//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Reveal (Twilight's Perspective) // Story: Different // by Hardwired //------------------------------// I was walking around in circles, baffled about what happened, Celestia seemed very serious about having that dinner, normally she gives me a date a couple of weeks ahead… but tomorrow!? Celestia was also acting a bit off that afternoon, she seemed a bit… teary-eyed and well, I don’t recall the last time I saw her cry, but it’s just, I know it has to do with that special guest! I JUST KNOW IT! I paced around the room trying to find an answer as to why Celestia told me to meet up with her tomorrow, it was around 1:00 am, but I was not tired at all, I wouldn’t be until I found some answers. “Uh… Twilight?” Spike’s voice rang through my head and caught me a bit off guard. “Yes?” I asked him, normally he would ask for something if it was this late at night, for example, I don’t know, some gems to eat as a snack, but this question wasn’t the question I was expecting. “Why are you so worried, I-I mean, it’s just a dinner,” Spike said clearly concerned about my lack of sleep. “I say you stop worrying and just sleep, it’ll make you feel better, well, at least it always makes ME feel better” I was a bit flustered when he told me that. “It’s just… I-I need answers! Celestia was acting way too weird earlier today” It struck me. “Oh no… IS IT SOMETHING BAD?! WHAT IF SHE DOESN’T LET ME RUN THE SCHOOL ANYMORE, AM I GETTING REPLACED?! WHAT’S GOI-” All these thoughts were swirling around my head, I couldn’t keep them contained, I faintly heard Spike’s voice saying: “Twilight… Twilight calm down” He started snapping his fingers in front of me and suddenly I snapped back to reality. Spike said: “You kind of got lost in your own thoughts Twilight.” I did… “Yeah… You’re right” I said in an embarrassed voice. “I’m sure I’m just worrying too much about this, I should get some sleep as you said.” I tucked myself under the silky sheets of my bed and waved goodnight at Spike like we always did every night and tried to sleep Emphasis on “tried to”. I slept but suddenly woke up in Celestia’s castle having dinner with her and Luna! And the special guest was… nopony. Celestia said: “Twilight, you haven’t been fulfilling your job as the Princess of Friendship and Principal of your school, and for that, you are no longer awarded the role of Princess of Friendship.” That took me by surprise, and not a good one, I immediately started crying my heart out. “W-What did I do? D-D-Did I-” I was interrupted by them picking me up with their magic and then… My wings disappeared! I screamed as loud as I could and then… I woke up. I was covered in sweat, all my bed was wet, Spike went over running to me. “Twilight are you good?” He said very worriedly. “Yes,” I said relieved. “It was just a nightmare.” I looked next to me at the clock on the wall, it read. “3:57 am” “Spike?” I asked him. “Yes?” He said with a curious tone. “Who do you think that special guest will be?” I was still worried about that. “Do I look like I have an idea? I’m not even going!” He said kind of hurt, I had forgotten about him not going, it was going to be hard traveling without him. “Well, night Twilight, you got a long trip on train ahead of ya.” Spike said before heading off to a peaceful sleep. I laid on my wet bed before succumbing to sleep, I wake up the next day and immediately start packing my things for the trip. Spike asked: “You need any help?” I answered cheerfully: “Surprisingly, no! I got everything planned out, I’ll see you tomorrow, if you ever get hungry there’s plenty of food in the fridge!” I headed off running to the train station and managed to catch the train on time, I got on, went to my assigned seat, sat down and look out into the horizon. I always liked seeing the world go by, it was a small distraction over the big event that was happening tonight. I started dozing off on the train since I barely got any sleep, and before I knew it, we were there! I looked over at the small pocket watch I had brought which said: “6:20 pm” I was on time! I flew over to the Royal Castle and tried to knock on the door before the bad thoughts and emotions started flowing in again, it’s like I couldn’t keep them controlled, but after having a mini argument with myself I gained the courage to knock on the door. After some seconds I heard hoofsteps getting louder and suddenly Celestia opens the door. “I knew you’d come early” She smiled, normally she doesn’t smile when something bad is happening so that must be a good sign! “Come in please.” I went in, I already knew every nook and cranny of this place, so I went over to a small room with a table and some chairs, Luna was already sitting there. “Take a seat.” She said, she seemed like she didn’t have anything to worry about, actually quite the opposite, she seemed happy, so did Luna. “Is there a reason for why you decided to set up this dinner?” I asked, I knew if THEY asked for a dinner, there had to be a reason. Luna said: “Actually yes, we wanted you to introduce you to a new member of the family!” New… WHAT?! What are they talking about? Celestia said: “Yes, that means you’re an aunt of not one, but 2 ponies!” EVEN MORE WHAT!? OK I’M CONFUSED WHAT’S GOING ON?! “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?” This is a mixture of happiness, confusion, anxiousness, and other emotions I don’t know the name of. “Shhhh, don’t shout… he doesn’t like it.” Luna said… stroking something with her hoof? He? What are we talking about? Celestia said with a big grin on her face: “Welcome Hardwired to the family!” Luna came over to me and handed me a small… I don’t really know, I mean, they called it a "he", but they had a long mane, was small and didn’t really talk, it had all the characteristics of a filly. I asked: “Is this a filly or a mare?” They all seemed kind of offended. Luna said unhappily: “It doesn’t look like a colt? Oh…” Celestia said a bit miffed: “It’s a colt, not a filly.” Hardwired looked at me a bit… I don’t know the word, but it wasn’t a nice look. “Oh…” I said, I was a bit sad that I got them confused, I mean, it looked like a filly, I swear! “I’m sorry Hardwired.” He gave me a little nod and a smile. Was he mute or something? Ponies normally are very talkative. Luna said with a grin: “He isn’t mad at you; he just doesn’t speak to anypony.” “Oh, I thought he was mute. It’s just that it’s weird to see that he doesn’t speak since ponies are very talkative.” I said. Celestia said understandingly: “We thought the same, but we are taking care of him and learning more about him every day.” I was a bit baffled, taking care of him? Are they like his moms? Huh. That’s what they meant. And I was his aunt, I needed to visit him and Flurry Heart now instead of just her. I was so excited I just, I didn’t really know how I feel, but I wanted to tell my friends I was the aunt of not 1 but 2 ponies! It felt amazing! “I’ve got to tell my friends about this!” I exclaimed, but Celestia immediately stopped me in my tracks. “You can’t tell ANYPONY about this until we decide so you can’t tell your friends.” She said angrily, I was heartbroken… I was so excited, for my dreams to be crushed like that… it felt like… Luna said recomforting me: “It’ll be soon I swear, we just need to get to know Hardwired better, but we’ll enroll him in your school when the semester starts.” That made me feel a little better, the school was starting in around a week or so, it would be soon. Celestia said jokingly: “Can I have Hardwired back? It feels like you’ve had him forever.” We both chuckled and I handed him back, and we started eating dinner with him. I noticed he was really quiet, well, I know he can’t talk, but he didn’t do any gestures, he just ate. “Is he normally that quiet when eating? I mean he isn’t doing any gestures.” I asked and they nodded. We just ate, I asked questions about him and they answered. After we finished having dinner Luna told me. “Please, don’t tell anyone, the consequences are going to be serious if you tell them.” I nodded, waved goodbye, and went over to the train station, the rest of the night was a blur. “Well, that was unexpected.” I thought to myself out-loud.