Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled regally and clapped her hooves together as her last petitioners bowed and stepped away from her throne.

“The Twilight Court is now closed. I thank you all for your attendance, my little ponies.” Her voice was warm and pleasant as she dismissed her smiling subjects and stepped down from her dais.

Her pace was slow and sedate as she left her throne room. Not to retain Royal dignity so much as to ensure she didn’t leave her shadow behind. 

“Thank you so much for letting me watch the Court, Princess! I learned a lot!” The high pitched voice of Twilight’s current faithful student pipped up beside her. The little orange filly’s wings practically hummed as she rushed to catch up.

Twilight looked down at her with a smile. 

“It was no trouble at all, my faithful student.”

Windy Seed beamed at her title, basking in the princess’s presence. But Twilight could tell something was on her mind.

“Was there something you wanted to ask me Windy?” 

The little filly scrunched up her muzzle in indecision before finally nodding. 

“Princess, why do you call everypony your little ponies?” She asked curiously

“Well, I wouldn’t say I call [i]everypony[/i] that.” Twilight replied with a small smile. Windy fluffed her wings and rolled her eyes.

“Everypony not including the princesses.” She huffed. Twilight giggled softly.

“It would sound silly to call them that, wouldn’t it?” She nodded and smiled. “But it’s a very good question, my student. One I was afraid to ask my mentor when I was your age.”

“Really?” The filly looked up at her with shocked eyes. “You were afraid to ask Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, really! So I had to figure it out for myself.” She nodded, then leaned down and whispered. “And it took me [i]years[/i] to do so.” 

Windy’s eyes went wide. “[i]No way![/i]”

“Yes way.” Twilight nodded seriously. “Would you like to know what I learned?”

“Yes please, princess!” Windy practically vibrated with curiosity. 

Whether by luck or skilled timing, the pair was passing a stained glass window comprised of six well-known cutie marks. Twilight sat down, beckoning Windy to do the same. 

“You remember the stories of the Element Bearers, right Windy?”

“Of course princess! Everypony knows them! They’re heroes!” The little pegasus wiggled excitedly. “I’m de-scented from Applejack! I’m an Apple!” 

“Descended, sweetie.” Twilight chuckled. “And yes you are.” She turned her head back to the window, seeing not colored glass and light, but what it represented.

“I remember them as more than heroes though. More than friends, even. To me, they were family.” She smiled softly, lost in memories. “I’ll never forget the first time I held Rainbow and Soarin’s daughter, or how they introduced me as her Auntie. I swore then and there that I would watch over and look after her as if she were my own. I suppose she was the first of ‘my’ little ponies.” 

“The first?” Windy sidled closer, tilting her head curiously. 

“Yes, the first. Because soon enough my other friends started families of their own, with their own special someponies and little bundles of joy. More family for me to love and watch over.” She sighed wistfully.

“Even after my friends passed on, their families, [i]my[/i] families remained. And grew. And [b]grew[/b]. And [b]GREW[/b], spreading out across Equestria.” She smiled and booped her student’s nose with a wingtip. “[i]Especially[/i] the Apple family.”

Windy just giggled, enraptured by the story. 

“I had promised to look after all of my little ponies. But there were so many of them, so spread out… And then I finally realized something.” 

“What did you realize Princess?” Windy’s whole rear wiggled in excitement as she hung on every word.

“I realized that [i]everypony[/i] was my family, and that they were [i]all[/i] my little ponies.”

“Huh? Even the ones who aren’t the great-great-great-great-great…” She trailed off in thought. “…Great? Grandchildren of you friends?”

“Even them. Because even if they’re not family [i]now[/i], they might be the special somepony of someone who is. Or their children might. Or their great-great-great-grandchildren. And if they’re going to be family [i]someday[/i], why not treat them all as family today?” 

Windy sat very still as she considered this, an adorably thoughtful little frown on her face. 

“So you call everypony your little ponies… Because we’re all your family, even if we aren’t just yet?” 

Twilight beamed down at her student and draped a wing over her back, snuggling her closer.

“Exactly, my little pony.”