//------------------------------// // Tea Party // Story: The Heart of an Author // by Oroboro //------------------------------// “Here you go, Twilight. I brought some more tea for you.” Fluttershy leaned over, pouring tea into Twilight’s cup. What? “Um, thanks Fluttershy. It smells really good,” Twilight said, smiling. Fluttershy beamed back at her, and began moving around the mansion’s lounge in order to fill the cups of everypony else. “Aww, come on, tea? I mean it’s okay, I guess, but if you’ve got any cider could I have that instead?” Rainbow Dash asked, glaring at her teacup as if it might bite her. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh come now, darling. There is a certain aesthetic synergy in having a tea party, you know, and the atmosphere would be completely ruined if you just sat there guzzling cider by the mug.” Pinkie Pie sipped at her tea carefully and steadily before setting it down on the table in front of her and immediately bounced up into the air. “Yeah, come on Dashie! A tea party’s not a party-party! Although I guess it could be, but then it wouldn’t really be a tea party, but a party that happens to have tea. If you like we can throw a party that happens to have tea after the tea party? Or maybe just a party-party that has cider!” Rainbow Dash growled, grabbing the teacup roughly and downing it in one gulp. “Fine, we’ll just do this!” Applejack chuckled heartily, clapping Rainbow Dash on the back. “Aw come on, it ain’t so bad. Took me a while to get used to, and still ain’t really my scene besides, but after that adventure we all just went through, something like this sure is nice.” “Mmmm. My thoughts exactly,” Rarity said, leaning over and nuzzling Applejack softly. “Oh man, that was so much fun!” Pinkie Pie said, grinning from ear to ear. “I just wish I got to play a bigger part. You win some, you lose some, I guess.” Applejack tipped her hat. “There’s always next time, Pinkie. So who do y’all think is the murderer?” “Wait... what?” Twilight said, suddenly looking up from her tea. “What are you talking about?” “Oooh! I know, I know! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie bounced around, shouting and waving her arms. “Oh, this is going to be good,” Rainbow Dash said as she rolled her eyes. “Well, go on, Pinkie, who do you think is the murderer?” “Drumroll, please!” Pinkie Pie called out, pulling out a drum from somewhere. “The murderer – Or should I say, murderers are… “Those two pegasus guards that accompanied Twilight in the beginning!” There was a brief pause before everypony except Twilight burst into laughter. “Are you kidding me, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked, snorting and trying to stay seated. “That doesn’t even make sense.” “Really now, Pinkie, did those two even get names?” Applejack asked, wiping a tear from her eye. “I dunno!” Pinkie Pie said cheerily, causing Applejack to cover her face with her hoof. “Yeah, whatever. If those two mooks turned out to be the culprit it would be a totally lame solution,” Rainbow Dash said, waving a forehoof dismissively. “Besides, I’ve got a better answer.” Twilight stared at her friends, completely dumbfounded. None of this made sense. Why did her head hurt? It was so hard to think straight… “I bet the culprit was…” Rainbow Dash paused for dramatic effect. “Fluttershy!” she yelled and leapt forward, tackling Fluttershy to the ground and grinning wickedly. Fluttershy yelped and cowered underneath Rainbow Dash, sputtering. “W-what, I…” “You fer real?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, it totally makes sense! She’s always the cute, innocent, and shy one! I could totally picture her having a crazy psychotic side that goes around murdering everypony!” “B-but, I don’t…” Fluttershy mumbled weakly, her protests ignored. “Like yer one to talk,” Applejack snorted derisively. “You were actin’ mighty suspicious the whole time, Rainbow. How do we know you didn’t do it?” “Me!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, choking on her words. She wheeled around and flew over to Applejack, butting heads with her. “YOU’RE the one who had some horrible, dark secret you were keeping from your fiancé which was enough to cause her to dump you!” Applejack growled, pushing her weight against Rainbow Dash. “That’s between me and her, and ain’t none of your business besides.” “How can you both…” Twilight muttered weakly, trying to fight through the heavy fog in her mind as the two glared daggers at each other.       Rarity cleared her throat loudly before puffing her hair up and posing. “Excuse me, but I think you two might be forgetting a certain somepony who was perfectly capable of murdering the rest of you?” Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over at her, then back at each other before they both burst out laughing, rolling around on the floor. “You, the murderer?” Rainbow Dash said, barely able to speak through the fits of laughter. “Sorry, hun, but that’s rich.” Applejack said, grinning widely. Rarity puffed up, her cheeks turning red as she glowered at the two below her. “How dare you! I am just as capable as anypony here of committing such vile deeds! The methods of murder were, for the most part, pretty elegant, you know. And I’ve got a unique advantage! Magic makes committing such crimes so much easier, don’t you think? Especially with all those locked rooms. Who else but a unicorn could bypass a chain lock without breaking it?” Rarity tapped her horn for emphasis. This was insane, right? This setting, what they were talking about… it was from Fluttershy’s novel. So why was she…? “Orrrr maaaaaybe,” Pinkie Pie said in a slow drawl. “It was meeeeee.” They all turned to look at Pinkie Pie. Her mane had gone straight and her eyes shifted in different directions crazily as she brandished a paring knife. Applejack rolled her eyes as she got up off the ground and took her seat again. “You died at the beginning, Pinkie.” Glancing over at Rainbow Dash, she added, “Fluttershy too, for that matter.” “Oh yeah!” Pinkie Pie said, her mane immediately bouncing back to its normal curls. “Whoops!” Rarity sighed, still feeling indignant that she was being dismissed but unable to maintain that attitude for long in front of Pinkie Pie. “Well, I suppose that we’ve got a lot of options. Speaking of Fluttershy, who do you think did it, darling?” “Oh, me?” Fluttershy blushed, looking away. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to say. It would be, um, rude.” “It’s okay, dear Fluttershy,” a regal voice said as the door to the lounge opened. “You can say what’s on your mind, I won’t be offended.” “Princess Celestia! And Princess Luna,” they all called out as the two alicorns entered the room. “Aw shucks,”  Applejack said as she took her hat off. “Hadn’t really gotten a chance to see you two, so I’d almost forgotten you were here.” “It is no worry, my little ponies,” Celestia said as she ducked into the room. “If you don’t mind, a cup of tea please?” Twilight stared at Princess Celestia and Luna. Something felt off, even about them. Luna jumped into the center of the room, spinning around and grinning as she spread her wings theatrically. “‘Tis not exactly an uncommon scenario. There are many stories out there that depict mine dearest sister as a murderous tyrant. I, the heroic and neglected younger sibling dare to stand up to her! But alas, I am slain and my horn is cast aside as a trophy in retaliation!” Celestia sipped at her tea, smiling softly as she watched her sister gesticulate wildly. “Or perhaps it was you, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna shouted, pointing a hoof accusingly. “This mayhaps be a story of your descent into madness, of a split personality or doppelganger!” Well, she certainly felt pretty insane right now. “Don’t be silly!” Pinkie Pie said, raising her forehooves above her head and making an ‘X’. “The detective isn’t allowed to be the culprit. That’s just cheating!” Luna blushed slightly, pulling back. “Ah. My apologies. I was not fully aware of the rules.” “Hmm, well maybe it was…” “It’s possible, but I think a better option is…” “I think you might be on to something with that one, but does it really…” “The murderer could be…” “The murderer…” “ENOUGH!” Twilight screamed, grabbing everypony’s teacups with telekinesis and smashing them on the ground. “What is wrong with all of you!?” Rarity stared down at her shattered teacup distastefully before sighing and kneading her temple with a hoof. “Twilight, darling, if you have a theory of your own, we’d be more than happy to hear it, but going around breaking things is just –” “How…” Twilight flinched back, clutching her forehead with her hoof. It was so hard to think straight. “How can you all just sit around here casually talking about your murders? You’re dead! You’re all supposed to be dead. So am I. But you’re all just sitting here, accusing each other like its nothing.” She was supposed to be dead? This... wasn’t right. That was the fictional Twilight. These were the fictional versions of her friends. So why was she…? “Besides…” Twilight said, lowering her head and keeping her eyes closed. “We already know who the killer is. The pony named Golden Wish, whoever she is. She admitted as much herself. I… just wasn’t able to stop her. I’m sorry.” Twilight stood there with her head down, waiting for a response. None came, and she realized an unnatural silence had fallen over the room As Twilight raised her gaze a silent scream caught in her throat. Everypony was dead. Just like they had been before. Just like she had read in the book. Pinkie Pie lay smiling, her throat cut. Applejack and Rarity snuggled close in a pool of blood. Luna’s horn lay discarded on the table. Princess Celestia and Rainbow Dash were simply gone. And Fluttershy… She heard a wet dripping sound from behind her where Fluttershy had been sitting. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around. The world shifted around her, the room suddenly awash in flame. The choking smoke invaded her senses, and the oppressive heat made her muddled mind sink even deeper into confusion. Tiny embers began to flake from the inferno, the motes of light swirling together in the center of the room and coalescing into the shape of a pony. “Well then, Twilight Sparkle,” a voice rang out, reverberating around the room. “You wanted a confrontation with me so badly. So here I am.” As the figure extended her wings, there was a pulse of energy and the room around her vanished, flames and all. She was merely floating in a dark void, her senses dimming further. As she struggled to regain her balance, Twilight stared up at the alicorn towering over her. Golden Wish looked exactly like Twilight had pictured her. Her sleek golden fur, her short cropped lavender bob, and scales running down her back. “You... killed my friends,” Twilight growled weakly. She tried to fire up her horn, but no magic came to her, her sense of clarity still slipping in and out. Golden Wish merely threw back her head and laughed, cackling maniacally. “You don’t have what it takes to destroy me, Princess. You are too arrogant, too blind to the truths that surround you.” “No,” Twilight whimpered, feebly trying to protest as her vision dimmed further. “This is all just a trick… I’ll never give up.” Golden Wish smirked as Twilight’s mind slipped back into darkness. “A trick without an explanation is no different than the truth.”