Twilight vs. a String of Lights
Twilight vs. a String of Lights
“Ooh, twinkly! I love strings of colored lights. I hang them up all around every room—not just in one place—so everypony can enjoy them, wherever they are, and so they fill every corner with brightness and joy. It’s like a party conga line of light! So, whatcha doing?”
“Oh yeah, those things are awesome! I mean, of course I love all the colors, but it’s their shine that I love most. Against any other decoration, those colored lights are the brightest, boldest thing around. They outshine everything else! But, at the same time, they don’t steal the show, you know? They light everything else up—so you can appreciate it—no matter how dark the night is. But, uh, those are pretty tangled, aren’t they?”
“I think it’s nice that all the colors in a string of lights are working together to make something beautiful. They’re pretty, and quiet, and… Oh, I’m sorry. I’m interrupting you.”
“I’ve adored them since the first time I went to Manehattan, where I saw a whole shopfront covered with strings of lights. Those lights blinked on and off, like fireflies made of gemstones, each brighter than any star. It was truly breathtaking. But at the same time, I saw how their beauty was enhanced by their moments of darkness. It helped me realize there was elegance in contrast and grace in letting others outshine you. And those will look absolutely lovely here in the great hall… once you have them straightened out, of course.”
“I’ve never been one for much decoration, but our family took to those colored lights right off and they became one of our traditions. We always hang them up together, as a group—with somepony to take this end, and somepony to take that end, and somepony to say ‘a little more to the left.’ Those strings of lights are my favorite because they’re the one decoration we can all share in, as a family. You sure you don’t want any help with those, sugarcube?”
“Hello, Twilight. Your friends are doing such a wonderful job with the preparations for the upcoming celebration. It is going to be a magnificent spectacle. They mentioned your determination to get a particular string of lights untangled and that it seemed nothing was going to stop you. You worked on them all afternoon, I hear. Did you achieve your goal?”
“Actually, I think I learned something new, Princess. The lights truly were in an awful state—they must have been taken down by a cyclone last year! But as I spoke with each of my friends about them, I grew more and more determined to get them untangled so they could be hung once more for all to enjoy. Because, after hearing them all talk, I got to see these lights through their eyes in surprisingly different ways. For such simple things, they can provide so much happiness and joy. Besides, you know me—I can’t abide an unsolved problem.
“But for each knot I untangled I found three more. I found one end of the string, but the other end hid so well, I started to think there wasn’t one. And the parts I untangled knotted back up again as soon as I moved on to another spot! I got so frustrated, I started arguing with it—out loud. It was war: me versus a string of lights!
“Then a strange thing happened. I started to get the feel of it, how the strands crossed each other, how the loops and twists met and parted and passed through each other. It was like a dance. I stopped twisting and pulling and started following the flow of the lines. It was… beautiful, in its own, crazy way. I—I can’t really explain it, Princess. And… I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Twilight? Where are these lights?”
“Up… up there.”
“Oh. Oh my.”
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I couldn’t untangle them! I just… hung them in a clump, no different than they were when I found them.”
“You couldn’t untangle them, but you hung them anyway—for all to see?”
“Um. Yes. I, uh, can’t really explain why I did that. I suppose I should have put them away instead but…“
“But what, Twilight?”
“But… I found I like them—the way they are. They may not be in the shape that I intended, and they may not be hung the same way that everypony else remembers and loves, but… but they have a beauty of their own—like this. I’m sorry. I’m being ridiculous.”
“No, Twilight, not ridiculous at all. I’m happy to say that I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you!”
“Princess?”
“You see, those lights weren’t taken down last year. They are brand-new. They were a gift, you see, presented to me just last week—by Discord.”
“D-D-Discord?”
“Yes, my dear Twilight. And you… you could see the beauty in them. You took them as they were and appreciated them in the same way that they were given: in friendship. To some, those would have been abandoned as a lost cause and hidden away, or discarded completely. To others, they would have been proclaimed a mere prank, good for a chuckle and nothing more.
"But your eyes, dear Twilight, could see more, your heart could feel more—not because of some skill or magical ability, but because you understand friendship, even when it comes in strange and unusual packages. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Um, I think so, Princess. It's not enough to just refrain from judging a book by its cover—you have to read the lines within to truly understand it, right? But I didn't decide to leave the lights as they were because of something I saw in that tangled mess—not really. I didn't have a reason. It just felt right.”
"Yes. Because sometimes it is enough to read the lines of a book, and sometimes you must read between them as well. You didn't lose yourself in facts. You felt the intent behind them, even if you couldn't put that feeling into words. You don't know how rare that is, Twilight Sparkle. I'm proud of you—as always."
"Thank you, Princess. But, um, if you'll excuse me?"
“Where are you off to, Twilight?”
“I, uh, I think I should... thank... Discord, for his gift. In person. Right now."
Celestia's twinkling laugh followed Twilight out into the bustling castle hallways, lighting her way.
END
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nice little story. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to keep this at around 1000 words.
3806552
It was a very simple idea that didn't need a lot of wordage to convey. I just wanted to explore how the different characters might see the same thing in a different... light. Of course, leaving out all narration and "she said" attributions helped a lot too. :)
Heh, magic of friendship or not, I think Discord's in for some strong words...
Reading this story was a pure pleasure. It's simple but... I don't know? Wise? Something like that. And what's more important its simplicity is a huge advantage over all those "supr-hiper-epic stories", because it's fun to read something like that. Thumbs up and fav.
Dude. Seriously? How can you be so awesome and carefree at the same time? It's honestly just a crime how your work isn't promoted more!
What Twilight did not mention was that this also served a second, darker purpose as a warning to strings of lights in the area in much the same way as the corpses of the condemned in gibbets served as a warning to other criminals...
My only real complaint is that not a single line of dialog has the speaker attached to it. I had to skip 90% of it too where there were two speakers I could guess to who were speaking (Celestia and Twilight).
Something that grammatically needs to be in a story with more than one being talking. At least till the speaking order is established.
8619334
Hi. :)
The lack of attributions to the dialog or other narrative cues was intentional in this short, experimental piece. The purpose was to write each section of dialog as distinctive to a particular character as possible so that their identity could be inferrred from the content. Each of the mane six—other than Twilight—separately voices their own thoughts and perceptions on the subject at hand: a tangled string of lights. It is only when Celestia enters that we get a two-way conversation which, after names are spoken to set the pattern, ping-pongs between the two characters. (Mostly... note that when a paragraph doesn’t end with a quote the next paragraph is the same speaker again.)
Think of the beginning as a short guessing game, if you will. Which character was which?
...said Nonsanity. ;)
8622035
Ah! And much like the lights. It way too quickly got into a tangled mess. Ruining immersion.
Still, I can respect artistic experimentation. Just way to immersion wrecking for me having to read, then re-read lines multiple times to guess who says what. Really murders the story for me personally.
8622321
I can understand if you were looking for an actual story that followed the typical attribution patterns. Normally I use them too, but not here. It just wouldn’t be the same with “said Pinkie...said Rainbow Dash...said Fluttershy” etc. it would lose its experimentalness. :)
Thanks for giving it a try, though! :)
8623828
True, and you're welcome.
I can say on a positive note though, that I did like the end. Twilight being able to see the gift for what it was, and using it as she did. It was a nice ending.
Surprising ending.
This is very short and sweet, and has a moral to go along with it and everything. I love it!