Stitches and Threads
Twilight Sparkle had many dolls and plushies, some given by distant family members who knew only that a young filly relation was another year older. Others were given by closer family to entertain and keep the growing girl company. From an assortment of unicorns with large googly eyes, happy smiles and horns that were prime targets for chewing, to more personal dolls that had been handed down, mother to daughter for generations, Twilight had them all.
Shelves were filled with the silent protectors and companions of the tiny pony as she listened to her parents read her bedtime stories, the night’s plushie of choice occasionally lifted down by a bemused parent as Twilight insisted that ‘Miss Chewyhorn’ join her for the night, or that ‘Mr Brown’, the blue pegasus doll in Wonderbolt colours, be her pillow guard.
Her brother would end up giving her enough guard ponies so that she would never have to worry about any would be pillow thief, dozens of velvet spears ready to protect their owner and her other bedroom companions from the battlements of shelving that lined the room, ready in ambush between photos and books. Shining Armor earned a special place in Twilight’s heart the evening she found him giving her dolls a rousing speech after she’d had nightmares the night before.
"Shining? Shining, are you in here? You-" Twilight looked around her brother's room, looking for the colt in question. "-You promised to read for me..."
An ear perked as she heard his voice from her room? Trotting quickly down the hall to her bedroom, the small filly peeked in to see all her guard ponies in formation on the floor. The Wonderbolt team looked over the troops from atop a pillow while every other pony doll she had stood in attendance on the bed.
Standing over them all like she imagined Celestia might stand over her own ponies was Shining Armor with a foam sword at the ready.
"-so I expect you all to be on your guard tonight! No monster or, uh, nightmare is getting past you again or I'll have to tell mother you've been letting her down. You better protect Twilight 'cause she's the most important pony ever, okay?. Now back to your posts!"
- - - - -
There was one doll that Twilight favoured most, a gift from her grandmother that sat in pride of place at the end of her bed, the only place a doll of its size would fit. The large unicorn doll coated in the softest plush, blessed with a silvery mane and a shimmering platinum coat.
Twilight’s grandmother, Evening Star, had promised the young foal that the large golden eyes were perfectly capable of seeing in the dark, and that ‘Princess Fuzzy's' horn could see off any monsters that hid under Twilight’s bed.
Princess Luna, upon her return and resumption of her dream walking, would learn that peeking in on Twilight’s dreams came with the sensation that something was peeking back.
With the immutable belief of the young and innocent, Twilight never questioned her grandmother and made sure that her personal princess was present in anything she was doing so the large cotton stuffed protector could carry out her duty, regardless of grass stains or the occasional rain shower. She wouldn’t understand the poorly hidden smiles on her parent’s faces or the constant picture taking until years later.
Princess Fuzzy had been there when Twilight was learning to read, glass eyes keeping watch long after the filly had lost the battle to keep delving into the story books with her brother and playing the part of impromptu pillow for the sleeping children as their parents chuckled at the scene.
“Night, dear, come look at this.”
“I’m coming, I'm coming.''
"Aren't they just precious?"
Night Light softly stepped up alongside his wife, peering past her at the trio on Twilight’s bed. The tiny filly curled up against her oversized plushie, her brother Shining Armor sleeping beside her.
Velvet and Night Light thought it cute that a stuffed forelimb was resting protectively over brother and sister but by the time they had returned with a camera, the thought was gone in favour of future blackmail.
- - - - -
Princess Fuzzy had been there when Twilight was first learning to use her magic, through the headaches and the growing pains, the highs and lows, quiet company to a girl that struggled to understand the other ponies at kindergarten but never missed the silent half of their conversations.
"Now I need to focus....focus Twilight! You can-owowOW!" A telekinetic push became a solid shove and the small filly saw her doll's eyes seem wider for a moment as the plushie was catapulted off the bed.
"I'm Sorry!"
I forgive you.
Princess Fuzzy would find the floor more than a few times as Twilight struggled to control her magic, glass eyes always forgiving the apologetic pony.
The inclusion of Cadance as foal sitter had helped to ease the parent’s concerns as the pink alicorn drew Twilight from her shell as Shining grew busier, being the kind and supportive voice that she needed when immobile plush limbs could help no more.
Cadance privately noted the way the unicorn doll’s head would always be tilted so its large eyes could watch over her charge. Once, just to satisfy the niggling curiosity, she snuck into the filly’s room and stared at the doll that was now closer to Twilight in size. A long drawn out battle of wills had taken place between the two princess' and all she’d gotten from it was a feeling of foolishness for having a staring competition with a doll, one that she wasn't sure she'd won and chalked it up as coincidence.
- - - - -
“Cadance! My new book came! Can you read it to me tonight? Shining was going to but he’s stuck in that junior guard thing and couldn’t make it and I didn’t want to read it alone a-and...Fuzzy said her throat is sore.” The young pony’s voice was weaker as she trailed off and Cadance couldn’t help but sweep the filly into a hug.
“Of course, dear. Why don’t we make a cup of cocoa first and we can get started on it.”
Twilight whooped at the idea, but rather than leave her new book on the shelf, she dragged it over to her favourite doll, resting the book under its hooves. “Princess Fuzzy will make sure it’s safe,” she said with certainty, giving her doll a firm nod, and the foal sitter couldn’t help the giggles bubbling up at the sight.
- - - - -
“Grandmother! You made it!” Twilight’s voice was bright and she was quick to drag her plushie princess over to her grandmother, her happy babbling about her favourite doll and everything they had been up to and been doing together bringing a warm smile to the aged mare. "-then she told me I need to go slow and let myself grow."
Evening Star inspected her last and best creation. The tears and scuffs that years of play produced had been painstakingly repaired, some by her daughter, though the newest ones looked to be done by tiny hooves. The irregular and crooked stitching was done with care though. The glass eyes gleamed, though, as she hummed in thought.
Looking at the princess in her grip, Evening Star nodded thoughtfully while Twilight waited with baited breath to hear the results. “You’ve taken good care of her, my little Sparkle. I think she is very happy here with you.”
Handing back the doll, she let the bright and cheery mood of her granddaughter distract her from the feeling of gratitude in the doll’s eyes.
- - - - -
Princess Fuzzy was there when the news came of her maker. Platinum plush soaking away tears on the day Twilight was told that Evening Star had fallen asleep and had never woken up. Night Light and Velvet hadn’t missed the way the pony and doll seemed to lean on each other but were used to the oddness of Evening Star’s creation by now, never finding it worth worrying to look into something that they felt was harmless tricks of the light or just a stressed mind seeing things.
Twilight and her doll mourned their loss in silence, until her brother walked in, still sweaty from junior guard training, and pulled them both close. “Twilly, I-I just heard."
"It's not fair! She w-was here last week a-and she was fine!" Twilight buried her face in his chest.
"I’m here for you, Sis."
He didn’t say more, because he didn’t need to, even as it was his turn to be soaked in tears.
- - - - -
As the time for Twilight Sparkle’s proper schooling arrived, her parents surprising their daughter with an enrolment to Celestia’s own college, it had resulted in two things.
The first being another in a series of late nights as Twilight threw herself into studying everything she could to prepare for the entrance exam, occasionally working herself into panic attacks that Cadance was quick to help her deal with.
The second had been a long, drawn out argument that Princess Fuzzy couldn’t go with the young girl to her entrance exam.
One that ended with Night Light and Twilight Velvet huffing in amusement and resignation when their son had wordlessly grabbed the doll and walked out the front door.
“If Twilight needs her family there for her, then her family will be there.” His words drew out a blinding smile from his sister who nudged him, unease over the entry exam fading for the moment. “Besides, Cadance wanted to meet up later so...good timing?”
“Thank you, Shiny! I’m just so nervous, I studied and studied and I can’t think of what I might have missed and what if I missed-”
His hoof gently pressed to her lips. “You’ve got this, sis.”
- - - - -
Sure enough, his prediction had been accurate as Twilight passed the written section with only one panic attack from curve ball questions and her family was allowed to watch her attempt the practical portion.
Twilight had heard rumours of this part of the test, a task that changed from year to year but none of her research or questions had given away what the test was to be for this year. It irked her more because it was then something she couldn’t study up on and was building up to another anxiety overload until her brother ruffled her mane.
“Remember Cadance’s breathing exercise?”
“Y-yeah. I just-” Twilight tried to focus on the anxiety control exercise the pink alicorn had taught her when the voice of one of the professors' broke the moment as a cart was wheeled in.
“Your final task, Miss Twilight, is to hatch this egg.”
Fate played its hand...
- - - - -
Twilight stared at the large egg, lost for a moment as she reviewed everything she knew about dragons and their eggs and came up with very little. All the books had told her was that dragons possessed high levels of innate magic and nested around lava flows.
‘So, warmth and magic…but how hot? How much magic? Is it a constant or-’
Indecision trapped her and Twilight felt the cold, familiar fingers of panic grip her chest as the review board waited with a detached air. Glancing over, her eyes met the supporting sight of her family, even Princess Fuzzy’s passive expression seeming to cheer her on.
‘I.. I won’t let them down! Focus Twilight!’ Her horn sparked with magic build up as she started to cast a spell, then changed her mind to another, then another in a stuttering cycle as her family were watching with growing worry.
“Twiligh-” Shining Armor tried to support his sister but a flash of light from the window caught his attention as everything went to chaos.
Just as Twilight’s horn sparked, building for another spell, a nova of colour washed over the city, the windows of the school room blowing in as the air became choked with raw, unbound magic.
Had she been a graduate of the school, the struggling unicorn would have known the suddenly dangerous position she was in. As it was, Twilight’s horn became a magnet for all the magic in the air and the resulting surge of power flooded the heating charm she had been casting, mutating it and blasting the dragon egg with what was more a magical demand than a mere spell.
'This egg must hatch.' Magic commanded.
'The egg is not real, it is plaster and paint.' Reality replied.
'The egg must hatch. It must be real.' Rebuke.
'There is no dragon hatchling inside. The egg was not real.' Protest.
'This egg must be real to hatch, thus there must be a hatchling inside. Thus is was always a real egg.' Ultimatum.
A demand that resulted in a stone and plaster imitation egg cracking open, revealing a tiny hatchling that promptly swelled under the beam of magic, the unnaturally grown infant’s head crashing through the roof of the school.
The demand to hatch answered the spell lost its focus and Twilight found herself trapped in the grip of something else, her horn burning as wild magic lashed out, sweeping across the room. Her parents were caught trying to take cover behind a suddenly tiny desk and discovering life as pot plants while Cadance deflected the beam that surged for her with a shield of her own, leaving the blue disc cracked and creaking like glass.
“Twilight!” Shining Armor’s desperate call didn’t stop the glowing form in the middle of the room from blasting away with another spray of uncontrolled magic that would have struck had Cadence not yanked him to safety, dragging the struggling unicorn towards the door with her own magic and running past the professors who were turning green whilst sprouting leaves at an alarming rate.
‘S-stop! I can’t- I.. Help! Shining, help me, it hurts!’ The small pony writhed in the grip of the uncontrolled outburst, glowing with an eye watering intensity until another source of magic arrived to contain and resolve the situation. As Princess Celestia brought her focus to bear on Twilight, the surging magic lashed out one more time, draining the last of the unfettered spell, before it guttered out under the Princess’ attention, leaving a small, limp form behind.
Propped up in a seat where it could watch the proceedings, untouched until that moment, the doll, Princess Fuzzy, blinked her eyes and took a breath.
As Keeper of Fuzzy Stuffed Twilight Friends, I hereby Approve This Fic.
I don't know why I decided to read it.
I knew what I was getting into.
Yet I still decided to do it.
Now my light is turned on and this will be a sleepless night.
For if I turn off the light, I will see the black empty eyes of the doll staring at me.
I hate dolls. I hate these immobile terrors.
This is extremely neat! A very nice atmosphere and tight little buildup. I'd almost say that a majority of this could stand apart on its own, but I'm ready to see where you go.
And that submit button? You'll grow into it.
Trust me, you’re always right to fear that submit button.
Excellent start, I can’t wait to see where it goes! Princess Fuzzy is adorable.
Oho, I’ve got a good feeling about this story.
Reality: try all you want. Fake egg. So there.
Magic: what if reality was more a guideline than an absolute?
Reality: what heresy are you spouting?
Magic: alicorn level, so there. Boom!
Only nit pick, Cadance's magic is blue, other wise Nice start! I will be following this. I'm glad you wrote it.
This is a great start. Can't wait to see where it goes.
Ooo. Color me intrigued. Definitely tracking.
And up into the featured list you go!
Really good start. I look forwards to more.
This is off to a fun start!
You must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. You will face your fear. You will permit it to pass over you and through you. And when it has gone past you will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only the Submit button will remain.
"Princess Celestia brought her focus to bare on Twilight" - typo for "bear".
Yeah, he's a gambler like that.
He also cheats.
Okay boys and girls, gather around! Today we're going to learn about the ethics of unintended consequences and/or results, and the mage's responsibilities thereof.
Thanks for the support, folks. It means a lot!
10204347
You have a point regarding the color. Cadance's magic has been shifted back to the blue spectrum.
10204600
I read this line like, three times and it didn't twig. Celestia now keeps her clothes on.
10204805
Yay! More plz!
You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.
I love it!
mooooooore please i can see so much good from this
Always Submit. Looking forward to where this goes.
Very interesting premise looking forward to seeing where it goes. Poor reality lost an argument with magic if it hadn't been so orderly discord would've loved it
Really looking forward to the next chapter. Also the bit about the egg is an interesting touch.
Enjoying this so far. Mechanically very good, only noticed one grammar error ("You’re final task, Miss Twilight") and I think the premise is interesting. Thanks for writing.
Followed this from Goerg's blog post and already following.
Well, I'm eager to see where this is going. Though if the egg was always fake, then how exactly was Twilight supposed to pass the exam?
10205139
In some other fanfics, authors would guess that the point was not to see if the applicant could hatch the egg, but to see how they approached the problem and what spells they would attempt.
I am looking forward to more of this story.
10205139 Its to see how they deal with failure and the methods they try to hatch it
This is cute and has captured my interest. I will be watching with much anticipation!
I like it
10205139
More than one author has observed that if you think about it, having untested novices throw spells at an unborn infant of a sapient species is a dozen kinds of messed up.
10205290
Given how shoddy and racist the education system is, though...
Little did they know a changeling had taken the place of her doll...
Just kidding!
This looks like fun!
Keep going! ;)
An interesting beginning, i need moar.
I enjoy
Omg i never thought spikes egg could of been fake but its so obvious now like why the fuck would they bring a baby dragon egg around unstable powerful unicorns dragon eggs prob arnt fragile by any means but some of those unicorns cutiemarks might be blowin shit up and thats fuckin baby endagerment right there what if Torch found out i dont know if hed not give a shit a weakling died or declare war due to a inferior race capturing then killing one of his peeps. And what does terry pratchet say about magic he who doesnt know the rules can do anything.
Lastly spelling error turned her parents into pot plants make it potted plants not pot plants least your trying to throw some stoner pride in here. Twilights parents come out of it like woah man that was crazy i felt as high as a kite what is this reality am i right
10205139
Ive heard that it was a test on a fillys ability to admit defeat with grace you know how some of those nobles can be, needed to weed those problem children out or at least take note of them so they dont go causing any problems
Excellent start. Loved how you described Twilight and the little hints that Fuzzy was already a little bit more than a mere doll.
Great work, will be looking forward to more.
This reminds me of the story Twilight Sparkle Lays an Egg.
Okay
1: this was great, I loved everything. From the families interaction to shining being a great big brother to Spike basically being willed into existence.
2. HERPY DERPY. I read the description wrong. Cos it was a Princess Platinum doll I thought that It was the real Princess Platinum turned into a doll by a curse or something, and had been passed down generations cos twilight’s family were descents of Clover And Twilight brought her back. LOL I so sup
Can’t wait for the next chapter
A very promising, and cute, start! Love to see where things will go from here.
moar
10205538
Dear lord, you weren't the only one.
You have my attention, Author.
I would love to see more of this unqiue story concept
Cotton vs wool.
10205763
You have mine as well.
10205823
... good to know.
This is GLORIOUS
I loved it!
Tiny twilight is adorable, and I really want to see where this goes. Double friend animation for the win!
Also, the submit button is imposing, but don't worry. It gets pushed all over the place.