//------------------------------// // Accidentally Amazing // Story: Twilight Sparkle...The Gamer? // by Moonlight_Mist //------------------------------// Twilight's eyes lit up all of a sudden as she decided what she'd point out to Cadance. She extended a hoof in a way that the pink Alicorn would see, before fully extending it to point at another vendor of crops, but then she remembered something about the place that would serve to be a problem.. The farmer's market in Canterlot always did like to have vendors selling wares of all the same color. It was a weird decision, but the way the overall display became like a rainbow of food did carry a certain visual appeal that Twilight couldn't deny struck something deep in her. It was always arranged darkest to lightest too, with the lightest of the reds and oranges being in the direction of the orange and yellow respectively, then the darkest of the yellows, greens, and blues being toward the greens, blues, and purples, with the purples reverting back to the dark to light pattern with the lightest purples at the end. The whole thing blended together in a way that only added to the rainbow theme. It was a sight to behold. In this case though it made her job harder. She'd planned to point in the general direction of the tomatoes and scream 'Wed', since it wouldn't do to have her perfectly enunciating the 'r'. But clearly that wouldn't cut it. Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went on in her head. She lit her horn and gently took hold of a tomato, lifting it from the stand and floating it over to her much to the annoyance of the vendor. "Hey! This isn't a charity! I don't care if you are a princess!" He initially assumed it was Cadance doing it, but then he saw the one with the lit horn was the baby on her back. "Oh great, it's the kid doing it! I don't need ponies giving their kids magic lessons at the expense of my merchandise! You're gonna compensate me for that, lady! I-huh?" He finally got a good look at the tomato in Twilight's aura, and was dumbstruck. "Wha-but how? To think a baby could have such fine control. there's not even a blemish!" The surrounding crowd could only gasp in amazement and shock at this revelation. As for the merchant, he at least had the decency to look guilty for his tirade after realizing the truth. "I'm sorry kid, I didn't realize I was getting angry over a non-issue. You want that? Take it, for the trouble." Twilight played the foal act and just tilted her head as though lost. Cadance had been stuck in place by her own shock from the moment she'd seen Twilight grab the tomato. It was a perfectly spherical tomato. Such a perfectly round object required equal force to be applied from all directions in order for the levitation spell to act upon it. It had to be equal from all directions to hold it in place, and the force equilibrium had to be disrupted in one or more directions in order to achieve telekinetic motion. Add to that, tomatoes are notoriously difficult for the young unicorns still learning control, being such a soft and tender object. The line between just holding it and damaging it is so fine, some unicorns never learn enough control where they don't have to focus on not squeezing it too hard. There was an inkling in the back of Cadance's mind where she was wondering if Twilight was even a foal at all. Once she snapped out of her stupor, she took the red fruit when offered it by Twilight, placing it next to the lettuce. She grabbed and paid for a second tomato, then continued to walk around the market looking, but not before her gaze lingered on the foal astride her for but a moment. You left the ponies in the market in awe of your mastery of magic control. Given the nature of Canterlot ponies, this is sure to spread. +5 reputation in Canterlot. Cadance was left in awe of your mastery of magic control, but it seems she might be starting to wonder if you're really a baby. +1 bond with Cadance. Cadance is slightly suspicious of you. Twilight saw that last bit and mentally facehoofed. Really? Why was she so bad at this? Bond Quest: Help Gather Dinner! Cadance is shopping for your family's dinner! Help her out! Quest Update First Ingredient [ ] Noodles [ ] Broccoli [X] Lettuce Second Ingredient [X] Tomato [ ] Olive Oil [ ] Hay Dough Third Ingredient [ ] Oats [ ] Strawberries [ ] Potato Help Cadance! Select a Third Ingredient! Twilight knew she had to keep going with that, or at the very least it's not something she wanted stopped. Cadance had said she'd shop for dinner, but with this quest of helping Cadance, she was so used to being able to just help that she was struggling to maintain her act at all times. She'd neve had to trick those closest to her before. That doesn't mean she never did, a certain incident with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus that could have been handled so much better in hindsight comes to mind. However, that just means she knows she doesn’t like how it makes her feel to knowingly trick someone close to her. She's always been completely open with her thoughts and feelings, so having to hide any of it away felt like a mental tug-of-war. Plus now Cadance is starting to get suspicious of her. What should she do? Should she let Cadance in on the truth? She didn't know, and that hurt her too! She looked lost as her mind went in circles.