//------------------------------// // Egg Shells // Story: A Royal Problem // by Wearin Hat //------------------------------// A white brow furrowed in thought as she considered her few options, it was only a matter of time now, “Pea.” “Knee.” Smirking in eagerness, the determined green eyes of the larger pony bore into his opponent’s as he saw her resolve fading. “Flea.” Quick to respond, she could feel the end coming quickly as her eyes began to twitch heavily under thought. “Free.” “Key.” His smirk widened as he noticed her weakness. This would surely be the killing blow, “Plea.” Seconds began to pass as a white hoof came to the filly’s chin in thought. Nervousness crept along her back as she felt a loss coming her way. There was no way she could keep up for too long at this pace. The two of them had already been at it for almost thirty minutes now and no headway had been made. Sure, the score was currently tied, but she couldn’t let him win this time. Imagine how proud Rarity would be if she knew that her own little sister had finally managed to best their friend in a Word War! It would be unforgettable for the little filly if she were to pull an upset here today. With the inspiration that impressing her sister caused, the white filly’s eyes went wide with hope as she finally blurted out the absolute last thing she could think to try in this particular game, “Flee.” Lighting struck her opponent’s ears as she defied him a victory. He had been so sure that she would be lost after that last word that he’d already prepared a celebration and some helpful hints that would aid the filly whenever they would play again. However, this dream was proven fruitless as the shock of her perseverance took its toll on him. There was no way she should’ve been able to continue. Her eyes had been drooping throughout the game in show of her mental fatigue. The first two games had been very stressing on them both. His opponent had only managed to win the first game because he’d relented and allowed her the early victory; of course he made her fight for it though, he allowed the first battle to go on for twenty minutes so as to wear down his very worthy rival. In the second game he had padded it out as long as possible before kicking it into overdrive and using his big, fancy words. However, he couldn’t have known that the third game would be such a struggle. She was refusing defeat and now he was tired of the affair and, to make matters worse, was backed into a corner. Terror dripped over his features as he saw the joy well up within the filly as time slowly went by. He had to act. Ok, so, he knew that his years as a writer would provide the answer. Now all he had to do was account for what she had said. Wait, what was it she had said? Mark? Rock? Spectacular? Knowing he was only seconds from surpassing the time limit, the stallion decided to wing it despite having forgotten just what word she had used last. “Cake…” The air froze between them as he observed her face. Ears began to perk slowly as her eyes widened in similar speed with her jaw falling into disbelief. Every strand of fur on his body stiffened as the moment hit him hard. He had made a mistake. “Wait, no…I meant to say…” “I WON!” Very aware of her victory, the white filly hopped up in down in impersonation of a certain pink mare that eternally smelt of cupcakes and cotton candy. This was happiness that she had been reserving for the day she would receive her Cutie Mark, but this situation definitely called for jubilee. Sighing in defeat, the tall stallion looked proudly down upon his younger friend and raised a hoof in respect. “Well played Sweetie, I didn’t think you’d pull a fast one on me like that.” Expecting to feel his outstretched be taken in graciousness, he was taken aback by the sudden impact of the filly hugging him excitedly. Feeling the joy practically explode from her tiny body, the stallion returned the embrace as he let her continue to voice the celebration occurring within her mind. “Ohmygosh! I can’t believe I won! This is so super-spectacularly-amazing!” It seemed like a distant memory when they had first played this little game of his. She had been much younger then and defeating an already seasoned writer seemed like an utter impossibility. This made the win mean more than she had ever thought possible. “Wait until Rarity hears about this! She’ll be so proud of me!” “I must say that I am very proud of you, Sweetie Belle.” Both of the war-torn ponies turned to the source of the voice to be met by the sight of the beautiful mare that was the filly’s older sibling. With speed that forced the tall stallion to flinch, the victor of their game sped quickly into an embrace with her waiting sister. “Did you see me? Did you see me win?” The generous unicorn took a moment to enjoy the feeling of her little sister hugging her. It wasn’t very often that anything could force the filly to react in such a way. “Not only did I see you, but we have a witness here who can confirm that you did in fact best that silly playwright.” Seconds passed by as the younger unicorn took in her sister’s words. Sweetie Belle had never been the quickest to catch onto things and this was no different. It was only the sound of hooves against Chrome’s floor behind Rarity that the filly peered around to see the form of Ponyville’s resident egghead. The smile returned to her face as she realized one of the smartest ponies in all of Equestria had been witness to her win. “You saw me win too?” Directly assaulted by the cuteness that was Sweetie Belle’s bliss, the purple unicorn had been pushed into silence. Her earlier qualms in regards to Rarity’s trust of Chrome had been snuffed out by some quick explanations. According to the white unicorn, the playwright was like a brother to them. This had relieved a ton of stress from her shoulders as the thought of leaving three little fillies with a stranger had made her skin creep. “I did. Congratulations on the accomplishment Sweetie.” The look of pride in the filly’s face was unmistakable. Twilight recognized it immediately as the face she adorned whenever she managed to impress Celestia in some manner, which only solidified the importance of this event to the young pony. The purple pony turned to see her friend looking around for something. Though preoccupied with whatever it was -Twilight could recall she mentioned something about Sweetie being distracted from packing up while they were outside- she could easily tell that the generous pony was overwhelmed by stymied emotions. Feelings the librarian was sure would be witnessed soon enough. “Sweetie, where are your things? I thought I told you to be ready for me this time?” Before the filly could respond in proper, a huff from across the room caught everypony’s attention. “Sorry about that Rarity. We got a little carried away with another Word War after Big Macintosh picked up Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. All of her things are up in the guest room though.” The aquamarine unicorn looked down to meet the eyes of Sweetie Belle. “As you know, I owe you a trip to Sugarcube Corner. I’ll come by and get you later today to reward you. Now, if you’d be so kind, would you take your sister to go help you pack? I’ve got some things I need prepared.” Not a second had passed before the white filly burst across the room in excitement and charged up a set of stairs that led to the second story of the plain building. Rarity watched the little one go with an air of adoration that touched both of the unicorns witnessing it. Twilight felt a pang of memory as she thought of Shining looking after her in the same manner. Though he felt the warmth of the genuine love between the sisters, the aquamarine unicorn grimaced inwardly as he recalled receiving the look in his youth. “Chrome,” the sultry voice piped up from the generous pony as she began to trot over to the stallion. “I really do appreciate you watching after the Crusaders last night. You know I would’ve gladly have done so, but there were too many orders for me to fill in order to focus on both my work and the darling foals.” The generous pony lit her horn up as she retrieved a cushion from the floor and levitated it to float beside her as she wrapped the stallion in an appreciative hug. “You know it’s not a problem. My door is always open for you two.” Though he focused entirely on returning the hug warmly, Chrome’s vibrant jade eyes met Twilight’s own violet orbs for the first time. Though his stare was gentle, the purple unicorn couldn’t help but feel a shiver run up her back as one of her favorite authors shared a moment with her. “Do tell me though, who is this you’ve brought with you?” Recognizing her rudeness, Rarity released the embrace and began to trot after Sweetie Belle at last while keeping her face turned to her friends. “Ah yes, how rude of me, Twilight darling, this is Chrome Prism.” Hearing the name Twilight made the stallion flinch slightly as he fought to recall the source of his familiarity with it. “And Chrome, this is Twilight Sparkle. She’s a big fan of yours and asked me to introduce you two.” Giggling as her male friend gawked at the name, the white unicorn made her way swiftly up the stairs with the cushion in tow. “Now if you two don’t mind, I must make sure Sweetie Belle doesn’t destroy your guest room.” Disregarding his manners, the stallion continued to stare awkwardly at his visitor. Rarity had told of her exploits with the other Elements of Harmony and she had spoken very highly about the Element of Magic. In fact, the stallion had been so impressed by the stories that he felt compelled to write a play honoring the group’s achievements. The only thing that stopped him was that he knew exactly who he would have to speak to in order to do the necessary character research and he wasn’t willing to invite such a problem upon him. However, that didn’t change the awe with which he regarded the unicorn before him. “It is absolutely splendid to meet you Miss Sparkle! Rarity has told me everything about how you vanquished the Ursa Minor, the hydra, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and especially those nasty changelings up in Canterlot, very impressive!” The last bit of the praise came out slightly muffled as the playwright dramatically bowed in respect to the sizable importance of the pony in his very home. He felt as if there was no limit to how lightheaded he could feel at the current moment. A very powerful, wise, and respected unicorn stood in his own bucking house and, according to Rarity, she was a fan of his! “How may I help you this fine day?” “Oh my,” Twilight’s cheeks flushed scarlet as she felt wholly put on the spot by all of his praises. Of course she had partaken in several great things before, but they were nothing to get overexcited about. She did those things with her friends and she would not have been able to do any of it without the help of her friends. Recognizing the silence as being one too awkward to continue, the purple unicorn decided to get straight to the point so as to prevent any more unwanted praise. “Well,” it suddenly struck the mare as the situation returned to her. This was not something to be talked about lightly and it was definitely not something to alert the public of. She had to go about this as smooth as possible. “Two of my friends are having problems and I heard you might be able to help me solve their problem. You don’t have to help, but I’d appreciate it as I’m kind of running low on options.” The ears of the stallion perked as he returned to a standing pose. He was always happy to help absolutely anypony with any problem to the best of his ability, so it wasn’t even a question whether or not he would try. It was a question of whether or not he could fit it into his schedule. “I’ll do what I can for you. Just follow me into my kitchen-area and we can talk while I get some stuff ready for an appointment of mine.” Chrome finished speaking and quickly moved to a tiled corner of the room that was lined with the usual kitchen appliances and a single table with four cushions on the ground to seat guests. Finally granted a chance to actually see the inside of the simple building, the studious unicorn felt sympathy well within her as she saw that there was practically no furniture or anything of that nature. Sitting at the back of the huge room was a small stage with the curtains drawn. To the left of it was a cluttered desk that made the lavender pony more at home as it reminded her of the lovely feel of having a workplace absolutely amok with papers and books. The kitchen-area was no better than the rest of the room. Though it had the appliances everypony else had, the ones Chrome owned looked positively ancient. Piled up in the sink were three bowls that Twilight had taken as evidence of the Crusader’s presence the previous night. “So, your friends, what kind of issue are they being plagued by that I can help with?” Torn from her analysis of the barren room, the purple unicorn turned to see the stallion preparing tea. Aware that now she could finally begin to get to the bottom of this whole issue and get life back to normal, Twilight sat upon what she quickly realized was a dusty cushion. “You see, they’re sisters and they haven’t seen each other for a very long time. I haven’t got too many details as of yet, but from what I’ve been told, the younger of the two of them seems to still be harboring some of the jealous feelings that separated them in the first place. Do you think you might be able to help me out?” Though hopeful that such an imaginative pony would be of great help, Twilight became quickly aware of an icy silence that prevailed over the kitchen-area. She could even make out the muffled hooves of Sweetie Belle and Rarity upstairs. “What makes you think I’d be able to help?” His voice was grave, almost threateningly devoid of the perkiness that had been dominant before. Whatever underlying excitement and helpfulness that Twilight had sensed before was now a distant memory as she felt as though she had misspoken in some way. Deciding to choose her words more carefully or incite some form of anger, the purple unicorn continued hesitantly. “I’ve heard that playwrights can offer insights that many common pony may pass up. Plus, I was told that you have experience with sibling issues.” Though she had been referring to Rarity and Sweetie Belle, Twilight could feel the vague sentence hit a sour note. Fierce jade eyes peered out from behind the silky silver bangs pouring around his horn, Chrome growled within his throat with an anger that seemed as though it should be alien to a pony with a heart for a Cutie Mark. “You came to talk about my brother?” Twilight felt herself freeze into the cushion under his glare. Fear began to come over her being as she realized that she hadn’t even gotten into a discussion with this pony before crossing the line accidentally. Her hopes continued to remain high that he could overlook whatever the insult may have been and help her out with the major problem she was supposed to be solving.