Twilight sat quietly as Celestia and Spike talked. The document Spike had wrote appeared to be some sort of announcement that Celestia would be releasing to the press, about her waking up from her comatose state. After a minute her attention wandered back to her notes; she had nearly filled an entire page. She’d have to later go through and categorize the information.
The fact that so much of what she knew from her life was either wrong or completely missing was rather unnerving. Cadence was the one of the few ponies Twilight trusted completely. She had just been getting to used to thinking of her as her sister-in-law and now she didn’t even exist. How would Shining Armor react to that?
Twilight froze mid-thought. A frightening thought crept up from the back of her mind. Something she hadn’t considered before. With her parents being mostly who she remembered them to be, she had assumed her brother was too. But what if he wasn’t? “Princess.”
Celestia and Spike’s conversation stopped instantly, Celestia turning her full attention back to Twilight. “Yes, Twilight?”
“Do I still have Shining Armor as a brother?”
An unusual silence fell over Celestia and Spike as they exchanged looks. Celestia cleared her throat and spoke softly. “You did. He was a number of years older than you. He joined my royal guard at the same time you started at the Academy. Unfortunately, he was killed during his first assignment.”
Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. She had been bracing herself for being told that he wasn’t real. The fact that he was real but was dead was almost worse than if he hadn’t been real in the first place. “W-what? He…”
“He was stationed in a small town. A group of unicorns killed him while robbing a train that was passing through,” Celestia’s voice picked up a bit of volume. “He’s buried here in Canterlot, if you wish to visit him.”
Tears started to form in the corners of Twilight’s eyes. She looked away, trying to hold them back. “Can I be alone for a while, Princess?”
Celestia wanted to reach out and nuzzle her friend, but she simply nodded and got up. “Of course. I’ll come back when the doctor arrives to check up on you. Spike?” Spike climbed wordlessly on to Celestia’s back and the two of them quietly left the room. Only then did Twilight start to cry.
Twilight gently rubbed her foreleg where the needles that had kept her alive while she was in the coma had been. The doctor had taken them out after being told she ate pancakes without any troubles. He had run all sorts of magic over her and left after taking a quick blood sample. All traces of the curse were gone, but Twilight’s memory was still incorrect. The doctor had no explanation and recommended that she see a specialist.
Celestia had stayed in the room, but a distance off to give Twilight some privacy. Spike would be bringing in some tea and snacks soon. After leaving Twilight that morning, Celestia hadn’t been in to see her. Spike stopped by to see if she wanted lunch, but she had turned him down.
The door closed gently behind the doctor and his samples from Twilight, leaving Twilight and Celestia alone in silence. This silence was broken by Celestia. “How are you feeling?”
Twilight gave a soft sigh, rubbing her leg again. “Confused. Upset. I just… I still can’t think that something must have happened… That my Equestria is out there and this is… Some sort of bizarre mirror world like in the comic books Spike reads!”
Celestia couldn’t help but laugh at that statement. “Twilight, if you want to do research into comic books to try and figure out a way to return, you may. But I have a request.” She waited for Twilight’s attention. “Please also consider that this is the real world, and continue to try to remember or learn what you can so that you may continue your life here.” Twilight was about to respond when Celestia cut her off. “Just in case you are stuck here. Better to be prepared, correct?”
Twilight’s brow dropped slightly as she considered Celestia’s words. It did make sense to prepare for that outcome, as it was the most likely situation she had to admit. Celestia wasn’t saying she couldn’t do research and figure it out, just that she also had duties to this world as she was currently this world’s Twilight Sparkle. “Very well. I can do that. Even if it turns out I am not your Twilight Sparkle, I am still a Twilight Sparkle and I will always do my best to assist you, Princess.”
“I know you will, Twilight.” Celestia gave her a friendly smile. The door opened once more as Spike pushed a small cart into the room. Some tea and snacks were laid out, enough for all three of them. “Ah, good timing, Spike.”
The small dragon brought the cart right over to Twilight’s bedside, Celestia coming over behind him. Twilight leaned forward. “Is that chocolate cake?”
Spike grinned, “I went out and got it special for you.” He and Celestia climbed up and sat at the foot of the bed. Celestia’s horn lit up and started to distribute the snacks.
Twilight took a heaping forkful of cake and sighed happily. “Oh! This is so good.”
Celestia gave one of her famous small smiles. “I’m glad you still like chocolate cake. If you didn’t, I’d be convinced you were some mirror world Twilight.” Twilight, with cake crumbs on her face already, gave her an unamused look, which only made Celestia and Spike laugh.
Once the laughter died down, Celestia decided it was time to ask some questions. “Twilight, what do you remember about griffons?”
“Griffons? Well, I can only remember ever meeting one, and she wasn’t exactly the nicest… Why?”
Celestia gave a small smile. “You were close with the Griffon Prime Minister.”
“I was?” Twilight asked, a bit mystified at that thought.
“Actually, it’s a really good story. Spike, could you tell it?”
The young dragon nodded. “Oh yeah! It’s one of my favorites!” He set down his cake and grinned. “So Celestia and the griffons haven’t had the best relationship. Griffons are a bit aggressive and they see Celestia as being too soft. So when the trade agreement was running out, Celestia asked you to go in her place. The griffons were not happy that Celestia didn’t come in person. You told them that you had just as much power as she did and that your word was just as valid.”
Spike jumped up and held out an invisible sword. “One of the Griffon Ministers challenged you to a duel, to prove you were worthy. He pulled his sword and pointed it at you! It’s an old griffon custom that is rarely used, but still valid. You grabbed a sword off another griffon and told him first to draw blood was the victor!”
Twilight’s jaw dropped slightly. “I did what?”
Spike continued on with his story. “He launched at you, and you managed to fight him off pretty easily. After a few moments, you called out ‘Now it’s my turn!’ You lunged forward and stabbed the sword through his leg!” Spike paused, making the stabbing motion with his invisible sword. “You pulled the sword back out and pointed it at the Prime Minister and told him that if any other griffons challenged your authority you’d declare war and that you would personally kill all the Ministers!”
“But-! I would never-!”
“The Prime Minister loved that,” Spike cut in. “Griffons love shows of power like that. You then managed to negotiate a much more favorable trade agreement and after several months even created a free travel agreement. We built out our railroads into their country and connected some of the larger griffon cities.”
Celestia smiled. “You were bluffing, Twilight. You would never declare war over something so petty, but you knew that putting on a tough stance would improve the griffons’ opinion of you. It just worked much better than either of us expected.”
“I had no idea you even knew how to sword fight; it was awesome!” Spike plopped back down onto his rear and picked his cake back up.
“The Griffon Prime Minister even came personally to visit Equestria when the railroads were under construction. The two of you spent time chatting, and you seemed to regard him almost as a friend,” Celestia explained. “Thanks to your efforts, we’re much closer allies with the griffons, and you’ve become somewhat of a public figure in their country.”
Twilight’s jaw slowly closed, having been hanging open since she had been told she stabbed someone. After a moment she just took a deep breath to calm down. “That sounds extremely unlike me, but it does sound like a great plan to help international relations. But why send me? Why not send a trained government official?”
Celestia suddenly laughed. “Oh, right, I’m sorry. I should have known you wouldn’t remember how Equestria operates.” She recomposed herself after her laughter, taking a sip of tea. “Tell me, Twilight, how do you remember Equestria's government running?”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t like being wrong, even if she couldn’t help it. “Well, you and Princess Luna select members of the court. The court makes the laws. You also select judges to preside over any cases. You and Luna can also step in above the judges and make decisions yourself, if you wanted to.”
“How many ponies were in the court?”
“Oh, um, I think it was around thirty.”
Celestia nodded. “Well, Twilight. It does work similar here, with one minor difference.” Twilight waited patiently for her to continue. “You see, there are only two ponies serving on the Royal Court. Myself, Her Royal Highness Princess of Equestria, and the equally beloved and powerful Countess of Canterlot.”
“Countess of Canterlot?” Twilight asked. “Who is she?”
“You!” Celestia giggled. “I gave you the title and made up the idea of the Royal Court just to give an excuse as for why you were suddenly making decisions about how Equestria is run.”
Once again Twilight found her jaw flopping open, “Me? But, what?”
Spike snorted at her reaction. “That’s the same reaction she had when you first gave her the title.”
Celestia laughed and leaned forward to nuzzle her friend. “I graduated you from being my personal student, and granted you a title of nobility above the Knights and other noble families. Technically, Canterlot as a city, as well as most of the government run programs, like the weather factory, rail lines, and mail system, are yours to rule as you see fit. I can, of course, override you, but so far you’ve done a wonderful job.”
Twilight’s eyes rolled up and she fainted, her plate of half eaten cake gently falling as her magical grasp vanished. Spike started laughing. “Yup, she did that the first time too!”
“Looks like we’ll have to help build her self confidence again, if she doesn’t start remembering it soon,” Celestia commented. She gave a small smile and tucked Twilight in under the sheets. “Come on, Spike, let’s go release that press statement. And then you can fetch her parents for dinner.”
Spike started to clean up the snacks, snapping her a fake salute first. “Sure thing!”
So, are you going to introduce known characters to Twilight, with a twist (Pinkie Pie as a serious bussinemare, for example)?
4217466 Not giving away any spoilers one way or the other.
This story is absolutely lovely so far. I am very much enjoying this.
I hope that Twilight ends up writing a book about her experiences in the coma, if only to remember all the lessons she learned, and to share them with the world.
4217646 And she could call it... Dreams About Friendship Are Magic
... Kidding
Sword Fighting Twilight is best Twilight
This is a fascinating story. Twilight being in a coma would be one thing, but actually having a life & learning experiences in that coma is quite another.
Will the fact that Twilight learned so much in that 'dream' be relevant though? All those Friendship lessons that Twilight learned. Spike & the Princess appear to be assuming that it was all just an elaborate dream & her 'true' memories will return, but has Twilight internalisd those lessons to such a degree that she's quite a different Twilight from the one that they think she was or should be?
4217719 Agreed!
4217760 Not going to give any comment, because spoilers~
This is one of the best fanfic I have ever found. I love the idea of the story it just reminds me of a quote.
Imagine if you suddenly learned that the people, the places, the moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been. What kind of hell would that be?
Truly I hope it goes well for her.
4217760 It almost sounds like it was an intentional part of the curse? The stallion that zapped her thought she was dangerous, so he tried to convert her to the side of good by having her dream of a more harmonious world?
4217907 It is a really terrible thing that could happen. Yes, having someone die is a terrible loss, but having no record of them ever existing aside from inside your mind makes you question yourself while you deal with losing them.
4217915 Back in chapter 1 Celestia specifically stated the curse was designed to kill Twilight, but his failure to cast it properly put her into the coma. That's a good thought though.
Imagine a world with no Prince Douch ...Blueblood ...
4217997 Twilight awakes from the coma to find all disease has been cured, every pony is happy and there is no pain, struggle, or bad things. Blueblood was the root of all evil in the universe.
I can understand why someone wanted to take out Twilight so badly.
She truly was an instrument of change. THE Prime Mover some ponies were trying to oppose.
4218009 Some ponies just don't like change.
This popped a question into my mind; dos Cloudsdale still exist in this world?
I can easily imagine Rainbow Dash being part of that, but never having actually known Twilight, but still recognizes her as a pony in a position of power.
4217997 nope I want twilight to humiliate him in court
4218063 Because this isn't (currently planned to be) part of the story, I'll actually answer! The city does exist. Most of the cities / towns from the show still exist, though some may be different compared to how Twilight knows them. There will be more of this sort of information coming in later chapters!
4218141 LOL
Shining's WHAT?!?
I did NOT see that coming. And now I wonder how Twilight's parents are gonna take her muddled memories? All we can do is wait and see.
4218519 That was the reaction I was hoping for. Next chapter will be focused on Twilight's parents.
4218689
I thought you were going for the unstoppable urge to give Twilight a hug ...
4218782 There's that too, but I was waiting for someone to be shocked or upset that Shining Armor is dead instead of not existing.
I'm having a hard time finding this story's angle. That is, what its here to say. Its an interesting idea, but you're erasing everything about everything one stroke of the brush at a time. What will be left when you've established this new set of canon? Remember, if fan fiction strays too far from its source material it becomes unrecognizable-- something else entirely. While yes, you have plenty of lore to twist and turn about, I'm still frowning at the prospects.
Is this a coming of age story? A taking responsibility story? A rise to power story? I honestly can't tell, and we're three chapters in. It bothers me.
In the meantime, I do like your version of Spike. He seems a little less... childish. He's not scared to make fun of Twilight, or the Princess. He comes across as a little more than "little brother", and more like best friend. Its hard to describe. He has confidence and he seems to carry a little more weight than he does in the show. Maybe I'm just reading between the lines a little too hard.
~Aegis
P.S. Though it is of note that Lauren Faust wanted Celestia to rule alone, as Queen. Are you building from her "original" design ideas, mane six aside?
Rip shining you were a great big brother
4219358 I'm sorry that it's bothering you, I felt it worked better to establish the new setting before moving into the "action" of the story. And while I am moving away from the show rather sharply, there is a purpose to my changes. The story I have to tell wouldn't be the same otherwise. Am I a good storyteller? I have no idea, but I'm trying my best to tell my story in a way that I feel makes it the best.
As for Lauren Faust's original ideas, they might have influenced me, but I didn't specifically draw from any one thing.
4219564
4217996 which is why I like how you have handled it so far. It really is an interesting idea full of so many possibilities
4220728
the thing I wonder is, was it all just a dream from a mind full o'coma? or something else? do the rest of the mane six exist here?
if they do, would they recognize her in some way?
Are cadence and Luna only real in Twi´s mind? maybe Cadence is trapped in the still hidden crystal empire?
4234074
4234214 I thought so...
4240891 because Pinkie Pie is my favorite. And I think the Pinkie Pie from Rainbow Dash Presents is really funny.
4355671
Don't really need that mental image in my head