Bargaining
Twilight rubbed her right hoof with her left as she looked down at the result of her ‘emergency treatment.’ She’d wrapped the entire area around her hoof with bandages, going a bit overboard to try to minimize movement there. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do. She didn’t have all the supplies she’d need to treat it fully, and she’d rather not explain to anypony she ran into why she had a splint on her leg. Trying to walk like nothing was wrong was going to be hard enough.
After several moments, she looked up. The rain was starting to let up, so it was probably safe for her to fly. She glanced down at herself and was pleased to see that the water had washed the red out of her Sneaking Suit. “The sooner I get this over with, the better,” she thought as she pulled her glove back on over her right hoof. It was a tight fit with the bandages and it bulged out, but it concealed it well enough. She stood up, being careful not to set her right hoof on the ground, and spread her wings, flying out of Ghastly Gorge towards Canterlot.
Twilight’s friends and family, meanwhile, waited until the rain had stopped completely before they ventured out to look for her again. They went around town asking everypony when the was the last time they saw her, but hardly anypony had seen her that day, so they couldn’t tell them where she might be at the moment.
The Sun was beginning to set when they all met up again. While they were talking, Spike saw them and made his way over. “Hey. Guess you guys have been looking for Twilight all day too?” he asked.
“Pretty much, Spike. Nopony we’ve talked to has seen her today,” Applejack answered.
“But they’ve seen her a lot these past couple of days. Apparently, she and some old friends from Canterlot have been helping out a lot around town,” Shining said.
“Really? I didn’t hear anything about that. I didn’t even know she had friends before us,” Rainbow remarked.
“That’s because you only talked to pegasi, Rainbow, the ones on the weather teams, remember?” Rarity reminded her.
“Oh yeah. Speaking of which, none of them know what was up with that rain earlier either. Don’t know how it started or why the rain was so weird,” Rainbow replied.
Spike looked at the others and said, “I heard about Twilight and her friends helping too. It sounded like they were they were trying to earn some bits.”
Pinkie spoke, “Mr. and Mrs. Cake didn’t say anything about that. In fact, they said they were worried about what she might do when they saw her earlier today!” The worry in her voice was clearly reflected in her expression, her mane and tail looking like they might deflate any moment if she heard the wrong thing.
The others looked at her, sharing her worry. This wasn’t Pinkie jumping to conclusions and driving herself crazy; she was genuinely afraid something was going to happen to Twilight, Pinkie Sense going haywire or not. “What did they say?” Cadance asked carefully.
Pinkie responded softly, “They wouldn’t tell me, but they said Twilight really didn’t seem well. Mrs. Cake has never said anything like that about Twilight before.”
Shining sighed, “So we have this and the fact that she’s been working really hard, maybe harder than she should be, to make bits for a reason that nobody seems to know. While it’s… good to know all this, it doesn’t make finding her any easier for us.”
Rainbow looked to her right and blinked a moment later. “Hey, there she is!” she said, everyone turning their heads to look where the pegasus was.
Indeed, further down the street, they saw Twilight walking, but even from where they were standing, they were quick to notice a few things about her, the most prominent being that she was pulling a little wagon behind her that had a white cover draped over whatever was in it. The other thing they noticed after a few moments was that she appeared to be limping a bit as she didn’t keep her right hoof on the ground for very long, and what they couldn’t see but Rarity would most definitely have picked up on was all the new little rips and tears in her Sneaking Suit from her earlier ‘training’.
“What’s with the wagon?” Spike wondered.
Fluttershy noticed the way she was walking and her body movements. She was clearly trying to act natural, but there were some flashes of movement that made it seem like she was watching where she stepped. “I don’t think she’ll tell us if we ask her,” she said after a moment.
“Well, she’s gonna tell us, or else!” Rainbow glared, spreading her wings. She was stopped by Shining putting his foreleg in front of her and she turned her head to look up at him.
“No, Rainbow. I’m worried about her too, but we can’t force her to tell us. That’d only make it worse,” he said.
Cadance spoke up, a worried expression on her face, “I agree, Shining, but… there’s clearly something she doesn’t want to tell us about. Something important…”
Pinkie stood up straight with an unusually serious expression on her face, “I’ll get to the bottom of this.” And with that same expression, she started hopping in Twilight’s direction while everyone else looked at each other, wondering if this was a good idea.
Despite the manner in which she was trailing Twilight, Pinkie kept a close eye on the alicorn as she trailed her through Ponyville, immediately stopping and quickly slinking behind cover when it seemed like she might stop and start looking around again. Other ponies that were out, especially the shopkeepers, looked at her oddly whenever she suddenly darted in between houses or used their stalls for cover, but they didn’t seem to catch Twilight’s attention since she would soon continue walking, Pinkie coming out and hopping after her again when she did.
Eventually, Twilight reached the Town Hall. Pinkie watched from afar as she went up to the front door and let herself in. Walking quietly on the front of her hooves, Pinkie went up to the building, but instead of going in, she went around the side of the building, stopping before passing in front of a window. She lowered her body to the ground and pulled out a stethoscope, putting the earpieces in her ears and placing the resonator up against the building, moving it along like she was listening for a heartbeat.
After a few moments, she stopped, hearing voices on the other side. “Twilight! I didn’t know you were coming.” It was the Mayor’s voice.
She then heard Twilight’s voice, “Well, considering how long it’s been, I thought it was best to get back to you as soon as possible about this.”
Mayor Mare asked, “You have an update for me? I know it’s going to take some time, so you don’t have to tell me how far along you are.”
Twilight replied, “No, I mean I have it. It’s all right here!”
There was a moment of silence before the Mayor asked, “Really?”
Pinkie was getting anxious as she listened in on them, unsure of what they were talking about. “What are you talking about with the Mayor, Twilight? What’s in the wagon? Come on, tell me!” she uttered, hearing only the sound of hooves on wood inside.
After several moments, Mayor Mare said, “Goodness, that certainly is a lot of bits.”
Twilight spoke, “Yeah. I made sure to count them all and record it. That’s why I wasn’t back sooner, but I wanted to make sure it was all correct. Between all those jars, there’s enough there to pay for the library’s destruction. The council can count it all again if they want, but I wrote it down so they shouldn’t have to.”
The Mayor replied, “Well, they might, but I believe you when you say you did that. I probably shouldn’t ask this, but how did you get this much so soon?”
Twilight sounded hesitant as she answered, “Uh, you know… a lot of hard work with some help from friends, a little- well, actually a lot of digging deep, but there shouldn’t be anything left for them to trouble you about.”
The two mares kept talking, but Pinkie had stopped listening. She had gleamed enough from their conversation to figure out what had been going on the last couple of days. “They charged Twilight for what that meanie Tirek did to the library? Why didn’t they tell us about it? We’re her best friends! We could’ve taken care of it while she was gone!” She looked down sadly, “She said friends helped her, but we didn’t know about this. We weren’t there for her. We were all busy, but… we still didn’t do anything to help her. Is she mad at us? Is that why she didn’t tell us when she found out?” She snapped back to attention when she heard the sound of hooves moving again. She pulled out the earpieces and sat up to peer through the window. Twilight was leaving and the Mayor was watching her. Pinkie turned and shot away, not wanting to be caught.
Twilight looked to her side as she stepped outside, hearing an odd sound. She glanced around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Weird,” she muttered as she shook her head. She then faced forward, “Well, I’ve taken care of that. I should just go, get as far away from Ponyville as I can before anypony else finds out.” She found herself unable to stifle a yawn that escaped her mouth and she groaned in annoyance. “Maybe… I can find a private place to sneak a quick nap in before I go. I’m not going to be able to get very far if I’m struggling to stay awake,” she thought before she started walking through Ponyville.
A short while later, at Twilight’s castle…
“I see,” Princess Celestia said. She and Luna had remained silent while Twilight’s friends recounted what Pinkie had overheard and she wasn’t sure how to react. The idea of Twilight doing what she did to pay for the damages seemed about normal for her, but where she got the money and why she hadn’t been notified at any point prior left her a bit confused.
“I can’t believe it. Why would they put it all on Twilight when Tirek’s the one who destroyed the library?!” Rainbow asked.
“Well, it was a public building, Rainbow. The money for it has ta come from somewhere,” Applejack reminded her.
“But it’s all gotta come from her? She just lived in it!” Rainbow argued.
“She was also the librarian! She was supposed ta take care of it!” Applejack shot back.
Rarity shook her head at the two and looked back at the two princesses, “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t have told us about it at least. I would’ve done everything possible to make sure Twilight didn’t have to come home to this.”
Luna said, “Such is the strange world of bureaucracy, Miss Rarity. So little that comes out of it seems to make logical sense."
Fluttershy murmured, "I would've helped too, but... so many of my animal friends missed me and didn't want me to leave these last few days..." Pinkie said nothing, having already had time to process how she felt about all this.
Celestia closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered her thoughts and opened them as she spoke, "Well, thinking about what we could've done will do us no good now. Whatever she did, Twilight raised the money that the council wanted and repaid them. The problem has been resolved."
Shining asked, "So... what now, Princess?" Spike looked eager to hear what she had to say.
Celestia smiled, "I believe we should all get a good night's sleep. The night is fast approaching, so there's no time left today to resolve Twilight's other dilemma." Expecting the odd stares she received, she said, "Things have been fairly quiet since Twilight returned to us, but she hasn't really been given a proper welcome home. I think we can put what happened today behind us and have another party tomorrow, one that properly celebrates her leaving a world full of war behind and returning to Equestria." She looked at Pinkie, "I trust that's something you can take care of, Pinkie Pie?"
The pink pony immediately saluted, her energy coming back to her. "You can count on me, Princess! I'll get started right away!" she stated before she turned and ran out of the throne room. The rest of the girls soon left for home as well, looking forward to seeing what Pinkie was going to come up with for a party. Shining, Cadance, and Spike all went to their rooms after the girls left, though they were still feeling a bit worried about Twilight. Once they were all gone, Celestia let her smile slip from her face, revealing her own worry.
Luna noticed it when she looked up at her. "What's the matter, sister? Are you concerned that it will not be that simple?" she asked.
Celestia sighed, "I don't know, Luna. I've never had Twilight stand up to me like that before. I already knew that she changed a lot, but in that moment, I almost didn't recognize her."
Luna stated, "I would think that's something to be applauded." When Celestia quickly turned to her with a raised eyebrow, she said, "It's quite clear she's usually so uptight around you. There are a number of reasons for that, and I don't think it's unfair to think that fear would be one of them. War has changed her, no doubt, but getting past such a crippling fear... that's a good thing, isn't it?"
Celestia didn't know what to make of Luna's fear suggestion, instead saying, "She shouldn't have been involved in anything serious. Even if they let her go on more missions, they surely wouldn't have let her go out on something that could be worse than those AI weapons."
Luna replied, "I'm not saying she did. She may or may not have; we have not inquired about everything. But even if her activities were restricted, she was still in the company of an army." She began to pace in a circle as she went on, "If the MSF's services really were auctioned out to other nations, then word would inevitably return to home and be passed around. Who they had to fight, how many died, the nightmarish horrors... she would surely hear about it all from the soldiers around Mother Base, soldiers who were proud to say they were allied with a man who truly felt his country had betrayed him and he was right to leave it behind. A man who likely kept a number of things to himself, including how he looked at her." She stopped and looked at Celestia, "Was he really simply trying to keep her safe? Or did he have plans of his own?"
Celestia said, "This seems like a lot of speculation, Luna."
The younger alicorn was silent for a moment before saying, "It is, yes, but I believe what I'm getting at is, with the company she was in, a number of things could've rubbed off on Twilight. Things she may not even be aware of." She looked around the throne room, "Perhaps her outlook on things she knew has changed because of being around Big Boss. She may not think this is what she is meant for anymore, and not simply because she feels she hasn't found a part to play."
Celestia asked, "Luna?"
As she turned to leave, Luna looked back at her sister and said, "It may take her time to truly sort out her thoughts, but I think we should be prepared for the possibility that she truly doesn't believe this is her destiny anymore." She then left, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts. She turned to look at the throne with Twilight's cutie mark on it after a few moments, a sad expression on her face as she wondered if her time with Twilight was going to come to an end for good.
Luna, meanwhile, left the castle to look for Twilight when she checked the lavender alicorn's room and found no trace of her. She used her magic to raise the Moon while she wandered the streets, looking for her. Once she was finished, she began reaching out with her magic to look for ponies that had fallen asleep. Twilight had tried to hide it earlier, but Luna could tell she was sleep-deprived, no doubt from all the work she had to do. With how tired she looked, she wouldn't be surprised if she found her sleeping in the park or on the grass somewhere else.
Eventually, Luna's magic led her to the remains of the Golden Oak Library. She could feel that there was a pony sleeping there, but she didn't see anything atop the remains. Taking a closer look, she discovered the stairs leading down to the basement were hidden under a pile of burnt wood that could be moved. It was a bit of a squeeze, but Luna was able to use her magic to lift up part of the remains enough to reach the stairs. Once she was a few steps down and could raise her head again, she lit up her horn looked down towards the bottom, where she spotted a cardboard box in the middle of the floor. She began making her way down the rest of the stairs, a smirk on her muzzle.
As she got closer to the bottom, however, she felt something odd in the air and slowed her pace. She looked around, feeling as though it wasn't just her and Twilight in the basement. When she was a couple of steps from the bottom, she looked back towards the box and saw a figure she knew wasn't there before standing over it. It seemed to be wearing a hood over its head, its back to her.
Luna immediately moved into a defensive stance. "Who are you?!" she demanded. The figure made no reply. "Answer me! Who are you and what are you doing here?!" she asked again. She was very close to using the Royal Canterlot Voice, not only due to her annoyance, but also because it would surely wake Twilight up and alert her to the danger. It wasn't necessary, though, because the figure finally reacted to her words. It tilted its head up and slowly began to turn around. As it did, Luna began to notice a few things about it.
She realized the figure was bipedal, its arms at its sides as it turned, and it was fully clothed. When it finished turning around, it looked up at her. The sides and back of its head were hidden by the hood and its face was shadowed, but she could make out a few details. It was wearing a pair of glasses, it had a smile on its face, and it was clearly human, a human male if she had to go by the facial structure.
Luna blinked and took a step back at this realization, at which point she made another: the man seemed to be slightly transparent since she could almost see the cardboard box through him. She moved to the edge of the stairs and looked down; his feet weren't touching the floor. She didn't get a chance to make any other notes since he suddenly vanished into the floor, dropping down like he was falling before Luna could react. She waited for a bit to see if he would reappear, but she moved to get Twilight when it seemed as though it wasn't going to happen. All the questions she had about the man continued to plague as she made her way back to the castle with Twilight in tow. She glanced back at her passenger as she walked and wondered, "Maybe she knows?"
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
905 users online
1,882,921 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Only person i could think of atm is for some reason the sorrow?
What an interesting end to the chapter.
The Sorrow hiding in a cardboard box? ...Okay.
9529423
The Sorrow's not the one in the box, he's standing over the box.
Such... Sorrow.... That we have to wait for the next chapter...
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/metalgear/images/4/45/Chara07_sp.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160716142715
Oh yeah, its him....
9529543
OH god, what's the sorrow doing in Equestria.
9529615
I think a Better question is "Why is The Sorrow haunting Twilight?" Though a likely answer to that question would be whatever happened that sent her back to Equestria in the first place must have somehow caused her enough grief and/or perhaps guilt to summon The Sorrow from the spirit realm. There are plenty of things indicating he's Following Twilight specifically, the Raining Blood, the dream sequence from a few chapters back reminiscent of The Sorrow's own Boss fight in MGS3, not to mention the fact that he's been watching Twilight when she sleeps for quite a few chapters now. . . Though that begs the further question of is his intent to cause Twilight harm or not
- Thunder
Considering that in Metal Gear children tend to behave like their parents is the sorrow going to be a prick like his son?
Seems like Luna’s the closest to figuring out what is happening to Twi. Hopefully the rest can too before she leaves Equestria.
And now we got “that guy” haunting Twi now. I wonder what exactly about Twilight is causing this guy to show up.
Dammit Sorrow, what are you doing here?!
9531878
No, not her being home. She's telling Snake everything.
9532227
It's about trust. And being slightly peeved at Snake's assumption of her.
9532248
I shpose
9532248
More please
OH MY GOD! YES! Take all of my money, you magnificent person you! I've been waiting for someone to do something like this! Well...either like this, or making Twilight Sparkle be mentored by Nick Fury. This looks AMAZING!