//------------------------------//
// Playing The Part 
// Story: More Related Than You Know 
// by Skye Mist 
//------------------------------//

'Why do I gotta be here?'

Sunset had thought that same sentence over a million times after Twilight said she should stay longer. She had stayed in her room for a few hours (which seemed like days). She finally left her room when her stomach rebelled against her mind.

Dinner was quiet. Sunset didn't make eye contact with anypony, Twilight couldn't make a meaningful conversation, and Spike felt like he missed something. Sunset excused herself after eating half her dinner and trotted to her room.

Twilight sighed. A few hours. That was all it took. Yesterday, they were happy and enjoying Sunset's visit. Now, they were separated by Sunset's wall of despair and were barely talking to each other.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts.

"I'll get it!" Spike volunteered.

Spike barely opened the door when it slammed open on him. "Ouch."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to hit you."

"It's fine. This happens all the time." Spike said while rubbing his head and shooting a glance at Twilight.

Twilight grinned sheepishly at Spike and turned to her visitor. "I didn't expect to find you here, Moondancer. Why aren't you in Canterlot?"

'Moondancer' rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. "Well, I don't know if you're going to confirm this or not, but- never mind it isn't that important. You'd still be my friend. Anyway, it's nice to see you again." 'Moondancer' stared at the ground in front of her, refusing to meet Twilight's unwavering gaze.

Twilight swallowed the bile in her throat as sweat trickled down the side of her face. 'She couldn't be trying to tell me that! I hope not, anyway. Please, Celestia. Let it be something else.' 

"Spike, could you leave us for a moment?"

Spike was perplexed, but he shrugged and left the room.

Despite of her internal turmoil, her voice was calm as she spoke. "It's okay, Moondancer. You can tell me what's going on. I won't judge or anything."

'Moondancer' hesitated, looking up slowly at Twilight. Meeting the alicorn's gaze, she relaxed visibly. "Well...you see, I was locking up the Canterlot Library when I heard some of the elites gossiping." 

'Moondancer' hesitated with the next part. "I overheard them saying something about you so I sort of...eavesdropped." 

Her ears flattened against her head in shame and her eyes flickered. "They were saying that they just couldn't believe that Princess Celestia would ever do that. How she'd been tricking them for years. Something about you being involved. I didn't really understand, but then...they said it blunt and simple. 'I can't believe Princess Celestia is Princess Twilight's mother! We never even knew of such.' was what they said. I stopped listening because I couldn't really believe it. I got tickets to Ponyville as soon as I could. I-I didn't want to believe it. In my head, I was thinking 'Princess Celestia has been playing us as fools the whole time.' But then, I remembered that you spoke of her so fondly. And here I am."

Twilight simply stared.

Finally finding her voice, she cleared her throat, and said solemnly, "Moondancer, don't tell anypony else about what you heard. It's a good chance that ponies won't exactly listen to what the elites say, but they might listen to you. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

'Moondancer' looked baffled. In a hushed voice, she asked, "So you're telling me that it's true? It's not just gossip. Th-That you're really Princess Celestia's...daughter?"

Twilight nodded solemnly. "Yes. But I need you to Pinkie Promise not to tell anyone."

'Moondancer' had a confused look on her face. "Pinkie Promise?"

"Yeah, 'Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.' Didn't Pinkie teach it to when we last visited?" Twilight did the motions of the promise as she said it.

"Uhh...yeah. I remember now." 'Moondancer' said with a guilty grin. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She did the motions, copying Twilight's earlier example.

The tension in the room faded away. Both mares sighed in relief. For different reasons, however. Twilight broke the silence as she asked, "Moondancer, would you like to stay here tonight? I know it's awfully late, and Canterlot is a good two hours away. Not to mention it might be harder to get tickets now that it's almost Hearth's Warming Eve."

'Moondancer' smiled. "Thanks, Twilight. You're a great friend."

"Okay, now then. Let me take you to your guest room. Oh, and before I forget, your room is across from...another friend of mine's. She's been a little...traumatized by an incident. So, don't take any of her ruder comments to heart if she insults you."

'Moondancer' was slightly confused, but she nodded in understanding. They walked down the hall in silence, mostly because 'Moondancer' kept gawking at the crystalline structures.

Then, she asked, "So, is there a library here?"

Twilight glanced confusedly at 'Moondancer' before answering. "Yes, there is. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to do some research on something before I left, but then I heard the elites and you know the rest." 'Moondancer' said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

"Well, from your room, take a right at the end of the corridor, and it's the third door on the left."

"Thanks, Twilight." 'Moondancer' said with an appreciative smile.

"You're welcome."


************


"Wow. This is so amazing! And this is only a guest room?!"

'Moondancer' gawked at the guest room she was given. It was huge and had a beautiful crystal structure in general.

"Well, I'll leave you now. You remember the way to the front, right?"

"Yeah, I remember. And thanks again, Twilight."

"No problem." And with that, she closed the door behind her.

Making sure Twilight had left, 'Moondancer' chuckled darkly. "No problem indeed, Princess. And soon, you and your little friends will pay the price."

Starlight released her disguise and took off the ugly sweater she wore as part of it. Inside the black sweater, a single gem gleamed. Her eyes flashed a momentary purple before fading away. 

"How easy is it to fool you, Princess. Buying my little lie just because it's simply rational. Well, I hope you're ready to be surprised again." Starlight chuckled to herself. She grinned evilly as she remembered a slight comment Twilight had made. 'Now, let's go and 'visit' our little princess's sister, shall we?'