//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 Ship No More Forever // Story: Twilight and Cadence Ship Equestria // by Mani-Roar //------------------------------// *Knock knock knock* "Twilight, are you still in there?" Spike repeatedly rattled on the door to Twilight's room. "Go away Spike." Twilight's pillow muffled the sound of her reply. "You can't just avoid everypony all day." Spike gave the door a few more pounds for posterity. "Watch me." Twilight pulled a second pillow over her head so that her face was shoved into both of them. "He probably hates me now anyway." "He doesn't hate you Twilight." Spike gave up on the knocking and placed both of his claws against the door. Twilight finally stuck her head out of the pillows. "What do you know, Spike?" Spike put his back against the door and slunk down into a sitting position. "Well, next to you, not much I guess. But I do know a lot about you. I know that you're the most kind and sincere pony I've ever known. I know that not everypony sees that in you right away, but those that do are lucky to know you. You'd do anything for your friends." Spike curled into a sitting ball and held his knees with his arms. "And I know that if a little spilled tea is enough to make Flash think twice about spending time with you, then he doesn't deserve to spend time with you anyway." The door gently opened behind Spike. He looked up to see Twilight smile at him and wipe the remnants of her tears away. She embraced him with a hug and kissed him on the forehead. "Thank you Spike. You always know just what to say." Spike squirmed a little in her arms. "Aw shucks, don't get all embarrassing on me." Twilight released Spike from her grip. "I will when you stop saying sweet things." Twilight used her magic to fix her mane a little bit. "So where is Cadence? I should probably go make sure she has everything she needs before I go speak to Flash." Spike shot Twilight a sideways glance. "What? I really will go speak to Flash. I'm not afraid." "If you say so Twilight." Spike threw his hands up in an unconvinced fashion. "Ugh, just tell me where Cadence is Mr. Doubting dragon." "Oh she's down in the basement." Spike calmly pointed behind him. It took a second for the information to sink in for Twilight. "Well in that case I'd better... she's what!" Twilight froze in place. She felt as if her heart had plummeted into her stomach and her lungs had jumped up and caught in her throat. It took a moment for her to be able to speak again. "Spike, did you say the basement? Please tell me you're joking, ha ha, this is a funny joke right?" Twilight's irises shrank and went out of focus. Her forced smile looked like that of a maniac. "Nope, she's definitely in the basement. Are you ok?" Twilight's mood swings always made Spike nervous. "Why would you let her in the basement? I said nopony was allowed down there!" Twilight looked like she might burst into flames. "You said only a princess could read the scrolls in the new Star Swirl the bearded wing. Cadence said she was looking for one of his spells and she is a princess after all, so I lead her down there." Twilight was pacing now. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no." Twilight broke her pace and ran off toward the stairs. "I have to stop her before it's too late." Spike was left staring down the hallway terribly confused. "So, that was a bad thing?" **** Twilight stood silently in the doorway of the castle basement. She was staring at one of her greatest fears. Another pony was reading one of her works of fiction. Cadence was right in the middle of the floor, plopped down on her stomach with a scroll wide open. Twilight felt completely exposed. All of her deepest and dirtiest secrets, penetrated by foreign eyes. She must think I'm so twisted, sick, demented, perverted. What scroll is she reading? What part is she at? Oh Celestia, she's turning to look at me. I can't look at her. Twilight turned away from Cadence, her face redder than Big Mac. "Twilight, did you write these?" This is it Sparkle, time to face the music. I have no excuse. "Y-yes, I did. I wrote all of them." Twilight waited for the judgement to fall. "These are so good. So much detail... gritty detail." Cadence blushed a little bit. Twilight felt as if she had just gotten away with murder. "Y-you like them?" Twilight finally allowed herself to look at cadence. "Of course I like them, why wouldn't I?" The realization dawned on Cadence. "Aw, you thought I was gonna judge you didn't you?" Cadence giggled. "Well, yeah a little, I mean, no I guess not." Cadence walked over to Twilight and put her hoof around her. She used her other hoof to give Twilight a soft noogie. "Geez Twilight, how dare you have a sex drive, you little monster." Twilight giggled and pulled away from Cadence's noogie. "Stop it." Twilight tried to regain her composure. "Aw, my little Twilie's all grown up now and writing dirty fictions about her friends and neighbors." "Well when you put it that way..." Twilight trailed off, feeling embarrassed again. "So, which story were you reading anyway?" "Oh, this one's about me and Shining Armor." Twilight gasped as the horrible feeling she had upstairs suddenly returned. "He he he, your face is priceless right now." Cadence was enjoying torturing Twilight. "I can't believe you picked that one, out of all the stories you could have read." Twilight smacked her hoof to her face. "I can't believe you wrote it. How much time do you spend thinking about me and your brother being together? Six hours, ten hours a day?" "I do not think about that all day! I just wanted to tell a good story." Twilight felt genuinely guilty. Cadence decided to back off a little bit. "Look, it's not a big deal. I didn't mean anything by it." Twilight was unable to bring herself to answer so Cadence went on. "So what does motivate you to write all of these? This is quite an impressive body of work. Something must have brought it on." “Well. I’m not completely sure. It’s just…” Twilight had never stopped to think about why she wrote so many fictions about other ponies. It was just something she liked doing. “I’m supposed to be the princess of friendship, so I want ponies to be happy and together. I find myself taking mental notes about how certain ponies act around each other and what their personalities are like. Then I try to determine who would be the perfect romantic match for whom. As I think about it, I start to imagine what it would take to spark the romance between the two ponies and how they would discover that they truly belonged together. I just get so excited that I start writing the whole scenario down like a novel and well…” Twilight motioned to the massive collection of scrolls. “Eventually, this happened.” “Wow Twilight, that’s so… dedicated of you. Have you ever told any of these ponies about who you think they should be matched with?” Twilight waved her hooves wildly. “Oh no, no, no. I’m way too shy to say anything to anypony. What if they don’t feel the same way? What if I ruin it? If only there was some way I could just spark the feelings I know they truly have for each other.” That’s when it hit Twilight. It was like a realization brought down from heaven itself. “Twilight, what are thinking right now? That’s your evil scheming face. I don’t like your evil scheming face.” Twilight’s luscious, evil smile was fixated directly on Cadence. “You.” Twilight pointed her hoof out to Cadence. “Me?” Cadence was beginning to get a little anxious. “Yes, you. How have I never thought of this before? Your magic can bring the love of two ponies together. It’s perfect.” “Whoa whoa, hold on Twilight, what I do is way different than this.” Twilight took exception to Cadence’s dismissal. “How is it any different?” “My magic is very dangerous. It involves a pony’s inner emotions and feelings. It messes with the very psyche on an individual. I never use it lightly.” Cadence backed away from Twilight a little. “I’m not saying you should use it lightly.” Twilight moved closer to Cadence. “Also, I only use it on existing couples, I never make anypony fall in love. That would be like mind control, slavery even.” Cadence backed all the way into the scroll shelf. “Not if the two ponies truly belong together. Not if it’s what they truly want.” Twilight moved in and corned Cadence by the scroll shelf. “Twilight, do you realize what you are suggesting? If we are wrong, if we make a mistake, it could be devastating for real ponies in real life, not just fiction.” “That’s why we collect as much data as possible, track statistics and make charts. Just like we did for you and Shining armor when you were in High school, remember?” Twilight leaned her face in right next to Cadence’s. “Y-yes, I remember. I guess that did work out pretty well.” Cadence looked away from Twilight’s intense stare. “Exactly!” Twilight was suddenly giddy. “I’m the princess of friendship and you’re the princess of love. Who could possibly be more qualified to bring the perfect couples together?” Twilight jumped in the air with joy. Cadence’s apprehensive expression was suddenly replaced by a thick scowl. “Look, Twilight. I appreciate your sentiment, but what you are asking crosses a big line. I cannot condone the use of magic to force other ponies to act how we want. Even if we think we are sure that they want it. Celestia would never approve.” Twilight tucked her tail in between her legs. “But…” Cadence moved in on Twilight causing her to back up instead. “It’s not going to happen Twilight, do you understand me? Never ever, never, never!” End Chapter 2