//------------------------------// // Changing Course // Story: Prominence // by TheOldPonyFromScene24 //------------------------------// “You want me to what?!” Celestia demanded, staring at Luna in disbelief. “I want you to tell Twilight where Prominence came from. You built up this other personality from a source, and I think it would benefit you both if you told her what it is.” “B-but, but--” Celestia trembled, stepping back away from Luna. Her sister carefully closed the gap, trying to be as nonthreatening as possible as she crossed her neck with Celestia's. “Can you give me a reason why you wouldn't tell her? Is it that you don't trust her? Or that you are afraid of what she might say?” Luna asked as she pulled away from the hug, looking up into her big sister's nervous eyes. “O-of course I trust Twilight. I trust her completely. But it's not about what she'd say, but what I'd say. How would I even go about explaining that to her?” “You've got years of experience in teaching her. I'm sure if anypony can get an idea through to her, it's you.” Breakfast was unnervingly quiet in the castle. Twilight wasn't sure why, but she felt a vague sense of tension coming from Prominence. At first she thought it was related to the odd pressure she'd been feeling in her head all morning, but Spike seemed to recognize it too, and neither dared to say a word. Twilight envied her assistant his chore of doing dishes after the meal, as she found herself alone with her unusually silent and pensive guest. “Is something bothering you, Prominence?” Twilight finally asked, still seated at the table, beginning to tire of waiting for Prominence to move or speak. Her guest snapped out of her ruminations, blinking and looking around for a moment before settling her eyes on Twilight. She lowered her head in a show of deference. “Um, could we speak in private?” “Absolutely.” Twilight pulled away from the table and led Prominence to one of the many unused rooms. Once there, she cast the soundproofing spell. After all, even on the off chance that Prominence wanted to discuss something privately in character, it was still something private. “Luna told me what she requested you ask me, Twilight,” She said in her Celestia voice, turning to face away from her. “Oh?” Twilight shifted nervously, ruffling her feathers. “You don't seem happy about that.” “Oh, it's nothing unpleasant,” Celestia told her, smiling over her shoulder. It was a very short lived smile. “Although, it does lead me to confront some unpleasant facts. You know, Luna was always the more sociable of us.” “I--Wait, so, what was the question?” “The question was 'where does Prominence come from.' And I may need some time to build up to it, to help me decide exactly how I'm going to present my answer. But this isn't entirely irrelevant.” She paused. “Actually, you may want to take a bathroom break first. I've got a fair bit to say.” She gave an obviously fake chuckle, and Twilight couldn't help but frown. With a sigh, Celestia resumed. “Luna was the social butterfly. Ponies were always naturally drawn to her, and she to them in turn. I was more the type to sit back and watch her interactions. I wasn't without friends, but I was not particularly of the sort who would actively seek to expand their numbers. “To spend her time surrounded by friends, that was always a deeply rooted part of her nature. I think that's why it hurt so much when we ascended to become alicorns. I think that's why being overlooked, ignored, and, frankly, being thought of as the lesser half of a matched set by an entire country took such a drastic toll on her, because she always required companionship and camaraderie with others to thrive, and being taken so far from that, I wish I'd seen the signs sooner...But I'm...” She paused, and with a heavy sigh, she slumped, depositing her rump on the floor and hanging her head low. “I was trying to stay relevant, but I fear I've taken a rather egregious detour.” Twilight slowly and cautiously moved toward her. “As I said, I never craved attention. If given enough of it, there were times I'd buckle from the pressure. The spotlight had always been anathema to me. I was awkward, nervous--that never stopped me from being friendly, mind you--but when I became an alicorn, there wasn't much choice. I had to find a way to keep my sanity when in the spotlight. I gave them somepony else to look at. I made my mask.” She took a deep breath and looked Twilight in the eyes. Those large purple orbs stared back in understanding, already knowing what was coming. And also wincing as she rubbed her head with a hoof. “I made the Celestia that you know. Over the years, I was forced to grow more comfortable in my position, and the mask I wore in public grew to incorporate more and more of myself. She became a student to fulfill my admittedly uneducated love of magic, and a teacher to spread that love to others once my lack of education was remedied, for example. Of course, she was always burdened by my sense of duty.” Her voice began to falter as she rose to her hooves and began pacing. “But then Selene happened. Luna created a disguise, a new pony who could be seen in public and could interact with strangers without being asked if her big sister was around. It was an opportunity for Luna to have meaningful interactions again. And my first instinct was to follow in her hoof steps, to take the opportunity to better understand the ponies who didn't have opportunities to come and see me at court. And so, I created Sunspot. Pleasant, approachable, talkative, always interested in the lives of everypony around her.” Once again, she sat on the floor, but this time, she immediately rose back to her hooves. Finally, Twilight interrupted. “Celestia, if this is too hard for you, you don't have to tell me all of this. I didn't know it would be such a personal story.” She put a hoof on her teacher's shoulder. “No, Twilight, I...It's difficult precisely because I have been waiting too long to address it, I believe.” A wan smile formed on her face. “And if it wasn't going to be such a personal story, why would Luna have wanted you to ask me for it in the first place?" “I can't argue with that.” Twilight admitted, smiling awkwardly, before giving a few exaggerated blinks as that pressure once more flooded her head. "I was frightened at first, but this is as cathartic for me as it is informative to you. If, admittedly a little painful.” She forced her tiny smile to grow as she attempted to reassure Twilight. “I began to want more meaningful interactions. I didn't even understand that it was just earnest friendship that I missed, I thought it was something...Else. You recall why I created Corona?” Twilight nodded, blushing. “Yes, absolutely, no need to go into that again.” “Of course. Well, I came to the realization that I was wrong about what I wanted. I wanted what Selene was getting. I wanted to be a pony who could satisfy my desire to be seen for who I was. Not for the mask I wore in court, nor my power, nor my station. I wanted--no. I needed to be validated as the unicorn I was deep inside. And so I started making a unicorn based off of my own personality. My history had been a matter of public knowledge at the time, of course, so I couldn't be from the same place, or raised by the same parents. I needed stories to flesh her out without making things obvious. I had to create discrepancies to keep from ruining my disguise, but at her heart, Prominence is who I was--who I am, to remind me that I can still be accepted, and have friends, and to know that I'm still that pony, somewhere inside.” She sighed. “Well, that's about the whole story of Prominence. There are in fact some other things I may need to tell you, but for now, any questions?” She asked, as she often would during lectures long past. She was almost certain that Twilight was waiting for that prompt out of habit. “What about the first night?” She asked. “When you stopped being Prominence, and now! You're not acting like I'd expect from her, or like the Celestia I was used to. I thought...On the first night, after the party, I thought you were just relaxing because you were on vacation.” Celestia blinked in surprise. “When a pony expects Celestia, I try to give them Celestia. I suppose, after the party, I, well...” She paused to compose her thoughts. “I have known you for a long time, Twilight. I do feel comfortable around you. That is one of the reasons you were my first choice to stay with. Because of this, I slipped up. You may be the only pony alive to have seen me fully being myself besides Luna. That is how Prominence would behave if alone with somepony she considers to be among her closest friends.” Twilight took this information in, and considered other possible questions. “So, Prominence...in a sense, she's a very real pony. With real emotions. Right?” “Her history is a fabrication, and how nervous she feels around you is an exaggeration. But other than that, she is very real indeed. She's me. Well, in a sense, as you said.” “Celestia?” “Yes, Twilight?” She asked, looking incredibly relaxed, but also quite weary. “Thank you for sharing this with me.” She moved in and hugged her with one leg. “Thank you for being somepony I can share this with,” She replied, returning the hug. Twilight walked through the halls beside Prominence, who looked exhausted, yet at the same time, unburdened. She led her into her study, and instructed her not to be silly, reassuring her that, of course she was welcome in the study. Yes, her office too, why wouldn't she be allowed to visit her in it? She gave her some parchment and a quill and watched as she wrote a letter to Luna, sealed it, and, nervously watching the door, cast a sending spell, watching the letter vanish off to her sister. She let out an exaggerated sigh, smiling a Twilight. “Whew! Well, this has been an...intense morning.” “Agreed. But, it's over now, and we can relax. Right?” “Absolutely. And I can go back to enjoying my vacation without any drama or tension.” “Well, unless you find a good book in my library full of either or both.” Twilight told her with a smile. “Oh, I'm not sure I'll have a lot of time for reading today, I've got to--oh! What time is it?” She looked at the clock in the corner of the study. “Oh, good. I've still got plenty of time.” “Time for what?” Twilight asked with an interested, curious, and slightly nervous glance. “Oh, I didn't tell you? Fluttershy invited me over to meet her animal friends while we were at the spa.” “Oh, ah, be careful around Angel. He can be a bit temperamental.” She told her. “Careful around Angel.” She repeated to take a tighter hold of the information. “Got it. Um...Do you want to come with me?” Twilight's face lit up, but she quickly struggled to suppress her reaction. “Sure. I'd be happy to. Let me just tell Spike where I'm going.” Prominence frowned. “It could take hours to track him down though. I'd hate to be late.” Twilight gave her a confused look. “All we need to know is that he's not in the library. That's the only room that the spell...won't...touch. Oh. I haven't shown you the spell yet.” Her horn lit up. “Spike,” She said, her voice echoing from every room of the palace. “Prominence and I are going out for a while. We're going to go visit Fluttershy.” “Alright! Are you gonna come back for lunch?” His voice carried right back to her. “I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll leave some bits on the kitchen counter for you if we're not back, and you decide to eat out. We should definitely be back for dinner, and if we're not, I'll let you know.” “Well, that seems usef-gah!” Prominence jumped as her own voice bombarded her, flinching and flattening her ears against her head in surprise. Twilight extinguished the spell. “So, to actually get a response from Spike, I have to amplify and redistribute all sounds in the entire castle. There was a whole week where I couldn't cast it until we tracked down a cricket that had made its way into the palace.” Twilight winced a little as the pressure in her head suddenly returned. She hadn't even noticed it had stopped, but with a little effort she found it surprisingly easy to ignore. After leaving the bits for Spike, the pair made their way out of Twilight's home, both fairly deep in thought about drastically different topics. 'She's not fake. She's a side of Celestia I just hadn't seen before. Which means that I don't have a crush on a pony that doesn't exist. She does exist, and she's been Celestia all along. That means that it's not necessarily futile. Oh, who am I kidding, it's probably even more futile...You know what, Twilight? You had a million reasons you'd fail before. You have a million reasons you'll fail now. But now you've got a few reasons why you might succeed. Maybe. Or maybe you'd make Celestia hate you forever, and in turn lose the friendship of Luna, and Cadance might side with her aunt, and she could end up turning Shining Armor against me, and--' “Twilight?” Prominence finally asked, crashing through Twilight's inner monologue. “Where was the cricket hiding, in the end?” Twilight's mind froze for a moment as she tried to process the unexpected question, before finally coming to comprehend precisely what cricket Prominence was talking about. “Oh, a closet in one of the guest rooms somewhere. The only time we could hear it chirping was when the spell was active, so we started systematically searching all the rooms that nopony ever visited. And by we, I mean everypony in town that I could convince to come to the palace to look for a cricket.” The discussion of a day that would forever live in Ponyville's memory as 'The Great Bug Hunt' continued the entire way to Fluttershy's cottage. When Prominence knocked, there was a quiet clatter, symptomatic of Fluttershy's nerves. The timid pegasus slowly cracked the door open and looked with terror at Prominence, but quickly relaxed when she saw that Twilight was with her. “Hi, girls. Come on in. I made tea.” She said, her voice quiet and sweet as she pulled the door open for them. Prominence's eyes ran around the room, wide with shock. “Wow, th-that's a lot of animals. How do you feed all of them? This must cost a fortune.” Fluttershy bit her lip and looked to Twilight for help. 'Another point of data confirming that Fluttershy's confidence seems to increase exponentially in relation to the number of close friends nearby to support her. With both Rarity and Discord, she can invite a pony to her home. With just one friend present, she can't even explain how she gets paid.' Twilight thought, nodding to Fluttershy to ease her mind, and smiling as she saw the relief wash over the Pegasus' face. “Fluttershy's actually on a government payroll. You know how most towns have an animal control department?” She waited, resuming only once Prominence nodded. “Well, we don't need one, because we've got Fluttershy. So, the mayor gives her the majority of the town's budget for animal control. Normally this would be split up among equipment and employees, but Fluttershy just uses it to take care of animals.” Prominence raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy, who was pouring their tea. “So you're living off the animal control budget?” “Oh, no!” Fluttershy quickly replied, accidentally clipping the teapot against a cup in flustered haste. “I could never use that money for myself! That money's for the animals. I live off the money I make grooming and training pets for other ponies in town.” “And all of her veterinary work is pro bono.” Twilight said, a bit of pride in her friend's generosity and kindness coming through in her voice. “You must be very busy.” Prominence said, accepting her tea and taking a sip. “Oh, not at all,” Fluttershy replied, whatever anxieties she'd built up in her mind about dealing with Prominence quickly fading as she was reminded first hoof of how mild mannered the unicorn was. “I have so many wonderful helpers.” Her eyes widened for a moment in realization, and she quickly smiled. “And you're here to meet them!” She turned away from the tea, Prominence, and Twilight. “Everyone, I'd like you all to come meet a friend of mine!” Twilight watched as all the animals came forward to meet Prominence. Of course, she had a working knowledge of most of these critters, and some details of their personalities and their relationships and histories with Fluttershy, so, once she put aside her curiosity about the strange pressure once again occurring in her head, she let her mind drift to another topic. 'Who knew Celestia could be so cute, talking to little animals like that?' She paused and shook her head. 'I mean, Prominence!' Another pause as she resumed watching for a moment. 'No, I-I meant Celestia.' Something had changed with the revelation from this morning. Some switch had been flipped by the knowledge of what Prominence actually was. 'I started thinking of them as a single pony without realizing it.' It was more than just knowledge now. That knowledge had managed to become a firm idea in her perception of the world, and the two ponies were already becoming one in her mind. 'Well, she has always said I was good at taking hold of new ideas.' She paused in her thoughts and watched as Angel came forward to meet Prominence. “Prominence, this is Angel Bunny. Isn't he just the cutest little guy?” Fluttershy said, smiling proudly, as if her bunny actually had been definitively awarded the title of “cutest little guy.” The bunny, for his part, glared at Prominence. She didn't even know a bunny could glare! At any rate, he certainly didn't seem to approve of Fluttershy's description. “Um, he certainly is a handsome fellow?” Prominence offered. Angel considered this, then nodded in approval. Twilight quietly hid her sigh of relief. Dearest Sister, I've enchanted the letter, as I'm sure you'd expect. I have told Twilight the majority of the nature of Prominence, but there were some things, some unpleasant facts tied to the source of Prominence's necessity that I simply could not share with her. She is a learned, well-read pony, but her knowledge in terms of history is primarily focused solely on magical history. I fear that such a revelation would be jarring, and would, perhaps, ruin her faith in us. I know that, especially as a princess, she will, in time, have to come to terms with the fact that our nation's history has its share of blood and unhappy endings. But, as I tried to explain the full of what happened, I had to circumvent some parts of the story. Simply put, I'm not sure I could bear the hatred I'd likely earn if she found out what happened because I wasn't putting the needs of our nation first. I can make peace with her knowing that I'm not perfect. I can even force my way through the embarrassment of admitting Corona's purpose to her. But telling her about what happened when I was lax, when I was selfish, I just can't do it. Not yet. I beg you, when I dream tonight, to please not push this topic, and keep from sharing it with Twilight. At least for a little while. Tuum In Aternum In Cal With Love, Celestia Luna stared at the paper in thought. “So, she still blames herself for that.” She mumbled quietly. She heard a noise, one she'd heard repeatedly since she started reading, and furrowed he brow. What was that? It came again. Oh. Somepony was clearing their throat. She lowered the letter to realize she was still in court. “Princess, I'm sorry to say, but this seems highly unprofessional.” The petitioner was growing red in the face from his frustration. “If Princess Celestia deigns to use one of the few pieces of fireproofed and heat resistant parchment that she bothered to bring to the center of the sun to send me a letter, wouldn't you prefer I read it? Yes, it turned out to be personal, and somewhat sentimental. But it just as easily could have been news of a massive catastrophe, which she would be calling upon me to work to prevent.” “Ah, I apologize,” All of the color, even that which had been there before he became frustrated, drained from the petitioner. “I didn't realize the letter was from your sister.” “All is forgiven. Now what was it you were saying about, er...” 'Confound it, what was he trying to accomplish?' “I'm sorry, what was it? Something to do with waste management, I believe?” She guessed hopefully. “Waste ma--...Princess, I'm petitioning for a reform of air traffic regulations to reflect the growing number of airships taking up space in our skies.” “Oh. Oh! Well, that sounds interesting. Tell me about that.” She shifted in her seat, leaning toward him with an earnest smile on her face as he began to grumble under his breath. “I was TRYING to, before that letter...” He took a deep breath and began his proposal anew. “Since the advent of the airship's use as a symbol of status among the upper class and nobility, more and more wealthy ponies are commissioning the construction of new ones. Unfortunately, this increase in air traffic can obstruct not only flight patterns of pegasi, but also the placement of clouds and the implementation of weather. The current regulations, formed to oversee high traffic of pegasus flight and the flight of pegasus drawn chariots, were by no means meant to handle this sheer volume of airships, Princess.” “Oh. That's a problem. Somepony should likely do something about that.” “That's what I'm TRYING to--” He cut himself short when he yelled. “Oh...Oh no, I'm so sorry, I--” Luna raised her hoof. “It is fine. Proceed to explain the reform you have in mind.” She smiled to herself. If she didn't try for a sneaky bit of teasing now and then, she'd never make it through court. Twilight wasn't sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that she was feeling sick to her stomach, and that things were getting more and more ridiculous by the second. It had all started when Discord showed up in the middle of the introductions of Fluttershy's animals. Fluttershy welcomed him, and Prominence was polite, if hesitant, around him, and Twilight herself was always happy to see him. But then he started behaving strangely. A little trick, here or there. A little flicker of magic to do some random task, getting more and more extravagant with every cast. Now he was riding five unicycles stacked on top of each other, and juggling seventeen chairs, including the one Twilight was seated upon. He had spinning plates balanced upon his nose. And apparently there were two of him for the time being, as he sat on the couch between Fluttershy and Prominence, appraising his own performance. “Discord?” She asked, clinging to her chair. “Yes, Twilight?” He grew a second mouth for the purposes of speaking as the first one had a kazoo placed in it, from which the sounds of a string quartet emerged. “Could you please put me down?” “Oh, please, just a moment longer, I'm nearly done.” Twilight blinked. She knew what this was. She hadn't spent all this time around Rainbow Dash and not learned how to recognize when somepony was showing off. But why? What was the point? Who was he trying to impress? Through the constant motion and mounting nausea, she noticed the other Discord, the one on the sofa, nudging Prominence with his elbow, and commenting on how impressive his own coordination was, behaving as if he was an entirely separate entity. He was trying to impress Prominence. Twilight felt an uncomfortable clench in her stomach. She couldn't tell if it was the nausea or the realization. “Discord, I'm sorry, but if you don't put me down soon, I'm not sure how much more of this my stomach can take. I'm too disoriented to risk teleporting off the chair! Please, put me down!” “Oh! I'm sorry, I hadn't realized it was bothering you so much.” The one on the couch levitated her off the chair, caused the couch to expand in order to accommodate a fourth pony, and seated her between himself and Fluttershy. Sweet, kind Fluttershy, with plenty of knowledge (and stock) of medicine and herbs from her experience caring for her animals, quickly offered Twilight some mint leaves to settle her stomach. Twilight gratefully accepted as she watched Discord continue to show off for Prominence. Why was he behaving like this? He was always a little flashy, always a bit of an attention hog, but never to this degree. On each of the chairs he was juggling, another, smaller discord appeared, juggling smaller chairs himself. On each of those chairs was a tiny flower pot, different flowers sprouting and blooming from each and every one. Flowers...He'd given Celestia flowers after the battle with Tirek. He seemed to know more about Prominence than he let on. Or rather, he let on that he knew more about Prominence than he should. The flowers, the huge performance clearly designed to impress her... 'Discord likes Celestia?!' That clenching feeling in her gut was back, this time without nausea accompanying it. Images ran through her head of him whisking Prominence off her hooves, dancing with her under the moonlight, cuddling with her, kissing her—And that's when Twilight came to a realization. 'No matter what, Discord is still my friend. I can be jealous, but I can't let it hurt our friendship. And I definitely can't put on overalls, a straw hat, and a bad accent. Rarity proved the inefficacy of that plan.' She chuckled softly to herself, and then realized that Discord's display had apparently just finished its grand finale. Jealousy or not, she was a little sad she missed it. The rest of the visit was little more than a blur to Twilight as time passed. No matter how hard she tried to give her friends as much of her attention as they each deserved, her emotions kept getting the better of her, and she kept getting that odd feeling of pressure in her head. Now feeling guilty in addition to jealous, she took some solace in the fact that she'd managed to stay friendly and civil with Discord, at least until she remembered that being nice to one's friends shouldn't be considered an accomplishment. It wasn't too much longer before she and Prominence were on the path back in from the outskirts of Ponyville. “I'm sorry about the juggling thing.” Prominence said, frowning. “I think he was trying to impress me.” Twilight's fur prickled along the back of her neck. “Really?” She said with as much false curiosity as she could muster. “Well, yesterday, he asked me if we were friends, but I only just met him, so I told him we probably weren't yet. I think he was trying to, I don't know, wow me?” 'Friends!' The world repeated itself in Twilight's head. It made so much more sense. 'I knew I was being stupid when I started getting jealous. Apparently I was being even more stupid than I thought.' “It's fine, Prominence. And I know he didn't mean any harm. But when you get to be friends with him, I should warn you, when he means no harm is exactly when he can do the most. Just don't hold it against him. He's still learning.” Prominence nodded, smiling a little, as Twilight let out a sigh. She didn't have to worry about Discord snatching up Prominence. She paused, and faltered as she walked, gaining a look of confusion from her companion which she quickly waved off. She didn't have to worry about Discord snatching up Prominence, but there were a lot of ponies in Ponyville. Ponies that she'd be getting closer to as her vacation went on. Ponies that could be grabbed by whatever traits it had been that grabbed Twilight, even though the young princess wasn't sure what what those traits were. The odd pressure returned, greater than ever, throbbing painlessly in her brain, then quickly vanishing. The thoughts of Discord wooing Prominence resurfaced. This time, though, there was no Draconequus. Each thought conjured a different pony, holding Prominence, dancing with her, laughing with her. 'I...I have to try. I can't keep pussyhoofing around, worrying about things. If I just keep hemming and hawing, and struggling to make a decision, I might be too late if I finally decide to try.' She thought to herself, a look of determination growing on her face. Her doubt didn't matter. That chronic feeling of pressure, which had mysteriously vanished yet again, didn't matter. She had to do something, or she'd never be able to live with herself. Prominence stared at the strange expression, more than a little confused as to why the princess, on her walk back into town, wore the face of a gladiator waiting to be allowed out onto the battle field. Idly, she pondered whether Twilight's study habits had ever taught her about the gladiators, and the times in pony history, few that they were, where such bloodsport had been considered not only acceptable, but honored. She shook her head, which seemed to catch Twilight's attention, as she tried to think about something else. Not many parts of pony history, even in the age of conflicting pre-Equestria tribes, had ponies actively taking the lives of one another. The thought of such things always left a bad taste in Celestia's mouth, and, with what she'd been thinking about recently, a bit of guilt in the back of her mind. Once the pair finished their walk down the path connecting Fluttershy's home to Ponyville, they each came to the realization that neither of them had anything planned. 'Which means I've got free time to go out and make a plan. A plan of Action. With a capital A.' “Hey, I've got something I've been meaning to take care of. Do you want to just meet up a little later?” Twilight asked, trying to stay as vague as possible. “Alright. I've been meaning to look around the market. This will give me some time.” She said with a smile that seemed as if it was forced to be bigger than it should have been, leaving Twilight wondering if Prominence was actually alright with this or if her response was due simply to Twilight's status. Either way, she had an opening and she felt as though she couldn't afford not to take it. They quickly decided to meet up at the Hay Burger, and she made for Rarity's home. 'This is it, Twilight. The key to your destiny lies beyond this door.' She paused and grimaced. 'On second thought, I'm liable to scare her away if I keep being so dramatic about everything. Tone it down, Sparkle.' Still, she couldn't keep that look of grim, unyielding determination off her face as she accidentally threw open the door of the boutique. She couldn't stop herself as her words came, loud, clear and decisive. “Rarity,” She called to her friend, “I will have that notebook.” Rarity's eyes lit up. Were the sheer, intoxicating drama of Twilight's entrance not throwing her into a feeling of giddiness, and the prospect of a friend finding romance only compounding matters, she would have likely paused to warn Twilight about Prominence's beliefs regarding Twilight's orientation before she made her mad dash out of the room. Or, at the very least, she would've excused herself to the mare she'd left behind, wearing a dress full of pins to mark adjustments, and looking very confused. The oddly familiar mare looked questioningly at Twilight. The unicorn was even taller than the young princess, with a white coat and a pink mane. “I remember you! The Canterlot Garden Party!” She said. “As you say, your majesty. It is one of my more noteworthy stories, the time I met Princess Twilight, even before she ascended.” “Sorry for the interruption. I didn't...” Twilight paused, scuffing her hoof against the floor. “I'm really sorry, I just didn't stop to think about whether she was dealing with a customer or not.” “Quite alright. Frankly, I was expecting something like this to distract her eventually. Eccentricity and genius do often go hoof in hoof. I'm surprised it hadn't happened sooner. And if a pony does not take time for a friend who clearly has need of them, what does it say about that pony?” Twilight smiled. This mare knew a thing or two about friendship. And the fact that she didn't seem the least bit put off, only confused by how sudden Rarity's departure was, only helped Twilight's view of her. “Well, I promise I'll be out of your mane soon and she'll be able to get back to work.” The tall, slender pony bowed to her, smiling softly. “Feel free to take your--” “Twilight!” Rarity shouted as she burst into the room. “Behold! The key to making all of your dreams come true!” Twilight seriously doubted that the creased and beaten up old notebook hoisted above Rarity's head could give her complete mathematic formulae for the power dynamics of the Elements, the Tree, and Harmony in general, and she wasn't certain she wanted some of her more recent dreams coming true, but she accepted it into her magic anyway, and began leafing through it as Rarity came to a realization and began frantically apologizing to her customer. 'Apparently her name's Fleur. Wow. Wait, this is--' “Rarity, this is incredibly detailed, properly indexed, annotated...I'm impressed! This is academically ideal!” Fleur gave an amused smirk, trying to hold back her smile. “That's what she considers to be a compliment?” “It is.” She sighed, as she continued working on the dress. “And, when it comes from her, I know how to take it as one. Twilight,” She called, never taking her eyes from her work. “You of all ponies should know of my attention to detail.” She lifted her eyes toward Fleur. “Which often makes itself known in my work.” “So I see.” "Rarity, I can't thank you enough for this. But now I've got to go and try to put all of this to work.” Twilight told them, tucking the notebook tightly under her wing. “Stick with the parts written in blue ink until I have a chance to work on the rest with you. We haven't had a chance to personalize these plans yet.” “Alright. I'll see you again soon.” She left the boutique feeling oddly confident, and decided to take a quick peek at the book. “Hm. Well, that seems straight forward enough.” Prominence walked into the Hay Burger and looked around. Seventy four locations in Manehattan alone, and she'd never once been inside a single restaurant of this chain. Or any fast food chain, for that matter. The atmosphere was certainly not what she had been expecting. The food smelled fine, and it was clean enough, but at the same time it felt welcoming, yet oddly impersonal. “Prominence!” Twilight said from behind her. She smiled and turned to face the princess, then stared in confusion at the sight before her. “I saw these on the way here, and I thought you might like them.” She said, offering her a few flowers. “Oh!” She accepted them graciously. “But isn't that poor etiquette?” “Wait, what?” Twilight was confused as she watched Prominence look around nervously. “Well, you're bringing outside food into a restaurant.” Twilight stared blankly at her for a moment. With a flash of magic, the flowers vanished as Twilight's face took on a familiar red hue. “Ha!” She said, smiling sheepishly. “Silly me! I'll just leave them in my kitchen for later.” She quickly stepped into the line for the counter. For once, Celestia didn't have any call to to wonder about the nature of Twilight's blushing. Obviously she was just embarrassed about her misstep. She stepped into the line behind Twilight and waited until they made their way up to the register. “Welcome to Hay Burger! What can I get you today?” The perky young pegasus said from behind the counter. “Oh, why don't you order first, Prominence?” Twilight offered. “Oh, uh, I-I've never been to one of these before.” She replied awkwardly, drawing grumbles of annoyance from the line behind her. She quickly began scanning the menu. “W-what do you recommend?” She asked, hurriedly, trying to get out of everypony else's way. “Why not a Hay Burger and fries? Can't go wrong with a classic!” She told her pleasantly. “Um, all right, I'll have that.” “Anything to drink?” "I, Y-yes, just some apple juice.” “Will that be all for you today, ma'am?” Prominence simply nodded in response. “That'll be six bits.” Prominence set money out on the counter, but Twilight chuckled. “Prominence, you don't usually tip at a fast food place.” “Not that I'd complain if you did!” Came a playful voice from behind the register. Still, the pegasus quickly returned her change and set a tray on the counter, and began taking Twilight's order as other ponies brought Prominence's food and set it on her tray. Once their orders were filled, they found a little booth and sat down together. She followed Twilight's lead, starting in with her sandwich. “So,” Twilight paused and swallowed her mouthful before continuing. “You've never been to a Hay Burger before?” “No, there weren't any back in Saddleton, at least before I moved away, and ever since I moved to Canterlot, all my meals have been at the palace, or the occasional outdoor eatery, or Pony Joe's, but a bakery is...Well, I suppose this operates more like his bakery than any restaurant I've ever been in.” She ate her burger slowly. “Is there anything else you've been missing out on? Maybe we could try and do some things? Together?” That could've been another blush, but Prominence wasn't certain it wasn't just some of the ketchup that had gotten all over Twilight's muzzle. “Alright. I'll let you know if I think of anything.” She paused and stared at Twilight. “What,” Twilight said with a playful smile. “Something on my face?” “Um, y-yes. All over, actually.” This time she was certain that Twilight was actually blushing, because it was still there even after Twilight frantically swiped at her face with napkins. She tried to bite back her laugh, having a bit of trouble doing so. Twilight's blush intensified at the sound. “Excuse me for a moment.” Twilight said, hurrying into the bathroom. She checked her face in the mirror, then slowly unfurled her wing, pulling out the notebook hidden within. She flipped through it. Everything in the blue ink that Rarity had suggested was ridiculously basic. Compliments, flowers, chocolates. But when she looked at the other colors, she found that each one would require a fair deal of planning. It stood to reason, she supposed, that the grandest, most sweeping romantic gestures were the ones that would take the most time and effort. She quickly tucked the book back under her wing as the door opened. She turned and looked at the pony who entered, expecting to have to explain herself to Prominence. “I can—oh, uh...Hi. Flitter.” Flitter stared, confused, at the somewhat frantic expression of the princess for a moment. “Hi.” “I thought you were somepony else,” She explained. “Oh. A lot of mares use this bathroom.” “I know.” “Okay then.” She walked past Twilight and entered a stall. Twilight returned to the table and, feeling that she was only growing more awkward by the moment, said nothing for the rest of the meal, much to Prominence's disconcertion. When they walked in the door of the palace, Rarity stood waiting for them, Spike at her side, for some reason holding a large burlap sack. “Welcome home, Twilight. Hello, Prominence. I'm afraid Spike and I need to kidnap the Princess for a bit.” Spike hefted up the bag, as if he planned to throw it over Twilight, but when he realized that he was getting three confused stares, a small jet of flame shot out of his mouth and the bag was reduced to ashes. “What bag?” He asked, shrugging. “Yes. Well. Be that as it may,” Rarity said as Twilight carried the ashes out the front door on a magical breeze, “We have something we'd like to discuss with you in private.” She led Twilight through the castle to a small sitting room with no trouble at all, and Twilight pondered how it was that Rarity always seemed to know how to find exactly which room she was looking for in a home that still gave her trouble at times. Rarity closed the door behind them. “Alright. I will not divulge how it came to pass, but suffice to say that Spike and I each know that the other knows. And we are here for you, Twilight. Now, where is my notebook?” She watched as Twilight produced the book from under her wing. “And have you tried anything in it yet?” “I picked up some flowers on the way to meet her at Hay Burger--” She paused at the grimace on Rarity's face. “What?” “Nothing, dear. Where you choose to eat is your own business, and is not for me to cast judgment on.” She bit her lip for a moment. “But really, when there's so many fine establishments in town, that is the one where you decided to meet up with the filly who holds your heart in her hooves?” “W-well, I don't want to be too obvious, do I?” Twilight asked. Rarity grabbed the notebook and flipped around for a bit. This bit was in black ink, and as such, Twilight had skipped over it. “'Make your intentions clear. Show her just how much she has come to mean to you, even if you're not stating it outright.' She'll never get the right idea if you keep taking her to Hay Burger. Anyway, what did she think of the flowers?” “First of all, that was in black ink. You told me to stick with the blue ink. And she thought I brought them as a snack.” “Well, I suppose that's an understandable miscommunication. And the blue ink is all purpose gestures. The black is behavioral guidelines and chapter introductions.” Spike peered up at the notebook and quickly scribbled what he could on a piece of parchment before hiding it behind his back as the girls talked. Prominence walked into the kitchen, retrieved a glass, and started filling it with water. She paused and sniffed the air. She looked around for a quick moment before spotting the flowers on the counter, only now taking a moment to actually look at them. “Chicory flowers. My favorite...” she whispered. She glanced over at her drink, and placed the flowers in the water, smiling softly. “How did she know?” It was late. Prominence, who had been oddly quiet at dinner, but much less so than at breakfast, had already gone to bed. Twilight couldn't blame her, she was likely still feeling the emotional toll of forcing out that story this morning. Rarity had gone and, after much debating with Twilight on the topic, was going to keep their friends in the dark about her crush. The less they tried to help, the smoother things would likely go. Twilight was sure Rarity understood that, from her point of view, smoother didn't necessarily mean better, it just meant less chance of giving Twilight a heart attack from all of the stress. Spike and Twilight walked through the halls of the castle, each heading for their own rooms. The little dragon was doing his best to conceal a very, very bright smile. “What's got you so excited?” Twilight asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. After a bit of thinking about whether he should, Spike showed her the parchment he'd copied notes from the book onto. “Spike, she's probably going to recognize her own ideas when you try to use them to woo her.” Spike thought for a moment, and then grumbled as he began shredding the parchment. Twilight picked up the scraps of paper as he dropped them, wanting to keep her halls clean, and went to her room. “Goodnight, Spike.” “Night, Twilight!” She made her way to her bed and let out a heavy yawn. In the back of her mind, she wondered and worried about whether she'd made her decisions too quickly. She was even a little surprised at how fast she'd internalized the idea of Celestia and Prominence being two parts of a whole. But, she was too tired to sort through these thoughts, and chalked all of it up to just how intense her crush was. Cuddled into her covers, she drifted off to sleep. Celestia was laid out on her back on a table in the Hay Burger. Twilight was quickly climbing up to stand over her. Discord was riding even more unicycles than he had been in Fluttershy's cottage, and the kazoo he played gave off Rarity's voice, speaking backwards, as he held a second, swooning Celestia in his arms. Luna stood there, shocked and confused, as Twilight kissed, not Prominence, but Celestia, with Discord as an audience, kissing his own Celestia in his arms. In a fast food joint of all places. Twilight sat up and looked at the clock. Three minutes had passed since she first laid down. Her hooves went to cover her eyes. “Road apples.” Discord tossed and turned, sighing overdramatically. Fluttershy looked over the edge of her bed, where he lay in his sleeping bag. “Is everything alright? Do you want the bed? I can take the floor,” she offered, not even sure when her friend had appeared in her room. “Oh, no, it's nothing to do with the accommodations. Do you remember when we first met and I turned you against your element?” he asked, sitting up, letting the sleeping bag slump down to reveal his lacy nightgown. That, in Fluttershy's mind, could never be a start to a pleasant conversation. “Oh, um, I--” “I did it to your friends, too, and with them I didn't even have to resort to brute force. I'm a master of manipulation. And lately I've been wondering how I can help ponies with that.” “Uh...” “So, I ask you, is it wrong for a friend to use whatever means he can to push another friend to try to take something she wants? Because that's what I tried to do for Twilight. Just a bit of magic and a little emotional nudge. Does this make me a good friend, or a bad one? At the time, I certainly thought that what I was doing was good. But now that I've had time to think on it, I'm not so sure.” “Well, I know I'd certainly appreciate a little push from a friend every now and then. I'm not really strong enough to try and get what I really want on my own.” Discord looked into her eyes and pulled her into a hug. “Fluttershy, you are the strongest pony I know.” “You're sweet, but you're lying.” She giggled, hugging back. “Only a little.” "We should go talk to Twilight tomorrow. You might need to apologize." With a somber nod, Discord laid down, adjusted his sleeping bag, and went to sleep, almost certain he'd done right by both Celestia and Twilight. Luna found herself in a bland office, watching Discord type away at a computer. She sat quietly and watched for the first hour before finally speaking up. “Your dream seems to be a fantastic exercise in the absurdly mundane.” Discord looked over at her, then shrieked in terror. “A TALKING HORSE!” He shouted. Other Draconequui—no, other Discords, for they shared much more than his race, peered over the walls of his cubicle, and began screaming at the impossible sight before them. “First Twilight, now this,” She grumbled, “This is going to be a long night.”