Discord Did It

by DarkMasterofCupcakes

Chapter 4

(Regular POV)

-Ponyville-

The streets of Ponyville were unusually busy today. It was late afternoon, yet all the shops were still open and the sky was perfectly clear.

To anyone who lived in Ponyville, it was clear that something important was going to happen today.

And, for what was probably the first time, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were completely unaware of what was happening.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked the five other mares and Spike.

None of them seemed to have an answer.

"The last time I saw every-pony this worked up was when Princess Celestia came for a visit" Rarity commented.

Twilight nodded in agreement. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide in a mixture of what appeared to be realization and absolute terror.

Her dragon assistant walked up to her side, asking her why she was so distressed. He gave a glance at her stomach, as though he believed her unborn foal was to blame for her pain.

The unicorn sighed.

"She doesn't know. I haven't told her yet" Twilight explained to her best friends.

For a moment, they seemed unsure of what she was talking about. Then they understood.

"Well…she'll understand, won't she?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

Twilight looked unsure, glancing back at her friends, then at the sky. The sun was just beginning to set.

The purple pony breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the princess wasn't actually coming today…

A crash of thunder interrupted her thoughts, followed quickly by the sound of whinnying ponies.

The six holders of the Elements of Harmony and their dragon companion looked up at the sky to see two chariots being pulled through the darkening sky.

So, apparently not only was Princess Celestia coming to visit her subjects in Ponyville, but so was her younger sister, Princess Luna. The two chariots landed mere feet away from the seven friends, who backed away slightly.

"It is delightful to see you again, Twilight Sparkle. It really has been much too long" Luna said to her sister's pupil, extending a hoof to the unicorn. Said unicorn smiled nervously and took the princess of the night's hoof, accepting the hoof-shake.

Once Luna released her grip on Twilight, Applejack leaned over to her friend in order to whisper, "Looks like Luna's been practicing her talking".

Twilight glared at her for a moment before opening her mouth to respond. Before she could say anything, however, she was interrupted by Spike clearing his throat and tapping her shoulder, obviously trying to get her attention. She turned her attention to the dragon, who pointed at something.

Twilight looked in the direction he was pointing, only to see a very concerned-looking Celestia looking back at her. Well, more specifically, she was looking at her stomach. No doubt she could automatically tell what was causing the swelling of the young unicorn's abdomen.

She looked at the other mares and she seemed to become even more worried.

"Princess Celestia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but.." Twilight began to say, only to be interrupted by the princess of the day hushing her gently.

"We will talk about this soon, Twilight Sparkle. For now, I just need you and your friends to meet me in the library." Celestia told her star pupil.

With that, she turned to her younger sister, nodding in one direction before walking that way. Luna took her older sister's gestures as directions to follow and she did such.

"I don't get why you were so worried, Twilight. She didn't seem angry to me," Pinkie commented to Twilight, who, along with Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, glared at her half-heartedly.

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-Twilight's Library-

"I had wondered why you hadn't sent me any letters for so long." Celestia said, smiling slightly at her student, who flinched slightly. It was as though the unicorn was expecting her teacher to punish her for some reason or another.

The other girls all seemed equally uncomfortable, though it was most likely for a different reason.

No-pony spoke, causing the room to fill with an almost tangible silence, which was soon cut by Pinkie Pie chewing on some muffins she had brought into the library, occasionally offering one to her friends and the two princesses, all of whom declined.

It was Princess Luna who asked the first non-muffin related question, addressing all six of the younger mares.

"Where, may I ask, are the stallions who had the honor of siring these foals?" she asked, her voice slightly louder than one would find acceptable for speaking indoors.

Instantly, five of the girls began shifting their weight, as though the question took away their balance. Pinkie just continued to eat her muffins.

Somewhat angered by a lack of response, Luna began to repeat the question, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.

"There aren't any, okay? I know it sounds crazy, but we really didn't do anything with any stallions!" she exclaimed, sounding half angry and almost exhausted. It was as though she had said the same thing to dozens of other ponies and was getting tired of it. Honestly, that was likely the case.

After Rainbow's outburst, the girls all looked at the princesses, expecting them (or at least Luna) to reprimand the multicolored-maned pegasus.

However, both Celestia and Luna were silent, identical worried expressions on their faces.

Before any of the younger mares or Spike could ask what was wrong, Princess Celestia gave a simple order: come to the castle by tomorrow morning.

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-Carousel Boutique-

Rarity felt like she was being pulled in five directions at once as she tried to get everything situated. She packed four months worth of necessities, as Princess Celestia had instructed. At the same time, she also attempted to give instructions to Sweetie Belle.

"Now, Lyra and Bon Bon will mind the store for me while I'm gone. All of the dresses that have been ordered for the next six months have already been completed. All you have to do is label the dress-form of each dress with the correct sticker" she told her younger sister.

Sweetie Belle frowned; obviously she had been hoping to be more involved with her big sister's business while she was gone, even if she couldn't actually make or design any dresses. But, the only task she was given besides labeling the dresses for their buyers was to feed Opal, a task that could be considered somewhat risky depending on the feline's mood.

"I'm not a baby anymore, sis." The younger unicorn told her older sister, glancing back and smiling at the cutie mark on her flank. The mark was made up of two golden bells, tied together by a pink ribbon shaped like a heart.

Rarity returned the smile and said, "No, you're not a baby. But, you're still too young to run the shop and take care of Opal by yourself".

Sweetie Belle sighed, but reluctantly agreed.

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-Sweet Apple Acres-

"I thought you never lied" Apple Bloom said accusingly as she stuffed a slightly tattered blanket into Applejack's pack. Granny Smith was napping and Big MacIntosh was plowing the field, so the filly was the only one around to help her sister get ready for her upcoming trip.

The orange mare looked at her younger sister and sighed. Out of all the members of her immediate family, her sister had taken the news that she was going to be staying in Canterlot for four months the worst. She didn't seem angry, but she was clearly upset.

"I didn't lie" Applejack said simply. The filly looked unconvinced.

For a few moments, neither of them spoke.

"Yes, you did. You said there wasn't anything wrong" the yellow filly said, her voice breaking the silence despite how soft it was.

Suddenly, Applejack knew what her sister was talking about. She sighed softly, not in exasperation, just a puff of breath, before she responded to Apple Bloom's words.

"There isn't anything wrong. Princess Celestia didn't say there was anything wrong, so there's nothing wrong".

She tried her hardest to not think of how worried the princesses had looked when Celestia had told the mares to come to Canterlot Castle. But, she wasn't lying. The princess didn't actually say that there was anything wrong.

Apple Bloom seemed a little less upset, though she was clearly far from convinced.

Applejack prepared to add to her last statement, but the filly got back to packing before she could even open her mouth.

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-Fluttershy's Cottage-

The holder of the Element of Kindness surveyed the room, making sure that everything was situated. Mostly, she wanted to make sure that all the animals were comfortable. She knew that Sparkler would do a wonderful job taking care of them (she was the head of the animal team during Winter Wrap Up, after all), but she didn't want to leave before making sure they were all happy.

She especially wanted to make sure that Angel and Tank were alright.

The rabbit was high on her priority list because of how close the two of them were. As for the tortoise, she was concerned for him not because he was her pet, but because he was the pet of one of her best friends.

Fluttershy had volunteered to allow Tank to live in her cottage, realizing that it would be impossible for the tortoise to actually live on Rainbow Dash's cloud home.

Normally, it was the perfect set-up. However, on a day like this, where everything seemed to be a little hectic, Fluttershy wished that Tank could walk on the clouds, so he could see that Rainbow Dash was just fine.

She was, Fluttershy knew. They were all just fine.

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-Sugar Cube Corner-

"Gummy, you can't come with me" Pinkie said with a giggle as she pulled her pet alligator out of her pack.

The two-year-old reptile blinked once in response to the "scolding".

Pinkie pressed her nose against his and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'll come back real soon. And then, we'll have a party to welcome me and all my friends back home. I'll make your favorite punch!" she practically squealed, growing excited at the idea of throwing a party. It was the thing she loved the most, after all.

Gummy just blinked again.

The earth pony's grin seemed to widen.

"I knew you'd like that idea" she said, rubbing his head affectionate.

Her pet alligator looked up at her for a moment in silence. He then opened his toothless mouth and began gumming her swollen stomach.

The foal inside her began to move, as if in response to Gummy's playful bites. Pinkie giggled.

"You two already like each other" she exclaimed happily. She still had stuff left to pack, but it could wait. She didn't really have that much left, and she loved to see Gummy so happy.

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-Rainbow Dash's Cloud-

"You sure it's okay for me to stay here while you're gone, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked breathlessly.

The lack of breath wasn't because she couldn't believe what her idol had told her. She had used a decent amount of energy flying up to the cloud.

Rainbow Dash looked slightly annoyed.

"If it wasn't okay for you to stay here, I wouldn't let you stay here, Squirt" she said, adding the affectionate nickname to show she wasn't truly angry at the pegasus filly. She had told Scootaloo to house-sit for her while she was in Canterlot.

Some would question why she had chosen a filly to take care of her home, rather than an adult pegasus.

There were two reasons, actually.

One, the only other pegasi she trusted enough to be in her home were all busy with either jobs or their foals. Two, the filly had apparently been kicked out by her parents again, so she needed a place to stay.

Dash had suggested that she go to talk to Scootaloo's parents, tell them what she thought of them kicking their daughter out of the house. Scootaloo, in return, quickly explained that they had left town for a vacation and she had no idea where they had gone.

Rainbow Dash had a feeling she was lying, but decided not to press it.

The orange filly seemed upset enough as it was.

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-Train, Route to Canterlot-

Twilight Sparkle was the only one awake this late at night. She was used to saying up late, due to her late-night study sessions when she was younger. She wasn't studying now. Right now, she was simply thinking.

Why did the princess want them to come to Canterlot, and on such short notice? Why did they have to stay for so long?

She didn't doubt that her teacher had good reason to give the order, but she wanted to know the reason.

The purple unicorn felt something brush against her hind legs. She looked back to see Spike was now curled up at the foot of her bed.

'He must've had a nightmare' she thought to herself, smiling slightly. Despite trying to act so mature, the dragon still was a child, it seemed.

Twilight, unable to physically reach her assistant, used her magic to rub his head gently.

She still wondered about the reasons for Princess Celestia and Luna demanding they come to Canterlot, but for now, she would focus on making sure her number one assistant felt safe.

Comments

[Super]

Well... this is... to be honest im not sure what to think here. Tracking out of curiosity.

[mines5]

I'm finding that the long term of this story is either going to show the chaos of having a child, or the children will have chaos powers as they grow older or something of the like, in any case though I await more to be written before I make any real assumptions.
I'm tracking this now :P

[SteampunkBrony]

this is an interesting read *tracks*

i can picture twi's face at the announcement of the foals...

[SuperPinkBrony12]

I think Celestia found out who did this to the bearers of The Elements of Harmony, you all know who I'm talking about.

[Psycho-genius brony]

Does anyone know how to get doped up on short notice? I'm about to flip out due to the awesomeness

[Firedon]

Gnaaah, another orphan Scoots.

[The-voice-of-the-dragon]

Can we just take a minute to apreciate the pun of canterlot?
Imean realy its a bit much.

[Water Lilly]

I'm laughing at the absurdity. The mane six become enciente through, for lack of a better term, immaculate conception and they, more or less, shrug it off.
I love it.