The Trick
Twilight felt so rebellious. She had never done anything so irresponsible. For a moment she felt guilty for abandoning her royal duties, even if it was only temporary. Still, the adrenaline rushing through her made her feel so alive!
Rainbow Dash must've been rubbing off on her.
As she walked through the palace doors, she greeted the guards with a cheerful "Hello!"
They looked at her strangely at first but then smiled graciously. She found herself snickering again.
Oh my gosh, they didn't recognize me! I even had Spike fooled!
As she trotted through the streets, no pony turned to stare at her, except for a few curious foals who were interested in the crates floating above her. She flinched as a pegasus with a camera flew by but was relieved when he didn't snap any pictures!
"Woo hoo!" she squealed, kicking up her hooves.
A few heads turned at her outburst, but she didn't care. In this disguise, she was just another tourist, a nobody! No one even said hello to her. It felt wonderful!
Then she remembered she had a task to complete and steered toward the fairgrounds. The only ponies around the fireworks tent were Pinkie Pie and a red unicorn stallion whom Twilight figured to be Dawn's father. At the sight of Pinkie, she moved one of the crates in front of her face. She couldn't let any of her friends see her, especially Pinkie! Pinkie was sure to make the connection! She was not the brightest of ponies, but she had a sixth sense about these sorts of things!
"There you are, Princess!" the stallion called.
Twilight froze. "What?"
A red aura engulfed the crates and floated them into the tent.
"I hope it wasn't too much trouble," Fire Cracker said. "You were gone a while."
The disguised princess blinked as she tried to come up with an excuse. "Uh...yeah, I...I got lost. Um...did you call me Princess?"
The stallion scoffed. "I know you sometimes find it embarrassing, Dawnie, but I can't help it." He ruffled her mane. "You're my little princess."
Twilight sighed in relief. "Oh, right."
She suppressed another giggle. He actually thinks I'm Dawn! This is going great!
"Hey, Dawn!"
The voice made Twilight frown. Oh, no! Pinkie!
"Listen, I'm gonna have to cancel on giving you guys that tour," the pink pony piped. "I'm gonna be tied up here all day! Princess Cadence said she had a special surprise for us after we..."
She paused and stared at Twilight. The disguised princess tried to hide her face with her wings but remembered she didn't have them anymore. It was too late to do anything when Pinkie pressed her nose against hers and squinted at her suspiciously.
"Uh, Pinkie?" Fire Cracker said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing? Why are you looking at Dawn like that?"
Pinkie shook her head, moving Twilight's along with it. "I don't know..." She then smiled and pulled away. "Well, gotta go! Gotta help Cheese with the bumper cars! La-la-la-la-la..."
"Phew!" Twilight heaved as her clueless friend bounced away.
She really didn't understand how Pinkie Pie didn't recognize her, but was grateful anyway.
"Well, we don't have to work until tomorrow," said Fire Cracker. "What say we explore the empire?"
Twilight cringed at the thought of walking around with a stranger, but then remembered that he thought she was his daughter. She looked up at him and saw the warm, fatherly smile he wore. She couldn't help but smile back.
"Sounds like fun."
As she followed the stallion into the streets, she realized that in all the times she had been to the Crystal Empire, she had never really taken time to enjoy the sites. Her first visit had involved battling a thousand-year-old shadow king, and the others had been for business. She had never really noticed how magnificent even the smallest of buildings were as their crystal walls sparkled in the sun.
Twilight paused at one of the buildings. "They have a museum here?"
She was about to walk up the steps when Fire Cracker put a hoof on her shoulder.
"Sorry, Princess. I don't have a lot of pocket money and we'd have to pay admission. It's best we save our bits for food."
Twilight frowned but nodded in understanding. Dawn had mentioned she and her father had financial difficulties. She probably should've grabbed her saddlebag with all her bits in it before she'd left. She made a mental note to visit the museum when this charade was over.
"Hey, there's a comic store," Fire Cracker pointed out. "We won't buy anything, but wanna browse?"
"Aw, no thanks," Twilight said.
The stallion raised his eyebrow in confusion. "But I thought you loved comics."
The princess stiffened. "Oh, yeah! I mean I do, but…I feel like it would be too tempting to look at all those comics and not buy them." Her ears perked up as a new thought occurred to her. "How about we go to the library instead?"
"Um, how is that different from…?"
"Come on, it's this way!"
"Now how did you know that?"
"Um…" Twilight stammered. "Pinkie told me! Yeah! You know how she tends to ramble on about random things!"
The stallion tilted his head, still confused. Twilight bit her lip as she thought of a way to convince him. Then she remembered how she had gotten her own father to take her to the library when she was a filly. She put on a big grin and batted her eyes innocently.
"Please, can we go?" she chimed. "Please, Mr. Crack…I mean…Dad?"
Fire Cracker chuckled. "Okay, if it'll make you happy, Princess."
She bounced up and down in excitement. "Yay!"
First she had felt as rebellious as Rainbow Dash, now she was as giddy as Pinkie Pie. All in all, she felt good! She felt even better when she and Fire Cracker stepped into the glorious library. No matter how many times she would see it, Twilight would forever gawk at the mountains of knowledge sitting on the glistening crystal shelves.
"Can I help you, Miss?" the old crystal librarian asked.
"No, thanks!" Twilight squealed. "I'm good!"
She whinnied as she rushed down the stairs and instantly levitated books off the shelves. The librarian raised an eyebrow at Fire Cracker, who shrugged.
"She likes to read."
Once she found an interesting title, she trotted to a cozy alcove and sunk comfortably into a blue beanbag chair. She opened the book and started reading.
She sighed in the sense of bliss she was in. Here she was, in a library full of books. She didn't have an important topic to look up involving an impending apocalypse. She could just sit here and take time to let the words fly off the pages and take her to a world far beyond Equestria and her royal duties.
And no one would interrupt her.
"This is the best day of my life," she whispered to herself.
Spike tapped his foot in impatience. Every five seconds, he would glance at the nonexistent watch on his wrist. He was used to waiting for Rarity to get dressed, but Twilight?! She was always on top of things. Even when it was for an important event, she would never take longer to get dressed than scheduled. Why was she even getting dressed now?
The dragon decided he couldn't take it anymore and knocked angrily on the door.
"Twilight, hurry up!" he bellowed. "You've been in there for half an hour! We're way behind schedule!"
"One moment, Spick!"
"SPIKE!"
"Oh, right! Sorry!"
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He heard a cry and a thump before the door was finally opened. He gasped in horror at the sight.
"What do you think?"
Spike had to rub his eyes to make sure it was Twilight he was looking at. The alicorn was dressed in a frilly, poofy pink dress, with one sleeve falling loosely down her foreleg. Her mouth was smothered in lipstick and her hair was done up in a messy bun. She lifted her hoof to prevent her crown from sliding off her head.
"Well?" she asked again.
The dragon shook his head. "Okay, schedule or no schedule, I am not letting you go out in public like that!"
He pushed the alicorn back inside.
"Hey, what are you…?" Dawn started to protest.
"Take that dress off," Spike commanded.
"But it's so pretty…"
"Take it off!"
Dawn jumped at the dragon's angry tone and hastily threw the gown over her head, knocking the crown off in the process. Spike picked up the gown and dragged it over to the armoire.
"You wanna wear a nice dress today?" he said, hanging the monstrosity up. "I'll give you a nice dress."
He rummaged through the gowns and withdrew a simple, dark blue one with a loose skirt and slightly puffed shoulders. He handed it to Dawn, who shrugged and started putting it on.
Then Spike pushed her again and set her on the vanity. He grabbed a cloth and wiped Dawn's face. Then he picked up a tube of mascara and set to work on her eyes.
Dawn didn't complain until he got to her mane. He released it from its bun and she screeched as he smoothed it out with a comb.
Once the mane was untangled, Spike picked up the crown and placed it on Dawn's head. He took a step back to admire his work.
"Mmm hmm," he muttered. "Much better."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I was fine bef—"
She paused as she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Oh."
She had to admit she looked better in simple attire, and Twilight's mane style really complimented her face. The light mascara on her lashes was all that was needed to bring out her eyes. She looked down at the dragon.
"You're good."
Spike beamed. "Was there ever any doubt?" Then his face turned serious as he brought out his scroll. "Now can we please get back on schedule?"
Dawn gazed up in awe as Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich finished rising their collapsible roller coaster. Dawn had never been on a roller coaster before, let alone seen one. She couldn't wait to ride on it during the festival.
"That looks like fun!" Spike exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Dawn said in awe.
"So, Twilight?"
"Huh? Oh. I, uh, guess we can check rides off the list."
The dragon raised his eyebrow. "Aren't you gonna check for safety hazards like you always do?"
Dawn blinked. "Oh. Of course, uh… Hey, Pinkie! Is it safe?!"
"Safe as it'll ever be!" Pinkie Pie shouted from the top.
The disguised unicorn shrugged. "Good enough for me."
Spike tilted his head in confusion, but checked the roller coaster off the list anyway. He figured Twilight was just in a hurry to get things done.
"Now all that's left is to make sure the food vendors are in place," he declared.
"Mmm, yum!" Dawn said, licking her lips. "Now you're speaking my language!"
They were about to depart when Pinkie popped up in their path. Dawn looked back up at the coaster and then at her.
"How did you…?"
She was interrupted as Pinkie pressed her nose against hers. Panic welled up in Dawn's chest. Pinkie had said she had looked familiar while she was still herself. Would she figure it out?
"Pinkie, though I'm afraid to ask, what are you doing?" Spike inquired.
"Something's different," Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes.
"Well, Twilight did wanna try a new look today."
"No, that's not it." Pinkie pulled away and tapped her chin. "Something fishy's going on, though I don't smell any fish…"
Dawn took advantage of her confusion and walked past her. "Have a nice day, Pinkie!"
"Did she change her mane? Did she get contacts?"
Phew, Dawn thought. Talk about too close for comfort.
Pinkie was so deep in thought that she did not see Discord walk by her. He didn't notice her either, for his eyes were glued to the screen of a small handheld device. He was moving in a squiggly line as he attempted to follow the beeping red dot on his radar. For some reason, it kept changing positions. One second it was just in front of him, the next it was on the other side of the Empire. He groaned in annoyance.
"What's wrong with this thing?!" he snarled, shaking the device. He took a deep breath. "No matter. There's something chaotic going on in this Empire and I'm going to find out what!"
Dawn was getting bored. The next half hour was spent examining food stalls. Some of them weren't set up yet, so they had to wait for the vendors to come and do so. When was she going to move on from the dull stuff and get to the fun stuff?
"Tell me that was the last one," Dawn grumbled to Spike.
"Yup!" the dragon piped, checking the last box on the scroll.
She sighed in relief. "Oh, good!"
"But we gotta head back to the palace. Princess Cadence said she had a surprise planned for us."
Dawn grinned. "Surprises are good. Let's go!"
She started galloping towards the castle but then stopped when a thought occurred to her. She looked back at the wings that were poking out of her dress. She smiled brightly at the idea of flying to the palace. She crouched down and spread out her wings.
"How hard could it be?"
She flapped her wings as hard as she could. She grinned as she slowly got higher and higher. It was a little tiring, since she was a lot heavier than she thought. I really need to lose weight.
She looked down to see how high she was. The sight gave her vertigo.
"Whoa, that's really high!"
Startled, she unknowingly closed her wings. She screamed as she plummeted to the ground.
Down below, Spike looked around frantically for his friend.
"Twilight?"
He heard a scream and looked up.
"Uh oh."
He didn't have time to move. Dawn collapsed on top of him.
"Wow," she heaved. "Flying's harder than I thought."
Spike groaned as he wriggled out from under the disguised unicorn. "How about we just walk to the palace?"
When they entered the throne room, Dawn mentally named every face. She knew Pinkie and Cheese, and that the four mares talking with them were Twilight's other best friends. The white unicorn was Rarity, the yellow pegasus was Fluttershy, the orange earth pony in the cowgirl hat was Applejack and the pegasus with the multi-colored mane was Rainbow Dash. It helped that these ponies were famous.
She blushed at the sight of Prince Shining Armor. It was the first time she had ever seen a prince, and he was quite handsome. Then she saw Princess Cadence nuzzling him and remembered he was married. Not to mention he was Twilight's brother.
"Oh, Twilight!" Rarity marveled when she saw Dawn in her outfit. "You look absolutely stunning! What's the occasion?"
Dawn glanced over her shoulder and then realized the unicorn was talking to her.
"Oh. Uh, no occasion. I just felt like dressing up today. You know how it goes."
Rarity nodded and ran her hoof through her mane. "I certainly do!"
Princess Cadence stepped forth. "I called you all here to tell you that you've all done a splendid job preparing for the Crystal Fair! And as a reward for your hard work, I'm treating you all to the spa this afternoon!"
The mares cheered and Dawn clapped her hooves together.
"Oh, yeah! Now we're talking!"
"You're welcome too, Cheese Sandwich," Cadence said to the stallion. "You've worked on this as much as the girls."
"Hmm," Cheese said, tapping his chin. "I could use a massage."
"Oh, one more thing. I don't know if Twilight's told you, but Prince Blueblood will be arriving in a few hours for the fair."
That killed the mood for every pony except Dawn.
"Oh my gosh!" she squealed. "The Prince is coming here?! This is so exciting!"
Every pony looked at her like she was crazy.
"Um…Twilight?" Rarity uttered. "You do realize this is Prince Blueblood we are talking about, right?"
"Uh huh!" Dawn exclaimed, nodding her head excitedly.
"But…" Cadence said. "Earlier today, you said…"
She was interrupted as Discord suddenly popped in the middle of the room, wearing a large sombrero and shouting, "Buenos Dias, my little ponies!"
Dawn screeched at the sight of the draconequus and leapt up so high that she found herself dangling from the chandelier. Discord lifted the brim of his sombrero as he looked up at the lavender alicorn and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I didn't mean to be that surprising."
Dawn gripped the chandelier as she stared in horror at the creature. What was that thing? Every pony was watching her in confusion. Why were they so calm when there was a giant monster standing in the middle of the throne room?
"Discord!" Fluttershy exclaimed, throwing her hooves around the creature.
"Hey!" Discord cried, welcoming her hug. "My favorite pony!"
"What brings you here?"
"I'm here for the fair, of course!"
Discord… The name was familiar to Dawn. She looked at the creature again and realized she had seen him before. He had come to Hoofington a short time ago with the monster Tirek. She shivered at the memory of the draconequus rounding her and other ponies up with a lasso and Tirek drowning the magic from her.
She had heard about the Lord of Chaos turning good and then betraying Equestria and turning good again. Good or not, she did not have fond memories of Discord. Even before the Tirek fiasco, she remembered the day her house had been turned into gingerbread. While it had been cool at first, it had fallen apart too quickly and her dad was nearly hit over the head with a graham cracker roof.
Discord returned his gaze to her.
"Geez, Twilight, you can come down now!"
Dawn glanced down at the floor and had that vertigo feeling again. She gripped tighter on the chandelier.
"Um…" she stammered, "help?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flew up. "Flap your wings slowly."
Dawn flapped her wings but didn't release her hold on the chandelier. Rainbow grabbed her hoof.
"It's okay. I got you."
The disguised unicorn gulped and slowly removed the rest of her hooves. She stumbled as she attempted to fly right-side-up, but Rainbow steadied her. With her help, Dawn was able to get safely to the ground.
"Thanks," she whispered to the pegasus.
"No problem," Rainbow said. "Just keep practicing like I told ya."
"Well," Cadence said, attempting to break the awkwardness. "It's good to see you, Discord. We're out of rooms in the palace, but I'm sure we can find…"
"Oh, don't worry about me, Princess" Discord said, waving his claw. "I have lodging."
"We were about to go to the spa," Fluttershy announced. "Care to join us?"
"Ooh!" He glanced at his talons. "I could use a manicure."
Through his fingers, he saw Twilight staring at him in discomfort. Confused, he bent over to her.
"Are you ill, Princess?"
"No!" she squeaked, backing away. "I'm fine! Let's go to the spa!"
She hastened out the door, determined to get as far away from the draconequus as possible. She passed by Flash Sentry, who smiled at her.
"Hey," he whispered.
Dawn paused and looked at the guard confusingly. "Hi, uh…soldier?"
Flash's grin diminished and his face changed to match Dawn's. He watched as she and the others exited the throne room.
Discord was doing the same. He scratched his head in bewilderment at Twilight's strange behavior. Twilight Sparkle had never been afraid of him. Sure, he had startled her sometimes, but never like that. Something about the princess wasn't right.
He brought out his Chaos Tracker and stared at the red dot. It was blinking directly in front of him. He looked at the departing princess and then at the dot again. He shook his head with a grin.
"Oh, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. What chaos have you stirred up this time?"
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PURE YES!
And cue things going wrong.
Wow. I have no sense of fashion, yet the very description of her attire makes me cringe.
Spike channeling Trixie. Eh, why not.
Collapsible roller coaster. Well, it's not any crazier than a pair of kids who aren't even in their teens creating an absurdly large roller coaster and their mother never noticing it.
I'd worry, but despite how crazy Pinkie and Cheese can be, if they're one thing they take seriously, it's having fun, and if the roller coaster isn't safe, it's not fun.
Nor do I, but Pinkie, while bubbly and a bit airheaded at times, is by no means an idiot, so, my guess, she'll figure things out soon.
I'd wonder how the crystal ponies are taking seeing the nigh omnipotent chimeric Lord of Chaos in the CE, though he is reformed, he must look a bit unnerving for some of the crystal ponies I'd imagine.
Keep your cool kid, remember your facade.
You'll change your tune when you realize how, rude he is, unless between the Gala and now, he's changed for the better.
I swear that's a reference to that one scene in Star Trek "Au contraire mon capitain, he's back!"
Ah right, I forgot, this is after the show, not your Bride of Discordverse.
*smiles* Dash may have her faults, but she is the Element of Loyalty, always willing to help a friend.
He's figured it out, more or less, no surprise there.
5212818
Don't forget, he could also generally be not quite as rude as on the day of the Gala. I mean, it's not every day Fluttershy turns into a supervillain-esque stalker, right?^^
5213017
True. For me, Blueblood is a bit of a jerk, yes, but no more so than most of Canterlot, the only reason he was like that with Rarity was because he had had a long day, and he thought she was just another gold digger who only wanted him for his money, to be fair, what did she know about Blueblood other than him being a handsome rich prince? From the looks of it, nothing.
Another great chapter. Totally worth the wait.
5213017
5213029
Still the fact Blueblood is only showing interest in Twilight now as opposed to all the years she was Princess Celestia's student is telling.
I fell so sorry for Flash. He is probably crushed right now. Great chapter. Thanks for the update. I wonder what his going to happen next, let alone how much is going to have to be cleaned up after they switch back.
5214046
Just cause I defended him, doesn't mean he doesn't have flaws. Flaws are what make characters interesting.
5214046
True. Though that's a flaw Rarity and he share, eh?^^
Loved the update and cannot wait to see what happens next!
Except for one, the players have entered the stage and are going to perform this comedy of errors.
Not the Shakespeare one, though I trust you in this section due your Shakespony story.
Ah, a fine story in the making. I'm looking forward to more.
5214046
Well, he has a role to play and expectations to meet as well.
Sure, he's most likely spoiled and a jerk, but do we know he really wants to go out with Twilight or does Canterlot High Society want him to go out with Twilight?
5220347 Then that means the game has mastered him rather than the other way around.
I know how that goes.
>chaos tracker
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130713001305/boschitt/images/3/3c/DrHax.jpg
This was worth the wait, I fan girled at the end.
P.S- A chaos tracker?! Please let the show make that canon.
Caos Tracker?! Who would have thought...?
Awesome!
Note: You're doing AWESOME, I love the Flashlight parts!"
(I'M THE BIGGEST FLASHLIGHT FAN EVER!!!)
Very nice
"Discord!" Fluttershy exclaimed, throwing her hooves around the creature.-you just couldn't stop yourself,could you?!?!
I'm just wondering when the next chapter will be ready. I love the story. Have a nice day.
Why is the story on Haitus? The story's so good
5598104 I think it's just because DF has been writing a "christmas special", which is still incomplete. I can understand that she may want to complete it before coming back to this story, we're already in february, and a christmas special shouldn't last that long if we compare to the previous one, Hearth's Warming Chaos.
It annoys me so much to wait for a christmas special in february, by the way. I can't help it, it just doesn't feel right.
I was just wonder when the story will be taken off hiatus and when will the next chapter be posted because this story is interesting and I can't wait to see what happens next.
5756937 I'm guessing she is going to work on this story because she updated most of her on hiatus stories
I founded a group. It's called the Greek geeks. If you wanna join, that's fine. I just recommend this because you have a Greek reference in your story. Adonis. The mortal lover of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
5778995 well obviously im not a normal pony
I Don't know why but suddenly I pictured Applejack (the Bearer of Honesty) questioning the disguised alicorns behaviour and Pinkie Pie somehow finding out. And finally a bad guy in the story referencing season five like Starlight Glimmer?
Oh, gosh.
ohhhhh... gosh.
This should be good.
So exite for the next chapter!!
6105571 And the "Tanks for the Memories" episode with winter was released in summer. Can't really rely on release dates to know timeframe of episode.
Just got this read... Omg!!! I love it, I want more, and I hope this is what gets done next <3
6163875 I know that. It's a horse pun.
he figured it out!!!! yay, more chaos!!!
I love this story soooo much