Some months ago...
As holding cells went, it wasn’t all that unpleasant to Twilight. It wasn’t very large, of course, but there was enough room to stretch out, if she wanted. The provided cot was only a little uncomfortable, and given that it was summer, the thinness of the blanket was actually welcome. The black-and-white bee-striped prison shirt she wore was surprisingly cozy. She even had a window, though it was barred, and only looked out into the constabulary’s courtyard, anyway. The food was terrible, but Twilight had eaten worse. And after the first day, when it had become clear to all police officers present that Twilight was being as cooperative as she could possibly be, were actually rather polite. One of them had even given her a few magazines to read.
Of course, it was still a cell. The horn-ring that suppressed her magic wasn’t coming off for any reason, which meant Twilight had needed to remember how to use her hooves and mouth rather than her telekinesis to pick up and move things, something she hadn’t really done since she was a foal. That made meals rather interesting, as well as turning pages on a book, but she had re-learned quickly enough. Too quickly, actually. She had hoped that it would take longer, in order to distract her from what the police sergeant had told her this morning.
Poniszawa had telegraphed to Canterlot that a pony claiming to be Twilight Sparkle had been arrested. The central police bureau in Canterlot had sent a courier with Twilight’s files and a picture of her, all of which confirmed that she was, in fact, who she claimed to be. Having done that, they were sending officers to escort her back to Canterlot for trial – and they had also let Twilight’s mother, father, and brother know where she was. They were on their way now to see her. They would see…
The warden, an earth pony, approached her cell with keys, and another police officer had manacles. Twilight stood wordlessly, holding out her hooves compliantly as the warden opened her cell, and the officer put the manacles on her front hooves. “Your family is here,” he said.
Twilight nodded, having guessed as much. She followed him, head downcast. All she could imagine was the disappointment she’d see. She was a member of the House Starlight, supposed to be the most upstanding noble family in all of Equestria, the viceroys of Latigo, its largest province. She had been a perfect daughter, always minding her manners. Sure, she’d annoyed Shiny sometimes, but that’s what little sisters did.
She could remember how proud her father and mother had been when she’d made it into Luna’s Magic Academy. When she’d aced her first year – when she’d taken on additional subjects in her second, third-year subjects – when she’d simply been skipped to the final year. When she’d graduated with a perfect grade-point average, when Luna herself had been there to present her with her diploma, to name her as the brightest mind of her generation.
Twilight gasped a little, quietly. They would be so disappointed, so angry…and they had every right. Every right. As she was walked through the constabulary and to the area where she’d get to meet with her family, she could already hear their scorn. And she deserved it. For making them worry, for disappointing them, for ruining her life and their reputations…the viceroy and vicereine of Latigo had a daughter who was a criminal. The Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard had a little sister who’d nearly destroyed a town. They’d still love her, but they’d never forgive her…
Twilight was lead to a pair of double doors, which opened inwards into a broad room full of tables, and with a catwalk overhead for guards, though only one was on duty – Poniszawa was hardly known for its criminal element. There were also a pair of double-doors on the other end of the room, leading out to the ‘public’ part of the police station.
The police pony escorting Twilight stopped just inside the door as well. Twilight fidgeted a moment, before taking a few steps forward. She supposed she should simply find a table and wait for the inevitable. She hadn’t gotten very far at all, however, when the opposite double-doors opened, and three unicorns came in.
Twilight locked eyes with them. Night Light, her father. Twilight Velvet, her mother. And Shining Armor, her brother. For an eternity, they just stared at each other…and then suddenly the three unicorns were moving, galloping across the room at full speed. Shining and her father were fast, but her mother outpaced them both, was on Twilight in an instant, almost knocking the younger unicorn over as her forelegs wrapped tightly around Twilight in the fiercest hug she’d ever received.
“Oh, my filly…” her mother gasped, squeezing even tighter somehow. “Twilight, you’re alright…thank Luna, you’re okay…”
Twilight blinked. “M…mom – ” she tried. Her mother released her, only for Shining to pounce on her next, hugging her, giving her a brotherly nuzzle. He wasn’t in his guard uniform, but he was still built like one, much stronger than was typical for unicorns, and Twilight was pretty certain that a few of her bones would crack before too long if he kept the hug up.
And then, her father. He had been shifting from one hoof to the next anxiously, and finally the wait was too much and he pushed Shining aside. Shining didn’t begrudged him it as her father grasped Twilight, holding her close, putting a hoof on her head and running it through her mane. He was crying – they all were, and they weren’t doing anything to hide it. “I thought I’d lost you, Twilight…” her father gasped. “I thought I’d never see you again…” he pulled back from her after a long while, looking her in the eye, hooves on her shoulders. Her mother was as well, running a hoof over her neck and withers, and Shining was holding one of her front hooves in both of her own, heedless of the manacles. It was as though they were worried that if they broke contact with her for a second, she’d disappear.
She looked to her family. “Y…you’re not mad…?” she asked.
Her mother let out a slight laugh through her tears. “Twilight, I’m furious at what you did, what you put me and your father and brother through,” she said. She reached up a hoof and brushed an errant strand of Twilight’s mane from her eyes. “But…but that doesn’t matter right now.”
“You’re safe,” her father said. “You’re safe now, that’s all that’s important.”
Twilight looked between the three of them again…and after a moment, she felt something inside of her break. But it was something that needed to break. She lasted only a moment more, before she felt the tears in her eyes swell up, and nothing was going to stop them. She leaned forward, into her mother and father as they embraced her again. She struggled with her manacles for a few moments, they prevented her from hugging them. She settled on nuzzles instead, her tears disappearing into their manes and coats but being replaced in no time.
“I…I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!” she cried. “I…I don’t know what I was thinking, I shouldn’t have run, shouldn’t have…I’m sorry!”
Twilight didn’t know how long she stood there, crying into her mother’s and father’s coats. She didn’t care. Shining Armor was there beside her, one hoof over her withers, rubbing her back as she let all the pain and misery and regret of the past few months just come pouring out.
“We’ll…we’ll work to try and make things as good as possible,” her father said at length, when Twilight’s tears finally began to subside. He forced a smile. “We’ll hire the best team of lawyers in Equestria. We can get public support. Princess Luna herself said – ”
Twilight, however, shook her head. “N-no,” Twilight said, waving a hoof – both hooves, actually, thanks to the manacles. “Dad, I’m…I’m going to plead guilty to my charges. To everything. I don’t need lawyers.”
Her mother’s hoof, on her neck, tensed. “Twilight…” she said, “you were…you have some serious charges against you.”
Twilight shook her head. “And I’m guilty. I’m completely guilty. We shouldn’t waste money.”
“Even if you plead guilty, there’s deals to be worked out,” her father said. “Plea bargains, to reduce charges, or…and, Twilight, you really shouldn’t plead guilty. It should be nolo contendere. Lawyers are better at this sort of thing – ”
“No,” Twilight said firmly, looking her father in the eyes. “No. I’m not running anymore. I’m not hiding anymore…not from anything. I’m admitting to what I did. I broke into restricted sections of libraries. I taught myself forbidden magic. I used it to bring a dangerous creature into a town. And then I ran. I’m guilty. I’m going to accept the consequences. I’m going to pay my debt to society, however long that takes.”
Her father looked her over, staring at her, mouth hanging open a little. After a moment, he looked down, closing his eyes. “I…I see,” he said. “I…I don’t know if that makes me proud of you, or if that seems foolish. Both, I think.”
Twilight chuckled humorlessly, nuzzling her father again, then her mother, then her brother. Her mother had fresh tears in her eyes, and hugged Twilight closely. “Let’s…” she said, as she guided Twilight over to a table, sitting down at it. Her father and brother followed. “Let’s use this time while we can, then. To catch up.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Um…s-so…anything interesting the past few months? Family events?”
The three of them were silent for a moment, before her father suddenly let out a laugh – a real one, that startled Twilight. Her father grinned slightly, glancing at Shining. “Well,” he said, “your brother may have a marefriend in Cavallia, if that letter he was trying to write meant anything…”
Shining Armor did something he didn’t do often – he blushed. “Dad…!” He groaned, glancing around nervously.
Twilight couldn’t stop herself from giggling. She couldn’t forget what lay ahead, or what she had done, but she could push it aside for the moment, and just focus on her family. “Really?” she asked. “Anypony I’ve heard of?”
Dawwwwww....
This interlude chapter has *all* the feels.
Very well done sir.
*sniff* Manly tears, obviously. *sniff* Give me a minute.
Nice.
Here's something I've been wondering about for a while, with Twilight's actions up to this point and the house arrest in Ponyville, has she ruined her chances at future membership in the Night Court and as one of her father's potential heirs? It's not like Shining is likely to be going anywhere so she really is the spare, so it probably doesn't matter too much. I'm just curious.
Yes....that pony somepony was trying to NOT mention to Twi in the bizarre alternate world she'd found herself in.
So touching. And I don't like being touched.
Wait, who could be Shining's girlfriend in this universe?
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images.wikia.com/poohadventures/images/archive/c/c7/20130524035534!Princess_Cadence.png
Dammit!
I hate it when I get sand in my eyes when I read fanfics!
I'll just get a tissue... don't mind me, it's just a little grit...
I suppose there is a question if it is ever possible for her to get an unbiast trial given who she is?
Her punishment doesn't seem that severe based on what she did, house arrest in a place she loves (although as time goes by I can see that that will seem more and more cell like) and some community service. If the same crimes had been committed by somepony who wasn't the close relative of some of the most powerful ponies in Equestria?
As pointed out in the first chapter even if she doesn't ask for any special treatment others give it to her to try and curry favour with her father. It might be interesting to see more of that in future stories, I'd think the Ponyville library might get a fair number of anonymous donations of rare books.
The story itself is very nice I do prefer RDDs slice of life stories more than the epic adventures although those are epic to I was mentally telling Twilight that of course her parents would love her regardless of what she did, their her parents, I'm glad to be proved right.
However, can we have another where Night Light apologises to Ponyville or at least Trixie about his behaviour?
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What a tweeest!
Aww. Of course your family still loves you, Twily. That's what families do.
It's so good to see Twilight taking a stand and taking responsibility for her actions. She's been using her magical power and family connections to do whatever she wants and avoid the consequences - she probably learnt that from her father - but now she knows better. It's always great to see growth like that.
Thank you so much for pausing the story to show us this! : D And it was very moving!
I just want to make it clear that none of us us, myself included, have actually shed any tears here. It's just, sometimes the joy inside of us liquifies and leaks out through our eyes. That's all.
Eh. Not terribly interesting. Incredibly cliche. Nice to see her family's ultimate priorities in line with what they should be.
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You need to consider that the scenario is based on a children's show version of how these events would transpire. Trying to read too much realism or apply too much theory to such contrivances is just going to convolute things. This is actually the biggest problem with many Lunaverse plotlines. The conflict between mature reasoning being applied to childish characters and events. You're trying to add complexity to something that has been intentionally oversimplified. When you sand away the rough wood grain, then carve a new design in, it might seem like you have created something but each step of the process is actually removing more wood, weakening the structural integrity.
I still feel Twilight's guilt was forced and contrived, just so the author could play "opposites day." (side note: Forbidden magic? Seriously? In a magic heavy world like Equestria, where magic was the equivalent of kitchen counter technology, this would be the equivalent of "forbidden" scientific knowledge or history-- the sort of thing that despots do in totalitarian states.) Considering that the equivalent crime committed by Snips and Snails only got them stuck with cleaning up the mess, her punishment here is grossly disproportionate.
I have to state that the main offense of the Lunaverse is the premise: that all it would take is switching places and some minor changes in circumstance and suddenly the hero would behave just like the villain did.
Alt-canon Twilight may not have been Celestia's pupil, but she still had the same loving and responsible parents, the same big brother, graduated with the same honors at the same high standard--- next to nothing of fundamental difference especially in her formative years was changed. Her running from the law, of course, is pretty much in-character for a character who's basically a four-legged panic attack, but everything else about Lunaverse Twilight is tragically, ludicrously out of character, with next to nothing to justify it. Flipping out and turning into a criminal rogue because someone she barely knew received a magical honor she shouldn't even have known existed? Makes no sense for either Twilight. In fact, without Celestia's influence she should have retreated even further into her shell and had even less self-confidence.... Alt-canon Twilight should have become what she almost became in the main canon: a reclusive antisocial scholar who just wanted to be left alone with her books. Jealousy and pride in either canon would not be her motivators.
Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand? Yes.
Something felt a little missing here. A Luna or one of her representatives watching said meeting perhaps to help determine her fate. A bit where Trixie is mentioned having petitioned the courts on Twilight's behalf to help reduce her sentence taking responsibility onto herself. Something like that. What kind of really irks me though is this should have been it's own bigger story. It seems like it isn't getting enough time put into this story. Obviously Trixie and Twilight teach Dinky a lot and that's important for Dinky's arc and less important to the rest of the L-verse Mane Cast. But Twilight's journey here deserved something a bit bigger.
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Two points.
1) Try and build a nuclear bomb. See how far the US government lets you get. Then see how far you get in the public's eye when you call the US government totalitarian for not letting you build said nuclear bomb.
2) In a world where there exists magic that can override a person's free will, I would be disturbed if there weren't laws controlling or banning such magic. What sane government wouldn't regulate the use of suggestion and dominate person?
What's this about a lack of self-confidence? I've never noticed mane Twilight to have a lack of self-confidence. Withdrawn? Sure. But not lacking in self-confidence.
Anyway. Your interpretation of how Twilight would be absent Celestia is perfectly valid. I just have my own version. I think that a Twilight raised in basically the same situation but without Celestia as a moderating influence could - not necessarily is destined to, but simply could - have become a pony who became obsessed with learning all magic everywhere and made the study of magic her end-all be-all. I think that such a Twilight would naturally wander from place to place in Equestria, looking to learn all she could from each of Equestria's great libraries. I think that if she learned about hidden vaults of forbidden magic, she would submit a request to Canterlot to be allowed to study them. I think that if that was denied, she'd probably try and learn it anyway, considering it her purpose in life. On learning that Corona returned, but was then defeated, and that there was a mare who had earned the Element of Magic, and that it was the same mare who was the personal student of Princess Luna, she'd want to go and meet that pony to learn all the magic she could from her. And having seen that Trixie was (in her eyes) a two-bit hack, she'd want to show Trixie what real magic was.
And from there, the rest of the Lunaverse follows.
Sunset Shimmer didn't exist when the Lunaverse was created.
I'm still wondering...it seems that Twilight and the rest of the original main six still have a shared destiny. I mean if you follow the whole sonic rainboom giving everyone in the original main six their cutie marks, it seems that their shared fate should still have some bearing here in the Lunaverse. I'm really curious to see if they have a hand...err, HOOF in stopping Corona somehow.
The interesting thing about this interlude is that it's pretty much the equivalent of "Lesson Zero." Just as M!Twilight talked her way into a humiliating mess because she didn't quite understand what Celestia required of her, this Twilight seems to have not quite anticipated how her parents would actually react. L!Trixie hinted at this outcome broadly with her snarky comment about how her return to Latigo would end up resembling a ticker-tape parade but Twily just didn't see that happening. It doesn't matter what universe we're in....Twilight Sparkle and high moral standards go together like peanut butter and grape jelly.
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1: John Aristotle Phillips. Look him up.
Godwin's Corollary, #x of a series: In any conversation about freedom of speech or right to bear arms, the likelihood that someone will compare uncontrolled knowledge-- no matter its actual scale-- to letting people carry around atom bombs will approach 1:1.
2: Boast Busters. Lesson Zero. Look Before You Sleep. Every other freaking day of her life.
She's a social recluse with stunning levels of OCPD. People with OCPD can be aggressive and assertive, but that's not the same thing as confidence. They go completely off the rails when things aren't done 'by the list' because they are insecure. Her motivation, like a typical OCPD sufferer, is not "proving herself," but avoiding failure.
Any extroverted tendencies have been the result of her exposure and the therapeutic influence of her friends.... which, had she not been a "faithful student", she never would have made. And she made it obvious in boast busters that she's constantly anxious about puffing herself up or looking like she's bragging. (the lengths she went to in "Mare Do Well" show just how averse she is to bragging, period.) Raging egomaniac is not her shtick.
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You will note, I hope, that your corollary to Godwin's Law does not state whether or not the given analogy is wrong, only the likelihood of it appearing.
Additionally, even the most vocal believer in a citizen's right to bear arms typically draws the line at nuclear bombs. To paraphrase a good line from a boring movie, "ah, now we have established that my proposal is sound in theory and we're only arguing about the terms."
There is a world of difference between designing an atom bomb and actually owning one. How to build a nuclear bomb hasn't been a secret for decades now, any sufficiently educated person can learn how incredibly easily, over the internet, even. But how far have private citizens gotten towards actually owning one? How are they treated by various governments? Phillips never even built his bomb, yet his desire to sell his bomb design to Pakistan was brought up on the Senate floor.
In the Maneverse, sure, I guess, though without sitting her down on a couch and trying to profile her, I'd be a little careful about using my imaginary psychology degree to peg her major malfunction, personally (my own back-alley psych profile of her had her register as having dissocial personality disorder according to the WHO's prerequisites, but I don't go so far as to claim yes, she is definitely a sociopath, only that she appears to have a the prerequisites for being diagnosed as being one).
In the Lunaverse, she had a slightly different life growing up, and so behaves a little differently. She is still recognizably Twilight, though. She's still obsessive-compulsive. Still antisocial. Still obsessed with learning. Still has a tendency to jump to conclusions. Still something of a perfectionist.
...you know she isn't a raging egomaniac in the Lunaverse, right? She does not think that Trixie meets the prerequisites for being the Element of Magic because she does not understand what magic is. She wanted to become the Element of Magic not because she feels she deserves it, but because she felt that Trixie did not and thought herself as the most likely candidate out of eveypony she knew due to her being certifiably the most powerful unicorn spellcaster in Equestria (and she actually has proof of this, too - that's not boasting, that's fact).
Loved the interlude, it was so sweet, cute and sad. I really enjoyed getting to see Twilight's family and their interaction
The prodigal daughter returns. It fits.
Quite sweet. good on Twilight, too.
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Of course, who else?
Shining has a girlfriend in Cavellia? Does this mean that he and Cadance still get together in this 'verse?
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If An Early Reunion is anything to go by. Then yep, they're together, and have been for at least a few months before the Grand Galloping Gala.
Twilight was lead to a pair of double doors
1. Led.