This story is a sequel to A Study on Chaos Theory
Twilight Sparkle joins Sunset Shimmer in her search for a Hearth’s Warming gift to Princess Celestia. But to find the perfect gift, they must brave the chaos and madness of one of Canterlot’s darkest secrets…
Used bookstores.
Knowledge of the previous stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline is suggested, but not required.
Historian’s Note:
Set in the Wavelengths Timeline where the Sonic Rainboom didn’t happen, Teahouses of Saddle Arabia occurs about a month after the events of A Study in Chaos Theory.
Cast: Sunset Shimmer & Twilight Sparkle
Cameos By: Princess Celestia, Moon Dancer, Coco Pommel, Coloratura, Minuette, Cheerilee, Sunny Day & A.K. Yearling
Special Guest Stars: Amber Spark & Desert Winds
Stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline in chronological order:
Origins Arc
The Alchemy of Chemistry
Bards of the Badlands
Grading on a Bell Curve
Habits of the Equestrian Phoenix
How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative
Applications Arc
The Application of Unified Harmony Magics
Princess Celestia: A Brief History
The Cloudsdale Report
Dreamers Arc
Tactics of Snowbound Unicorns
A Study in Chaos Theory
Teahouses of Saddle Arabia
As the Raven Flies
Cover Art by Little-Tweenframes/adgerellipone
Cover Text, Chapter Header and Break Designs by Amber Spark
Sunset Shimmer Cutie Mark by MillennialDan
Beta Reader & Editor Credits
Cursori: Draft 2 & 3 Lead Editor - Reader of Many a Pony Word
Little Tinker: Master of Systems at Poniverse
Beltorn: Commenter-at-Large on FimFiction
JayMan155: Artist & Author Extraordiane!
Word Count: 112,000 words
Version: 4.73
Ook?
9720567
No monkeys were harmed in the making of this novel. One human was, but only because the twit said the word 'monkey.' He's expecting to be out of the hospital in a few months or so.
That sent multiple knives through my heart. I can only imagine what it's doing to Sunset.
It involves hot springs. And sulphur. Lots of sulphur.
And, of course, one cannot speak of L-Space without mentioning the Librarian. Though if they do encounter him, they've probably gone too deep.
This should be fun! Hopefully. Poor Sunset. With any luck, she'll be too busy trying to keep her bearings in the middle of Hurricane Twilight to feel much internal turmoil.
9720621
Nothing good, I can tell you that. Come on, ALP actually convinced her to do something for once... not a great sign.
Nah. If they see Vimes or Rincewind, way too deep. Librarian's a given. He's the God of L-Space, after all. More or less. Sorta. Not really, but okay.
...what part of any story you've read by me makes you think that Sunset is even going to get the tinest mote of luck?
9720708
... Does The Narrative Cascade count?
9720717
As good luck? Or bad luck?
9720781
Hey, if bad luck counts, then I have a lot more options.
9720621
Yeah, don't count on it.
9720792
Oh yeah. And then some. Because I still can't decide if Sunny has good luck or bad luck in Cascade.
9720794
I can't imagine why you would say such a thing! Can't imagine why!
9720804
I wonder how much more utterly broken Sunset will be by the time this is over.
9720814
No comment. Eh-heh-he...
Sunset, what have you unleashed on Canterlot?
Sunfire, hmm?
9720955
Think bigger.
9721015
Sunfire is something very special that I think was mentioned briefly in Habits, but will get touched on fairly early on in the story. It's important though, so keep an eye out for it!
9721032
Oh dear. They're going to need bomb shelters rated for megaton range devastation, aren't they?
9721064
I hear Equestria!Mars is lovely this time of year.
Excellent job on the start of this latest story in your series. It took a while, but was VERY well worth the wait. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all wonderfully done. I especially liked Twilight and Sunset catching each other in their insultingly obvious lies as well as Twilight giving Sunset that Eureka Moment concerning the book on tea and the actually good argument Sunset's "inner voice" made. And, yeah, the detail of Sunset hanging with Surprise in the past was entertaining too. And, yeah, considering G1 Surprise was one of the main inspirations for CANON Pinkie Pie - that stuff definitely makes sense. And, I have to admit, Sunset's reflection on the alterations over time to her attitude on Ruby's flirting was really good stuff too.
At any rate, I will very certainly be looking forward to more, but will also respect the fact that real world matters need to take top priority.
9721122
You know, you're the first one to mention the startling inclusion of Sunset actually going on a date with Surprise, of all ponies. I don't even remember now when that idea came to me. But it works! Considering who was all involved, of course!
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to be back. It's been too damn long.
9721070
I wouldn’t know.
Last time somepony tried to get there, I heard that they encountered severe technical difficulties.
some people wait eagerly for TV series...
Me?
Nah. Novel's got me covered.
Excited for this installment! Might even re-read the whole shebang, actually. It's been a while for me.
It's great to see this back!
Accessing L-Space is highly narrative-dependent: if you're not in the right sort of story, you won't get there. (Of course, sometimes tempting the Author to be contrary works. Or doesn't.
)
ITS BACK!!!! I loved this first chapter. Maybe it’s just me, but It seems like we’re gonna focused little more on ALP this time. Also I’d love to hear the history behind Ruby. I’m really excited.
9721321
We could try Titan... but I don't want to end up on the wrong one. You know which one I mean.
9721505
D'awwwww! Thank you! Hopefully, the story lives up to such amazing praise!
Truth be told, I need to do the same thing. I've written this over such a huge length of time, edited so much, written unreleased stories... I have trouble keeping all of this straight!
9721609
And damn, it's good to be back!
Tempting the author to do something only works when the author hasn't already written the story. But please, try! If you can't tempt me to change something when I've ALREADY FINISHED? That's a feat.
That being said, it's not L-space. It's leyspace! I'm sure there's no commonality between the two. At all. Whatsoever. Nope.
9722239
Thank you! Yup! I've got a ton set up for you this time around!
It does have the second line. And it's a massive bitch to Sunset throughout Chapter 1. ALP's got... an interesting role in Teahouses. One that even I don't fully understand (or at least, I won't admit to understanding).
When she gets home from clubbing at the Mare Contraire, I'll talk to her and see what I can get out of her. My problem is she usually doesn't come home until 3, and I'm totally passed out by then. She's sneaky.
Aww.... Pinkie...
That just makes me sad.
Flat Earth? A wonderful pseudonym for a wonderful man. Of course, it should be Sir Flat Earth, the Wordsmith himself deserves nothing less.
9725764
Let me think about that. I haven't quite nailed down how Equestria (i.e. Celestia) approaches the gentry or if knighthood would be given to individuals for non-military achievements, but even as I type this, I think that it would be common because (usually) Equestria is a peaceful place so awards such of that might be semi-common.
Screw it. I'm gonna change it right now.
My, I'm sure that cloaked pony coming out of the shop is completely unimportant whatsoever.
What have you unleashed Sunset?
9725775
Just think of Sir Flat Earth as a professional Suspicious Bastard, and Celestia as an advocate of the “One Mare, One Vote” system, where she is the Mare, and she has the Vote, and it suddenly becomes much easier to believe that she might give Mister Earth titles just to get on his wick.
I almost feel bad about the torment Sunny Buns is going through, but she did kinda bring it on herself. Ah well, narrative complications ahoy caused by mentioning the possibility of narrative complications. Hopefully it doesn't end in fire.
Again, excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I LOVED Sunset reflecting on Twilight's stare (though if she thinks THAT stare is good, she SHOULD see FLUTTERSHY's) as well as the argument concerning Narrative Causality and Twilight and Sunset's accidental meeting with Pinkamena and Marble. In addition, the "chirping" argument was pretty funny too.
9725965
You are about to find out... heh. Hehehehee. He. HAH!
This is interesting. I spotted pinkie and starlight, which is also interesting. I have to wonder about Sunset’s encounter with Pinkie. She seemed to be able to sense that she wasn’t happy enough. With her comparison to minuette, I think that it’s because, after spending a bunch of time with ‘party ponies’, she can kinda feel when they’re off. Not sure how accurate that is, but it’s my running theory. Also, with the scene with twi and sunset talking about avoiding further harmony magic incidents, I was reminded of chaos theory’s events. Then I thought of Moondancer and twilight experiencing something similar, which to me seems like something likely to happen at something what with being together now. THIS prompted me to think of Sunset and Moondancer having a RCA moment. And now that I’ve thought of it, I can’t stop wanting it. I just want to see how it effects them, to really experience their best friend’s life. Finally, I have to ask, does sunset actually not know how singing applies to harmony, or was that only a distraction from the chirping?
This gave me chills. Sunset sensing something off with Pinkie, as if she could basically sense something wrong with the timeline. Of course, she doesn't know it and thinks it's just the pony. But still!
9725865
I've never seen her before in my life.
And so it returns, another story I love which I find very painful to read. Sunset needs to catch a break.
And as always I love the little references, and your characters are so good at bouncing off each other. Which is what makes it so painful. We’re not just told that Sunset and Twilight are soulmates, we actually see it even when they’re denying the romance to themselves. Too many writers skip that part.
And the way Sunset hates herself and has the constant intrusive thoughts is still deeply, uncomfortably familiar.
"Twilight, use Baby-Doll Eyes!"
"Bookhorse book!"
I'm not sure what hurts more, these two not letting their magic touch, or them accidentally doing so at some point in the future, only for nothing to happen.
Oof. Seeing Pinkie like that hurts, though Sunset sensing something awry could lead to something very interesting down the line...
And what was going through Marble's head for her to crash into Twilight like that? I'd suspect her of being a pickpocket if I didn't know better. (Which, of course, leads to the question of whether I do.)
The chirping debate was adorable. And I get the feeling that this isn't the last we'll hear of Sir Flat's theory.
And hi, obviously-not-Moondancer. Enjoy your purchase.
9727798
Yeah, this world's Pinkie Pie is... oof.
Their magic touching again and nothing happens? No. I think what would be most painful is if their magic touches again and it does.
I wonder if we're heading for a Backup Elements scenario, where the primary wielders are incapacitated. I'm really, REALLY hoping this isn't one of the worlds Twilight saw and it fails because of Sunset. Or, if it is, that the failure is more temporary than it seemed.
Poor Pinkie. Here's to hope she'll learn to smile again.
Twilight and Sunset have me wonder if it's possible to break a bond as powerful as theirs. It will be a long journey, but surely enjoyable.
All of Wavelenghts so far has been awesome! Looking forward to the coming chapters
9726051
When I wrote Celestia for the Applications Arc (specifically The Cloudsdale Report), the Patrician was actually one of her major influences, though in a subtle way. She definitely had no problem naming him to that rank!
9726096
just finished putting away the extra kindling. I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't catch that last part.
9726219
Chirp.
Also, I'd say that Fluttershy and Twilight's Stares are in different categories. For example, sometimes you need a bunker buster bomb. Sometimes you need an orbital missile strike. Both are very dangerous!
9726654
Where's Starlight in this? I'm a bit confused here. (Or am I?)
Your theory about spending time with party ponies is great, but Minuette has never really shown an interest in throwing parties, unless you count O&O games.
As for the Harmony Magics, I'm fairly sure Sunset wants nothing to do with them. That being said, it's possible they might get exposed to such magic again, so you may get your wish!
She was totally just trying to weasel her way out of that one and completely fell flat on her face.
9726717
You've never met someone and go "there's something off about that person?" Can you be sure it's a timeline thing and not just a personal vibe thing? Huh? Can you?
9727358
She will catch a break soon! It may not be the break you want though. Heh.
Trust me on this: I did not skip this one. In fact, you haven't even seen it start.
I know. ALP comes from way too much personal experience. I will give you this at least... ALP will be dealt with. But as with many in Sunset's situation, she doesn't realize she really needs help yet.