Picking Up the Pieces
PICKING UP THE PIECES
Twilight and Luna gaped at the destruction in front of them. All of the furniture had been overturned or wrecked outright. Even the abstract watercolor that had hung on the wall, a vintage John Marein from the turn of the century, had been ripped out of its frame and crumpled into a ball. Drawers had been pulled open and emptied, and their luggage was dumped all over the floor.
Twilight recovered from her surprise a beat before Luna did. Holding a hoof up to the princess’ muzzle, she indicated for her to stay where she was as Twilight crept into the ruined suite to secure it from any intruder that might still be lurking there. She noted that the door leading out to the suite’s patio had been shattered, reduced to shards of glass half-hidden in the room’s shaggy blue carpet. Even the bathroom had been ransacked, the floral patterned shower curtain pulled down and shredded and the mirror spider webbed with cracks originating from a single impact to the center of the glass, probably with something blunt and heavy.
Twilight reached out with her magic, probing the closets and corners of the room looking for any sign of invisible or magically concealed attackers. At the same time her eyes darted from place to place taking in every cracked table leg and lacerated pillow, turning them over in her mind trying to construct a coherent picture of whoever had done this.
Finally satisfied that they were alone, she called out to Luna that the room was secure.
“Who would do something like this?” asked Luna as she joined Twilight next to the ruined coffee table.Twilight didn’t answer immediately. Her mind was steadily assembling, rejecting and modifying possible scenarios based on the limited information she had available. After a moment she walked over to the broken glass near the shattered balcony door.
“This door was broken from the outside, as indicated by the way the glass shards fell into the room rather than outward onto the balcony. Since the door was locked when we arrived this is the most probable point of entry. This room is pretty high up off the ground so the break in was most likely conducted by a pegasus pony who would be able to fly to the balcony without attracting too much attention from the ground,” she said, half as an answer to Luna’s question and half for her own benefit as she tried to work through the problem.
Twilight tried to reconstruct the path the intruder had taken. Divorced from the shock of having her and the Princess’ privacy violated, it was just a logic problem. The way the drawers and luggage were buried underneath the broken pieces of furniture suggested that the intruder had gone after them first.
“I think they were looking for something,” said Twilight. The more she thought about it the more the scenario made sense. The intruder must have done the rest of the damage either to cover their tracks or simply out of frustration. “We should see if anything’s missing, but my guess is they didn’t find whatever it was. We should call the police, too. Maybe they can find something this pony left behind.”
Luna stepped gingerly around the pieces of a broken floor lamp, that had been adorned with a tacky seaside motif and brightly smiling tropical fish. It would not be missed. “Twilight, in light of what happened here... we do not think the museum this morning was an accident,” she said.
Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. Suddenly she wasn’t in the hotel room at all, but back under the rocks and rubble gasping for air that tasted like earth and dust, her lungs screaming as she pushed every ounce of focus she could muster into the shield that was fighting against the crushing, squeezing sensation of unimaginable pressure from above her and slowly warping and giving way as the stones slowly inched closer and closer to pressing the life out of her if she wavered for even a moment and-
“Twilight!”
Twilight snapped back to the hotel room, shaking her head to clear away the images that were threatening to overwhelm her. “I think you’re right. They must be connected. But if they are...” Twilight turned the new information over in her head, clinging to the puzzle before her like a raft in a storm.
“Twilight, are you unwell?” asked Luna.
“I’m just trying to think, hang on,” she replied. Another moment passed while Twilight tried to hash out the events of the last 12 hours, and see the bigger picture hidden behind it all. “We went straight from here to the museum earlier this morning, so if we were being watched, which I assume we were, there’s no way the pony monitoring us could have been breaking into our room here and keeping an eye on us at the museum simultaneously. There must be at least two ponies involved with... whatever this is,” she concluded.
Luna looked down at Twilight with a concerned expression on her face but chose to let the moment pass. “We will go speak to the proprietor of this inn, and alert him to what has transpired. However, we do not think it would be wise to remain here for the afternoon,” she said. Twilight agreed. There had already been two incidents this morning alone, and it would be unwise to stay somewhere an assailant had been able to break into once already.
Leaving the room as they’d found it, they went to the general manager’s office behind the front desk in the hotel’s lobby. Ignoring the receptionist who tried to draw her attention, Luna pushed open the door without knocking. Luna ripped into the poor pony on duty about the hotel’s lax security, liberally employing the Royal Canterlot Voice. It took barely a minute to reduce the unfortunate earth pony to a quivering mess, desperately promising to fix everything if the alicorn would just please stop yelling at him.
Luna and Twilight waited in the lobby for the police to arrive. Luna wore her version of the neutral, enigmatic expression that both alicorn rulers had perfected over the centuries, but based on the way she was shifting her weight back and forth and glancing around the lobby Twilight could tell that she was a bit rattled by the morning’s events too. Twilight’s already heightened alertness was in overdrive. Could that pony dressed in a bellhop uniform be concealing knives in his vest? A tourist left his heavy suitcase next to a chair when the receptionist called his name to check in, what if it was actually some kind of explosive device? It was a good thing nopony came up to them to greet the Princess, or Twilight might have thrown them into a wall before they got their name out.
“Breathe, Twilight,” said Luna. Twilight let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Believe it or not this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to us. We have utmost confidence in the ability of our protectors, and especially in you.”
Twilight said nothing, but nodded in acknowledgement. Of course, the Princess could take care of herself. It was silly for her to even have a bodyguard, really. Twilight wanted to kick herself for being so stupid. Of course the front of buildings don’t just randomly fall apart when high-ranking government officials just happen to be standing under them. Maybe if she’d been a little less clueless she would have spotted somepony, or noticed the glow of unicorn magic when the rocks were dislodged and fell down on top of her where they were just a couple inches away from painfully, agonizingly pressing the life from her body until the shield failed and there would be nothing stopping them from-
“Twilight, the police have arrived,” said Luna. Twilight startled and looked up at the three Penscolta police officers that had just entered the hotel. Two earth ponies with the alert, searching eyes of trained law enforcement wearing police flanked a cobalt unicorn with a microscope for a cutie mark, who wore a pair of sunglasses. The trio walked up to Luna and Twilight.
“Princess Luna, Ms. Sparkle, my name is Horatio Mane. I want to assure you that this incident will be Pensacolta PD’s top priority. We will find the pony or ponies responsible for this, and we will bring them to justice, you have my word. Now, did you touch or disturb anything in the room?” Luna and Twilight both shook their heads no. “Very good. These officers will take your statements, and my team will be arriving shortly to conduct a complete sweep of the hotel room,” said the unicorn. “I just want to apologize on behalf of the city for this trouble. As I’m sure you can imagine, having a visit from such important ponies sullied like this is...” Horatio paused and removed his sunglasses “...a royal pain.”
Hundreds of miles away in the town of Ponyville, an especially muscular white pegasus was struck by the sense that somewhere there was something he was supposed to be doing or saying at that very moment, but the feeling passed as quickly as it had come.
Back in the hotel, Horatio had disappeared upstairs to begin searching the room for evidence while his two companions took Luna and Twilight to opposite sides of the lobby and took their statements. Twilight’s, a purple mare with clashing red and blue highlights in her mane Rarity wouldn’t have let herself to be caught dead with, listened attentively as Twilight recounted the events of the morning and the previous night. Both pairs of ponies finished interviewing after a half hour and regrouped.
“Well, unless you have any questions for us we’ll get back down to the station and start running down leads. Please feel free to contact us if you remember anything new or if you just want an update. In the meantime, you’re free to go,” said the lime green stallion who had interviewed Luna and who seemed to the the senior officer of the pair.
“We will, thank you Officer Latigo,” said Luna. She turned to leave the hotel and Twilight followed her. It was only as they stepped out of the hotel and back into the intense afternoon sun that Twilight realized she had completely forgotten to even ask the other police pony what her name was. Twilight blinked as her eyes readjusted from the dim hotel lobby to the bright tropical sun. The local weather team had been diligent. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Twilight looked around them at the ponies milling around, most of them wearing light loose clothing and big floppy hats to keep the rays of the sun off of them. The hotel was situated near the beach, and most of the ponies were grouped up, each set just another family on their way to the beach for an afternoon of fun. After the roller coaster of events that had taken up her morning Twilight was most struck by just how normal it all was. Most of these ponies weren’t worried about anything beyond whether they should have a tofu dog from the boardwalk or a wheatburger from one of the many street side diners for lunch. Twilight wished that that were the only thing she had to worry about.
“So, what sort of cuisine should we partake in for our midday meal?” asked Luna, apparently reading her mind. Was that something she could actually do or did Luna just have a knack for lucky guesses? The Royal Sisters had always been coy about the exact limits of their abilities.
“You’re hungry now, after everything that happened this morning? I thought that the... incident... at the museum made you lose your appetite,” said Twilight.
“It seems that we have reacquired it. We still have at least another hour before we are to rendezvous with Captain Reinolds, and there is no purpose to us staying here and impeding the police in their work. Besides, surely you must be at least a little bit hungry as well,” said Luna.
“I’m not hungry,” said Twilight. As if on cue her treasonous stomach growled its own opinion on the matter. “Stupid involuntary smooth muscle contractions,” she thought to herself.
Luna chuckled. “For some reason we find that claim difficult to believe. Come now, I’ll utilize a disguise. Maybe then you will relax a little bit?”
Twilight frowned “Celestia doesn’t like it when you do that, you know. She says it’s better if ponies get used to seeing you around as yourself rather than hidden under a bunch of illusion magic.”
“My sister is not here, and even if she were she does not have final say in this matter, or any other matter regarding how I choose to conduct myself on my vacation,” said Luna with an air of finality, “and even though I actually happen to agree with her on this point for the most part, I don’t think she’d begrudge me taking a few additional security precautions in light of today’s events.”
Twilight knew from experience that there was nothing to be gained from arguing the point with the Princess. Luna pulled out a pair of red horn-rimmed glasses from her saddle bag and settled them onto her face with telekinesis. With a moment’s concentration the pony before her no longer looked like the larger-than-life alicorn who ruled over half the sky and heavens, but rather like a unicorn with an especially dark coat and three stars for a cutie mark. No matter how many times Twilight watched the transformation, she’d never gotten the hang of the switch from one persona to another. Even though she knew the enchantment was there and how it worked, she could barely detect its presence magically.
“So what am I calling you this afternoon, then?” asked Twilight.
“Hmm... We always have enjoyed taking the names of ‘Selene’ or ‘Artemis.’ Perhaps ‘Phoebe’ just for a change of pace?”
Despite her foul mood, Twilight couldn’t entirely suppress a smile. “You know, ‘Phoebe,’ your cover would be a lot more convincing if you didn’t always pick names associated with the moon.”
“We would have you know that they were not associated with the moon before we started using them as identities in ages past. We are hardly to blame for ponies leaping upon such associations at the merest whiff of deific power,” said Luna. “Honestly, we move ONE MOUNTAIN...”
Twilight giggled at the mental image of the Princess trying to nonchalantly alter the local geography. “Well, Phoebe, if you can manage to refrain from any displays of miraculous power for at least a couple of minutes, there’s a restaurant that I’ve heard makes a very impressive carrot and celery burrito just a few blocks from here,” she said.
“Exquisite! We look forward to it. Lead the way,” said the princess.
Twilight and Luna walked through the crowded streets, mixing anonymously with the crowd. Even though they were no longer the center of every pony’s attention, Twilight still couldn’t shake the nervousness and stress that had been haunting her all day. A pair of university age fillies who appeared to have taken full advantage of the local taverns’ half priced lunchtime margarita pitchers stumbled and tripped into Twilight’s side. It took every ounce of restraint Twilight had not to throw the poor mare into a choke hold and slam her into the ground. By the time the pair reached the restaurant 15 minutes later Twilight was sweating and short of breath. It was not from the tropical heat.
Twilight requested a booth in the corner of the room where she’d have a clear line of sight to both the entrance and the kitchen door. The room was decorated with kitschy modern tourist paraphernalia, but Twilight noticed a few details here and there that suggested that the owners might have a genuine Mexicolt heritage which in Twilight’s estimation boded well for the quality of the food. Twilight and Luna had arrived at the tail end of the lunch rush, and only a few other tables were occupied. It wasn’t long before the waitress arrived with menus and drinks for them; an iced tea for Luna and a Coca-Colta for Twilight.
“Maybe we should have told some pony at the museum about what happened after we left,” said Twilight. “Whoever was watching us may know that we met with Bronze and the professor. They might be targeted next.”
“Officer Latigo said that they would be sending police over the museum right away. We are certain they will be fine,” said Luna, taking a sip of her tea. “However, we find your word choice in this matter most interesting. Most ponies would have referred to the pair as ‘Professor Secrets and Bronze Bell’ or perhaps ‘the professor and his assistant’ if we are not mistaken, Bronze made a little bit of an impression on you, did he not?”
Damn it. How could one pony be so clueless and so insightful at the same time? Twilight hoped that the shade in the corner booth would conceal the fact that she was blushing. “It’s not like that Prin... Phoebe, and even if it were I wouldn’t have any time to go meet with him alone anyway. Being your bodyguard is a full time job,” said Twilight.
Luna grinned wickedly. It seemed that Twilight wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. “Perhaps we will be suddenly stricken with the desire to go for a long flight tomorrow evening. Of course, you wouldn’t be able to follow us, not having any wings yourself, so we’d have no choice but to give you some time off. You have certainly earned it,” she said.
“That’s a very generous offer, but we’re only here for another week anyway. Even if we did become friends, it’s not like I could come and visit him down here very often. It would be awfully transitory, wouldn’t it?” asked Twilight.
“Twilight, you are asking the wrong pony that question. From our perspective, all of your relationships are transitory,” said Luna.
“That isn’t true at all!” shouted Twilight, raising her voice a little bit higher than she meant to. “The bearers of the other Elements and I will be friends forever, even if we aren’t always around each other all the time.”
“Not forever, Twilight.” said Luna “Certainly for a very long time, even for a lifetime. However, forever is much, much longer than you realize. As a mortal, we would not expect you to really understand that, but it is the truth.”
“Oh get over yourself, Princess.”
The words slipped out before Twilight even realized she had opened her mouth to speak. She was even more surprised that she didn’t really mind that they had. The barrier in her mind that she’d build up to hold back all the frustration, anger, and resentment she felt over her situation for the last few months had finally been overwhelmed.
“Where in Tartarus do you get off trying to tell me about what friendship with other ponies is worth? Do you have any idea how much you sound like a stuck up, spoiled little brat who didn’t get exactly what she wanted for Hearth’s Warming Eve? ‘Oh, no, my life is so hard, I only have unimaginable levels of magical power and my own kingdom and a sister who wants the best for me! Why must I suffer so? I think I’ll lock myself up and cry about it.’”
Luna was taken aback by the outburst. “Twilight, we did not mean to minimize the importance of your friendships or the things you have accomplished, just that-”
“Yes, you did! You always do! You act like if something doesn’t take a few centuries to accomplish it isn’t worth doing. Well news flash, Luna, some of us don’t have the luxury of locking ourselves away for a couple of years until our feelings aren’t hurt any more. Some of us have to make the most of every single day, because tomorrow I might get killed saving your flank from a bunch of falling rocks. So don’t you dare try to lecture me on what’s important, or what my priorities should be, because no matter how long you’ve been around you won’t ever understand what it’s like to live like that.” Twilight found herself standing up on her chair with her front hooves on the table, leaning over the disguised Princess. At some point she had knocked over her drink without noticing, and the sweet, syrupy beverage dripped off the edge of the table onto the floor. “Then again I guess that as an immortal I wouldn’t expect you to really understand that.”
The ambient conversations at the other tables around them had stopped completely. Twilight became aware that all the other patrons, not to mention the hostess, the waitstaff, and a couple of ponies from the kitchen, were all staring at her.
“I changed my mind again. I’m not really that hungry after all,” said Twilight. She hopped down from the table and pushed past the stunned waitress who had come over to take their order as she trotted towards the front door, fighting every fiber of her being that screamed at her to gallop out of there as quickly as she could. Ignoring Luna’s calls for her to wait, she shoved the door open and stepped out into the Pensacolta sun by herself.
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Hey, wow, I actually updated! Sure as hell took me long enough.
This chapter started to spiral a little bit out of control, when I outline my eyes are obviously bigger than my stomach. So if not much seems to happen in this chapter it's because it was only the first third of what was originally planned to be one chapter. When will the next chapter arrive? Tomorrow? Another 6 weeks? Well, where's the fun in just telling you?
Seriously though, sorry for the delay and I'll try not to let it get that bad again.
Holy Bacon, and first unauthor comment :P
Well done.
I'm sensing twilight has a few unresolved issues.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
CSI: MIAMI REFERENCE FOR THE EPIC WIN!
Dammit Snowflake, you had one job. ONE. JOB.
Aaaaand there goes the professional attitude. Smooth, Twilight. Although Luna insulting her friends certainly wouldn't help. They're the only one of Twilight's accomplishments/assets/parts of life that Luna hadn't insulted and belittled yet.
Oh goody, Twilight hasn't completely misplaced her spine, and Luna's issues with mundanes haven't gone away just because she's partially repaired her relationship with Twilight. Much fun in store!
Your background character selection feels really, really male-heavy, which feels so weird in FiM. But I can accept I like my pony more estrogen-soaked than the average.
EDIT: Over-under on Bronze Bell getting fridged? Or better yet, tied up and suspended over an elaborate deathtrap?
1060386 Traumatized Twilight is traumatized.
1060267
Yeah, you could say that there might be one or two itty bitty little things she's not quite over yet.
1060374
I was worried this might clash with the overall tone of the chapter a little, but once I realized that I needed a crime scene unit to show up I really couldn't not throw it in. Mr Mane won't be a very important part of the story but I might work in another appearance if I think or an especially terrible pun.
1060386
Yeah, you would think Luna would know that's not a great subject to dwell on. Still Twilight can only take so much and I think she's earned the right to be a bit resentful over the last few months.
I think the saddest part is that Luna genuinely knew something was wrong with Twilight and was actually trying to help in her awkward and incredibly condescending way
1060423
I really hadn't noticed anything like that. Obviously Reinolds is a major male character, but in terms of speaking parts the only guys I can think of are him, Bronze, professor Secrets, and Horatio who barely counts. The other two cops were split evenly boy/girl, and the nurse from chapter 5 and the receptionist were female. Plus Luna, Celestia, Twilight and friends are obviously female as well.
I can tell you there's at least one significant secondary female character that hasn't appeared yet.
Oh, and no bet on either one.
1060538
Yeah, I see your breakdown. That feels very male-heavy to me, for FiM. You could make any or every colt there a mare (with the exception of Bronze Bell, who by being male established Twi as at least straight-leaning, keeping the shipping element out of her and Luna's dysfunctional relationship) and not change your story at all - and FiM's a setting where the creators made the conscious choice to err female unless they had specific reasons for a character to be male. Reinolds doesn't need a dick to be a conscientous, brave Royal Guardspony, Buried Secrets doesn't need one to be an archaeologist having their life's work shat on by Princess Luna.
But like I said, I'm a stickler for this kind of stuff - FiM's managing to pull off a heavy female-view world without being shitty about it is a big part of the appeal, for me, of the show and the fanfic universe it's inspired.
(We better get some good Lad In Distress from Bronze Bell. Just sayin'.)
Dat Ending...
Nice one Twi, that felt good to read.
oooh.. the plot thickens even more
keep up the awesome work!
READ THIS
Good to see Twilight hasn't forgiven Luna for the entire mess (nearly killing her).
Definitely some issues to work out, and Luna still has to learn tact. Granted, from an immortal's point of view, I can see the problems, but still...
1060423 - And here I've got bits on Bronze being part of the stupid secret coven seeking to release/control the big bad sea serpent for their own gain...
1061687
A possibility, but it by necessity involves less Twilight heroically saving a pretty young colt from elaborate deathtraps, and thus I cannot in good conscience support it.
UPDATE!!! HOLY UPDATE!!!!!
Snowflake, you dropped the ball!
And Jesus Twilight, calm the fuck down.
great ending I am glad to see that they are finally starting to become better friends, in order for some wounds to heal properly a little pain may be required. also i blame you for about 200 killed braincells that was caused byface palming myself do to the csi miami reference and the really bad pun.
Out of character characters, Out of character characters everywhere.
Yeah, tell her Twilight! FU, Luna!
1064722
I'd love for you to elaborate on that, specifically who or what you're referring too. I assume you mean either Twilight or Luna but I need a little more to go on.
1061491
I'll admit I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to click the link in your comment before I realized there was no link in your comment
1064722
It doesn't exactly count when they're properly developed.
well, that escalated quickly
Horatio Mane, ah, that was a very good laugh. I loved it. Very happy for the update, too!
Y U NO romance tag?!
1070489
Yeah, reading the comments from between when I had posted chapter 3 and chapter 4 I was surprised how many people expected Twilight to win, I thought it was pretty one sided. Still, she put up a good fight which was really the point.
1072796
Because no romance! Geeze, you people REALLY want to see Twilight and Luna bang, don't you?
1073316
Well... that's the problem (that it isn't romance)! :D
And no... I'm not into clop, I just like the shipping (twiluna that is).
1065668 LOL
i was just testing the things.
1073585
Fair enough, you're just the seventh or eighth person to ask if I was shipping TwiLuna. Which isn't a bad ship, but the version of the characters that I've built up over the last couple chapters... Well, let's just say I'd feel wrong sticking them together romantically at this point, even though emotional intimacy isn't out of the question.
1076333
Glad you're enjoying it. Don't go too far, the next chapter should pop up in a few hours
my name is Horatio Mane. really? i think my brain just exploded there i was so not expecting that lol this fic is awsome
i completely lost it at horatios part, absolutely hilarious
now back to reading this aweome chapter/story
Heh. This is why bodyguards usually work in teams (typically of 3 - one spotter, one to act as a shield and one to potentially strike back) Twilight is trying to do everything at once - no wonder she cracks under stress. Good thing her boss is so hard to damage.
Did this chapter get edited between upload and now? Because I really don't get why so many people are supporting Twilight's little outburst there
I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall seeing Luna displaying the attitude Twilight's accusing her of having. It just seems like Luna made a semi-joking comment about being the wrong pony to come to for advice, and Twilight just randomly blew up at her. Yeah, the "As a mortal, we would not expect you to really understand that" line didn't help, but jeeze, Twi!
static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/13/134509/2781020-tumblr_mdz3c09QsO1qg898o.jpg
Twilight has PTSD; scary stuff. Bodyguard duty on top of that would make anyone tense.
It's sad to see such a friendly conversation (crush teasing, of all things!) derail like that, but I still like it. Despite their bonding and generally good relationship they have still have...rough patches and sore points.
That outburst seemed like it came out of absolutely nowhere, one moment they are bonding and having good times, the next twilight blows up for no apparent reason.
Hopefully the next chapter will clarify
It feels a bit strange how informal the police were with Luna...she is a Princess after all. Telling her she can go free seems a little odd when theres really nothing anyone could do about it anyway. I dunno. Her importance seemed a little downplayed, and the officers almost felt disrespectful. Maybe its just because I'm used situations where the ponies feel extremely nervous around the royalty.
1060166 Twi's analyses of the room struck me as very CSI Miami-ie (adj. Reminiscent of or relating to the show CSI Miami in which impossible predictions are made on the flimsiest of observations) and I have to say... you did not disappoint with My Little Caruso showing up
bucked
Whoever committed the crime is...
Edit: Yah this is late. Yah I'm commenting 65 weeks post posting. Bite me.
Fifth paragraph first sentence full stop needs a space.
2874261 Ever had emotional build-up? Yeah a lot worse things than a simple outburst happens.
2339266 2874261
it might have seemed like it came out of nowhere but that is assuming that the last eight chapters didn't happen. Twilight has been made Luna's personal bodyguard and that is more than just a change in duties. Before she could approach the princesses as equals (almost), but now she takes orders from Luna and any personal interactions are predicated by formality. She CANNOT be as frank as she just was in the diner, EVER. Add to that the fact that she has been doing this for three months and you have a lot of emotional build-up.
To make a real world correlation I will present to you my (former) Navy career. I was in Twilight's position of taking orders without question and having my own experiences undermined because I didn't have "15 years of experience" and a high enough rank to back it up. The result: I had conversations go EXACTLY like this one. I wasn't liked afterward but I brought to attention how there is a COMPLETE lack of communication and understanding between all parties.
To relate back to the story Twilight and Luna are still experiencing the same problems brought up three months ago and it is all because they never talked about it. Luna doesn't want to let Twilight know she can hurt her and doesn't want to give her more ammunition, and Twilight doesn't want to overstep her bounds and give Luna a reason to never talk to her again.
But as my own military experiences show the simple solution is communication and I hope that these two characters realize it in the upcoming chapters.
I laughed...
So hard...
4674650
Meeeeee too.
Umm... Twilight forgot how the whole bodyguard thing works.
Obligatory groaning acknowledgement of reference and the associated devaluing of the story that goes with it.
This is a funny and lighthearted rebuke of the Princess' comment, and is keeping in spirit with the Twilight we've learnt about over the last few chapters.
This is the beginning of something vicious, mean, and not warranted based on what we've seen so far. I understand that the stress of the day's events is supposed to be the trigger here, but for this to have worked I would've liked to have seen some sign that Twilight felt anything like this before this point. I think a big part of the problem is the paragraph between the two statements that tries to justify the second statement, but instead drawings attention to how out-of-place it feels.
Again, sorry to kick an old story...
8166532
All good, kick freely. This story probably deserves it, and while it has parts I'll defend it best serves as a rough draft to the stuff I wrote later.
At the same time, I maintain that Twilight deserves the right to lash out at the most convenient target by this point, and Luna's made herself the focus of Twi's inevitable eruption in more ways than one.
Twilight, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?! Also, did you forget the basic premise of what being a bodyguard even means?
Hmmmmm... Seems twilights brush with death paints a whole new picture in this town of historic "art"ifacts
In other words no... Bad author
xD
Again no just... just no these werent punny on the show they r not punny here