//------------------------------// // Suspicions // Story: Controlling Twilight // by -Mazer //------------------------------// “Spike!” Twilight exclaimed while rushing on over to her dragon friend. “Wake up Spike!” Spike groaned from where he lay. Twilight nudged him with her nose and when that didn’t work, she summoned a bucket a water with her magic. She poured the water onto him causing him to spit and sputter in surprise. “What did you do that for, Twilight?” Spike rolled over onto his stomach and shook his scales free of water. Twilight stared down at him. “You passed out!” “I did not.” He pouted. “I was sleeping.” “Spike, don’t you remember anything that just happened?” “Eh?” “Cadence? Shining Armor? You breathing fire everywhere?” Spike gave her an odd look. “Twilight, are you okay?” “They were right here only a couple of seconds ago! How can you not remember?” She raced out of the library to where the carriage had just been but to her dismay, not a track remained. It was as if the carriage, along with her brother and sister-in-law had never existed. “I don’t get it.” “Twilight,” Spike yawned. “I think you were sleep walking again.” “Don’t be silly,” She grumbled. “I haven’t slept walked since I was a filly.” “Look,” Spike yawned again. “We had a very long day. A wedding, changlings, some musical numbers; I think you are just over tired. I know I am.” Twilight blinked. “I guess you have a point.” She shook her head. “I mean, really, what would Cadence be doing here in Ponyville? They left for their honeymoon hours ago, right? So there is no way that they could have travelled all the way back here so quickly. Especially if she were hoofing it.” “I’m glad you see my point,” Spike yawned. He scurried on back to his basket and collapsed onto his pillow. “Good night, Twilight.” Still feeling rather lost and confused, Twilight could only stare out her front door before finally closing it to return to her bath. “Good night, Spike.” “I had the strangest dream last night,” Twilight told Fluttershy. “I dreamed that Cadence showed up and tried warning me of something.” She frowned. “Though I cannot remember what.” “Oh,” Fluttershy whispered as she tended her garden. “That sounds dreadful.” She glanced over her shoulder back towards Twilight. “Were you able to go back to sleep?” “After a while I was able too. I just wish I understood what went on last night. It sure didn’t feel like a dream.” Fluttershy used her nose to gently nudge a butterfly out of the way so that she could pull a weed. “I am sure it was nothing, Twilight. I think you were just worked up,” she shuddered. “B-Because of the chang…chang…” she whimpered. “The changlings.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Twilight turned her attention towards Ponyville. “Fluttershy?” “Yes Twilight?” “Don’t you find it a bit odd that no pony is talking about the changling attack?” “Whatever do you mean?” Fluttershy spat the weed into her flower basket and moved to gather another one. “Oh,” she sighed. “How I wish I had some of Mrs. Pots Fine and Fresh Flower Power.” Her ears fell against the top of her head. “I’ve read that it is the premiere flower fertilizer in all of Ponyville.” She glanced to Twilight. “And it’s very affordable, did you know that? Only three bits per bag.” “Uh huh,” Twilight responded without really paying attention. “You know…I thought the changlings had caused a lot more damage than what I am seeing. I mean, they did use some pretty extreme magic. You’d think every pony would be busy repairing their homes.” “Oh Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered. “Can we not talk about the changlings?” Her fragile body began to shake as she remembered the horrid little monsters. “They really give me the creeps. I really just want to forget that they ever existed.” Twilight frowned. “Alright, I guess.” She forced a smile for Fluttershy’s sake. “Do you need any more help with your garden?” Fluttershy shook her head. “No, thank you.” She offered a teensy little smile. “Thank you for keeping me company.” “Any time,” Twilight responded. “See you later?” “Of course!” Fluttershy squeaked. ---------------------------------------------------- “And so, like, I was like, you know, like, totally in that stallion’s face, and like, I was like, ‘Oh no you didn’t’ and he was totally, like ‘Oh yes I did!’ so I says to him, I says ‘If that is how you be treatin’ me, I will take my business elsewhere!’” Twilight groaned as she tried to ignore Bon Bon’s ranting. She was complaining, as pre usual, to her friend Lyra who looked bored out of her skull. “Uh huh,” Lyra muttered in between bites of her salad. Twilight was sitting at the HaySeed Diner in the center of Ponyville. She had ordered a hay and lettuce sandwich but at the moment found that she didn’t have any appetite. She kept dealing with the strange sensation that something just wasn’t right. She spent most of the afternoon wandering Ponyville trying to find any evidence of the changling attack but there was none to be found. She couldn’t fathom how it was possible for so much destruction to vanish overnight. The only explanation would be a very powerful restoration spell but such a spell would contain so much powerful that Twilight would have noticed its activation. Even if she had been asleep during the restoration spell, she would have felt some of its magical power. “I just could not believe how rude he was.” Bon Bon continued albeit in a different tone of voice. Twilight groaned and covered her ears with her hooves but to no avail. It was as if Bon Bon wanted every pony nearby to hear her story. Twilight swore that there was no other pony in all of Ponyville who enjoyed being the center of attention as Bon Bon. “He insisted that I pay for the damages but I refused. He was the one who got in my way. I was obviously on the right side of the road. It was his fault that he crashed into my cart.” “Uh huh…” Lyra yawned. Twilight found that she could not concentrate with all of this yammering. She got her sandwich to go, having it wrapped up in foil than placed into a paper bag. After paying for her meal, she walked out but not before hearing Bon Bon finish her story. “So lemme tell you this, sweetie pie, in the end, that stallion was mighty mad that I wouldn’t be payin’ for his cart. Not-uh, not no-way, not no-how. That’s now how me family raised me, no siree!” Twilight rolled her eyes as she left the diner. Had it been her imagination or had Bon Bon just spoke using the same accent that Apple Jack had? ---------------------------------------------------- “That pony is quite the troublemaker,” Control muttered to his boss. “I thought you had a talk with her,” the Pupper Master commented. “I did, several times in fact. She keeps insisting on trying every single accent she could think of. She thinks it will make her a much more interesting pony. I think she is doing it just to get attention.” “This is what happens when you use a pony from the local drama club.” The Puppet Master scowled towards Control. “Shall I send for Bon Bon’s papers?” “Don’t bother. We’ll just make sure she stays out of Twilight’s path.” Control nodded while jotting down some notes in his notebook. “Uhm, sir, if you don’t mind me asking, but aren’t you a wee bit concerned that Twilight has started noticing things?” “Why would I be concerned?” The Puppet Master asked. “We have already established it within Twilight’s mind that there are beings who can alter reality with so much as a snap of the claws. If she cannot figure things out – which I know she will not – she will just chalk it up to it being unexplainable. Wasn’t that the reason we introduced her to Pinkie’s so-called ‘Pinkie Sense’? So that Twilight would stop questioning things once an answer cannot be found?” “I guess,” Control replied. “Still, I am not so sure we shall rule it out. She has proven herself before.” “I respect your opinion and I will take it under console.” The Puppet Master responded. Control knew from previous experience that his employer was being quite serious. The Puppet Master was anything if not reasonable and if Control voiced a legitimate concern than the Puppet Master would take it into consideration. “That is all I ask.” Control said with a faint smile. The Puppet Master looked towards the orb that fed them a constant stream of Twilight’s activities. The orb was powered by the Puppet Master’s own magic, a faint white coloration that encased the Puppet Master’s horn. Control had never seen a unicorn quite as powerful. Even the Princesses bowed to his employer’s power. “I think it is time to distract our dear little Twilight,” the Puppet Master said. “Is she still on hold?” “She waits eagerly.” Control chuckled. The Puppet Master nodded. “Good. Give Trixie a call and let her know that it’s time.” “With pleasure,” Control replied.