//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Becoming Twilight // by RandomGreymane //------------------------------// Becoming Twilight - Chapter 21                by RandomGreymane (Mike Hebel)         To Twilight’s surprise, the responses to her letters where all negative.  Pinkie Pie went so far as to hide a balloon in her office.  Upon touching it, the balloon popped and released large confetti pieces.         All labeled with the word ‘Nope!’.         Well I really can’t blame them. Twilight thought. This last outing has been kinda long.  Applejack’s been away from the farm, Rarity’s been away from the boutique, I’ve been away from my desk...         As if on cue, a stack of papers toppled themselves and spread themselves all over her workspace.  With a sigh she gathered them all back into the pile and set them carefully aside.         Once she was finished working, Twilight met Scootaloo at Sugarcube Corner and apologized for being away from their workouts for so long.  The visit was not what she expected at all.           “IT WAS SOOOO COOOL!” Scootaloo shouted.  “We could see the purple sparks all across the sky and I knew it had to be you!”         “Well...it was pretty awesome.” Twilight agreed.  Her cheeks showed red as she scratched behind her ear with her fore-hoof.  “It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be though.  That little stunt left me in bed again!  I’m really trying to not bake that a habit...” she trailed off as she took a sip of her shake.         “Anyways...” Scootaloo said while shifting a little in her seat.  “..anyone who can be a rocket doesn’t need strong wings.  So I guess you’re done training...”         “Not by a long shot.” Twilight said emphatically.  “A good princess needs to be well rounded.  And I can think of no other pony, save one, that knows more about wings and flying than you!”         “Who’s the other...oh!  I get it!” Scootaloo said as a smile suddenly appeared on her face.         With that, Twilight made her excuses and headed back to the council building.  The next day, Twilight resumed her workout schedule with Scootaloo before heading off the office.                   And so the days went.  Summer passed into fall and, at the Running of the Leaves, Celestia pointed out to Twilight “Scanning the cities once the snow falls is going to be considerably more difficult you know.”         “Hmm....agreed. “ Twilight said with a sigh. “Looks like we have to put off scanning until next summer.”         “A wise decision.” Celestia agreed.  “Good run everpony!” she said addressing the crowd. “Everypony get some refreshments and we will announce this year’s top three!”         The next week, per the weather team schedule, snow covered the ground.  Twilight questioned the amount and the timing but was told that due to the slightly dry season before this winter had to be deeper and a bit longer.  “The prolonged snow cover soaks into the ground slowly rather than runs off.” the Canterlot team manager told her. “That makes sure there is enough water in the ground for the farms and also the reservoir for Cloudsdale among other places.  I’m surprised you didn’t know that princess.”         “Weather isn’t my specialty.” Twilight said simply.         A week later she was making her way through the streets of Canterlot.  Some groups of fillies and colts threw snowballs and made snowponies while others simple made their way from place to place with their friends.  She was unsurprised to cross paths with Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, and Applebloom at least once. Scootaloo put a hold on their workouts so she and her friends could spend the week in Canterlot for the holiday.  Other than that she was alone.         She’d invited her friends to spend the holiday with her in Canterlot but none had been able to accept.  Applejack said Granny Smith was having arthritis issues due to the cold, Rainbow Dash was busy with weather duty, Fluttershy was checking the hibernation of her woodland friends, Rarity was busy selling her winter fashion line, and Pinkie said she just couldn’t fit it into her holiday party schedule.  Considering what happened with the mirror pond that doesn’t surprise me as much as I feel it should. Twilight thought as she walked.         Looking into a store window while levitating a cup of hot cocoa, Twilight suddenly found herself embedded in a nearby snow pile faster than she could blink.  Hot cocoa dripped on her head as she struggled to extract herself from the pile.  She felt someone grab her tail and pull her backwards from underneath the snow. “OhymgodTwilightI’msosorry!IwasinsuchahurrythatIdidn’tseeyouandthenIslippedonthesidewalkandranintoyouandknockedyouintothesnow!” said Pinkie Pie while rapidly hopping from one set of hooves to the other before stopping cold and peering at Twilight. “Do you know you have hot chocolate on your head?” Pinkie asked.         “Yes Pinkie I’m aware that I am now covered in hot cocoa.” Twilight said with some exasperation in her voice. Concentrating she ran a cleaning spell from her nose to her tail and in moments the offending liquid was gone.         “Here!” said Pinkie as she held out a cup to her friend.  “I bought it for myself but since you lost yours I insist!”         “Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said as she took a sip from the cup.  “Mmmm....exactly the way I like it!” she said with a smile.         Pinkie’s hair suddenly vibrated and made a sound like a mechanical alarm clock.  “Oh!  I’m late!” she exclaimed. “Someone asked me to throw a Hearth’s Warming party for them and I’m not all set up yet!”         “Better hurry then.  Tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Day.”  Twilight said with a smile.         “Gotta go!” Pinkie said as she bounded off down the sidewalk.         “Bye!...” Twilight said before taking another sip of her drink.  Looking at her hooves momentarily she noticed that some of the spilled cocoa stained the snow.  Sighing, she reached out with her magick and cleaned up the spill until only white snow remained.  In the process, a drop of her current drink fell from her cup and struck the ground.         It created a perfect chocolate colored snowflake shape.  What are the odds of that? Twilight thought.         In frustration, Twilight scuffed the design rather than using a spell.  A fresh, blue, snowflake of the exact same design appeared in front of the now smudged chocolate one.  Then another, and another, until a long line led into the distance.         What the hay? she thought. Well it’s not like I have anything better to do.         Twilight followed the snowflakes but kept a wary eye out.  No idea what’s going on here.  It might be a trap for all I know. she thought.  Huh.  I’m getting paranoid in my princess-hood.   She laughed to herself and continued following the path.         Several blocks down the road she stopped to rest her hooves.  Glancing at a nearby bench she noticed a perfectly folded newspaper.  She was about to disregard it until she noticed the date.         O...kay...  It’s from the day they announced my ascension. she thought.  No..nothing creepy there.         Her strength recovered, she put the paper in her bag and pressed on.  When she was yet again exhausted she stopped.  As before there was something at that location.  This time it was a paper with the announcement of the reveal of the Twilight Council building.         Weirder and weirder.  That really was an experience. she reflected. Still, Applejack’s gardening school is doing well.         Collecting this paper as well, she continued along the path.  Her curiosity more than a little piqued.  The next stop she found a small, purple frame on the ground.  Picking it up she realized that it was a mirror.  Looking into it reminded her of Alabaster and the Beater incident.         I’ll have to send her a note reminding her to write. she mused.  She hasn’t sent a letter in a while.         The next stop contained a model airship.  A spitting image for the Wind Walker.  She’d seen this model all over Canterlot after the ship had been revealed to the public but this one was different.  Someone had made incredibly tiny models of her and her friends, including the princesses.         Yeah....sensing a trend here.  Nice trip down memory lane. she thought.  I bet the next one will be the policepony I put in the bay!         The next stop proved her wrong.  On the ground was a plush spider with intricately sewn chains strung between it’s legs.         “Okay...called that one wrong.” she said as she levitated the stuffed toy.  “I think I’ll call you Mr. Webby!”           She placed Mr. Webby into the pack along with the other items and continued on.  She became a bit concerned when the next three stops contained no items on the ground nor any sign of the end of the trail.         Her next stop there was a hot cup of cocoa on the ground.  Steam indicated that it had not been there long.         I’m catching up! she thought with excitement.         In her enthusiasm she attempted to consume the entire beverage and had to spend several minutes  performing a mild healing spell on her burnt tongue.  “Stupid, stupid, stupid Twilight!” she said when she could talk again.           Sparing no more delays she recalled Luna’s admonishment about hooves and took to the air.  The moment she rose more than ten feet above the ground, the snowflakes ceased to appear.  With some grumbling she reduced her flight to the minimum height and increased her speed to something that Rainbow Dash would have referred to as ‘Meh’.  This was still fast enough for Twilight to cover a great deal of ground.         The snowflakes led her on a twisting and winding path around the buildings and streets of Canterlot.  More than once she narrowly avoided colliding with a brick corner or a store sign hung too low.         With frustration she increased her speed until eventually she was a blur of purple flying through the city.  She mindlessly followed the snowflakes until she was sure she’d gone through almost every street in the city.  As she rounded a corner she was immediately confronted with a large magickal field blocking her path.         At her speed there was no chance of her stopping.         Clamping her eyes shut tight, she broke through the field only to find her speed reduced to almost nothing.  She opened her eyes in time to see her vision filled on all sides with bright purple sparks.  In a few moments the sparks cleared and she found herself floating above one of Canterlot’s central parks.         It was absolutely packed with ponies of all shapes and sizes.  All stomping and yelling in congratulations.         In front of her was a stage containing her friends, Luna and Celestia, and even Spike and Scootaloo.  More than a little tired she landed on the stage.  “Okay.” she said a little out of breath.  “Who’s idea was this?”         “Guilty aaaas charged!” Pinkie Pie said as she produced yet another hot cocoa for Twilight.         “While Pinkie Pie would like to take all the credit we all had a hoof in it.” said Rarity.         “You guys couldn’t, oh I don’t know, just have invited me to a party?” Twilight said as she once again regained her strength.         “Nuh-uh.” said Applejack with a shake of her head. “There ain’t no-way no-how that we’d have been able to keep this here celebration quiet without leadin’ you around by the snout.”         “Agreed.” Celestia continued. “You are by far the most inquisitive pony I know.  Eventually you’d have caught wind of the plan.”         “Yep!” agreed Rainbow Dash. “The only way we could keep you from finding out was to give you something to do.  I came up with the idea of leading you around the city!  Nice flying by the way!  A little sloppy around the corners but you’ve definitely shown you are way better than before.  Not anywhere in my league but...”         “But, we used your flying around the city to get everything together.”  Fluttershy said.  “Didn’t you notice anything strange?”         Twilight thought for a moment.  Suddenly she realized that past a certain point she could not recall passing anypony else nor seeing anypony in the streets.  “They all were here!” she said suddenly.  “I was so focused on the snowflakes that I didn’t even notice!”         “That I shall take credit for.” said Princess Luna.  “The proper application of a want-it/need-it spell.  You ‘needed’ to find the end of the path.  The rest was simple.”         “Umm...yeah...” Twilight said while shuffling her hooves a bit.           “Shall we get this party started then?” Princess Celestia asked.  Turning to the crowd she engaged her voice amplification spell. “May I have your attention please?  Everypony?  Quiet down please!”         When everypony had settled down she continued.  “We are here today to celebrate our Princess Twilight.  Her recent acts of heroism have not only cleared the city of Manehatten of a great evil but saved the life of her friend Pinkamina Diane Pie, the Element of Laughter, from an untimely demise.         This celebration is long overdue!”         Stomping and hooting erupted from the crowd.  Celestia raised a hoof to quiet them back down before she continued.         “As you well know, Twilight was my student for a long time before she earned her wings.  In all that time though...I considered her much much more.  It was only recent events that showed me how deeply that friendship runs between us and how proud I am to call her my friend.         Some time ago, somepony called you the ‘patchwork princess’.         I do not find this an insult.  Hear me out.           We often find in our lives, that too many pieces we care about slip through our hooves.  I have found...that our dear Princess Twilight contains not only pieces I and Luna care about but that her friends, family, and indeed everypony she’s ever helped care about as well.           Each piece of her is cherished by those around her and rightly so.  I say unto you Twilight that you should wear the badge of Patchwork Princess with pride!  There is nopony else in our time that has touched so many lives and brought such joy and wonder to us!         There is nothing I can do that will show my gratitude enough.  This park for example will be dedicated in Twilight’s name along with her likeness.  But that seems woefully inadequate.         Twilight, I am at a loss as to what to do for you?  Is there anything that you want or need?”         Twilight engaged her own voice spell before speaking. “Princess Celestia, there is nothing I can think of that I truly want.  This is all so overwhelming that I honestly don’t know what to say!”         “Then I will simply leave that decision for another day my dear princess.” Celestia replied with a wide smile.  “For the meantime though everypony please enjoy the celebration!  Happy Hearth’s Warming!”         The celebration lasted long into the night.  In the end, Twilight and her friends found themselves once again back at the palace.  Retiring to what were now their dedicated rooms, they all fell fast asleep.         Twilight was unsurprised to once again wake somewhere else.  Materializing her standard cup of tea in front of her, Twilight took a sip.  “Thank you.” was all she said to those gathered around the dream table with her.         With a nod from all her sisters, the conversation turned to lighter topics until Celestia woke herself and raised the sun on a fresh Hearth’s Warming Day.