Chapter 6: Teacher and Student
Spike watched as his mother rubbed her chin and stared at the calendar in front of her as if would tell the unicorn all the secrets of the universe. Considering what she was really trying to do, obtaining enlightenment by looking at a piece of paper was probably an easier task.
“Well, she’s tried the exploding present yesterday when I went to Sugarcube Corner, glued seat three days ago, and Rainbow Dash stopped trying to help her after I conjured that irremovable makeup on her and threatened to leave it on, so that means… today’s spiked food, or a prank involving water.”
After finishing off the last of his ruby breakfast that they had courtesy of the wannabe liar thief, the dragon sighed and shook his head. “Twilight, why do you even bother? Even if you can figure out what prank Pinkie is going to try and pull on you today, the way she does them is impossible to predict.”
Twilight turned away from her calendar and frowned. “Because I’d rather be prepared for it if something does happen,” she told him. “Besides, today we’re all going to Canterlot to divvy up that dragon’s horde and …are you sure you don’t want to come?”
For a moment, Spike felt tempted by the offer of going back to his hometown and maybe seeing Princess Celestia again, but…he didn’t want to be within a hundred miles of the city when Twilight arrived in Canterlot. Plus, Sparkler was coming over later to hang out. So he’d at least have somepony to talk to.
Somepony that was his friend, rather than just a friend of his mom.
Plus, if Spike when with them to Canterlot, he would have to share space with Rarity and…the dragon didn’t quite know how he was going to deal with that little emotional hurdle yet.
“Nah, I’m fine.”
The dragon found himself the object of a scrutinizing look from the unicorn for a few seconds, but then Twilight shrugged, pulled him into a hug, and kissed Spike on the forehead. “Okay Spike. Just don’t eat all the ice cream this time,” she told him with a light smile that had Spike frowning, wondering how in the hay Twilight had known what his plans were.
Then, there was the other part. This time? It was kind of weird how she was able to do that sometimes. But then, maybe Pinkie’s weird theory about Twilight wasn’t so far off.
“Uh…sure thing Mom,” the dragon agreed. He could leave one scoop left for her. But the rest would be all his!
Another kiss to the forehead and her usual ‘I love you’ got a blush of embarrassment from the dragon before the unicorn walked to the door…and got covered in cold water as a bucket fell from above to cover Twilight’s head. Which was strange considering the door had been completely closed…and that it opened outwards.
“Pinkieeeeeeee,” the unicorn growled from inside the metal bucket before the pink pony popped out from the bookshelf behind her, scattering the various volumes that had been placed there.
“Awww, Twilight, I thought for sure you would have seen that one coming!” she exclaimed.
The unicorn levitated the bucket off her head and cast a quick spell that gathered up the water before dropping it on the lawn outside before she turned back to Pinkie Pie with an expression somewhere between tired and irate. “Pinkie I keep telling you, I’m not psychic! I knew your real name because Celestia had you all looked into after we became the Element Bearers and gave me the information. I just burned the folders with all the data without telling any of you because it was creepy that she was spying on us!”
However, Pinkie Pie just gave Twilight a scrutinizing look. “Weeeeellllll, that doesn‘t explain how-”
Twilight held up a hoof to forestall her. “Look, can we just get going? We’re taking the first train to Canterlot, and I know how long getting into these debates with you takes.”
As the pink party pony followed the unicorn magus out the door and closed it behind her, Spike ran to the unicorn’s desk and pulled out a piece of paper. After getting a quill from the desk as well, he began to put the plan he had come up with last night after learning of Twilight’s intentions to head home for a day.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Twilight is headed to Canterlot on important business, and would like to meet you at the train station to talk about some stuff.
Spike.
Chapter 6: Teacher and Student
“Eeeeeek! Everypony run fer their cotton-pickin’ lives!” Applejack shouted in terror as the mare totally screamed in terror at the problem way too big for her to handle and sent her running like a scared little filly in her girly farm dress.
The dragon attacking Ponyville was totally uncool monster from the depths of Tartarus. It stepped on homes, just completely totaled Sugarcube Corner, and even used its okay…somewhat awesome ability to breathe fire to totally blow the egghead tree of dorkiness away.
It was a danger only one kind of pony could take care of.
Okay, two kinds of ponies, but Celestia was out of town for some big princess thing, so she had to call in…
THE WONDERBOLTS
And at their head, was the new team owner and super-captain Rain-Bow Dash!
They-
“Okay…Okay just…let me just stop you right there.”
Applejack held in her groans at the story as the Friendship Express continued on towards Canterlot, carrying them past the rolling hills and towards the mountaintop that held their destination. She also kept the disgruntled frown from coming onto her face that had been threatening to pop up since Twilight had come over to her farm earlier and told Applejack the ponies up in Canterlot had finally finished counting all the gold in the dragon’s horde and turning the rest of the treasure into bits.
Now was not the time to raise an important point about the treasure that just seemed to conveniently slip the minds of the rest of the ponies gathered. That could wait until the bits were about to be passed out. If she spoke now, Twilight would turn the others against her, or bully her way to a solution like she had done before back on the farm.
So Applejack just sat back and listened to the story of how Rainbow would squander her fortune with her delusional ego trip of a story that just left a bad taste in the farmer’s mouth. However, she managed to find some solace in the fact that Twilight had stopped her before the story gotten too unbearable; not that it had started all that well off to begin with of course with the Applejack comment that probably had a lot to do with the fact she had whalloped Rainbow Dash at horseshoes the day before when the pegasus came to give a her a hoof with the late apples that hadn’t quite been ready during the start of apple bucking season.
Of course, that also meant she had to put up with being around Rainbow Dash, which wasn’t that pleasant of an experience these days.
Rainbow’s ego had been growing by leaps and bounds since Twilight had taken down that dragon with a little help from the pegasus, something that wouldn’t have even been possible without the unicorn’s magic. Considering the three other ponies that had gone with her, Rainbow had been lucky to have anything to brag about at all. If Twilight had brought her foal of a lizard along, Applejack knew it would have been the most durable and powerful pony who would have been chosen to help in the job. But, with Rainbow being the type of pony AJ wouldn’t have trusted to watch an apple cart, and Rarity being…well, useless in anything physical, the best choice had gotten stuck holding the proverbial apple basket when it came time to get the job done.
It didn’t help the farmer’s mood any that the blue pegasus hadn’t shut up about her biggest achievement since it happened. And if it kept up, Applejack knew she might just have to show the pegasus just who the real hero of Ponyville was.
But for the moment, she was just willing to just be the better pony, and sit on the bench across from the ego with wings while she watched the unicorn rub her temple and the pegasus looked on in confusion.
Thankfully, Twilight was willing to set the flying hazard straight when it came to her so-called ‘dream’. “Rainbow, while I am sure there might be a way to bribe your way onto the Wonderbolts if you knew the right hooves to grease, you can’t outright buy the team no matter how many bits you have!” she emphasized. “And…would you honestly want to become their leader that way instead of earning the position? I mean, how would you feel if somepony from Cloudsdale just decided to take a pony you’ve never even met and make them head weathermare of Ponyville because the newcomer was their foal or something?”
“Oh…well…okay, you got a point there Twilight. Then…I dunno what’d I do with my share of the treasure,” Rainbow told her with a shrug. “I already got more than enough bits to get by so… Eh, probably just get some new equipment to work out with… Oh, and some season tickets to the Wonderbolts air shows!”
Twilight’s slightly cross mood immediately vanished, and she giggled at the news when Rainbow told her how she was going to selfishly blow her share of the loot on a few cheap thrills. “That definitely sounds like you Dash.”
Then she turned to look at the unicorn sitting next to Applejack. “How about you Rarity? Going to expand the boutique? Oh! You could even buy a whole new house to live in instead of making do with a few rooms above your store.”
“Well, having a business has taught me never to plan on spending money before I have it in my hooves,” Rarity replied slowly before crossing her forearms and looking down in thought. “But…if we are taking turns with our fantasies here, I suppose I’d move to Canterlot.”
The happy look on Twilight’s face died a gruesome death an instant later as her expression quickly fell to became one of a kind of dreaded confusion, as if Rarity had just said the world was going to end tomorrow with the same enthusiasm of how ponies discussed the weather. Then Twilight licked her lips, and gulped. “W-What?”
Not even bothering to notice the lavender unicorn’s response, Rarity continued on. “Oh! And I could hire a private magic tutor for Sweetie Belle! Not to mention letting my mother and father retire early. Of course I’d open up a shop in Canterlot and…Twilight, do nobles still sell their titles?” she asked while looking over to her purple friend. “I bet being Lady Rarity would help me be able to get my hoof in the door better than…Twilight? Are you alright?”
“You…Rarity…you want to…leave Ponyville?” Twilight asked as she looked back at the other unicorn with an expression that seemed one trot away from…well, Applejack didn’t know, but she was pretty sure it was going to be bad. The farm pony could already see the purple unicorn’s chest going up and down a crazy amount as she sucked in too much air far too quickly.
As Rarity sat there telling Twilight how much better things would be in Canterlot, Applejack just watched the lavender unicorn’s face fall further and further into a state of panic. “And Sweetie Belle! Oh, I could afford to get her into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns!”
“But…but your mom and dad!” Twilight exclaimed. “You said they were moving to Ponyville! Won’t you feel bad if you just up and moved away from them? And your sister… I could teach her magic! In fact, I still know the same lessons plans I used from before! I…I know exactly how to get through to her.”
Rarity tapped her chin in thought for a moment. “Tempting, but…well, Twilight you have so much work of your own,” she said before looking back to the other unicorn. “And to be quite honest dear, you seem a little…advanced in your explanations for Sweetie to grasp.”
“But I…you…” Then, the purple unicorn let out a dejected sigh. When she looked back up at the other unicorn, there was a gut wrenching look of sadness in her eyes. “Rarity…I…you…can’t-”
“Cheer up frowny face!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she jumped over to stand next to Twilight’s seat, blocking her view of the fashionista for a few seconds before she started moving around in thought. “Just because Rarity’s wanting to move away doesn’t stop us all from being friends! And going someplace else sounds fun! Hey, if I get some bits, I could travel around Equestria, throwing all sorts of parties and meeting all new kinds of friends! Wouldn’t that be awesome? I… Ooooooo I could even try to be the first pony in Equestrian history to throw a party for every single pony in Equestria! Or maybe I could make an all the time traveling party that just goes around the country from town to town, never stopping at one town for more than once a year…or maybe less if the party gets so big that we can’t move very fast…but then how would I visit all the town in Equestria? Maybe I should just stick the rout to the big cities. What do you think Twilight? You’re good at that planning stuff!” she said as she bounced all around the car and came to a stop next to Twilight’s seat again.
Twilight looked over to Pinkie Pie with wide eyes. “W-What? But Pinkie, what about the Cakes? What about the…um…your sister! Isn’t Maud going off to Canterlot University in a few years to study geology? Wouldn’t you want to spend as much time with her as you can before she’s so busy with rocks you’ll only be able to visit her during the breaks?”
The question actually seemed to knock Pinkie for a loop, and made her sit down on the ground before she tapped her chin in thought for a moment. Then, she reached up into her mane to pull out a green present wrapped in a yellow bow. “Quick Twilight! What’s in the box?”
“Pinkie,” the unicorn groaned. “For the last time, I am not psychic!”
As the train entered the tunnel and began its climb up Alicorn Mountain, Pinkie Pie let out a tiny laugh in the glow of the train‘s artificial light. “Oh no silly! I don’t think you’re psychic anymore. At least, not after I spiked your cupcakes with hot sauce and you ate them anyway two weeks ago. Now I think you can just see the future!”
A groan came from out of Twilight’s mouth as she covered her face with a hoof for a moment before responding. “Pinkie…even if I was clairvoyant, it would amount to pretty much the same thing because I’d be able to respond to the information I got.”
Pinkie Pie nodded. “Hmm…good point,” she agreed.
“Now, would you please stop trying to test me for a bunch of supernatural abilities that I don’t have?” Twilight asked evenly. “I love you to death, but it’s starting to get on my nerves when I tell you no, and you just keep going. I promise you on our friendship that I’m not psychic, or have futuristic knowledge brought on by unexplainable mental powers, or access to a secret book that enables me to know the future by reading about it.”
For the rest of the time they climbed the mountain, Pinkie Pie just sat in the middle of the floor, tapping her chin in thought as she digested Twilight's words. “Yeah, I guess the team really wouldn’t mesh well if you had a extrasensory perception that beat my Pinkie-sense,” she finally agreed a few seconds after the car they were in was exposed to daylight that easily overshadowed the lamps in their car. “Sorry for going on so long about all that stuff Twilight. I didn’t know it was getting to you.”
Twilight sighed in obvious relief. “Thank you. I’ll be glad to finally know I can stop expecting to be-”
“So if you don’t have psychic future-reading powers of any kind, then...that means you’ve got to be a time traveler Twilight!” the pink party pony exclaimed as she pointed an accusing hoof at the purple unicorn.
The silly declaration just seemed to make Twilight freeze in place, her mouth hanging open just a little bit to allow air in as she just stared at Pinkie Pie for a good minute. Then, the train came to a stop that made her nearly fall forward out of her seat if it wasn‘t for the fact Twilight’s cheek impacted the seat in front of her and kept her from falling on the ground. “…you have got to be kidding me.”
Rainbow Dash let out a laugh. “Pinkie, you are so random,” the pegasus said as she flew up and over Twilight before the rest of her friends joined her in lining up to depart the train. Thanks to being knocked senseless by Pinkie’s odd declaration, Twilight was last in line.
After the pegasus flew past, Applejack didn’t see any point in waiting around and followed her out immediately with Rarity trailing behind and all her other friends eventually joining in. Then, as she reached the exit and took a second to check they were all still together, Applejack ran into the flank of the pony in front of her. “What the-Rainbow! What’s-” she got out while turning to look at her friend…and seeing what had stopped the pegasus dead in her tracks.
A group of four royal guards were directing other ponies away from the very large pony with white wings, a horn nearly as long as some ponies were, and golden regalia. And she was just standing there by the train like any other pony might.
“Is everything okay up there?”
Fluttershy’s voice snapped Applejack out of her faze, who in turn smacked Rainbow on the flank to get her moving. Then she reached back to get Fluttershy out of the way while a stunned Rarity was just bowled over by the pink pony behind her upon seeing the leader of all Equestria.
Then came Twilight.
“Pinkie, watch where you’re bounce…ing,” she trailed off when she saw the pony waiting for them. The unicorn tensed for a moment at the sight of the alicorn and crouched down, half in a bow for a moment as she looked up at Princess Celestia before completing the motion.
A few seconds later, the biggest pony in Equestria walked towards Twilight with all the grace such a magnificent being should possess, and seemed to give Twilight a measuring look. After a tense ten seconds, the goddess finally spoke in a voice that seemed just a tiniest bit less gentle than Applejack remembered from her first time seeing the monach up close. “Rise, my student.”
Applejack watched the purple unicorn as she slowly stood to her full height. Her movements were stiffer than an ornery cart’s wheels on a muddy day. And her voice had none of the usual cheer Twilight usually had for her friends. But, it wasn’t quite disrespectful either. “Princess Celestia, what’s going on? Did something bad happen?”
For a moment, it looked to the farm pony that the princess gave her student a sideways glance, then she turned her head all the way towards Twilight and smiled at the much smaller mare. “Can I not take an interest in my student’s activities?”
“I write you a report on what I’m doing every week,” Twilight deadpanned. “I think the last one was on how two ponies with completely opposite interests can find connections based on shared experiences in which a debt is concerned, complete with a debt to fondness ratio with twenty five different odd quirks factored in. How can you possibly need more?”
Celestia cleared her throat. “Yes, well…to be honest…your ten page reports on friendship are a bit more…academic than I was expecting,” the said hesitantly. “So I want you to have tea with me this afternoon so I can discuss what’s going on in your life.”
Then, Twilight Sparkle’s face darkened ever so slightly, and her flat tone slid a tenth of an inch on the anger scale as she gave her response. “Thank you but no, I’m afraid me and my friends are busy. We have urgent business in Canterlot today.”
Every single pony at the train station stopped as Twilight Sparkle simply blew off an invitation from Princess Celestia Herself. Even the princess was looking at the unicorn with wide pink eyes. Then, they narrowed just a little, and the giant pony turned her full attention towards Twilight. “I’m afraid that I must insist.”
“Excuse me?” Twilight nearly growled as her eyes narrowed.
“I said, I must insist,” Celestia repeated, her tone becoming much more even. “Spike said that you’ve been acting odd lately, and now it seems that my attempts to dissuade his worries with but-”
“SPIKE?” Twilight shouted as she pulled her head back in in surprise. Her expression softened and turned to one very similar to what Applejack had seen on the train when Rarity declared her intentions to move to Manhattan. “Spike told you to come here? To do this?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, and apparently he was right to think that there was something wrong with you.”
“Wrong with me?” Twilight grumbled as her face took on a look that seemed awfully close to a sneer, and her whole body began to shake. “There’s nothing wrong with me! Just because I don’t want to go to your little tea party-”
“YOU’RE SAYING NO TO A PARTY?” a horrified yet somehow still cheerful voice that left Applejack’s ears ringing when it shouted so loud it felt like the world shook and her eardrums exploded.
By the time her vision had cleared, Applejack saw Pinkie had knocked Twilight to the ground in a tackle and was…wearing a stethoscope that was pressed up to the unicorn’s chest while she was looking into Twilight’s ear with another instrument. Of course, the farm pony had lived in Ponyville far too long to be affected by such things and just lowered her hat in embarrassment. She couldn’t believe Pinkie was…being Pinkie in front of Princess Celestia on top of Twilight’s rudeness.
They were all going to get in so much trouble for this.
“Pinkie?” Twilight cried out. “What are you doing?”
Completely ignoring the unicorn, Pinkie Pie reached into her mane as she barked orders. “Quick! I need three cupcakes and a mixture of thirty-percent apple juice, seventy-percent sugar for an IV stat!” the pink pony’s words rang throughout the train station before she pulled out a blood pressure monitor from her mane and strapped it around Twilight’s right foreleg. “Let’s hurry it up ponies, we’ve got a frown to turn upside down!”
When Applejack peeked back out from her hat to see how the spectacle in front of her was playing out at large, she had to repress a groan as she saw Pinkie Pie’s last moments as a free mare run out as the guard moved in with the intent to apprehend what was obviously a very disturbed individual. The orange pony had to wonder just how many years it would be until she saw the town nuisance again, or town nuisance number two, right after Rainbow Dash.
Then, the princess stepped between her guards and Pinkie as if the sentries weren’t even there before she leaned down to talk to Pinkie face to face. “How is she Doctor?” Celestia asked with an amused smirk on her face.
“Excuse me?” Twilight murmured in a guarded tone that was barely loud enough to hear.
Still ignoring the unicorn pinned under her, Pinkie looked back up at Princess Celestia like she was just another pony before she crossed her arms. “I’m afraid my patient is showing signs of severe stress and lack of enjoyment, along with a dangerously low genuine smile count. She needs a class two social gathering of immediate highly supportive emotional relations Princess,” the pink pony explained in all seriousness. Although, talking like that to Princess Celestia made Applejack wonder if the mare even knew just who she was speaking to.
“I see,” Celestia said before drawing herself back up to her full height. “Sergeant, please send for three chariots to transport Twilight and her friends to the castle. And have the chefs prepare enough food for myself and six guests.”
Back down on the ground, Twilight didn’t quite glare at Pinkie Pie, but she didn’t look none too pleased at the earth pony’s antics either. “Pinkie, what the hay do you think you’re doing?”
The even tone got the pink pony’s attention, and she looked back down at the prone unicorn. “Trying to cheer you up, duh. You’ve been way too frowny since you’ve come to Ponyville, and now I’ve figured out what’s wrong, I’m going to fix it!”
Twilight lay on her back for a good thirty seconds, her breathing steady and even before she finally spoke in an almost emotionless tone. “You don’t know what you’re getting into Pinkie. And this is not cheering me up! Now get off me, we have a schedule to keep.”
“Nope! You need a party, and the princess is giving you one, and you’re going to cheer up!”
The unicorn’s eyes became an outright scowl. “PINKIE-”
“Twilight, do it for me, please?” Pinkie Pie asked before all the other ponies saw her eyes become watery and her lips go into a pout.
And then the scowl fanished like it hadn’t even existed. “I…you…that’s not fair,” the unicorn complained before she laid her head back on the ground and sighed in defeat. “You know, this means we’re going to have to reschedule our meeting with the lawyers and accountants at the bank.”
Celestia was quick to swoop in, probably saving Twilight from her single greatest annoyance as far as Applejack knew. “I can have that arranged for you Twilight. And I’ve been needing to catch up to you. I’m quite interested to hear about just where you learned the pony transmogrification spell you know.”
As the odd scene in front of her began to return to semblance of normalcy, or as normal as a pony could get when the immortal leader of one’s country was standing a few feet away talking to Pinkie Pie about her favorite cake, the reality of the situation hit Applejack like a hammer.
“Where having tea with the princess?” Rarity exclaimed a second after the farm pony’s eyes went wide. “BUT I DIDN’T BRING ANYTHING TO WEAR!”
Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea, Celestia thought herself as she watched the majority of the ponies sitting around the table. The introductions hadn’t gone very well, with all but two of Twilight’s friends providing uneasy murmurs for their names…if they even bothered to speak at all instead of hide like the yellow pegasus had. Most of them were so nervous or downright apprehensive that the very air was so thick with unease that it probably could have been cut with a knife.
Even the alicorn felt a little out of sorts with the cold shoulder treatment she was given via short answers from her student when it came to her studies, and how Twilight was sitting on the opposite end of the table instead of at Celestia’s side like she always had before. Over a thousand years of gossip overheard from the staff of two palaces had given her a myriad of information to draw from regarding rebellious youths, but experiencing it in pony with a young mare like Twilight Sparkle was something else.
Twilight’s friends weren’t taking the private time with the princess much better. The white unicorn was so distraught over her lack of formal attire that she was trying to crouch down as much as possible to hide her nudity. The farmer was constantly switching between unease, and dirty looks out of the corner of her eye directed towards the blue pegasus sitting at Celestia’s side, while the rainbow maned flyer showed apparent displeasure with the size of her tea cup because it only held a single swig. The yellow pegasus seemed to be taking things the best by just calmly sitting her tea now that she wasn’t the object of Celestia's attention, and the pink one was…
“And that’s how me and Twilight came up with the idea for the Chimicherrychanga!” Pinkie said, finishing her story of how Twilight had helped her out in the bakery one day when one of the ponies she lived with had contracted a sickness that lasted all morning.
Celestia smiled as she nodded, and didn’t comment on what she…and probably Twilight if the princess was reading her student’s body language correctly, could guess about the baker’s ‘illness’. “That’s very creative Ms Pie,” the alicorn said before looking over to her student. “Tell me Twilight, how did you and your friend come up with such an…interesting combination for a new recipe?”
“Pinky Pie did most of the work, I just learned from the cookbooks,” she replied simply in an even tone that wasn’t quite rude, but a long way from the cheery unicorn that Celestia remembered from just prior to Nightmare Moon’s return.
The alicorn wanted to address the issue, but in all honesty, she wasn’t sure how. Twilight wasn’t acting like herself, but Celestia could sense no taint of dark magic or other signs of magic that might affect the mind. So she could only continue on with her roundabout examination of her student by exploring her past actions with her friends.
There was also something else about Twilight that was a bit more disturbing than her guarded demeanor. Celestia had always had a certain sense about ponies. While it had sort-of developed over years and years of ruling, the core of it came from an extrasensory kind of perception that gave her little bits of insight into the hearts and futures of her subjects. With it, Celestia could measure a pony at a glance, and know things about them that even they weren’t really aware of. Sometimes she was even able to catch a glimpse of their destiny.
And this deep, supernatural sense of understanding that allowed the alicorn to know ponies better than they knew themselves was telling her absolutely nothing when Celestia looked at Twilight Sparkle.
It was such a disturbing thing that she had to look away and try drawing Twilight’s other, more enthusiastic friend into the conversation.
“And what of you…Rainbow?” Celestia asked as she quickly guessed her name by the pegasus’s mane. “What has been your most interesting time in these recent weeks?”
The cyan pegasus looked up at the alicorn sitting beside her for a moment, and put on a smirk that reminded Celestia far too much of several of her more ambitious guards. “Well there was that little dragon thing I took care of the other week,” she told the sun goddess, earning another hidden glare from the earth pony sitting across the table from the pegasus. “You should have seen it Princess! I-”
Celestia interrupted her story with a chuckle. “I did see it actually,” the princess told her, getting looks of surprise from most of the other ponies in the room. Twilight’s expression was one of barely repressed anger, not surprise.
After hearing that, the unicorn finally spoke at her own behest. Her tone was also not as…cordial as it had been during Pinkie Pie’s story. “Are you meaning to tell me you knew Equestria was in danger, and you just sat around in Canterlot while sending my friends into a situation that could have gotten them killed?!” the unicorn demanded as she sat up to slam her hooves onto the table.
Ah, so that’s it, Celestia told herself as the mystery behind Twilight’s anger was solved. The princess could understand her student being upset with her over some perceived abandonment, but once she got this all sorted out, Spike’s growing fears and Twilight’s problems could be put to rest. Of course, she still needed conformation of her theory. “Is that why you’re so angry with me, for putting your friends in danger?”
“Angry? Angry doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel over what you’ve done!” Twilight shouted. “You send a single ticket for me to have to chose between all my friends when you knew, KNEW how important they are to me! Then you send us after a DRAGON! A BUCKING DRAGON! If it weren’t for the spells I’ve learned from your old castle, my friends would have gotten themselves killed! THEY’D BE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!”
Celestia’s eyes widened at the sudden revelation as to where Twilight’s increased knowledge of magic had come from. Her old castle might have been a crumbling ruin, but the artifacts of magic still stored within it were very powerful. For a moment, she considered the fact Twilight might have come across one of them and it was making her act irrationally, but her earlier scans of the unicorn had detected no dark magic in her whatsoever. So, Celestia discarded that fear once again.
The anger Twilight was feeling towards her was genuine. As illogical as it was, and despite the relief that came with knowing her student’s mind hadn’t been corrupted by dark magic, Celestia found that the fact the feelings Twilight was having hadn’t been placed there by some dark force was in a way, even more disturbing.
Still, the knowledge that Twilight had ventured into the Castle of the Sisters did make Celestia worry, even with the fact that the unicorn hadn’t fallen prey to dark magic. But, that was a conversation that needed to be saved until after Celestia had dealt with her student’s misplaced anger; one bit of it at a time.
She decided to start with the smaller of the accusations. “Twilight, I didn’t know any of your friends wanted to go to the Gala,” she assured her student in a gentle tone. “I sent you two tickets because how much you said you wanted to go last year. Remember?”
To help clear some of the tension in the air, Celestia let out a tiny chuckle. “To be honest, I don’t like going to the Gala. It’s the most boring affair in all of Equestria,” she told her student before hesitantly moving onto the next part of her explanation. “And the Gala is still quite a ways away so…I thought you might have gotten a special somepony by the time it rolled around. You know, a coltfriend. Taking your, well…friend friends didn’t really occur to me.”
Twilight continued to frown at the alicorn, but looked down at her tea and cake for a few moments, her head darting back and forth between the two without really focusing on them. It was an odd sight, almost as if she was reading a book that wasn’t there. “I don’t remember ever asking her for tickets,” the unicorn mumbled in a tone that said she was talking to herself more than anypony else. “Why don’t I remember that? I should be able to remember that. It wasn’t new like…”
A second later, she looked back up at the alicorn with a frown. However, it wasn’t the type that she wore when trying to figure out a difficult puzzle, or the kind of frown that Twilight got when she had been reading for far too long and her eyes were starting to hurt. The expression Twilight had was one of anger. “Wait a second… You just happened to have enough tickets for my friends just floating around, ready to be sent? Am I supposed to actually believe that?”
Twilight’s question, or rather, the fact she asked such a question in the first place made Celestia hold back a frown of her own. She didn’t want Twilight to think the alicorn was cross with her. If the unicorn had one of her fits now, the possibility of Celestia getting to the bottom of things in a timely manner would be greatly diminished.
Still, the mistrust Twilight had just shown with that single statement... Has her faith in me truly been so shaken? The the dragon incident scared her so much, she was going back and deconstructing everything she could to find more perceived slights?
It seemed impossible that the filly who had hung on Celestia’s words her whole life had undergone such a change in such a short amount of time. Twilight was even resisting the truth of the situation, trying to find an explanation that still clung to her mistaken view that the princess still wasn’t completely sure of.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow your logic Twilight.”
“Spike sends you a letter requesting more Gala tickets, and seconds later we get a reply with exactly what we’re asking for,” the unicorn clarified in a gruff tone. “What? Were you just sitting around, waiting for me to write back to you? Waiting for a letter telling you that all my friends had decided to break apart and fight over a ticket to that stupid par-Gala?” She spared a glance at Ms Pie for a moment, but when the pink pony continued to sit at the table as silently as the others, all of Twilight’s attention went back to Celestia. “Admit it! You just wanted to make me take some stupid test again, AND TRIED TO DESTROY MY FRIENDSHIP IN THE PROCESS!”
Silence reigned for a good five seconds. Then, Celestia blinked when it was broken by the mirthful rush of air through a pony’s lips.
“Wait a minute darling,” the white unicorn sitting next to Twilight said with a small snicker. “You mean to tell me that you think Princess Celestia…” Another snicker came from her mouth, prompting a pause, “was trying to sabotage our friendship and…” Another snicker. “I’m sorry Twilight it’s just…that just…that seems…so ridiculous!” she finished before bursting into laughter.
A second later, all the other mares around the table joined in. Twilight looked around at them with a wild, almost panicky expression. “What…but…no you don’t understand! Celestia…she…” the mare got out as all the others continued to laugh before lowering her head with a moan and spoke in a whiney voice. “You guys.”
The farm pony spoke up. “Hehehe! Seriously Twi? Alright look, Ah’m willing to halfway agree with you on that whole dragon thing,” she said with her odd Apple family twang. “But…the Gala tickets were some big plan by Celestia to what? Break us up? Sugarcube, that sounds pretty silly. Don’t ya think?”
Twilight’s rebuttal consisted of another light moan and crouching lower in her seat before letting out a single ‘but’. Across from her, Celestia blinked in the closest thing she had felt to astonishment in ages. The unicorn had been so adamant on the issue when facing the alicorn, but a few words from the other ponies, and she crumpled like paper.
Seeing her student’s waving resolve, Celestia gave Twilight a half smile, and decided to explain herself. “Twilight, of course they were just sitting conveniently next to me. I conjure the tickets for the Gala,” the alicorn explained before summoning her magic to do just that before continuing. “About a decade ago, I discovered a small group of ponies had managed to fake Gala tickets, and were using them to sneak in. Since then, I create them personally and add a tiny bit of my magic to each one to ensure it is authentic. We haven’t had a problem since…well, unless you count that stallion Gate Crasher who got in a couple years ago.” He had made that Gala the liveliest it had been in years.
Across the table, it seemed Celestia’s words had managed to light a fire inside of Twilight again, judging by how her eye twitched and her shoulders shook every few seconds, like she was holding down another huge eruption of anger. “Okay fine,” Twilight admitted with a grumble. “I’ll admit that you might have just been an idiot that time. But that still doesn’t explain all the other things!”
While all the other ponies in the room quieted down at the unicorn’s insult of the alicorn, Celestia found the feeling of unease creeping back into her gut. The way Twilight of all ponies had so casually insulted her… She put it out of her mind, and continued on.
Twilight hadn’t been Celestia’s first student to throw a tantrum, and she had learned meeting anger with anger wasn’t the proper way to settle such issues. “Very well, let us talk about these other things.
“When it came to the dragon, I wanted you to find a peaceful solution to the problem,” Celestia explained gently. “If I had come, or sent members of the military, then there would have been a great deal of damage and risk that it would spill over into the nearby forest. It was a fire-breather you dealt with after all.”
Twilight scowl deepened. “So you care more about a bunch of trees and manticores than you do your own subjects?” she demanded in a raised voice. “And there was no peaceful solution! I marked that cave as Spike’s lair, but that dragon still slept there! I tried to talk to him, and the very first thing he did was threaten my son’s life! You don’t deal with a species whose one and only law is might makes right!”
An oddity in Twilight’s rebuttal threw Celestia off for a moment. “Your…son?”
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed before looking away from the alicorn for a moment and grumbling to herself. “Oh he is so grounded for this when I get back to Ponyville.”
For the third time since Twilight had come to Canterlot an hour ago, Celestia found herself in a state of shock. While she couldn’t debate that Twilight had every right to claim the title of Spike’s mother, the fact that she was doing so after so many years made the Alicorn of the Sun smile once she managed to wrap her head around it. “I’m glad that your newfound independence has allowed you to grow closer to Spike and take on a new level of responsibility for his wellbeing, my student.”
Twilight glare flared for a moment, and she looked down at the table. It took Celestia a moment to realize that was actually bowing her head in thanks. “I…look… Even with how much I ha…how much I’m angry at you…I do want to thank you for taking care of Spike when I couldn’t.”
The odd pause and correction mid-sentence wasn’t missed by the princess, but she filed it away for later and simply nodded towards her student. “There is no need to thank me Twilight,” Celestia assured the little unicorn. “If anything, it was an honor.”
As some of Twilight’s friends began to look uncomfortable at the scene, recognizing the private moment for what it was, Celestia decided to get the situation back on track and perhaps put some of the unicorn’s fears to rest. “As for the dragon, I was watching over you the whole time. If anything looked to get even the least bit out of hoof, I would have teleported in and stopped it.
“But I was assured of your safety. No creature that dwells within my borders would dare threaten one of my little ponies without incurring my wrath. I have spent the past thousand years assuring the safety of Equestria almost on my reputation alone.”
Celestia knew the explanation was a risky one. She needed Twilight to face challenges in the future to prepare her for the real problems that were coming once the time had come for her to take her proper place in Equestria. Knowing that there was a safety net in case she failed would do little to help the unicorn deal with real trouble when the time came that Celestia could no longer aid her.
On the other side of the table, Twilight continued to glare at the princess. Her hooves shook as her body physically reacted to the unicorn holding something back, which was quite the worry for the princess, but when Twilight let out a loud sigh and practically deflated. “You know what? Just…forget it,” she mumbled. “I don’t even know why I’m bothering trying to get through to you. I know you won’t listen. You never listen.”
“Twilight,” Celestia said as she saw the unicorn’s fire just die in front of her while the rest of the ponies in the room looked on in uncomfortable worry. “If there is something bothering you, please tell me and I will do everything I can to-”
“WHAT’S BOTHERING ME IS YOU!” Twilight shouted as she pointed a hoof at the princess. “You say you would have jumped in to help us if we were in danger, but-but Spike’s LIFE was threatened, and you didn’t appear! What were you waiting for then?”
She slammed her hooves down on the table and continued on her tirade. “One of us to get eaten or barbecued? I know the Elements of Harmony have a little say over our destiny and can protect us in that way, but that doesn’t make us invincible!” the unicorn went on. “My friends could have just walked to their deaths, and you just sit there like some all-knowing figure, but you really don’t know a tenth of what I do you…you…really rotten princess of Equestria!”
While all of her friends gasped at Twilight’s outburst, Celestia found herself just staring at the unicorn in shock. It wasn’t the fact that Twilight had insulted her, she had been doing that since she sat down with the way she acted, but that particular insult made the sun goddess blink in surprise.
It was something she hadn’t really forgotten, but never needed to remember before either. The day that she had been crowned as a Princess of Equestria, Celestia had started a journal that she shared with her sister. They had intended to write down their hopes, dreams, innermost thoughts, and tell of their adventures. But the very first journal entry had all been about Princess Celestia’s fear of the future…and her worries that she would be remembered as Celestia the Really Rotten Princess of Equestria.
The fact that Twilight had read her diary didn’t really bother Celestia. Although…she was starting to understand her student’s sudden turn of attitude. In truth, Celestia knew she had been quite the…worrywart when she was younger. If anything, she had been exactly like Twilight in so many ways, and for the unicorn to see those faults in somepony Twilight had seen as perfect for all her life… Well, now I understand what’s going on at least.
“Well duh Twilight,” the pink pony interjected. “Of course she doesn’t know as much as you. You’re a time traveler!”
In her seat beside the princess, the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane groaned. “Pinkie…it was funny the first time because it was random. But two random jokes in a row just doesn’t work.”
“But she is a time traveler!” the earth pony insisted. “She is Dashie! Think about it! She knew about my name, she knew about your Sonic Rainboom, she knew about the Chimicherrychanga, aaaaaaaaaaand wait…Twilight, if you’re a time traveler, then does that mean you know something bad is going to happen at the Grand Galloping Gala that ruins the party, and that’s why you didn’t want us to go?”
The white unicorn let out a sigh. “Twilight could you please tell her to stop with this nonsense and tell Pinkie that you’re not a…” she said before trailing off as her gaze fell on the lavender unicorn. “Twilight? Are you alright?”
Twilight’s whole body moved away from the other unicorn as she flinched, and Celestia’s eyes widened as she made a stark realization. If Twilight had read her old diary, then she would have known that Starswirl had used his magic to travel to the future at one point in time using a powerful spell…a spell that was currently in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Library…which Twilight had full access to as Celestia’s student.
All of a sudden, Celestia saw Twilight’s reactions to her presence in a whole new light. Whatever she was feeling, it wasn’t some simple anger over finding out the pony she put on a pedestal wasn’t perfect, it was a visceral hatred that she was barely holding back.
Then there was her age. Starswirl had developed his time travel spell when he had been an old unicorn, but an error in its use caused him to lose several years and revert back to a time when his beard had been a dark brown instead of the white that Celestia had seen upon first meeting him. She never was able to calculate just how many years he lost whenever he went into the future, but it had been decades.
Twilight was just as old as she had been upon leaving Canterlot that first time.
Conflict raged within the alicorn’s mind for an instant. Starswirl had never revealed what he had learned in the future beyond a few knowing smiles when she asked about the Tree of Harmony and if they would find an alicorn with a star shaped cutie mark like the ones that decorated the tree.
“I’m afraid she can’t Miss…”
“Rarity,” the unicorn supplied.
Celestia nodded her head. “Ah yes, Ms Rarity,” she said as the memory of the unicorn muttering her name so softly the alicorn couldn’t make it out replied in Celestia’s mind. “And I’m afraid Twilight can’t deny your friend’s accusation because…it’s true. She has traveled through time.”
As several exclamations were made around the table that ranged everywhere from disbelief to shocked realizations and excitement at being correct, Celestia watched the purple unicorn draw in on herself so much she seemed to be trying to sink into the folds of her seat.
“Twilight-darling, does that mean…you’ve been to the future?”
“Oh! Oh oh oh! Twilight! Twilight, what am I getting for my birthday present this year?”
“So wait…if you know what’s going to happen…am I gonna be a Wonderbolt?”
The yellow pegasus was silent, but she looked over to Rainbow for a moment with wide eyes. “Wait…Twilight said you’d be…”
“Hey Twilight, why didn’t ya tell any of us?” the pony in the hat asked the unicorn beside her.
As she was assaulted with question, terror and rage fought a visible battle within the unicorn as her eyes darted around the table frantically and only managed incoherent, single syllable babble in response to the Bearer’s question. However, every time they fell on Celestia, Twilight’s gaze lingered for several seconds and she shot the alicorn a glare that the princess understood was more than just some silly bout of anger.
Since it seemed nothing would come from the chaotic mess that she was witnessing, Celestia brought her hoof down on the table loud enough the sound of the impact resounded throughout the room, and she spoke with a level of authority that came from centuries of practice. “That is enough!”
As the endless string of questions quickly ceased, the alicorn looked around at the ponies that had come with Twilight, and let out a long sigh. “I ask that all of you please give me a moment with my student in private.”
There were a few murmurs passed around between the ponies, but they all vacated the room fast enough at the gently worded request. As soon as the door closed behind them, Celestia watched the mask Twilight had been wearing slip away, to be replaced by a perpetual scowl. “So...here we are,” she said as a sneer crept up her lips. “Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Didn’t expect it so soon though. What now? You lock me in some dungeon? Try and take my memories because they might be too dangerous?”
Twilight’s words and gruff tone got a sigh from the goddess. Celestia looked down at her student with a sorrow that filled her entire being. “Twilight, what did I do to make you hate me so?”
After the door slammed shut behind them, the Bearers of the Elements shared a few confused looks, and stood around in the empty hallway that led to Celestia's private sitting room. The seconds ticked by and no one spoke for awhile until Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “So...Twilight’s been to the future...didn’t see that one coming.”
“Eh, It was pretty easy when you think about it,” Pinkie replied. “Although, now I think Im going to have a hard time picking out presents for her birthday, I mean. If she’s been to the future then she must already know them all, right?”
“Girls.”
Applejack let out a groan. “Pinkie, Ah don’t think Twilight would've bothered learning something like that.”
“Um, girls?”
“Hmmm, good point Applejack. I mean, it would ruin the surprise, right?”
“Girls!”
“Wait,” Rarity mumbled in a low tone only a pegasus had any hopes of hearing, “she knew about Sweetie Belle, and now that I think about it, I don’t remember telling her about my sister...is something going to happen to her in the future?”
Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and frowned. “You mean she doesn’t know if I got into the Wonderbolts or not?”
Just the tiny bit tired of being ignored, Fluttershy took in a deep breath to shout. “GIRLS!”
When the shout got all the ponies attention, and snapped Rarity out of her introspection, Fluttershy found herself under way too much attention, and crouched down low. “I’m sorry I was was just thinking about something that happened during the tea party and...um...maybe I shouldn’t…”
Rainbow sighed. “Spit it out Fluttershy.”
“Well it’s just...Twilight was so angry at Princess Celestia for sending us up against that dragon because one of us could have gotten hurt and well...what if...umm, she traveled to the future and found out that one of us really did get hurt, and then did something to change it?”
The suggestion got a laugh from Rainbow Dash. “Oh come on Fluttershy, I took care of that thing-”
Rarity cut her off. “Because of a spell Twilight learned on her own, in a place that she wasn’t supposed to go to,” the unicorn said as the emotion slowly left her voice and she fell to the ground. “Sweet Celestia...I think you have something there Fluttershy. Do you remember that breakdown she had when Spike and Twilight had their fight? She mentioned...ponies in a hospital.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I remember that. For a second it did sound like she was going to say friends but she said family instead and...do you really think one of us could have gotten really hurt?”
“With the way Twilight’s been acting?” Rarity replied before she looked over to the others. “Girls...I think she may have gone into the future and saw one of us...maybe even more than one of us...die.”
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Congratulations on getting featured... for something that isn't clop this time.
*I kid, I kid, but seriously, you did a good job.*
**Huh, so it looks like the gig is finally up. I gotta admit, I'm on the edge of my seat here.**
I'm really looking forward to finding out why Twilight's being such a bitch. Also good to see that you have actually thought about why Celestia's done all she did and aren't just making a lazy celestia hatefic.
So... the meeting at last. I can't wait to hear what, exactly, happened.
4699652
I hope it's not just some sort of Celestia hate on myself, been too many making her seem like a cruel gal when she's just trying her best to help others.
I had forgotten about this story. I was very pleasantly surprised with the update. I love Groundhog Day scenario stories.
Yay, it's alive! I really hope the next chapter will come a little sooner, as I can't wait for more
.
That's an interesting development. I wonder what Celestia and Twilight are going to talk about. And what did Celly do to earn such scorn?
Freakin cliffy's...
Okay, so the manticore's out of the bag and Twilight's free to unload on Celestia, and probably won't hesitate to give her both barrels. This probably also means some folks are royally bucked since Twilight doesn't need to keep secretive on their existence (Like Chrysalis, Sombra, or Tirek)
Gah, I curse you for writing something good enough that I want to read the argument/fight between Twilight and Celestia right now! Grr! Something else with exclamation point! How long must you make me suffer in agony waiting?
Also, good chapter. It will be fun to see her breakdown and if they can figure out how much she's time traveled. Too bad her friends are missing the key piece of information about her turning into an alicorn. Thus living long enough to see all of their deaths.
Eternally happy for this update. Eagerly awaiting more.
Okay, my interest is completely renewed! Thank you for not waiting out this conflict! Now we can finally find out exactly how far into the future Twilight comes from. I'm gonna guess a thousand years, though, just to be on the safe side. Ooh, this is gonna be good! Especially when Celestia finds out that she didn't travel into the future, but that she is from the future. Twilight is gonna burn all of her plans to the ground!
Twilight needs therapy... and I'm not talking about ice-cream therapy...
I am SO looking forward to the explanation of what, exactly, happened in Twilights alternate timeline that got her so freaking pissed at Celestia. I'm sure it'll be good.
4699652
I'm guessing Twilight has the immortality blues. Remember her singing about a lack of wings in the prologue? This is a time-traveling ex-alicorn Twilight Sparkle who probably witnessed all of her friends dying and never stopped having regrets about her relationships with them. The sort of Twilight who looked upon her life and couldn't say "I did the best that I could, and achieved satisfaction," but instead saw her failures, mistakes, personal tragedies, and losses stretching out into the past like a trail, with Celestia guiding her every step.
About time we get some solid answers... next chapter.
You know, when I first found this fic, I didn't want to read it. It looked like a 'fix it' fic, with a load of Celestia hate. If there is one thing I hate in fics, is when they bash Celestia.
Celestia did what she had to. In a way, Celestia is kind of like a farseer. She plays the long game, knowing most of the major events.
Sending Twilight to Ponyville? She knew she'd find the Elements.
Your explanations were great and genuine, but I'm afraid to read the reason why Twilight hates Celestia. Celestia, in both the comics and the show, is a wise and kind ruler who loves to interact and get to know her subjects. This is especially so in the comics, as she goes to fair and plays against others, knows many of her subjects by their names and goes out of her way to talk to them, she even holds up an event each year to goof off and make her subjects laugh. She'd never do anything that would harm them.
Your characterization is spot on and I liked the fact that PInkie caught on to Twilight. I do so hope Twilight's grumpiness wears off...It's a little grating seeing her treat what's essentially her second mother like trash and it pains me to see Celestia hurt.
I shall keep an eye on this fic.
You just wrote your time travel spell into a 2-fold cure for old age. I suggest you find some OTHER way for Celestia to confirm that, in fact, twilight sparkle has traveled through time, because otherwise you have to write celestia as COMPLETELY evil rather than just a chess-player who occasionally forgets she's playing with sentient pieces.
Reason: death is bad, old age death is bad, and if a cure for old age landed on her lap, a remotely caring celestia WOULD use it to prevent from having to watch her friends die of old age.
Awesome! This is a great interaction between Twilight and Celestia. I love the emotion in Twilight's outburst, and I would have been yelling at this story if she hadn't had a giant outburst like that.
Me: TWILIGHT! JUST BUCKING TELL HER YOU HATE HER!!!!
Yeah, so it's extra cool that it's Celestia's POV, because we know where Twilight is coming from, and we can see Celestia's reactions and thoughts.
Can't wait for more!!!
Also, Pinkie was awesome! That sounds just like me, making a wild accusation!!
This is amazing! The next chapter can't come soon enough!
Most excellent. I do hope Twilight manages to shred Celestia's self esteem and grind it into the dust.
4699903 FWIW, the time travel spell Starswirl used would a) be very difficult to cast on oneself; b) be still more difficult to cast on another (and thus only available to a small subset of the population, and only at the cost of abandoning most other high-level magecraft); c) be inherently rather risky due to time-traveling paradoxes and what-not (c.f. Twilight's blunders and stresses here); d) not necessarily reliably age the user in reverse, since it's possible the aging effect doesn't happen the same way each time; and e) not necessarily even be reusable on the same pony.
It might be nice to address that briefly in the story, but I think there's more than enough room to assume that it was verified as not being a particularly practical route to longevity.
I wonder if Celestia would listen to Twilight if she said she didn't want to be alicorn?
Where?
Here, obviously.
4699835
So essentially, Twilight couldn't handle grief like a normal pony and decided to redo things to make everything better, dictating her friends life down to a T and getting angry when they don't do everything like she commands.
4699652
More than 200 years old.
Watched all of her friends die of old age that she probably could have stopped.
Something bad happens with Spike.
Celestia at fault for part or all of it.
Trying to make things right, but only screwing things up.
She's not really right for it, but her bitchyness is entirely understandable, lamentable, and reasonable. She's become Old Mare Henderson.
Found a couple of errors:
- vanished
- We're
That is a VERY healthy misconception for them to have for her purpose.
Kind of upsetting that it ends at a cliffhanger on Celestia's confrontation.
It DID go down the rabbit hole pretty quickly though... Pieces of the puzzle fell into place for Celestia from a string of the most fragile coincidence starting from Spike. This is NOT a very common present they are now in. I hope Twilight remembers she is not yet ascended here with regard to trying to take on Celestia one on one.
Plus, does the fact that on ONE running of the future, that someone is going to do something horrible and tragic, really condemn that pony before they did it? Under different circumstances things might have gone differently. If so then one is to blame for the entire range of things one is capable of, which means nobody is innocent.
Yes!!! I love this story. Also are we going to see spike&sparkler ship?
Cat's outta the bag now.
I like how you change perspectives. Would like to see more from Applejack's pov.
4699778 dame strait but it's Celestia's flat for playing Son Goka and the Baud's Palm. Our Twilight slowly came into it but this Twilight has a chip on her shoulder and the ability to do something.
This conflict will be good.
I'm glad that we'll find out what happened to Twilight and for her to come back
4700028
Curing old age is a MASSIVE change: no matter how many obstacles you throw in its way, it's gonna get exploited. Even if what it produces is unicorn elites living 10x as long as other ponies, it's gonna get exploited.
Simpler, by FAR, to have it exacerbate old age. Or even just make the fur turn slightly grey, though maybe...a subtle mottled greying effect, to distinguish from discordification.
Technically you kind of do. Seeing as you have come back from the future due to as of yet unexplained magic powers that you channeled with your mind.
hmm wasent thinking about it but I might just go Literary Sins (my version of Cinema Sins) on this story, lol has plenty to work with.
4700089
That's my read on things, basically. This is the same pony who got a message from her future self and engaged in what was most likely the single largest community-run civil engineering project in Ponyville's history. She doesn't handle anything like a normal pony, and it's not unreasonable for her grief to be the motivator for this convoluted plan of hers.
4700113
This version of Twilight is willing to affix the guilty verdict onto Celestia for everything she's done though, and not just whatever thing she will do. Celestia can never be innocent because Twilight, like many of the fans, has concluded that she is a master manipulator who has intentionally engineered numerous situations in Twilight's life. Remember Twilight's insistence that Celestia intentionally attempted to cause a row between her friends over the gala tickets? Think of every fan theory that assumes that where Celestia is involved, everything went according to Celestia's plan, from intentionally swapping the normal application test with Spike's egg to her in-canon manipulations such as giving Twilight star-swirl's journal or sending her off to ponyville's summer sun celebration. Twilight attributes all of Celestia's actions to her intentional manipulations and (in twilight's eyes) malice, when more innocent explanations are probably more accurate. (such explanations as Twilight telling Celestia she wanted to go to the gala and Celestia's belief in destiny)
4700254
Naw, Twilight could totally explain how she did it, she just doesn't want to spend the next few months downloading advanced degrees in magic theory to them all, I imagine.
4700448
We'll actually have to know what Celestia did to know how justified Twilight's paranoia is. And how much actual manipulation she engaged in.
Maybe Celestia did do something that makes Evilestia make the most sense for Ticket Master. And sending 6 untrained mares to face a dragon is still bullshit, even if Celestia was watching and waiting to swoop in to save the day(which is a terrible plan).
But even if whatever Celestia does is morally gray or justifiable.. Twilight, as a free willed sentient being, has every right to tell her to go to hell, stay out of her life and shove the crown up her ample posterior.
And in Twilight's personal time stream, Celestia already did what she's going to do which provides Twilight with a legitimate reason for hate Celestia, even if this Celestia has yet to do OH FUCK TIME TRAVEL! FUCK IT FUCK IT FUCK IT!
Though I yearn to see the Wedding episode through this lens. "How dare you call Princess Cadence an imposter?!" "I'm a fucking time travel you old nag. It's Chrysalis. Just shoot her now you enormous tool."
Oh oh ohohoooo.... Me like. It's both understandable for Twilight to hate Princess, and for Princess to act like that. I can see myself rooting for both, they are in character, though I can't say for sure for TTT (Time Travel Twilight). Hope next chapter will be as good as this one!
Pinkie, you are genius
I want everyone to remember the season 4 ending. Celestia and Luna got stuck in pony hell because they wouldn't run away from Tirek. Leaving Twi to run Equestria. While dealing with most of Equestria being mentally traumatized. Then there are the nobles... Cadence at least had good PR and a lack of nobles to argue, Twi had NOTHING to keep ponies in line. Twi then saw how many times Celestia was a moron, seeing how many problems could have been solved with ease, including Tirek and Sombra, who should have been executed while they were powerless. So yeah, Twi has a LOT of reasons to be pissed.
I'm guessing Celestia either 1: played chess master and sacrificed one or more of Spike and the girls to preserve either Twilight or Equestria; or 2: made a mistake which Twilight saw as preventable which cost one or more of their lives.
I'm not a Celestia hater, but she IS a ruler, and is not perfect. Sometimes tough choices have to be made, and sometimes mistakes are made. And when a brilliant mind finds a mistake, sometimes some conclusions are drawn that may not be correct. I also suppose that Celestia was being a bit manuplative, but probably not to the degree that Twilight suspected.
4700149
I shall call it "Spikeler".
4700251 If at any time only the dozen or so most powerful unicorns can hope to cast it (highly likely, and maybe an overestimate), and if they're unselfish enough (or have enough desire for other things than long life) to spend most of their time and energy on other projects (also likely, given Equestria's rather more idealistic tendencies), and if the spell itself along with similar research is restricted for fear of chronomantic disasters (almost certainly the case), it's easily possible for Equestria to go centuries if not millennia without more than one or two ponies experiencing a 10-20% increase in lifespan. And that's such a trivial difference it's not worth worrying about, socially.
And that's leaving aside the possibility I mentioned that some uses might age the user instead of making them younger; if there's a 50/50 chance of being 1-20 years older/younger respectively, what's the point? The average result from multiple uses could easily cancel out.
Plus, if Spike when with them to Canterlot
The dragon attacking Ponyville was totally uncool monster from the depths of Tartarus
but then how would I visit all the town in Equestria
And then the scowl fanished like it hadn’t even existed
by just calmly sitting her tea
The the dragon incident scared her so much, she was going back
1. Went.
2. The dragon attacking Ponyville was a totally uncool monster from the depths of Tartarus.
3. Towns.
4. Vanished.
5. Sipping.
6. Either it's an extra The or you meant to put That at the beginning.
"Where having tea"
We're
"by just calmly sitting her tea"
What?
Aww, I'm a bit disappointed that the secret already came out, but I'm still looking forward to the next chapter. :)
The way I see it, Twilight could have a legitimate reason to hate Celestia. Think about it, if nothing is done to change it events that Celestia could have prevented or ensured would play out would have happened. Anything that plays out differently from how it did the first time doesn't mean anything here because events have been altered by knowledge of the future. If nothing changed, and Celestia was responsible for the death of one of Twilight's friends while she could have prevented it, or even had a part to play in it, no matter how vague or unexpected even by her, she can still be held accountable for it because it's the natural course of events.
Also, as for them finding out about time travel, as far as they know Twilight only went forward in time briefly, using the same spell Twilight did to try to warn herself not to panic about receiving an incomplete warning from herself from the future. They believe that Twilight from present time went forward in time, and returned with knowledge of the future, and are oblivious to the two century old alicorn Twilight that never went forward in time once, though went backwards twice, the second time permanently. Whether it remains this way or Twilight blunders and mentions something to change the assumption is yet to be seen, as well as if and how she fixes this, or if this is the end of the story (please please please don't let this be the case).
Also, have I mentioned that I hate cliffhangers?
Damn you Amazon for delaying the chapter!
And damned be cliffhangers!
Well, if they think Twi saw one (or more) of em die, let the panic and weird behaviours begin.
TBH I wonder what it really was that got Twi angry with Celly.
4700098
This story. I must read it. Ponies vs. The King in Yellow, the Mystery of the Missing Lawn Gnomes, and a little bit of C4. It would be glorious.
I have read up to what you had so far, and I have to say, I am impressed.
This idea is actually really great, and I like how although it's a comedy, it's actually really serious and isn't trying to just be funny. Actually, at the moment it isn't very funny at all. I'm sad that I'm now at the part where I have to wait, but I will wait patiently. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Dang it, man... I got a cliffy for this stiffy!
Er, wait, I meant that the other way--
Well at least now they're starting to bark up the right tree. Just the wrong side of it.
Such an intense chapter!
So, we get the big reveal, and it ends before revealing anything... Why am I not surprised? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.