Schism

by Sev

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The situation was worse than she'd hoped, but better than she'd feared. All the lights were on in Fluttershy's cottage by the time Twilight came trampling to her doorway, but at least there was no hoard of angry ponies out front gearing up to hunt down a kidnapper. There were, however, five concerned (and relieved) looking ponies and one very exasperated baby dragon pouring out onto Fluttershy's front porch to meet her. Twilight could hear her name being called as they spotted her in the dim morning light running up to join them, and felt a warm flush of appreciation that the lot of them had stayed up all night in concern for her whereabouts. Of course, that also meant they were all as tired as she was and likely in far fouler moods.

“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow Dash was the first to reach her, swooping in at a low cruising altitude and flaring up short in front of her. The rush of wind that followed in her way blew Twilight's mane backward. “Where have you been?! Spike said you ordered him out of the house because you were worried some imposter was waiting for you in your room!”

“Imposter?” Twilight asked, shooting a glance toward spike, who opened his mouth to speak as he came close, but was cut off by Rarity.

“Not 'imposter', exactly. He said that you thought it might be, well...Princess Luna.” The name came out softly, as though the white pony wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be speaking it out loud. “Was it?” Applejack demanded, “Ah swear Twi, if I'd known it was her I never woulda left you tah go in there alone. There's just no telling what that pony has been up to since she got back, always hidin' out in the palace.”

“It was.” twilight replied simply. She was going to follow up, but bit her tongue. This was a good opportunity to find out her friends unedited reactions toward the thought of Luna paying a social visit. General gasps of confirmation rippled through the ponies around her.

“are..are you alright, twilight?” Fluttershy stammered, “She didn't try to hurt you or anything, did she? Spike thought you might be gone an hour, maybe two, but all night?”

“You look like you've been crying, darling,” Rarity's own voice had a worried warble to it as she tilted her head to get a different angle on Twilight's face.

“What'd she do, huh?!” Rainbow was puffing steam from her nostrils now, fuming at the apparent cowardice of the situation. “I cant believe she'd come back a year after we stomped her and try and pin you down alone. If I'd been there I would've-”

“Enough.” Twilight said firmly, silencing Rainbow with a glare. It softened as she smiled and nuzzle her friend. “thank you, all of you, for being so worried about me. It says a lot about the friends I have. If something bad had actually happened, I couldn't think of any stronger group to come to my rescue.” she chuckled, “but nothing bad happened. We talked. The entire night, up on the hill by the lake. It was...really long, and really...taxing.” she sighed with exhaustion. “Shes incredible. They're both incredible. Somehow knowing more about the ponies behind the legends makes the legends that much more amazing.” she blinks sleep from her eyes. “look you guys, I have an awful lot to tell you all, and its going to take a long time to do it. We're all tired. I'm safe, and I cant thank you enough for looking out for me. Lets get some sleep, ok? Ill tell you the whole story when we wake up.”

As curious as the others were, it was hard to argue with Twilight's logic. “You can all stay at my cottage,” Fluttershy volunteered, “er, um...if you want to, that is. Kind of a sleep over....thing.” “emphasis on sleep,” Spike chimed in, retreating into the living room through the front door.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she walked inside, “and thanks for looking after Spike.” She heard Fluttershy dismiss her thanks as unnecessary behind her as she entered, but by then she was already half asleep. Much as she wanted her bed at home, at this point, a soft rug was as good as anything. Pinkie Pie was the last one through the door, with a pout on her face.
“Sleep? Seriously?” she griped, “Maaaaan, you ponies are a bunch of party poopers.”

“And you believed all that?” Rainbow asked incredulously. It was some three in the afternoon by the time all the tenants of Fluttershy's cottage were awake and moving again. Spike had fixed them 'breakfast' with Fluttershy's assistance (which resulted in fewer broken plates than normal) and Twilight's relation of the night's events had taken another hour for fully expound upon.

“Every word.” Twilight replied, albeit quietly. She knew the potential foolishness of that statement. There was always the chance that Luna was just a phenomenally convincing liar. After all, she'd had a thousand or more years to practice her poker face. But eventually, now or later, Twilight would have to choose to believe or disbelieve, and she chose to believe.

“Twilight, that's crazy,” Rainbow insisted, rolling her eyes. “all of it. ANY of it. Celestia planning out our entire family tree just to free her sister? The elements of Eternity? Come on! Who's heard of the elements of eternity!?”

“had you heard of the elements of Harmony a year ago?” Rarity asked pointedly. Rainbow made a face.

“Not my point,” she said in her defense, “shes obviously trying to cover up for something. I think its a plot to get you to join her side and take another shot at the Princess. I mean think about it! Weather her story is true or not, she clearly lost some of her power when we nailed her last year. She needs help if shes going to try again. If she gets you, then the elements of harmony wont work anymore AND she'll have a personal tool against the Princess.

“Hate tah say it, but Rainbow has a point,” applejack ventures. Rainbow nodded firmly, then blinked and looked at the yellow earth pony.

“Why do you hate to say it?”

“Because you'll never stop talkin' bout it if you turn out to be right.”

Rainbow Dash didn't seem to have a defense worked up for that little point. Twilight nodded a little, eying the rug and poking at it idly with her hoof. “I considered that.”

“But you still believe her?” Pinkie Pie asked. She was listening in an upside down position on one of the chairs, with her legs up in the air and her head hanging downward as she watched. Twilight nodded.

“I know that its easy to get swept up in emotion,” she explained, “sometimes you can get too sympathetic toward some pony and not notice they're trying to hide something. Its happened to everyone once or twice. Im usually objective enough to notice it.” she shook her head, “but...if you had seen it...” she looked up and her eyes shimmered a little, gleaming with moisture. “she made my bones shake, rainbow. I haven't heard so much agony in a pony's voice in all my life. She needed my help last night. And if it was all an act, then consider me sold on it, because I would've held her all night long if it would've helped fill the empty spots in her heart.

The conviction in Twilight's voice was sufficient to quash any further argument on the part of Rainbow Dash. The vibrant pony glanced downward, as though ashamed to have doubted the situation. Twilight knew she wasn’t convinced, and was genuinely thankful for it. Rainbow's stubborn unwillingness to compromise on first impressions had prevented more than a few catastrophes in the past.

“But...if its all true...” Fluttershy whimpered softly, “then we're all here because Princess Celestia made us be.”

“I don't know if its quite as direct as that,” Twilight said quickly, looking at her pink haired friend and trying to beam reassurance through her eyes. “Luna made it seem like our decisions in life were our own, it was just our um...upbringing, that was molded. Princess Celestia arranged situations in which we would learn the skills and experience the events that would help mold us into what was required to get the job done. It was still us doing it.”

“Isn't that the same thing though?” Pinkie asked, pointing a hoof at Twilight accusingly. “I mean, if you've got a cookie, and the cookie is made of dirt, but it has delicious chocolate bits on top of it, and you're given the cookie and you have to eat at least some part of it, wouldn't you choose to eat the delicious chocolate bits every time? Its like you're given a choice that has no choice in it!”

Twilight blinked. “Pinkie...that had to be the weirdest analogy for causality and the illusion of consciousness I've ever heard.”

“Thanks! Cause-who?”

“Never-mind,” Twilight replied, “But you are right.”

“Of course I'm right, cookies are delicious!”

Twilight chose to terminate that particular line of conversation before someone’s brain got hurt. Rarity mercifully chimed in anyway, taking things in a different direction. “Does it really matter?”

This seemed to catch the others by surprise. Even Twilight tilted her head. “That...wouldn't bother you?”

“Of course not,” Rarity said dismissively, swishing her purple tail. “Its really not so very different from a Cutie Mark. Its a hint, something that points you in the right direction. Is that really bad? Are you disappointed with your life, Twilight?” Twilight thought about it for a moment, and rarity continued. “I personally don't think the princess sat down and decided to make me open a dress shop. But she might have given me a knack for design, or sewing, or impeccable fashion sense, and even if that led to some sort of inevitable conclusion in which I ran Ponyville's finest in evening wear, I like what I do. I don't plan on changing it now just because some pony else decided a long time ago to help me get there.

“I might have...” Fluttershy said from the corner. The others turned to face her. Even Pinkie Pie turned over and sat up in her chair.

“But you love animals, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said, feeling for a reaction. Fluttershy sat upright and nodded vigorously.

“Oh yes, of course I do, but...my element of harmony is Kindness. That may be really helpful when dealing with some animals, but others need a harsh stare to kind of...um...get through to them. The thing is, I've always been worried or frightened or just..shy...to be anything but kind to other ponies, even if sometimes they don't really deserve it. If it turns out I was tailored to be what I am...” she looked up, “What could I have gotten instead if I'd been just assertive enough to not quite embody the kindness element? Would being less shy or..or afraid...would that make me happier? I've tried, you know. Rainbow knows. Its never really worked.”

Rainbow dash nodded in agreement to that statement, and made a motion with her dangling hoof that mimicked a limp noodle.

Twilight pondered that situation too. Would she be happier? Twilight had only ever wanted to be the best student she could be. She'd taken no shortage of flak for it, too. But that had always been alright. Just came with the territory, she'd told herself. But did it have to? The clock on Fluttershy's wall struck Five in the evening, and Twilight's expression firmed.

“Spike!”

Spike sat upright suddenly. He, more than any of the others, had been unconcerned with talk of destiny and determinism. Twilight had hatched him from an egg personally and was bound by an ancient agreement between Equestria and the dragon lands to look after him until he could stand alone, in return for his services as a retainer. His fate was written in ink on a contract, more than magic in the air. He really couldn't see what the fuss was all about. “er, yes?”

“Run down to the charter service and reserve a pega-craft for me please, for immediate departure to Canterlott.”

Spike balked. “Tonight?”

“Yes, Spike, tonight,” Twilight said firmly, “and you'd better get going, there's probably only one more leaving tonight. I'll be along shortly.”

Spike yelped and dashed out the door toward the center of town, and Twilight got to her feet. The others looked at her in surprise. “You're going to Canterlott?”

“This isn't going to get resolved until I go to the source. I've been,” she chose her words carefully, “reluctant...to talk to Princess Celestia about this direction, but I think I need to. If nothing else, some kind of explanation is warranted. If Im on some sort of cosmic puppet string, I want to know what happens now that my job is complete.”

“we should come too,” Applejack said, but Twilight held up her hoof.

“You deserve to know as much as I do,” Twilight acknowledged, “but I've been her student for most of my life, and shes never told me anything remotely like what I heard last night. I want to face both of them. I think they'll talk to me together. I'm owed that much.” She turned purposefully toward the door, “Ill tell you all what happens, I promise. I need to get back to the library before I leave.”

“What do you need to get at the library?” Pinkie Pie asked cautiously as Twilight exited the house. The purple pony stopped for a moment, and looked back at them from over her shoulder. She had a sternness to her face that the others had come to realize was a force not to be taken lightly.

“My crown.”

Comments

[Jordan179]

Substance

Heh ... in my verse, it's Celestia who is the "phenomenally" good liar. Not that she's evil -- just a really good social manipulator.

Celestia's own opinion on this, and her recently-returned sister (a few days after her return) from An Extended Performance:

But then, it was always you who were the heroine, I just the smiling schemer

She thinks this regarding Luna, as Luna sleeps by her side. (Celestia is protecting her from the remaining influence of the Shadows until Luna gets stronger again; at this point Luna is far too weak to resume her royal duties so her sleep schedule matters little).

Interestingly, Luna considers Celestia to be the one who is morally better than herself. They each have higher opinions of the other than they do of themselves, in other words. At least now they do. (Things were a bit different in that dark 5th Century of Harmony, the one that culminated in the Lunar Rebellion and Banishment). Absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder.

“Isn't that the same thing though?” Pinkie asked, pointing a hoof at Twilight accusingly. “I mean, if you've got a cookie, and the cookie is made of dirt, but it has delicious chocolate bits on top of it, and you're given the cookie and you have to eat at least some part of it, wouldn't you choose to eat the delicious chocolate bits every time? Its like you're given a choice that has no choice in it!”

Twilight blinked. “Pinkie...that had to be the weirdest analogy for causality and the illusion of consciousness I've ever heard.”

“Thanks! Cause-who?”

Pinkie's actually right, though -- the essence of manipulating someone into doing what you want is to offer them carrot-and-stick choices. Though if the subject really wants to avoid doing the desired thing, she may choose the stick over the carrot anyway.

Pinkie's greatest powers in my verse all stem from causality. Subverting and twisting it, mostly.

“Never-mind,” Twilight replied, “But you are right.”

“Of course I'm right, cookies are delicious!”

Pinkie is also right regarding cookies. That's a pretty good batting average!

“Oh yes, of course I do, but...my element of harmony is Kindness. That may be really helpful when dealing with some animals, but others need a harsh stare to kind of...um...get through to them. The thing is, I've always been worried or frightened or just..shy...to be anything but kind to other ponies, even if sometimes they don't really deserve it. If it turns out I was tailored to be what I am...” she looked up, “What could I have gotten instead if I'd been just assertive enough to not quite embody the kindness element? Would being less shy or..or afraid...would that make me happier? I've tried, you know. Rainbow knows. Its never really worked.”

I think that shyness is not necessary for Kindness. I think, for example, that Applejack could have embodied Kindness (Liarjack does in Alex Warlorn's Dark World) -- even though she's not at all shy or unassertive, she's an exceptionally-kind Pony. There is more than one way to be Kind.

Typos

she blinks sleep from her eyes.

"Blinked", past tense.

applejack ventures

Capitalize "A" in "Applejack"; and "ventured" should be past tense.