//------------------------------// // Talking With Twilight // Story: Sweet Scootaloo // by Krystal Clearskies //------------------------------// I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly full of energy. I looked at the clock and noticed it said seven A.M. I had gotten about ten hours of sleep, so I was feeling absolutely fine this morning. With a tired yawn, I got out of bed and walked through the hallway, peeking through the door into Scootaloo’s room. She was still fast asleep, and the sight made me smile. I kept walking, going down the flight of stairs to the living room, and then walking to the kitchen. Today was Sunday. I didn’t have to work and Scootaloo didn’t have school, so I figured there really was no harm in letting her sleep in. We’d both been through a lot yesterday and while I was still mad at what she did, I wasn’t mad at her specifically. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, opening up the paper. The front headline spoke of Twilight and the other girls, and how they had supposedly saved Equestria for like the fiftieth time. This time though, it went on to explain that King Sombra had destroyed the Elements Of Harmony. That made me open my eyes wide in shock, and do a double take. “What?! How can the Elements be destroyed?! What does this mean now?!” I exclaimed in shock as I continued to read. The paper went on further, explaining in detail how the power of their friendship and love for one another had defeated the evil King, just as they had defeated their other enemies, but this time they managed to do it without the elements. “Alright…I need to go have a chat with Twilight.” I decided suddenly. I got up from the table and walked through the house back upstairs, to Scootaloo’s room. I opened the door and went to her bedside, gently shaking her awake. “Hey, Scootaloo. Scootaloo, wake up.” I gently coaxed her awake. She let out some tired grunts, letting out a “No daddy, five more minutes…” before she finally, reluctantly woke up and looked at me, still laying on her side. I gave her a smile. “Hey. I’m going over to Twilight’s castle for a bit. I just wanted to tell you, you’re going to be alone for a while. We have cereal and milk, and you can go hang out with Apple Bloom if you want. Just remember to lock up the house and bring the key with you, I trust you.” I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, making her blush a bit from embarrassment. “Okay daddy, I’ll see you when you get back. I love you!” She said to me, and I gave her another kiss on the forehead before walking away, closing her door and walking downstairs. I grabbed my coat off the coat rack, slung it on, and walked out the door. A short while later, I arrived at Twilight’s castle. I stood at the front door and knocked a few times, waiting for somepony to answer the door. However, about a minute went by without so much as a sound. Not even anypony saying “Just a minute!”. Nothing. I then knocked again a few times, much louder this time. “Twilight! Spike! Starlight! Anypony home?!” I called out to anypony inside, but I again got no response. Now I was more annoyed than anything, and I grabbed the handle of the large crystal front door. Testing it, I found that it was unlocked, and I quickly swung the large door open and walked inside. “Twilight! Are you here?!” I called out once again, looking around inside the large castle’s entryway. . . . . . what the buck? . . . . . The place was empty! Not just nopony inside, but it was empty! Nothing on the walls, nothing on the floors, no furniture, nothing! It was like nopony had ever lived here, there was nothing but crystal everywhere! What the heck was going on here?! Now I was very confused. I was now speed walking throughout the castle, finding nothing but boxes lining the hallways. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!” I called out loudly, using as loud of a voice as I could muster. “STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!!” I shouted out once again. “SPIKE!!!” I shouted even louder, my face getting red from anger that nopony seemed to be here. Finally, I got to the massive room where the cutie map was, and where the girls had their large round table with their…I guess you could call them thrones, if you wanted. There, I saw Twilight, looking around the room with a very sad expression. “HEY, YOU!” I shouted at her, making her gasp and spin around to look at me. When her eyes locked onto mine, I gave her an upset scowl. “I was knocking at the front door for like two minutes, and have been calling your name for like five! What’s going on, and where are Starlight and Spike?!” I asked her, very upset. But then, when I saw the hurt look on her face, I immediately felt bad for raising my voice at her, and I suddenly hurried over to her, locking her in a tight hug. “Hey…hey…it’s ok. Whatever’s wrong will be ok Twilight, I’m sorry for yelling at you.” I said to her in as sincere of a voice as I could muster. Twilight sighed sadly and reciprocated my hug, holding me tightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you. I’ve just been really sad. Can we…sit down and talk?” She asked me sadly. I slowly moved away from the hug and grinned at her. “That’s funny, the reason I came here was actually to talk to you. Of course we can talk, Twily.” I said to her with a big smile. I led her to the big throne chairs, she and I sitting across the table from one another, so we could talk. “Alright, why don’t you start?” Twilight asked me, speaking first. “Go ahead and ask whatever you want. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.” Twilight said to me, biting her lip nervously. I thought about it for a moment, before speaking. “Well…I originally came over to ask you about the battle you and the girls had with King Sombra. I had some questions regarding the elements but…I get the feeling something bigger than that is going on. What’s with the boxes, Twilight? Why is the castle empty? It’s almost as if you’re moving, or something.” I finished with a bit of a chuckle. Twilight bit her lip harder, wincing a bit before replying. “That…that’s because I am moving, Jordan…” Twilight said very very sadly, her ears flattening against her head. As she said this I felt my heart drop into the pits of my stomach, my blood going ice cold, making me feel numb all of a sudden as the gravity of the situation hit me. “...where?” I asked her, my speech slow due to shock. Twilight looked over at me, her eyes looking like she had been crying recently. How did I miss that earlier? “Canterlot…you haven’t been reading the newspapers lately, have you?” She asked me, and I blushed a little bit. Alright, she had a point, this morning was the first time I’d read the newspaper in quite a while. “Celestia and Luna are retiring, and they named me their successor. So…I have to move to Canterlot, to lead the nation.” Twilight said sadly, still biting her lip, her ears still flat against her head. As she explained this to me, I felt many emotions going through my mind…but chief among them was upset, hurt. “Twilight, how the hell could you not tell me this?!” I nearly shouted at her, making her wince from emotional pain as a result. “Why wouldn’t you tell me about this?! Why would you leave me in the dark, expecting me to read about this in the paper?! Were you just going to move to Canterlot, and not even tell me? After all we’ve been through?! What if I came over here after you moved, and nopony was here!? I’d have gone insane with hurt and worry!” I shouted at her, not noticing how hurt my words were making her. Again, I felt like a complete jackass for yelling at her like that. I sucked in a deep breath of air to calm myself, trying to regain my composure. I looked at Twilight with a sad look etched on my face. “Crap…Twilight I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to lose my composure like that again. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. No matter how much this hurts me, I’m sure it hurts you even more.” I said with a sad sigh, getting out of my chair. I walked around the large crystal table to where she was sitting and gave her yet another tight hug. Twilight buried her head into my chest, and I began to pet her mane to help calm her down, hoping the act would help to cheer her up. “I wanted to tell you…I swear I did. I just…I’ve already been going through enough hurt, because I’ll have to move away from the girls as well, and…it was hard enough to tell them I’ll have to move away from them. The idea of having to tell you as well…it hurt! I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The girls are my friends, but you’re my best friend and leaving you hurts just as much, if not more, than leaving them!” Twilight said as she began to sniffle, and the hurt I felt for her in that moment was unlike anything I’d ever felt in my life prior. “Shhh…it’s ok, Twilight, it’s ok…” I told her in as soft and compassionate of a voice as I could. I knew Twilight like the back of my hand, and I knew how to calm my best friend down. I continued to pet her mane, and I began to hum to her, the sounds of my humming making her close my eyes and relax. My efforts appeared to be working because she relaxed in my arms. After about ten minutes of this, I slowly pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes. “Feeling better?” I asked her, to which she gave me her first smile of the day and nodded. “Good, I’m glad.” I said as I smiled back at her. I was quiet for a while, not quite knowing what to say next. Suddenly though, she broke the silence. “Jordan…move with me.” Twilight suddenly blurted out, making my eyes go a bit wide, and made me look down at her in shock. “What?” I asked her, sounding completely stupefied at what she had just said to me. “Move with me! Please…all the girls have to stay here in Ponyville, because their businesses and responsibilities won’t let them leave! You could move with me, and we could stay best friends!” Twilight nearly shouted in a very happy voice, as if she finally found a silver lining to her current situation. Oh, how this was going to hurt, to have to burst her bubble like this… “Twilight…I can’t move with you.” I said to her, biting my lip once my sentence was done. Twilight whimpered gently and gave me a confused face. “What? But why not?” Twilight asked me sadly, her ears flat against her head once again. “Because, Twilight, I have my own job, my own responsibilities…remember Scootaloo? I couldn’t just quit my job, and move to Canterlot with you. We have to think about Scootaloo too. Scootaloo would have to start over too. This is her home. She wouldn’t be able to attend Cheerilee’s school anymore. No more Cutie Mark Crusaders. She just got comfortable at my house. I can’t unsettle her so soon after adopting her, Twilight, it would be borderline cruel…if I hadn’t adopted Scootaloo, I’d seriously consider it, but I can’t hurt Scootaloo like that.” I explained to Twilight, biting my lip once I finished speaking. Twilight gave me a sad, loud sigh as she processed what I had just said, before nodding. “I…I understand, Jordan. I guess I just…I wish…well I…we…” Twilight sighed, not being able to finish her sentence. “What? Twilight, we what? You can tell me anything, please.” I reassured the mare, rubbing the side of her face. The mare let out a soft moan as she felt my fingers work into her coat of fur, making her shudder a bit. “Well…if we’re never going to see each other again…I guess I can finally let this out into the open.” Twilight said, before taking a deep breath. “IloveyouJordanandI’velovedyouforalongtimenow!” Twilight blurted out, so quickly I could hardly understand what she was saying. I blinked a few times, this recent admission shocking me, before I grabbed Twilight’s face gently in my hands and made her look into my eyes. “I love you too Twilight. I have for a long time too…” I said softly, gazing into the beautiful oceans of color that were her eyes. Twilight gazed back into my eyes for a few agonizingly long moments, before she suddenly thrust her face forward, crashing her lips onto my own and wrapping her legs around my head. I stood there in complete, utter shock for the longest time, kinda kissing her back, but not really. However, I then closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her head, beginning to kiss her back in a very deep showing of love and affection. We kissed for what felt like millennia, just enjoying the feeling of our lips against each others’. Finally though, we were interrupted by a familiar voice. “Daddy? Twilight?!” Scootaloo asked us in shock as she sprinted towards us. She looked at us, bewildered for a few moments, before she suddenly grinned. “Oh my gosh…you two were kissing! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this!” Scootaloo giggled and began to jump around Twilight and I, making us both blush from embarrassment. “Daddy and Twilight, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g!” Scootaloo said in a sing songy voice, making Twilight and I’s embarrassment swell to astronomical levels. “O…ok Scootaloo, I think Twilight and I get it now.” I tried to get the filly to stop, but she only giggled. “So, when’s the wedding? I wanna be the flower filly! It was so fun when the girls and I did that for Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding! I wanna do it again!” Scootaloo continued to tease us and jump around us. I suddenly put my hand in front of her forehead to make her stop, sighing heavily. “Scootaloo…Twilight and I aren’t getting married. If anything, that was…a goodbye kiss.” I said sadly, looking Twilight in the eyes the entire time. “Goodbye kiss? Why would you two be saying goodbye?” Scootaloo asked me, and her question made me wince. Dammit. Now I had to explain everything to her. “Well…um…Scoots, you see…Twilight’s moving to Canterlot.” I said, my voice quiet from sadness, biting my lip, as if that would somehow make this process easier. “Canterlot? Why is she moving to Canterlot?” Scootaloo asked, her cheery mood from earlier long gone and dead at this point. Now her ears were flat against her skull. Twilight sighed and stepped in this time. “Scootaloo…you know I’ve been the Princess Of Friendship for about two years now, right? Well…Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are retiring. And they’re putting me in charge. I can’t lead the nation from Ponyville, that isn’t how it works. I could spread friendship from this castle, but leading Equestria is different. So…I have to move to Canterlot, to the Royal Palace.” Twilight said to the filly, her voice full of hurt due to having to explain this yet again. “What? But you can’t move away, Twilight! You can’t! Why does it have to be you?! Why can’t Princess Cadence, or Prince Blueblood do it?!” Scootaloo asked Twilight, her voice full of sadness. Twilight sighed sadly, kneeling down to get to the filly’s eye height. “Cadence has the Crystal Empire to run with my brother, Scootaloo. She can’t just abandon it and run Equestria. And Blueblood…well, he’s not an alicorn, and not a true prince. He isn’t even eligible to run the nation. And besides…the princesses specifically named me as their successor. There’s no backing out of it, Scootaloo. I wish I could, but I can’t.” Twilight said as she looked into the filly’s eyes, both of their eyes beginning to water. “But that’s not fair! You can’t leave Twilight, you’re my friend! I’m gonna miss you!” Scootaloo shouted, tears finally leaving her eyes. Scootaloo suddenly shot her body forward and hugged Twilight tightly, Twilight’s own waterworks bursting as she began to cry as well. The two sat there, hugging each other tightly and crying, and at that moment, I knew I had to man up and be the dad, be the best friend, be the strong person they both needed me to be. “Hey…you two…it’s all going to be ok.” I said as I suddenly hugged the both of them at once, making it a tight group hug. “It’s not the end of our friendships! We’ll see each other again. The Grand Galloping Gala is in Canterlot, isn’t it? Scootaloo and I will be at the next one. And who knows Twilight, I might be able to just make a random trip that way every now and then!” I said to them with a wide smile. My words seemed to have my intended effect. Both of their demeanors seemed to shift from sad to slightly happier. “I guess that’s true.” Twilight said, then smiled. “I didn’t even think of that. I guess the other girls will be able to visit when they can, as well.” Twilight said happily, and then turned her head to look at me. “I guess what I’m most sad about is…I kept my feelings for you a secret. Maybe if I hadn’t we could have…you know…” As she said this, a twinge of sadness began to hit her again. I cupped her head in my hand and looked into her eyes. “I know, Twilight. But…I’m just glad you told me at all. I can live at peace now, knowing you ever had feelings for me. What’s the saying? Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?” I said to her with a smile. This made her smile back, and she playfully hit me in the arm. “Still as dorky as ever, Jordan. I’m going to miss you. I move in a few days, I have to finish packing.” Twilight said as she wrapped her hooves around me in a tight hug. I happily returned the hug, sighing as I smelled the scent of paper and ink on her. “Scootaloo and I will leave you to it then, Twilight. Don’t worry, I’ll ALWAYS be here for you. You’re my best friend, and I love you.” I said as I gave the mare a little peck on the lips, making her blush a bit. Leaving the castle was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. . . . . . . . . . . Later that day, it was now nighttime, and Scootaloo and I were home. It had been nothing but sad silence for a few hours, but finally I broke the silence. “Hey, Scootaloo, want me to make you favorite for dinner tonight?” I asked the filly, who perked her head up from the sofa she was sitting on and nodded gently. I smiled at her and walked into the kitchen, and got out all the stuff to make some hayburgers and fries. I oven cooked the fries, to make them crunchy like she enjoyed them, and I grilled the hayburgers in a pan. A little greasy that way but it was delicious if nothing else. I began cooking the food, and halfway through the scent apparently got to Scootaloo, because she trotted into the kitchen and sat down at the table. When the food was done, I served both of us the food and sat down next to her. The majority of the meal was eaten in silence, and once she and I were done eating I sighed and grabbed her hoof in my hand. “Scootaloo, listen to me, ok? I need your full attention for this. I know this hurts, Twilight moving. Saying goodbye to people hurts, it hurts so bad sometimes I wish I never had to do it. But you want to know the sad reality of friendship everypony, even Twilight, struggles with?” I asked Scootaloo, who looked up into my eyes with a curious gaze. “The sad reality of friendship is that someday, our friends have to leave us. Whether that’s saying goodbye, or them passing away…I know it hurts, and life can be cruel sometimes, but the memories we make with friends are well worth the pain of losing them. Time heals all wounds. Do you understand what I’m saying, Scoots?” I asked her as I looked into her eyes. She gave me a nod. “I…I think I do, Daddy. That all makes a lot of sense to me.” Scootaloo said, her sad look slowly easing into a smile. “I mean, Twilight is the Princess Of Friendship, and she still really struggles with that, Scootaloo. Everypony does. Nopony accepts losing their friends overnight, and you can’t just keep those emotions hidden. Even though Twilight wasn't as close of a friend to you as Apple Bloom or Scootaloo, you two still have memories together and it's natural for it to hurt. Dealing with loss is a skill that takes a long time to get good at. But Twilight isn't dying, and you WILL see her again, I'm going to make sure of that, ok?” I said with a smile, giving her an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek. “Thanks daddy, I really do feel better. You’re the best daddy in the entire world!” Scootaloo said as she hugged me around the waist. I smiled, and leaned downwards, giving her an affectionate hug as well. “And you’re the best daughter in the world, even if you can be a bit of a hot head. I love you with all my heart, Scoots.” I said as I gave her mane a good ol tustling. The rest of the night was relatively uneventful. She and I played yet another game of chess, which I won pretty handily once again. But she was getting better, I could tell she was reading the book on chess openings I gave her. At the end of the night, I was in Scootaloo’s room. She had gotten into bed, and I had tucked her in. And currently I was reading her a story. “...and then, the stallion in the moon finally went to bed, and the sun rose. And that’s why we have both the day and night. The end!” I said as I closed the book, and she groaned. “Aw! I want another story! Please!” She begged me with those adorable pouting eyes of her. I chuckled and shook my head no, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Sorry Scoots, but I’m all out of stories for now and you need to get to bed, tomorrow is a school day.” I said as I leaned over and turned off the lamp on the nightstand. “Besides, you had a big day and need your rest. I love you, my precious daughter…” I said as I walked over to the door of her room. I blew Scootaloo a kiss, and slowly closed the door, leaving her to sleep. I then walked over to my room, and as usual, quickly shed off all my clothes. I got into bed, but I couldn’t sleep for a long time. My thoughts were swimming like a bunch of piranhas. Everything that happened with Twilight today…she had even admitted feelings for me, and had kissed me. My mind was swimming with what if thoughts. What if she had admitted those feelings to me sooner, or what if I had? Would we have been a couple? But then, her being named the next ruler of Equestria would have still happened, and we probably would have had to break up. After thinking of these thoughts for the better part of an entire hour, I decided enough was enough. I turned my light off, rolled onto right my side, and I quickly fell asleep.