Twilight Gets a Puppy
Season 4
By TDR
Prologue,
Plecostomus Twilight Sparkle
Celestia's Journal wheneverly
[Heavy fluttering of large wings.]
Been a while since I've written here. In this instance I think I had best put my thoughts down. I'm using the 'self scribe' spell so I can simply talk and allow the quill to write itself, mostly because I can't seem to sit down. I've a good bit of nervous energy lately.
[Thuds of pacing hooves]
Of course this manner of spell has it's own issues as it records any sounds picked up as well. But in this case since I'm the only one who should be reading this.... and Discord. At least if that ass wants to do the same trick twice and didn't take the hint last time with the explosive runes.
The reason for my nervousness is obvious really, Sunset Shimmer is back. She's been gone since she turned seventeen all those years ago. And now she's back and it's like we barely were apart.
In that regard I mean she's still doing her best to test me, she just now has new material to work with.
I still don't understand the 'Okay Boomer' phrase she keeps using when she responds to me sometimes, but it amuses her, so I simply ignore it. She has picked up a lot of slang from the other world she was trapped in for three years. I barely understand any of it, but neither does any pony else so I suppose that's fine.
[Hooves thudding on wood floor back and forth]
I have a lot to make up for with Sunset, but at the same time I'm not going to let her trot all over me because I'm sorry for hiding things from her to protect her and try and guide her properly.
This is one of the reasons I'm sending her to Ponyville to stay with the Apples for a time. She can be apart from me which seems to be what she wants, but can still be close enough to visit or be visited. Granny can get to know her half sister. And most importantly Granny and the rest of the Apple family can focus Sunset's energies into something constructive, I hope.
It will also keep her away from any more griffons as Ponyville doesn't have a standing population of them. With knowledge of her being my daughter a lot more common now, the nobles will be doubling down in trying to wed her to one of their sons or daughters. And after I practically kicked the entire noble caste of griffons out of Equestria, I don't want any of them to think they can get their claws back in by catching her interest.
I honestly don't care if she decides she likes griffons or dragons or whatever tickles her fancy. I would just like to avoid a political shit storm dependent on who she decides to interact with in that manner.
[ Snort of annoyance]
Luna has pointed out that Sunset has had a tough time of it in the other world. She won't talk about it, but Luna has been watching her dreams and has seen something of her life on the street and stealing food to survive.
Going from a pampered filly to a homeless bum on another world clearly changed her, there's still her underlying anger at me, but none of that is directed towards the castle staff. To be honest she was a bit of a spoiled brat to the castle staff back before she left. Now she treats them like actual ponies. Still I wish she hadn't had to go through that just to gain any empathy or respect. In thirty years time we plan to head back through the portal to retrieve what she left there. Twilight wants to study the place as well. Sunset tells me it's unlikely any one will find her things in just a year, the building she was staying in had been abandoned for years and was locked in a political stalemate on ownership of the property. Those can take decades to sort out.
[ hooves falls on wood floor moving back and forth, tail whisking ]
Then there's Sombra. As close as I have gotten to my nephew in the last year, I will have to say I still do not trust him completely. He is not the same stallion that was ripped from the Crystal Empire but...
He has no drive, no real motivation. He studies and reads anything he can get his hooves on but he does nothing with it. He is still very standoffish about everything and seems to have no goal or direction in his life, that he still doesn't have a cutie mark may have something to do with that, at least according to his psychiatrist.
Given how things are now, I almost find it hard to believe he is the same pony who killed his father as a child, then managed to hold the empire together for ten years with only a single dreadnought he didn't even have control over and a hoofful of conscripted soldiers and zealots.
I know most of my focus was on Nightmare Moon at the time, but he still drove off six attempts to take the main city from him by joint forces and he actually managed to capture three of the ones selected to be the Element Bearers. When my attention finally turned to him during a lull in combat with my sister, the whole city vanished. Sombra still doesn't know why it did that, as he was caught unawares as well.
I'm hoping that some time out of the castle will show some sort of positive result, and since Twilight and her brothers have agreed to keep an eye on Sombra and Sunset both, I am at ease with this decision.
I made sure to tell the trio and Granny the whole plan as well, I don't need any of them to be any angrier at me.
Speaking of the Sparkles...
Yet again they have managed to completely astound me with what they have done. Not only has Twilight ascended, but so has Rahs, and he managed to actually hide it for several weeks.
While I am quite proud of both of them, a few things about Rahs' ascension confuse both myself and Lulu.
His gaining Moon Dogs and theater as his main portfolios are hardly a surprise.
Given his sister has Tuesdays, him having Fridays is not much of a surprise either. I'm still waiting for all the other days of the week to show up in god portfolios, though in truth Tuesdays in Ponyville and Fridays in Canterlot are really the only two disaster heavy days I have hard data on. I have heard rumors of Sundays being a bit odd in Trotkyo, but it's been so long since I've been there, I have no idea if it would match up at the same level. I'm also not certain what a kaju is and why they come to town on Sundays there.
Back to Rahs, it's his 'dreams' portfolio that have Luna and I worried.
It's not shared with Luna.
Rahs and Luna have stand alone lesser portfolios that list 'dreams', though by the same token they are not shared. Luna found out he was a god because his name was in her portfolio as having taken the Moon Dog portfolio, not because she was sharing dreams.
Rahs claims he doesn't know what it means, but everyone is skeptical that he isn't just trying to be dramatic again.
[ Long sigh]
Luna even looked into it from the other side and she still cannot see the dreams of the Sparkles. She still finds it odd, particularly since, while they don't remember any of their dreams, at times each of them has noticed one of the others having what could be considered a nightmare, despite not recalling it. None of them are plagued by nightmares and Rahs certainly sleeps just fine. But it seems that when they do dream it's not connected to the Oneiroi.
On another note, I believe that this is ' Magic' from the prophecy. Either the Sparkle's ascension or Sunset trying to steal magic.
All that is left out of that list is greed and pride. Once those two come to pass this damn thing will be over.
It was probably too much to hope that Forgescale was greed and Sunset was pride.
[ Annoyed sigh ]
I couldn't be so lucky.
I also expect there's more than just this. Buck... we might not have even gone past madness with how vague everything is. If not for Twilight's ascension and the obviousslap in the face that she should be magic in the prophecy we wouldn't even know we passed envy. I still think Envy and Lust were not good fits for Chrysalis and Sombra. But then again they might have been dead on, prophesies suck.
[ scratching sound against glass.]
Hmm? What's that?
[Hoof steps walking away]
Did a bird smack itself against the window again? I told them to reset the wards.
[Sound of doors opening and the faint whoosh of wind. Fluttering of cloth, likely the bed awning.]
Odd there's nothing out... What!? What even is, GAH!!
[ Sounds of struggle, flares of magic, and flame crackling. Sounds of plants being ripped, shattering glass cries of pain and muffled screaming. Cracking of stone, stone crumbling. ]
[Pounding on wood ]
Princess, Princess Celestia are you alright!
[More pounding, louder.]
“Princess this is Sergeant Blue Steel, I'm coming in!”
[Sound of impacts on the door. Shattering wood and the thud of bits of broken metal and wood striking the ground.]
Princess Celestia!? Corporal Fern, check the bath room, Corporal Thorn go sound the alarm.
[Thudding of hooves]
Sergeant, bathroom's clear.
The window's broken and a chunk of the balcony is shattered here. Looks like there was a fight, there's a few piles of ash here she must have burned something.
She's got a spell going over here, the pens still writing Sergeant. It's about out of page though.
Don't touch it, we'll get a forensics team in here, some one go wake up Princ
[page end]