"

"Ooh, I guess I do need a little help." Twilight said as she got a good look at herself in the mirror. "And so does my castle. And I just know you'll do a great job, because nopony knows me better than you."

"We'll make this place feel cozier than hot cider on a rainy day." the gamboge colored told her as she stood next to her. Rainbow gasped as she asked happily. "There's going to be cider?"

Applejack just raised an eyebrow causing the rainbow maned pony to correct herself. "Uh, I mean, let's decorate!"

"Oh, no! Did I miss the pancakes?" asked Spike walking into the room with a Rarity plushy and his blanket before tossing to them away. "I sleep like a baby under that cold, cavernous ceiling."

"Spike!" said Rarity as she got an idea as she watched the dragon climb onto the table to get the pancakes. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Really?" the purple dragon questioned as he ate some pancakes as the purple maned mare walked up to him saying. "Yes, you're taking Twilight to the spa!"

"Great! I've been meaning to get my claws done." replied the assistant as all the ponies looked at him. "Oh you mean now."

'I want to help to.' thought Spike as he began to lead Twilight out, the fashionista paused before saying. "WAIT! Actually, I have a better pony in mind. Or maybe three. They are in need of some relaxation."

"You want us to go to the spa?" asked Celestia from the infirmary bed, they were still bed ridden due to the doctor that was hired. She was a white earth pony with purple eyes and a black mane. She was also very dedicated to her job and didn't want to just let the princesses out after a week of healing.

"I don't think our doctor would let us." Luna grumbled, they had done their jobs from inside the room and she was cranky that she couldn't explore.

"Oh you can, a spa is good for the healing." spoke the doctor walking up with a grin on her face. "But if they get overexert themselves I will make sure they won't leave this hospital room until they are fully healed. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." gulped Rarity wondering where did Twilight find such a pony. "This way princesses."

Luna, Celestia, and Cadence followed the dressmaker out of the infirmary. Celestia actually liking the idea of spending time with Twilight.

"Do you want us to keep her out all day?" asked the pink alicorn and the white unicorn nodded her head. "Should be easy, perhaps we should grab something for her number one assistant?"

"That would be wonderful!" Rarity said as she led them to the entrance of the castle. "We are going to make this the best castle ever!"

Pinkie Pie knew that this was going to end with a happy ending even though her friends were going to mess everything up. She didn't mention anything because it wasn't fun when the answer to the problem is revealed to you. 'At least I can decorate the ballroom.'[/i] thought the pink pony as she bounced away after hiding a few confetti canons and balloons in the throne room. She passed right by what looked like an armory where Flash Sentry sat looking at his helmet. The pink maned pony paused before bouncing in.

"Hey Flash!" she greeted him before causing him to startle. "Why are you looking like a Mr. Grumpy pants?"

"Oh hello, um... Pinkie Pie was it?" asked Flash and the party planner nodded her head. "Sorry, I haven't talked to you before."

"Oh that's alright. So why do you look sad?" the Element of Friendship inquired and the yellow-orange pegasus sighed before explaining. "I wasn't there in the Crystal Empire when King Sombra came back."

"Oh is that all?" Pinkie giggled causing the guard to look confused and a little insulted. "Well, what do you think would have happened if you were there?"

"I would have been able to get more ponies out, I might have been able to rescue Shining Armor, I might have been able to help." mumbled the guard and the blue eyed earth pony walked up with a balloon grasped in her tail telling him. "Well maybe, but you might not have escaped. You could be with Shining Armor where ever Sombra is keeping him. You could be... dead!"

"But I wouldn't feel like I abandoned them." he revealed earning a raised eyebrow as she asked. "Then wouldn't you have abandoned everypony who needs your help now? I mean if you are gone then who's going to be with Twilight in her time of need? After all this is her first war, she's going to need somepony with a militaristic mindset. I mean even though the Crystal Empire was peaceful it doesn't mean you haven't been through the training."

"You're right... what's with the balloons and the canons?" questioned the sapphire maned stallion and Pinkie grinned as she told him. "Oh I'm going to decorate the ballroom, I mean it is the party room after all. Do you want to help decorate the castle? Twilight hasn't been staying here recently because it doesn't feel like home."

"I can see what I can do." replied Flash with a small smile before Pinkie Pie headed out. "Hey Pinkie? Thanks."

"No problem!" giggled the pink pony as she bounced away, the guard looked around in the armory and knew it needed some help.

An hour past and the throne room was a mess, the girl's had filled it up with their favorite things. Spike on the other hand was working on the hallway with the help of Gears, Scootaloo, and Midnight Sun. Scootaloo had come over to practice with him, but when she found him too small to reach the tall parts of the wall she decided to help. Midnight Sun had brought Gears over to work in the forge that Twilight had brought to the castle.

"Wow this looks horrible!" commented the purple dragon walking into the throne room with a startle.

"Oh good, I was afraid to say anything." mumbled Fluttershy as Spike looked around. He could tell that it was a mishmash of their own interests and not Twilights. He didn't say anything because they had to learn the lesson.

"It is pretty bad, huh?" Applejack asked looking around and the dragon nodded. "It's a good thing Rarity sent Twilight off with the Princesses, can you help Spike?"

"Well the first thing I'd do is think about what type of pony Twilight is." the assistant told them placing a clawed hand on the white pony's shoulder. "Also don't you get the feeling that this castle belongs to a dark overlord? Huh. I wonder who designed the color scheme."

With that Spike went off to finish the halls. Aurora was resting outside giving some advice to him. She had decided to soak in the sun and let it reflect off of her scales creating small rainbows on the ground.

Celestia sighed as she got a massage. Twilight and Cadence were getting their manes done. Luna was getting a hooficure with some resistance. She didn't like ponies touching her hooves but her sister had insisted.

"Any word on Aqua Star?" asked the purple princess and her sister in law looked at her saying. "Nothing, though that strange pony that Crystal was with felt familiar. I should look into that later."

"Perhaps you should." the princess of the night spoke from her cushioned spot. She watched the ponies closely as the worked. Celestia soon came out of the room with a satisfied look on her face before going to get her mane done. All the princesses sighed finally allowing themselves some relaxation.

"There! No more clutter!" huffed Rarity as the girls now stood in an empty room.

"Yeah, now it is completely empty!" Rainbow Dash told her in exasperation in her voice. "Why is this so hard? Twilight is our friend! This should be easy!"

"I didn't do anything wrong." muttered the white unicorn looking away. "I just did what I would do if this were my house!"

"But this isn't your home, it's Twilgiht's!" snapped Rainbow earning a look from Rarity who asked. "Where she keeps all her Rainbow Dash trophies?"

"I think we are a little guilty of making ourselves feel at home." sighed Applejack before heading to the door and opening. "I'll just ask Spike for... woah! Spike this looks great."

The hallway had vines crawling up with vines, white flowers were blooming on them. there were framed pictures between the windows. On closer inspection it was the letters that Twilight had sent to Celestia on the lessons she learned. There were clear curtains hanging from the windows but as the sun hit them rainbows shown on the floor.

"Thanks! Midnight had told me that it reminded him of an evil overlord's castle." explained Spike with a sheepish grin on his face. "So Aurora thought we could use the scales she shed to make curtains. Gears made the curtains while Scootaloo and I framed the lessons she learned to hang up on the walls. How are you girl's doing?"

"Not great." sighed Applejack looking back into the room. "Where is Scootaloo?"

"Getting the carpet, I gave her some gems and she's on her way to Canterlot." the purple dragon said looking at the floors. "We are thinking a soft warm color should do the trick with the floors. So a gold or red-brown should do. We went with a red-brown with a nature design embroidered with gold would do the trick. That's why the gems, that is going to be expensive."

"I'll be. Do you have any advice?" asked the farm pony and Spike looked at her saying. "Just think of Twilight. What she likes and enjoys. This is your friend! You can do it!"

"Okay girls, let's think." the gamboge pony told the other ponies as she shut the door.

Sombra sat in his throne looking at the Crystal Heart in front of him. Something was wrong with it. No more did it shine just like he wanted but it felt empty. Every time he had seen it the artifact felt like something resided inside. He would have to do more research... or have somepony else do it. 'No, I can't trust anypony else with this task.' he thought pacing around not noticing a pale silver figure standing right behind him until he turn around.

"So an assassin has come at last. No... you are the one who helped the Princess escape!"[/i] he growled before smirking as the figure did not move from its spot. "Afraid?"[/i]

The figure did not speak and the dark king noticed that it didn't have a mouth. He rolled his eyes telling it. "I will not let you in my mind!"[/i]

That was everything the figure needed before launching a blast at him which he dodged. A blade scratched at his cheek causing the corrupted unicorn to tense. He knew that attack. 'But where have I seen it?'[/i] he wondered as he launched his own attack. Black crystals launched towards the pale silver creature and actually connected. Sombra knew that this wasn't a spirit. Spirits can turn intangible after all so attacks like that wouldn't hit it. From where the being was an attack of pure light was launched towards it and the unicorn king who just created a shield of shadows. By the time the light broke through the king had vanished. The figure walked up slowly looking around for Sombra carefully. Suddenly a scythe blade was at its neck.

"Too bad."[/i] chuckled Sombra as the blade pressed harder before it sliced through the figure. "You should have fought harder than that."[/i]

The pale silver body vanished into smoke as it flew away towards Ponyville.

When Twilight entered the castle she was amazed on how much work was done in so little time. She smiled as she looked at the letters on the walls as she followed her friends. They opened the door to the throne rooms and she gasped when she noticed there was almost no difference except for a chandelier.

"What really makes home feel like home isn't what it looks like." Applejack told her with a smile as Luna and Celestia walked up behind them. "It's the memories you make when you're there."

"So we've made something that celebrates the memories we've made with you since you moved to Ponyville." spoke Rarity waving her hand to the chandelier as Fluttershy showed a gem saying. "The ornaments on the chandelier are reminders of all the fun we had together."

"That one show your party at the Golden Oaks Library welcoming you to Ponyville!" squealed Pinkie and the light yellow pony continued for her. "The time we shared donuts after the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones." the fashionista said looking down at Spike who nodded his head.

"And the best part of it is, it's made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library." revealed AJ with a smile. "So you'll never forget where you came from."

"It's exactly what the castle needed." Twilight replied with a sniffle wiping away a tear. "And I am ready to make new memories here."

"Then let's start right now with a new memory cake!" giggled the pink pony before vanishing and pulling up a seven layered cake. "Seven layer what's-that-flavor mystery surprise! These might be chocolate chips or they might be super-spicy black beans!"

"Let's go to the dining room." suggested the youngest alicorn as she led the way. "It's a little sparse but, at least there's a table and chairs."

The door opened to a nicely decorated dining room.

"Woah! What happened here?" the Princess of Friendship asked looking around. "Last I checked, this place was empty!"

"I couldn't help myself." giggled Rarity with a little whine. "It was just begging for the personal touch!"

"Truth be told... I couldn't either." the gamboge earth pony confessed sheepishly. "Your kitchen might have some rustic farm decor, Twilight."

"And there may or may not be some Daring Do posters up in your library." revealed Rainbow Dash with a grin.

"And some stuffed animals in your bedroom." Fluttershy whispered into her violet friend's ear. Suddenly a canon exploded causing cake to go everywhere, including on the Princesses.

"What was that?" inquired Twilight looking around as Pinkie Pie grinned.

"One of Pinkie's confetti canons." sighed Applejack as the pink pony told them. "What it's not my fault I hid them so well."

Everyone laughed as the farm pony mumbled Pinkie's name.

Later that night Twilight was sleeping her room as a cloud of smoke entered through the open window. It hovered over the sleeping princess before curling up on the bed next to her before taking form.

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