Pinkjacked
Twilight did not open her eyes. She did not want to open her eyes. She was, in fact, intentionally trying to keep her eyes shut as tight as possible. It wasn't court day. That meant it wasn't racquetball day either. The sun wasn't even up yet. Why was this happening?
“Twilight.” Discord said quietly, for about the tenth time. Twilight swatted at his talon, groaning as he poked her cheek.
“Go 'way! Gon' sleep forever.”
“Twilight,” Fluttershy started, “Please, this is important.” Giving a growl, the alicorn sat up and turned toward her friends, rubbing her eyes.
Fluttershy frowned as she motioned toward the draconequus. “Discord has something he wants to say to you.”
“Am I still asleep?” She slurred tiredly.
“No.” Fluttershy reassured, having trouble keeping from flinching away from the look on Twilight's face.
“Then can it wait? I wanna go back to sleep.”
“I'm afraid not, Twilight.” Discord stepped forward, head hung in remorse. “I fear I may have done something horrible, and I absolutely must apologize to you for it.”
She laid a hoof over her eyes, leaned her head back, and took a deep breath. “Alright. What'd you do this time?”
“I may have--” He saw the stern look on Fluttershy's face. “I definitely manipulated your mind and emotions through magic.” Twilight just stared blankly at him. “I'm sorry.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don't you think it was a little odd how quickly your attitude changed yesterday, from how hesitant you'd been this whole time, to heading straight to Rarity and accepting the same help you turned down almost a week ago?”
The gears in Twilight’s head turned slowly without the lubrication of a good night's sleep. “Wait, wait. Wait. You're the reason I decided to try and pursue my crush on Prominence?”
Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, certain she wasn't meant to hear that. Twilight slowly looked over at her, eyes widening slightly. After a moment of silence, she let out a frustrated groan, annoyed at her own lack of discretion.
“Fluttershy, I--”
“Oh, don't worry, Twilight, I promise, I won't tell a soul!”
Twilight nodded before turning to Discord. “And you won't tell anypony either?”
“Why do you think I wasn't stating it outright in the first place? Besides, I've been keeping the other secret a secret just as well as you have.” He said with a smile. After a moment, it shifted to an uncertain frown. “Are we alright? I just wanted to help you try to get what you wanted.”
With a sigh and a yawn, Twilight slowly closed her eyes. “I don't know. I'm not even really awake yet. Just promise you won't do this with anypony else, OK? Or, ask their permission or something.” She nestled back into her bed with a sigh.
“Please forgive him, Twilight? He feels really bad about betraying your trust. He was tossing and turning all night.”
“Alright, alright, whatever, you're forgiven, just please let me get some more sleep before the sun comes--” She didn't even have to open her eyes as the light of the dawn shone through the window, onto her face. She threw off her blanket with an angry grunt and stormed into her bathroom. Her visitors stared at the door as the shower began running.
“No take-backs!” Discord called into the bathroom.
“Whatever!” Came Twilight's reply. Discord smiled at Fluttershy, as if he'd just had the weight of the world lifted from him. She flew up and gave him a proud pat on his shoulder just before he snapped his claws, teleporting them out of the palace.
Twilight stared at the drain as the water flowed down it, considering the implications of what she'd learned this morning. She slumped against the wall as the hot water soaked into her fur. She continued to mull things over as she slid down the wall and laid down on the floor of the shower. 'I didn't make any decision. Discord made it for me.' She sighed, resting her eyes as the water continued drawing furrows through her coat. 'But I still have a decision to make. Should I keep going, or stop?'
After a long while, she slowly opened her eyes. Sadly, the answer she needed hadn't manifested in her shower while she was resting. She levitated the soap down and got to work on her coat, not even bothering to turn her head or stand up until she had to wash her underside and legs.
Once she'd finished, she toweled off, left her bathroom, and stood in her bedroom for a bit, staring at the drawer of her nightstand. After a long moment, she pulled it open with her magic and levitated Rarity's notebook out. Her horn glowed as she prepared to teleport it back to its rightful owner. After a brief moment's hesitation, the notebook opened to Twilight's magic and she began reading. Just a quick peek, and it was back in the drawer. After all, with that long shower she'd taken, breakfast wouldn't be too far off.
Celestia sat on her bed, staring at the night stand. There sat a cup full of chicory flowers. She looked at the pale blue petals, a soft smile on her face. The flowers reminded her of youth, of a simpler time. It wasn't hard to explain why. They shared the color of her own sister's mane. Her true mane, not the star-speckled semblance of the night sky that she usually wore.
'She'd always hide in fields of chicory, thinking I couldn't spot her with her natural camouflage. How many years did it take her to realize I was finding her by looking for the color of her coat, and not her mane? Five or six at least...' She sighed as she reminisced about days so long past, about a world nopony else seemed to really be able to conceive of. Yes, they knew stories, but many seemed to consider those same stories nothing but fantasy. It had been so long, it often seemed as if only she and Luna could believe there was ever a time before alicorns.
Celestia sighed, hefting herself off the bed and heading for her bathroom, sparing one last glance toward the flowers. They reminded her not only of her childhood, but of something she'd always loved about Twilight, from the first day she met her, when a little filly actually managed to hatch a dragon. She always seemed to find some new way to surprise her. The surprises weren't always pleasant, like the fact that she seemed to think her teacher would imprison and exile a pony for their good intentions, or the time she'd imploded the entire town of Ponyville into a massive ball of violence, but she still cherished her student for it.
She was in and out of the shower in a few minutes, a temporary duplication spell turning one bar of soap into six, each one lathering a different part of her body as she worked shampoo into her mane and tail before rinsing everything out at once. After Twilight's lecture on the importance of punctuality back on her second day in town, she had been keeping her showers short. Not that she needed to. Even if she wasn't the one in charge of the sun for the time being, she still found herself waking up a firm half hour before its rising, and it wasn't due for another few minutes after she exited the bathroom. She paused as she heard voices in the next room.
“Why in the world would Twilight be having guests so early?” She mused, her words coming barely above a whisper as she happily indulged herself in her natural voice. “Certainly no late night gentlecolt caller. If she really did have somepony special, I'm certain at least her friends would know.” She paused and let her thoughts tumble around in her head for a moment as she began to pace around the room. “Maybe that's it. Maybe there is no special somepony, just a string of ponies that aren't even special to her. It's easy to see why she might worry about somepony finding that out. And it would line up as well, with that first night, and my revelation of Corona. She could have realized that, though I failed to follow through, I attempted it myself, and may be trying to work up the courage to tell me. But, that doesn't seem like her. Twilight's never been a very sexual pony, to my knowledge.”
She paused and inhaled deeply the scent of her flowers. “Certainly, it's easy to feel detached from everypony else when one becomes an Alicorn. And there's definitely nothing wrong with enjoying oneself, as long as one takes the necessary precautions. But I hope she's not just trying to avoid that feeling of disconnection.” She felt a horrid ball of guilt rising in the pit of her stomach. “I'd never forgive myself if the path I set her on led to her forcing herself to act contrary to her nature. Then again, perhaps it is in her nature, and it's just not something she's felt comfortable telling an authority figure about?”
The sun began to rise, and she dashed over to the window, watching it with a bright smile on her face, all other thoughts temporarily forgotten. “Beautifully done, little sister...Perfect as it ever was.” She headed back to the flowers, smile still firmly affixed to her face. Nothing brightened things up quite like the sun, with the possible exception of the pride she felt every time she watched her sister work.
After a breakfast of waffles, sugared cereal, and ice cream, held up slightly by Twilight double checking her schedule to ensure Spike wasn't going off plan, she left. Just like that, Twilight walked out the door, throwing off some excuse about a vague errand she had to run. It wouldn't do to follow her, not without being invited. She had to stick with what Prominence would do if she wasn't as acquainted with Twilight as she actually was. Even after her realization yesterday that she had let her walls come all the way down for a moment, it would be bizarre to suddenly have her take that leap of familiarity in front of everypony.
She walked into the kitchen, following Spike, watching as he filled the sink with water, soap, and dishes. “Do you need any help with the dishes?”
“Uh, nah. Probably best if you don't get too close to any of this.” He replied, opening a cabinet under the sink and, with a great deal of caution and skill, exhaling his fire onto the bottom of the basin, bringing soapy, sud-filled water to a boil.
“Spike, what are you doing? That water is way too ho—SPIKE!” She yanked him away with her forelegs just as he began reaching a claw in to grab a dish, his other claw holding a scrubbing pad. “Be careful! You're going to get burned!”
He stared at her in disbelief, then annoyance. “No. I'm not. But you gotta stay out of the splash zone.” He went over, plunged both claws in harmlessly, and got to work. “Hotter the water, easier the food comes off.” He explained.
“How are you—oh. Right. Dragon. I'm sorry, it's just, well, don't take this the wrong way, but you behave so much like a pony.”
“Wait, you forgot I was a dragon? That’s kinda weird. You just saw me breathe fire. But, thanks!” He replied, giving a heartfelt smile over his shoulder. “That means a lot to me.”
“You're not offended?” She asked, with earnest surprise both in and out of character.
“Nope. Have you ever met a dragon?”
She smiled. “Yes, his name is Spike.”
“Well, Spike's met other dragons. And those guys were jerks.” He said, smiling as he continued to work on the dishes. “I mean, they tried to get me to smash a phoenix egg,” he mumbled sadly. “So I'd rather be a pony any day. Since I can't, though, I've just gotta be the best dragon I can be. Pony or dragon, I just want to be a good person.”
“You know, some ponies can be jerks, too.” She cautioned, starting to levitate dry dishes back into their cabinets for him.
“Yeah, I've met a few of those. But I've got the six best role models in all of Equestria.” He paused. “Make that seven. I mean, big brothers are role models right? And Shining Armor's like a brother to me.”
“I'm sure you'll grow up to be a sterling example of both equine virtues and draconian strength and dignity.” She said, watching him with the realization that Twilight wasn't the only one who managed to grow up since coming to Ponyville.
Spike paused and turned toward her, fixing her with a confused stare.
“What?”
“Since when do you talk like Celestia?”
Prominence froze for half a second, and quickly threw up an excuse. “I've been talking to her when I finish my work every day for a few years. I guess she's rubbing off of me. Haven't you ever noticed yourself taking after ponies you spend time with?”
“Well, I did accidentally say 'Okey-Dokey-Lokey' one time. Pinkie, uh, Pinkie didn't take that too well. She said I was, um, 'jacking her style,' and threw a pie in my face.”
“Huh,” was all the response she could muster.
“Good pie, though.”
Rarity trudged down her stairs, as unladylike as trudging was. It was too early to be awake. She didn’t have her face on yet. Why would anypony be trying so hard to get her attention so early? The most obvious answer would be that her dear Opal had been attacking the neighbor’s dog again, but Rarity would never consider her sweet little baby capable of doing something so cruel, despite the frequency of the occurrence. Her mane was a mess, she had no makeup on, she was only wearing her robe and slippers, but she just couldn’t take that pounding at her door another moment. She pulled the door open, greeting the lavender blur with a quiet grunt as it rushed past her. It would be Twilight, wouldn’t it, that would be so focused on something that she wouldn’t realize she’d been hammering away at a door for twenty straight minutes in the early morning.
Twilight laid the notebook out on a table and began scanning through it frantically. Rarity closed and locked the door, as she wasn’t open for business yet, before walking over to her friend. “Good morning,” she said, forcing a polite smile, with a slight edge in her voice.
“Good morning, Rarity. I saw some things in here that I wanted to go over with you.” She said, not bothering to look up from the pages.
“Of course you did,” Rarity said with a sigh.
Twilight looked up after hearing the sigh in her voice, seeing a sleeping mask pulled up to the unicorn’s horn, a robe and slippers on her, her mane disheveled, and her face devoid of makeup.
“Oh my gosh, Rarity, I’m so sorry! I had no idea that I was waking you up! I can come back la--”
“Nonsense.” She quickly cut her off, showing a tired but earnest smile. “I told you last week at court, I’d be willing to work full time with you on this. I knew what I was getting myself into when I asked to help you on a project you would no doubt be passionate about. I just failed to brace myself for it.”
“Alright. If you’re sure. But if you want, you can take a few minutes to do your makeup and--” She stared, frowning as Rarity gasped and sputtered.
“A few minutes? Twilight, you can’t be serious.”
“What do you mean?”
“...Come with me.” Rarity walked upstairs, her magic tugging at Twilight’s hoof to pull her along.
“Et voilà! Perfection.” Rarity said, as she began packing away her makeup for the day.
“Rarity, that took over an hour,” Twilight groaned.
“Of course, darling,” She replied, feeling much better having finished her daily beautification ritual. “It always does.”
“You know you’d still be pretty without any of that makeup, right? If you just did your mane you’d look fine.”
“‘Fine,’ yes. But, Twilight, beauty is my business. Everything I sell here is about beauty, and the first thing any good salespony needs to get the customer to buy is herself. Even if I were content to settle for looking ‘fine’, or ‘pretty,’ it behooves me to go that extra mile, to ‘stunning’ and ‘gorgeous.’ Besides, I enjoy it. I find the entire procedure to be very soothing.”
“Alright, I guess I see your point.” Twilight paused and thought for a moment. “I’m not going to have to make that a daily thing to make Prominence like me, am I?” She watched as Rarity silently considered this.
“I doubt it. Honestly, the sudden change would likely make it seem as if you were trying uncharacteristically hard to stand out. You’re humble, in a way that makes ponies feel comfortable around you. It’s likely better for you to stay the course in that department. I could give you some more subdued shades, but honestly, with your natural color, they wouldn’t make much of a difference.” Rarity paused as she noticed the smile Twilight was giving her. “What is it?”
“Sometimes I forget how good you are at this kind of thing.”
“I don’t know how you could ever forget that, darling. Still, there’s certainly something we could do for your image that wouldn’t be such a stretch as to make you look desperate. Come along.” She lead Twilight down to the showroom and began holding up different garments against the princess’ side.
Twilight was quickly consumed with boredom. After what felt like hours, the one thing keeping her from running out of the boutique screaming was a question that she asked Rarity after each outfit was presented to her. “Do you think Prominence would like it?”
“Darling, you’ve asked that after every piece of clothing so far.”
“How many has that even been? We’ve been at this forever!” She groaned.
“Aw, it hasn’t even been a half hour yet. We’ve got plenty of time!” Pinkie said cheerfully, rummaging through the racks of clothing hanging from the walls.
“P-Pinkie? How did you get in here?” Rarity asked, absolutely certain she’d locked the door after Twilight came in.
“That’s one!” Pinkie said, grinning. A knock came at the door, and she hopped over to open it for Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“Wh..Pinkie, weren’t you just out here with us? How’d you get in there?” Applejack asked, completely bewildered as to how the mare had apparently vanished from her side just as the door opened.
“And that’s two!” Pinkie cheered. She stared expectantly at Rainbow Dash.
“What?”
“Aww…” She instead turned hopefully to Twilight.
“Uh. ‘How did you get in here?’” She asked, trying to live up to Pinkie’s hopes.
“Three! That’s a hat trick! Hat trick hat trick hat trick hat trick,” She chanted, running around the store, gathering every hat she could find, and building an ever-growing tower on top of her head.
“Pinkie, I’ll have to ask you to put all of those back where you found them when you’re done,” Rarity said sternly. Pinkie paused mid-chant to give a nod that caused the entire stack to wobble unnervingly, pleased that she was only asked to put them away later, instead of being forced to cut her fun short.
“Wait, what are you guys doing here?” Twilight asked, looking to Rainbow and Applejack.
“Pinkie said you needed to tell us something, and we needed to help you.” Rainbow told her, walking into the store, looking around with a familiar sense of boredom. Rarity could make some really awesome clothes, but everything in the storefront was lacking in the flair that was required to become Rainbow Dash approved.
“So, what’d you need to tell us?” Applejack asked, closing the door behind herself.
“I didn’t really have anything to tell you…” Twilight said quietly, frowning in confusion. Pinkie seemed to rise up out of the ground in front of her, preceded by no less than eighteen hats.
“You gotta tell us your secret!”
“I-what? What secret?” Twilight looked around nervously.
“The one you told Fluttershy! I went to her house and her door was locked and she said she couldn’t come out, so clearly she’s too scared about spilling the beans to spend any time with her friends, and you can’t just let her keep it all bottled up or waste her life away in her home, but if we all know, then she can at least let us into her house without worrying that she’s going to accidentally let it slip!”
“Wait, Pinkie, she didn’t tell you, did she?” Rarity asked.
“Nope! I guessed!”
“Y-you guessed my secret?” Twilight asked with a frown.
“Nooo, I guessed that you had a secret,” She replied with the largest grin she could muster. “And I was ri~ight!” She added, singing.
Twilight looked over at Applejack and Dash, their eyes locked on her. Whether she liked it or not, she had their full attention. “Fluttershy’s really locking herself away to keep my secret?” She asked. Pinkie nodded at her. ‘Fluttershy is cutting off the little social contact she manages just because I opened my stupid mouth this morning.’ She sighed and hung her head low. ‘I can’t let Fluttershy suffer for my mistake, even with how willing Fluttershy would be to do so.’ She supposed the Element of Kindness could be more a curse than a blessing sometimes. In fact, it seemed as if all of the Elements except hers and Pinkie’s would be more burdens than anything, from the right point of view.
Realizing she’d gotten off track, Twilight moved to set things right, for Fluttershy’s sake. “I have, uh,” She paused, frowning. She couldn't simply let one of her closest friends in the world suffer. Still, that didn't exactly make what she was trying to say any easier. “I have romantic feelings. For Prominence. A-and Rarity’s helping me figure out how to...engage the situation.” Pinkie began clapping and hooting. Applejack just gave a surprised but pleased smile. As for Rainbow...
“You should nibble her neck. Like, just under her jaw? That always gets my ‘situation’ ‘engaged’.” Rarity stared at Rainbow aghast, as the pegasus pointed at her own neck. “What?” She asked. She then realized that everypony else was staring as well. “What?” Pinkie slowly started moving in toward her neck, a curious yet determined look on her face, but Rainbow casually eased her back, pressing her forehead away with a hoof. “Why are you guys acting so weird? We’re all grown mares here, and we’re in private. Why can’t we talk about this stuff? I mean, it’s not like any of you have never…” She trailed off, looking around the room.
“Well, between the work on the farm and helpin’ take care of Apple Bloom, I don’t got a lot of free time for that kind of thing.” Applejack muttered, her hoof adjusting her stetson awkwardly.
“I just haven’t found the right pony yet.” Rarity said, looking away, frowning.
“Have you met me?” Twilight asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Oh, definitely.” Pinkie said, bouncing cheerfully in place. All eyes were on her again. “When there’s a party in my pants, everypony’s invited!” She gave an exaggerated wink, then paused and turned to Rarity. “I know I’m probably already pushing it with the whole hat thing, but that delivery felt weak. Can I borrow a pair of pants and try it again?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Aww.” After one and a half seconds, she forgot why she was disappointed. “So now we can all talk to Fluttershy, and all five of us can help you with Prominence, Twilight!”
“Uh, thanks! But I’m pretty sure Rarity’s got a good handle on things.”
“Exactly! She’s the architect, we’re the construction crew! She’s the designer, and we’re her seamstresses! She’s the general, and we’re her army!”
“I don’t think I remember when me and Rainbow signed up for the army.” Applejack said quietly, a little uncomfortable with Pinkie’s zeal.
“That’s because you’ve been drafted! Now fall in, soldier!” Pinkie barked. She then paused, took Applejack’s stetson from her, and added it to her tower of hats, lifting the rest of the tower and placing it on the bottom.
“Give that back,” Applejack sighed, grabbing it in her teeth and yanking it away. She had expected whatever Pinkie power kept the tower sustained would just keep it steady. She was wrong. The whole tower came tumbling down around them. Applejack flashed Rarity a contrite frown as she replaced the stetson upon her own head.
As hats continued to rain from the heavens, Rarity, Rainbow, and Twilight wound up wearing a fancy evening hat, a straw boater, and a top hat respectively. Pinkie Pie looked up and waited expectantly, but no hat came for her, so she simply shrugged, pulled a party hat out of her tail, and affixed it to her head, before doing a double take at Twilight’s top hat.
“Ooh! Ooh! Pull a rabbit out of it!” She squealed happily. Twilight just rolled her eyes.
“There’s not even a rabbit in here.” She levitated it off of her head and gave a few gentle thumps with her hoof. “See? Nothing.”
Pinkie gave an exasperated sigh and took the hat from Twilight. “There’s always a rabbit if you know how to look.” She stuck her hoof in, going into the hat up to her shoulder, her tongue stuck out in concentration as she rummaged around.
Rarity sighed and began cleaning up the hats, leaving the ones that ponies were wearing where they were for the time being, and letting Pinkie try to fish a rabbit out of a top hat.
Rainbow decided she could make any hat work, and tipped the boater, skewing it slightly, though she quickly put it back where it belonged after a mirror told her it made her look like a Flimflam brother.
Applejack approached Twilight. “Like I said earlier, between the farm, and Apple Bloom, and havin’ to save the town, even the world, as often as I do, I never really thought I had time to start up a relationship, so I don’t really know what help I can be, but if you need an extra set of strong hooves for any part of this, just let me know. I’ll be happy to help out.”
“Thanks Applejack. I know I can count on all of y--”
“AH-HA!” Pinkie shouted, pulling her hoof out of the hat, holding an extremely startled and mildly annoyed Angel Bunny. “Oh! This is perfect!” She pulled a letter out of her tail and gave it to the rabbit. “Could you give this to Fluttershy for me?” She asked around the paper in her mouth. The still confused rabbit accepted the paper before being placed back in the hat. “There. Now Fluttershy knows that we all know!”
“Pinkie Pie, how did you do that?” Twilight asked as she stared into the now empty hat, fearing something bad may have happened to physics.
“Duh!” Pinkie said, pointing at her flank, which had a picture of Twilight’s cutie mark taped to it. Twilight was mildly insulted, but she let it roll off of her. For all she knew, it may well have been magic. A theory had been developing in her head recently that Pinkie Pie could be as magically powerful as even Celestia herself, but without a horn, her Earth Pony magic would manifest itself in other ways, such as these apparent violations of reality, or her Pinkie Sense. Of course, there were still Twilight’s fears that she was actually just doing very bad things to physics. And while she loved Pinkie dearly, physics had been her friend a lot longer. She sighed, looking around at all of her friends, remembering why they were here.
“...I’d like to ask you all to Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony about my feelings for Prominence.” Her friends all went through the motions, repeating the little rhyme.
“But it kinda goes without sayin’, don’t it?” Applejack asked.
“I suppose, but this way if you get close to slipping up, there’s a distinct possibility that Pinkie will pop out of whatever container you’re near and warn you against saying anything. In fact, I should make Fluttershy Pinkie Promise too. That might actually help her set her mind at ease about the whole thing.”
“Ooh! I’ll handle it! I’ll get her to Pinkie Promise right in front of me!” Pinkie, before anypony could object, leaped into the air and did a cannonball into the top hat. Which was once again empty.
Twilight grimaced as she watched her friend disappear into a hat, but tried to keep on target despite Pinkie’s antics, which had been admittedly difficult this morning. Just as she was about to try to get things back on track, the door opened, and she turned, expecting to see Pinkie Pie carrying Fluttershy on her back, or dragging her by her tail.
“Rarity, I do apologize, but the door was open, even if the sign says the boutique is not. Am I too early?” Fleur Dis Lee asked from the door.
“Oh, not at all.” Rarity said, looking toward the clock. “I actually should’ve opened a few minutes ago. I was trying to work on something with my friends.”
“If this isn’t a good time, I can come back later,” Fleur offered, nodding to Rarity's other guests.
“Weren’t you just here yesterday?” Twilight asked. “Did you need more work done on that dress you were wearing?”
“I’m afraid so, Princess. When a widely known model and one of the most well known figures in the high society of Canterlot get married, ponies come to expect a certain amount of complexity from the wedding gown.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in horror. “I – that was your wedding gown and I interrupted, and I just burst in the door and and – oh, my gosh, I am so, so sorry!”
“I assure you, it’s fine. We’re not operating on what would, by any means, be considered a tight schedule.” She turned to Rarity. “If you need to delay our appointment, I understand entirely.”
“Not at all, I’m sure that I can multitask just fine. That is, if Twilight doesn’t mind discussing something private in front of you.”
Twilight chewed her cheek as she thought, glancing nervously at Fleur. “Can you keep a secret?”
Prominence wandered through town, wearing a saddle bag with a few books in it. There was no Rainbow Dash in the sky, no Pinkie Pie cheerfully bouncing through town, no sign of any of the ponies she’d come to make friends with, but that was alright. There were more ponies in town, and she could try and begin building bonds with any of them, right after she found a nice spot in the park to lay down, and finished the books she was carrying.
Even as much as she dedicated her time as Prominence to trying to get back to her roots, to express the unicorn she was in her youth, there were just some hobbies that she hadn’t developed before her ascension, but loved too dearly to give up for three months. Of course, if she’d ever been able to afford even a single book before she became a princess, she likely would’ve read even more than she did now, but being older than print had its drawbacks.
She paused and looked up from her book, frowning. From what she understood, those three fillies she’d met on her first day striking out alone in town tended to raise quite a ruckus at times, but school was surely in session at the moment. And with her new friends all having seemingly disappeared for the day, Ponyville felt like a whole other world, so serene and quiet. Yet everypony still had a smile on their face, still greeted her with friendly waves and even more friendly words.
Vibrancy gave way to tranquility with the absence of nine ponies who, from all she heard, tended to be involved in the majority of the happenings in the small town. Still, she couldn’t help but worry. Since Twilight left the palace this morning, she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the former element bearers. Perhaps they were all just preoccupied with their work, and--
‘Well, that answers the question of where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are,’ She thought, as the former happily pulled the latter through the park by her tail. Prominence quickly slid her bookmark into place and her book back into her saddlebag, smiling as she began moving toward them.
Pinkie stopped when she saw Prominence coming. She released Fluttershy's tail and waved at her new friend so energetically that her party hat became crooked. That was a reasonable, predictable response. Fluttershy looking like she was staring a hungry dragon in the face was not a reasonable, predictable response. Not to anypony who didn’t know she had a secret about them, at least. The timid pegasus quickly hid behind Pinkie, trembling.
Prominence didn't know what to say, but she knew where to start. She leaned past Pinkie and looked at Fluttershy. “Thanks again for having me over yesterday. I had a wonderful time.”
Fluttershy mumbled nervously, nodding at Prominence, still trying to use Pinkie as a barrier.
“Did I do something wrong yesterday?” She turned to Pinkie. “Is she upset with me?”
“Nope!” Pinkie responded.
'Well that's...succinct.' “On a related note, why were you dragging her through the park?”
“Well, I was flying her, you know, like a kite? But then her wings got tired, so I told her she could rest, and I'd take care of the work.”
“That makes...sense?” She asked, but Pinkie didn't seem to catch that it was a question and simply gave her a cheerful nod. She decided to move on. “It seems so quiet today. Where is everypony?”
Fluttershy yelped and ducked down low, hooves covering her head. Pinkie looked oddly pensive. These were not the reactions she was expecting.
“Um, hello?” Pinkie immediately snapped out of it, but Fluttershy still looked like she was braced for some kind of massive impact.
“Hi!” Pinkie replied cheerfully.
“Where is everypony?” Prominence repeated.
“Let's see. You, me, and Fluttershy are right here. Thunderlane's over there, taking a walk with Rumble, which means Rumble's over there too, and Cloud Kicker's over there, staring at Thunderlane's rump—”
“What? HEY!”
“Damn it, Pinkie!”
Pinkie just smiled and waved at Cloud Kicker.
“Pinkie.” Prominence said, drawing the pony's attention. “Where are our friends?”
“Well, Thunderlane and Rumble are over there, glaring at Cloud Kicker, and hoo, boy, does she look embarrassed, and—”
“Where are my friends?” Prominence tried again.
“Well, me and Fluttershy are right here, and Thunderlane and Cloud Kicker are over there talking, and Rumble's rolling his eyes—”
“Pinkie—”
“Well, Thunderlane and Cloud Kicker are hugging,” Pinkie began, not even waiting for a question, “And Rumble's heading over here now that he's done pretending he's gonna throw up.”
“Hey, Pinkie. Those two are being all mushy and boring. You wanna come play with me?”
Pinkie gasped as if being asked to play with Rumble was the single most stunning occurrence of her life. “DO I?!” She trotted off with the young colt, singing happily to herself.
Prominence just watched as Pinkie left in the middle of what somepony with a very loose definition might call a conversation to play with a young colt.
“So, Fluttershy,” Prominence paused mid sentence until the startled squeal ended. “A-are you alright?”
“I don't know ANYTHING!”
Prominence recoiled a little, stunned by the force with which Fluttershy declared her ignorance. “Is...is that right?” She asked quietly, getting only some trembling in response. “Fluttershy, I hope you'll forgive me saying so, but you don't seem like you're feeling very well. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Fluttershy thought for a moment about asking her to leave her alone. But she couldn't ask that! That was just so mean! Instead, she opted to just keep all of her screams on the inside, staring at Prominence with a terrified look on her face.
Celestia stared back, more than a little worried. It almost seemed as if Fluttershy was afraid of her. Of course she'd heard how easily frightened Fluttershy was, but she'd never seemed any more than simply nervous around her.
“Am I, ah, causing you distress?” She asked, a deeply concerned frown on her face. She watched as Fluttershy wrestled with the question.
“M-maybe a little?” She offered, eyes clenched shut as if she expected a physical blow in reply.
“I'm going to ask you again, and please be honest, because the last thing I want to do is cause problems for anypony. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
“N-no, I, I—”
“Fluttershy, please, keep in mind that I am, in essence, a servant. Making sure that another pony is comfortable, even if it becomes a bit of a struggle to do so, is nothing new to me and nothing I can't handle. You're clearly suffering. Please. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No! Nothing! You can go now!” Fluttershy said quickly, desperately trying to sound civil and relaxed, and failing miserably every step of the way.
“I admit, I had thought it might come to that, but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to leave you in this state. I hope you feel better soon.” Prominence told her, turning away and beginning to walk off. It was Fluttershy. Of course she was prone to fits of irrational fear. Of course she'd get nervous from time to time around a pony she barely knew. Still, even as she repeatedly reminded herself of these facts, Celestia couldn't help but feel hurt by what had just occurred. She tried her best to put the pain aside as she continued on her way. She also did her best to keep from looking back, even though she only wanted to make sure Fluttershy was going to be alright. It would likely only make things harder on each of them if Fluttershy saw tears starting to form.
“...And then she walked away, and I really think I hurt her feelings, but I just couldn't do anything, and I feel so bad about it, and—” Fluttershy paused in the midst of her rambling as she noticed Fleur's presence. “YEEP!” She dove behind Rarity. “Oh no, oh no oh no oh no!”
“It's alright, darling. Fleur knows as well, and is all too eager to help,” Rarity said, in the middle of taking a dress off of Twilight.
“Or at least, more eager to dress up a princess than get dressed up herself...” Rainbow Dash muttered. Applejack rolled her eyes. Pinkie gave no response, because, upon finally returning with Fluttershy much later than expected, she had decided it was her duty to go and play with Opal.
“I suppose we have been focusing an awful lot on what Twilight could wear. Perhaps we should get back to your gown?” Rarity asked Fleur.
“I don't mind if Ms. Sparkle doesn't,” Fleur replied. Twilight had managed to talk her down from her title, but she still insisted on some measure of formality.
Rarity frowned when Twilight didn't respond. Her frown deepened when she saw the far away look on her face. “Twilight?” She asked, still getting no reaction.
“Oh dear...Is the princess alright?” Fleur asked, raising a hoof to her mouth.
“It's likely she's tangled up in her own thoughts.” Rarity answered, raising her hooves, holding them about an inch in front of Twilight's face, and slamming them together with a loud CLOP!
Twilight flinched away, then looked around at her friends, remembering where she was. “I gotta go!” She shouted, rushing past all of her friends and out the door.
“The princess is a bit high strung...” Fleur mused. Rarity nodded.
“I do wish she'd have let us finish undressing her before she left,” She added.
Twilight burst into her palace and immediately lit her horn. “Ce-Prominence?” She called, quickly correcting what could've been a horrible mistake.
“I'm in my room.” She replied, her voice carrying throughout the palace. Twilight extinguished her spell, hurried to Prominence's door, knocking politely. “Come in.” Twilight took the invitation to throw the door open, quickly shut it with her magic, and cast the soundproofing spell.
“I heard what happened with Fluttershy. I'm so sorry about that! I—We—Somepony has a secret, and they let it go in front of Fluttershy, and she swore to keep it, and she's incredibly nervous about betraying their trust, and the only reason all six of us know is to try and make things easier on her. I promise she doesn't hate you or anything, and I think she felt really bad about how she acted and—” Twilight paused, feeling dizzy, and remembered to inhale. Celestia took this as her opening.
“You've explained plenty, Twilight. I understand now. Thank you. You really didn't need to come charging straight to my side though. It's not as if I was in peril, though, I have to admit, I was feeling a bit down.” She paused and looked at Twilight, a smile creeping over her face. “I love what you've done with your mane.”
Twilight paused, and scrunched up her face in confusion for a moment before remembering that a tight bun sat at the back of her head, sitting right on top of a yellow bow. “Oh, uh, thanks!” She felt like her cheeks were on fire, and the heat was quickly spreading toward her ears.
“But, regarding the other fashion choice...Aren't stockings usually worn in a set of four?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, looked down at her hooves, and her blush doubled in intensity at the sight of a dirty, grass-stained yellow stocking on her rear hoof.
Rarity flailed in shock as a filthy stocking magically appeared and fell directly on her face.
“This has been a neat day, but I'm getting hungry.” Rainbow mused. Applejack nodded in agreement. "Wanna go get some lunch?" Another nod, and they were out the door.
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5134800 good sir, you do me the honor of filling my heart up with sunshine sunshine.
Celestia is the worst guesser ever
Really? I get the reference because I'm a Transformers fan.
“Please forgive him, Twilight? He feels really bad about betraying your trust. He was tossing and turning all night.”
Ummmm, i may not remember stuff from previous chapters, or maybe i'm reading to much into this, but is Discord sleeping with Fluttershy???
I'll be honest. The chapter doesn't measure up to the exact same level of quality experienced in the previous chapters, and the use of Pinkie for transitioning seemed like an attempt to speed things up, but the humor found in Pinkie's antics made up for some of the loss. Although, I did sit back for a few moments after finishing the chapter, and couldn't help myself from asking "why did this chapter even have to exist", in a completely objective sense. The only real thing accomplished that furthers the storyline is... now all her friends and Fleur know about her crush (and the mention of Fleur's wedding), and if this was the aim, I feel like you could have gotten to this point in a much better way. A bit disappointed, but still very much eager to read where else you're going to take this.
You should let Pinkie out more often!
It's not common to see Pinkie written as being so... Pinkie... visually (for obvious reasons that text makes sight gags somewhat harder), so the fact you managed to write essentially her doing what amount to a cartoon set piece is commendable.
This reference flew so far over my head it could only be seen from the Hubble Telescope.
I was going to compliment you on your excellent use of Pinkie brand humor at the beginning, especially the rabbit and hat bit. Then you broke the fourth wall. I then stopped, considered the story, and had to force myself to get back into the story as my immersion was blown up with the wall.
“This has been a neat day, but I'm getting hungry.” Rainbow mused. Applejack nodded in agreement. "Wanna go get some lunch?" Another nod, and they were out the door.
I hope that's code talk for lets get frisky in your barn AJ
More Twilestia please, so sad to finally find the end, just found it, and having a Celestia that acts as a mask to a real pony seems new to me. I like Prominence's personality, but its funny when 'Celestia' comes out sometimes. Wish for ending. Ty
Ehh.
As a rule of thumb, Pinkie's visual humor doesn't translate well to text. And the show itself likes to subvert the weirdness of the cartoon physics by either using it as the setup for a completely different gag, loosely justifying the apparent abuse of logic, or just plain ignoring that anything strange has happened. You're not completely off the mark, but don't draw so much attention to it.
She's also not a vehicle for breaking the fourth wall or cracking referential jokes, both of which are things that should be avoided unless the tone of the work as a whole is based around it.
5134999
Not with her, per se. Roomates, i think?
5135672 Wouldn't surprise me if they were snuggle buddies... Nothing indecent, just snuggles.
5135565
Plus it rolls off the tongue better.
Fluer de Lis...
Fluer Dis Lee...
5134999 in the previous chapter, it mentions that he just happened to be on her bedroom floor in a sleeping bag. she just kind of went with it, because discord, but she had no idea when or how he got there.
5135199 sorry...I'll admit this one is a little content light, but I didn't have anything else to fit into it, and I felt it necessary to prepare for the next one or two with the stuff I've put in this one. If the next one manages to contain everything I have planned, it should hopefully make up for this one.
5135248 hey, I didn't even know I could pull this off before this chapter. maybe I'll think up some pinkie focused fics after this one's over.
5135199
5135640
I agree with both of you. Not enough happened in this chapter, and Pinkie wasn't really that well written. Pinkie is random, Pinkie does indulge in cartoon physics, but the fourth wall should not be broken with Pinkie, and to be entirely honest, although the descriptions of the heavily sight-based antics of Pinkie were well written and immersive, they were too common and too over the top to carry over well in the written word.
5136196 fourth wall breaking has been removed.
5135640 referential humor and fourth wall breaking have both been removed. also why on earth would anybody downvote this? this is helpful criticism.
This reminded me of a time where my social studies teacher said that the way that he told his wife that he loved her the first time was by telling all of her friends that he did, and then asking them to promise not to tell her to ensure that it got to her, instead of the opposite. I think they kept for about a day or so. As such, I find all of this to be lacking any truth whatsoever, but then again statistics lie a lot.
5136929 now, I picture fleur as an open, affable, friendly, trustworthy mare. that said, even if she weren't trustworthy, picture this scenario.
someone of ridiculously high levels of magical power walks up to you. this same person is also a fairly high ranking political figure, with ties to the two most politically powerful people in the world. now, they ask you to keep a secret. and you don't know how this person reacts to breaches of trust, because you've only had two very brief interactions with this person.
probably a good idea to do whatever you can to keep your lips sealed.
as for twilight, she's too desperate to try and get things underway to consider that she might actually go back on her word.
5137047
Yes, but if she was manipulative, like I am, then she would see the opening for political gain by asking something in return for keeping the secret, like residing over her wedding ceremony.
Clapping.
Pinkie, take the wheeeel. Take it from my haaands~
Sorry, I just had to get that out after reading the note at the start
Now to read the actual chapter 
This chapter is a bit odd in that it seems to defuse more story possibilities than it starts or sustains. The whole "Discord messed with Twilight's personality" is dealt with and dropped quickly, and when Celestia comes across a terrified Fluttershy she deduces that Fluttershy is acting like she knows something about "Prominence" that changes how the shy pony relates to her, but any misunderstanding or confusion is cleared up shortly when Twilight rushes home to explain. As a result, these possible subplots don't seem to really go anywhere, which is a bit of a shame.
I didn't mind the Pinkie stuff myself, although the more extreme cartoon antics never quite seem to fit into fanfics for me, where everything else is more realistically fleshed out.
Good story but when will twilight ask celestia and such. I love reading long stories but its 40,000ish words so far and no real plot movements. I really hope this isnt a fic where it ends with twilight asking celestia out. I really like to see what happens after and such.
Anywho hope to read more soon.
Ah, see your title was on the right track but it should have been Piejacked.
Because, you know, pie rhymes with high.
Liked the chapter by the way. Very light and frothy.
I enjoyed it, as I have enjoyed this whole story. But as others have already said, we really didn't go anywhere plot wise. The only difference is now a few more ponies are aware of Twilight's feelings.
5142364 I feel like a lot of people are overlooking her decision to keep going in the beginning of the chapter when she found out what discord did.
it's not much, but moving forward under her own conviction, knowing that she still hadn't decided for herself, is personal progress for twilight.
Poor Fluttershy! If anypony was likely to have a nervous breakdown due to social stress, it's her. She really isn't comfortable with confrontation... or even interaction, for that matter.
As for Pinkie? Well, she and Rainbow Dash are the two other members of the Mane Six most likely (IMHO) to plausibly be able to ascend to be Alicorns. Pinkie, especially, could become the Princess of Happiness, if she ever was to focus her mind enough on her abilities and their applications.
I think you did a good job of characterising Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy in this chapter!
5146099
didn't she, in a way, already decide for herself? I mean sure Discord put on a show for prominence but it was Twilights own jealousy that prompted her to act.
Just my perception of it.
Another enjoyable chapter, I will be eagerly awaiting the next.
5150943 but at the end of that chapter he admitted to magically influencing her. that pressure she felt in her head throughout the early part of that chapter was the sensation of having her mind messed with.
5151427 Ah, I must have missed that. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
5135248 5136030
[youtube=kRW7pITY5Cg]
5159015 honestly, I had considered the possibility of her pulling out something else. at this point I can't quite remember why I didn't go through with it...
Mmm.._ i liked the pinkieness. If you do end up rewriteing the whole thing keeping a link to the original would be sweet.
5167416 actually, the vote I took on a poll I linked in a blog post, when it reached the deadline that I set (not that the site had a way to do that, people can still vote, I just won't check it), over half the voters wanted me to just move on to the next chapter.
I always liked the idea of Rainbow and Rarity being the types to share dirty jokes in confidence with each other.
)
(What with Rainbow being so brash and Rarity being a shameless gossip...
I gotta say I loved the hat trick. That was really original, and it stays true to pinkie's Character. I also love the image of Pinkie rising up slowly from the floor with 18 hats on. Good physics breaking. This chapter is golden. And I don't think Pinkie 'jacked this chapter as much as you think. she was present, and visible, but she kept the plot moving along while she did. Also her insight into Fluttershy shows the amount of thought you put into your characters actions. I love this story, it's definitely my favorite story I'm currently reading. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Only just found this story and I am loving it so far. Looking forward to future chapters.
5195289 no it dosnt there just a cross between getting the one you love a box of chocolate or some flowers because they eat flows but the stil pretty to look at
LOL LOVE IT
hope to read more soon
Lol. Dammit, poor Rarity.
Also, just a tiny bit upset that there's no awkward dream this time. Maybe next chapter has one
Author. Stahp making me choke from laughter.
Author.
Stahp
Hahahaha oh poor Twilight!
Great work.
Silly Twilight, physics isn't your friend! Physics is a jerk and prevents us from having nice things. Sheeponies need to open their eyes to the reality of physics police brutality!
Pinkie is notoriously hard to write. You did so marvelously. That chapter was gold.
Honestly? This chapter was golden! You did a GREAT job with Pinkie!
Though I am curious if we'll ever get a real explanation for HOW Pinkie does what she does in this story or in the Canon.