[Interlude] Evolving
“There are no shortcuts in evolution.”
-Louis D. Brandeis
“No, you’re an idiot and you’re wrong!” The mare shouted across the kitchen at her companion. Vinyl had a fire in her belly that nothing short of victory could quench. All Twinkle had to do was submit and that would be the end of it, but he couldn’t even admit she was right.
“No, Scratch. You’re wrong!” The stallion stirring the sauce fired back, pointing an accusatory hoof at Vinyl. “Just drop it, already. I said it wasn’t important because it’s not.” How long had they been arguing like this? Fifteen minutes maybe? It started shortly after Cadance had left, so somewhere around there. The only thing Vinyl was trying to do was prove to Twinkle that he was wrong.
“No, I won’t drop it.” Vinyl stated resolutely, puffing out her chest at the stallion. “I can’t just let this go because we need to talk about this!” Both ponies simply stared at each other, both set in their own frame of mind.
“Shakes can be thicker than malts, Scratch. I’m not saying all shakes are thicker than malts, I’m saying they can be.” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the stallion. Such ignorance would not be tolerated in her house, oh no.
“Yeah, but they’re not supposed to be! The thickness is what makes a malt a malt, you dummy!” Vinyl trotted around the counter to Shining and thumped him upside the head with her hoof. “The sooner you realize that, the better.”
“First off: ow!” Shining rubbed the back of his head and glowered at Vinyl. “Secondly: malt powder makes a malt a malt. Not the thickness.”
“Okay, yeah, but the thickness is important. Nopony wants a runny malt!” Both ponies once again locked eyes. Vinyl was getting ready to start up again when Twinkle’s stern look broke and a goofy smile crossed his face. Then the stallion started to laugh.
“Th-this is the dumbest argument I’ve ever had.” Shining managed to sputter out between fits of laughter. “L-like, how did we even get started on this?” Vinyl couldn’t help but burst into laughter as well. It hadn’t occurred to her until this moment how ridiculous the fight had been. They were fighting over malts and shakes for Celestia’s sake!
Vinyl knew why they were arguing over this. Deep down she knew it was because if they hadn’t argued about something ridiculous they would’ve got into a fight about Cadance. Vinyl would’ve pushed Shining on things he probably didn’t want to talk about then he’d get mad, then she’d be mad that he was mad. It was better to just diffuse the situation with something silly, it had always worked on her when she was little.
After a few seconds both of their fits of laughter died down and they both refocused their attention on the simmering scarlet sauce before them. “Think it’s ready, Twinkle?” Vinyl was no culinary expert, so she had to rely on her companion’s experience to lead.
“Give it a few more minutes.” He replied, a bemused smile now crossing his features. Obviously their argument had put him in a good mood, ironically enough. “Go take a load off, I’ll call you over when it’s done.” The stallion waved Vinyl away and turned back to their meal.
Vinyl wouldn’t argue with that. She would let Twinkle do all of the work if he wanted, who was she to tell him no? She had to admit, sometimes it felt really good having Twinkle as a friend. Hopefully the guard could say the same about her.
----
Twilight Sparkle was having a surprisingly bad day. Fridays were alway good days for her. They were the days she got to go from the castle and spend a weekend back at her home with her parents and older brother. Well, usually her older brother was there. Lately he had been preoccupied with work, something that Twilight understood completely.
Duty always came first, Celestia had taught little Twily that. So how could Twilight be mad at her brother for doing his job like he was told? Well, it actually wasn’t that hard. Understanding something was one thing, but accepting it was another.
Twilight understood that teleporting was just converting oneself into pure magical energy and then using the leylines to transport the energy to where you wanted. Twilight just couldn’t accept that it could be done! She had never seen it done before, nor did she even think that condensing a whole pony into magical energy was feasible. It just required too much!
It was a lot like her brother in that respect. The filly just couldn’t accept that her brother wasn’t going to be around for awhile. She understood perfectly fine why, but she just didn’t want it to be that way. They were supposed to be coloring, or playing games or something. At the very least, Twilight wished she knew where Shiny was.
“Dumb BBBFF.” The little pony grumbled as she shut her book and got up from her desk. She wasn’t going to let that stallion ruin her good Friday, no way! There was plenty she could do without him here! She could read, she could…read some more...okay, turns out reading was the only thing she had going for her. But reading was fun! It could be fun.
Depended on the book, really.
Once more, Twilight sighed and trotted over to her bed. In a rather clumsy motion, she haphazardly pulled herself onto her bed and made her way over to the window that was right next to her pillow. She looked outside with yet another sigh. Rain was just starting to come down in tiny droplets, gently coating her window in a patchwork of water. It was an apt mirror for her own mood.
“Twilight will you come downstairs, please?” The filly’s ears perked up at the sound of her father’s voice. Usually they would never bother her on Friday nights, it was her night to study after a week at school and get homework done. Sure, she never really had any homework to do but the time alone was nice. Either way, if her parents needed her now it must be important.
“Coming!” Twilight yelled back as she hopped off of her bed and onto unskilled hooves. At a decent pace she made her way out of her room and down the stairs. Awaiting her in the living room was a pony she nearly forgot existed.
“Hello Little Sparkle.” The elderly mare sitting in a highbacked chair said in a soft voice. The wrinkle’s that crossed the alabaster unicorn’s face were testament to the many years lived, and the myriad of intense expressions she had given over them. The senior’s mane looked remarkably like twilight’s own: a straightened violet affair with a single line of black running through it just by her horn.
“Hi Grandma Satin.” Twilight said in a low grumble. Was this why she had been dragged down here? To say ‘hi’ to Grandma? Hardly worth the time considering the matriarch was going to be living here now.
“Twilight, watch your tone.” Twilight Velvet, ‘Little Sparkle’s’ mother chastised her gently. “Grandma was hoping you could join us down here for dinner tonight. She would very much like a family dinner while you’re here for the weekend.”
“Shiny’s not here, though. It’s not a family dinner without him.” Twily reminded the two mares in front of her. Her mother gave the little filly a sympathetic look, the older Satin only rolled her eyes and sighed.
“He’s off gallivanting with some mare, I’ve heard.” The matriarch shot violet daggers at her daughter. “I tried to get Galea to let him off of that racket, but it didn’t work on that stubborn son of yours.”
“Mother, he is working hard.” Twilight Velvet shot back at her mother. “I won’t have you disparaging him if you want to stay in this house.” Twily had never actually heard her mom go hoof-to-hoof with Grandma Satin. Actually, Twily had never heard anypony go hoof-to-hoof with Grandma Satin. That old mare could be really really mean when she wanted to be.
“If he had any smarts about him, he would be working on getting a foal out of that Princess instead. Celestia knows she’s asking for it.” The gasp that came from Velvet was loud enough to make Twily flatten her ears. “Oh don’t give me that!”
“I’m going to go find Dad…” The littlest Twilight in the room said as she trotted towards the kitchen, where she assumed her father to be. She truthfully just wanted to get away from the two mares in the living room, it could get nasty if it went on for any longer.
Twilight pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw her father simmering over a like-minded pot full of what she guessed was soup based off of the smell. After the first few grumbles of curse words, Twilight cleared her throat to announce her presence.
“Ahh!” Her father, Night Light, spun on his hooves in a frazzled state. After seeing it was only his daughter, the azure stallion let himself relax. “Sorry Twily, didn’t hear you come in.” He turned back to his soup and stirred it idly. “What’s up, Squirt? Hungry for something good?”
Being surrounded by harsh decorum all the time made Twilight appreciate her father’s lackadaisical use of any formal speech. It made her feel at least a little normal in the face of everything she went through on a daily basis.
“I just wanted to get away from Mom and Grandma.” Twily’s stomach growled angrily. “Food would be nice, too.” A ladle full of soup was levitated down to her level, a non-verbal way of her father telling her to see if it was any good. With gusto, Twilight took a sip from the ladle and thought over the taste for a second. “More pepper, maybe.”
“I hear you, Twily.” The stallion answered, putting a dash of pepper into his brew. “Those two have been going at it like cats and dogs since Grandma Satin got here. I’m honestly starting to wonder how they ever lived together in the first place.”
“Well does she have to stay here with us? Why can’t she just go back to her house?” Twilight stomped a little hoof on the tile floor with indignation. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her Grandmother, she just preferred to love her at a distance...a couple times a year for holidays and birthdays. Twilight had learned too much of Grandma Satin was a bad thing and that too much was right next to ‘never’.
“Because she’s getting too old to live by herself, Twily.” The stallion sighed, throwing a crushed clove of garlic into the mix. “Somepony has to take care of her and your mother doesn’t want to send her to a home.” Twilight could tell from her father’s voice that the decision was not something he was happy with, either.
That was one thing she had learned from her father that she had a bad habit of letting take over. The stallion always broadcasted his emotions loudly and to anypony that would listen, even his own children. On one hoof, this made Twilight feel like her father was a lot closer to a friend than almost anypony else in the word. On the other hoof, sometimes he said things he probably shouldn’t.
“But what about her house? It’s just going to be empty forever now?” Twilight was just genuinely curious about that matter. She had no stock in the home, but she wondered what would become of what she considered to be a mansion.
“Grandma sold it and put the money towards your tuition.” Night Light stated matter-o’-factly,
“I don’t have any tuition.” Twilight responded, one of her eyebrows perking up. “Princess Celestia doesn’t make you pay for sending me there.”
“I know.” The stallion said flatly.
Then why did Grandma give her money to the school? Shining had debts from guard school, she could’ve paid off those. Right. Grandma and Shining didn’t exactly get along, like Twilight thought they actually hated each other. So Twily chalked her Grandmother’s actions up to simple malice and not senility.
Ding Dong
Both of the ponies in the kitchen perked their ears up at the doorbell’s chime. Had Shiny come home for dinner? If so, Twilight hoped he didn’t bring that mare along with him. The last time she had been in the house, Twilight didn’t get a very good vibes from her.
Twilight trotted over to the door and nudged it open just enough to see the front door. Trotting inside was another pony who was almost as good as her brother! It was somepony she just didn’t get to see enough anymore.
“Cadance!” The filly shouted as she bolted out of the kitchen at speeds that would make the Wonderbolt’s jealous. Before the Princess could react fully, Twilight had already launched herself towards the monarch.
“Twilight!” Cadance caught Twilight with her hooves and gave the filly a big hug. The first thing Twily noticed was the very damp fur of her foalsitter. That was to be expected, it was raining outside. “I’m so glad to see you!”
“Why are you here? Is Shiny with you?” Twilight peered over the pink alicorn’s shoulder, hoping to see her brother standing in the doorway. She was only met with disappointment.
“No, I’m afraid not.” Twilight caught a hint of something more than disappointment in Cadance’s tone. It almost sounded like sadness. “I was actually caught in the storm and was hoping I could stay here until it died down a little. I’m afraid a walk to the castle would leave me drenched at the moment.” Nevermind the sadness! Cadance was going to stay, and that let all worries about the Princess’ emotional state fly out of Twilight’s mind.
“Of course you can, Cadance!” Twilight Velvet responded with a warm smile. “You know you’re always welcome in this house, you didn’t even have to ask. You’re practically family.” Twilight felt Cadance’s breath hitch when the word ‘family’ was mentioned. It brought the previously forgotten worried back to the front of the little filly’s mind.
“Are you okay?” Twilight pushed away from Cadance with her hooves so she could get a good look at her foalsitter. Her mane was disheveled and she looked rather raggedy, but it was the storm that had done that, right?
“I’m fine, Twilight. I just need to get dry and I’ll be all better.” Cadance gave her a reassuring embrace and then let Twilight go. “Do you mind if I use your bathroom, Velvet?”
“Go right ahead, Cadance. I’m sure you know where it is.” Twilight’s mother told the alicorn. Without another word, the pink pony trotted up the stairs, leaving a slightly damp trail behind her.
“I really wish she would stop calling Sparkle ‘Twilight’. It’s so confusing.” Satin piped up once the door to the bathroom was heard closing. “Who was she talking to? Me? You? Sparkle?” That was the unique problem of the three generations of mares all sharing the first name, but little Twilight liked being called by her first name more than her last.
“Mother, she calls me Velvet and she calls you Miss Satin, you know that. Sparkle is the only pony in the world she calls Twilight, so quit being difficult.” Somehow Twilight’s mom had miraculously grown some semblance of a spine since the last time Grandma Satin had been around. Twily had only ever seen Grandma walk all over Velvet, never had she seen such resistance.
“I’m not being difficult!” Satin protested, her glare never leaving Velvet. “I just think that the proper respect for our family tradition would be better than spitting on it.” Twily never liked these conversations about tradition, so she simply tuned it out. Tradition was just an inefficient way of doing something that certain ponies seemed to like way too much.
After a few minutes of ignoring the mares in the room, Twilight heard the upstairs bathroom door open. Then she saw a fully groomed and dry Cadance descending the stairs with all of the grace that Twilight expected of her.
“Feeling better, Princess Cadance?” It wasn’t Velvet who spoke this time, but Satin instead. Strangely, Twily had never actually experienced an interaction between her Grandmother and Cadance. It wasn’t really a pairing of ponies she expected to ever be in the same sphere.
“Oh yes, thank you for asking Miss Satin.” The Princess responded with a smile. “By the way, what is that heavenly aroma I smell? Is Night Light cooking dinner?”
“You know it!” Came the cry of affirmation from the kitchen. “My world famous soup is finally ready as well! So you all better get your flanks in here before I eat it all myself!” A grumble came from Satin as she stood up, obviously she didn’t like the lack of formality quite like Twilight did.
WIth that, the herd of mares made their way into the kitchen and sat at the table. The stallion of the house had already prepared the table in the dining room with bowls and silverware. There was even a glass of wine at everypony’s place, except Twily’s of course. She just had water.
“Hello Cadance.” Night Light said with a beaming smile as he poured soup in the last of the empty bowls. “Lovely weather we’re having, huh?”
“Right?” The young mare responded with a chuckle as she took a seat at the end of the table. “Why don’t you step outside and enjoy it for yourself, Night Light?”
“I would love to Cadance, but I would hate to ruin some lovely mare’s day by making her faint at the sight of me. It’s just not fair to let this beauty leave the house, right darling?” Night Light went about putting the bowls in their spots, first stopping to give his wife a peck on the cheek.
“Perish the thought.” Responded Velvet with a smile on her face.
The banter was something that Twilight loved to be in the middle of. Her father could keep a conversation going for hours with the right pony just by exchanging sarcastic statements. They were never hurtful and always left a smile on everypony’s face in the end. It was something Night Light had insisted on calling ‘Dad Magic.’
“So-” Cadance said as she began to eat her soup. “-how is everypony doing tonight?”
“We’re doing fine as always, thank you for asking.” Velvet responded for both herself and Night Light, as the stallion was currently busy gorging himself on soup.
“Could be better.” The old nag in the middle seat of the table said, a rough edge to her voice. “That doesn’t matter though, does it? What is a Princess doing out so late in this kind of weather? I assumed you would be in the palace and not conversing with the riff-raff.” Cadance visibly stiffened, if only for a second. She regained her composure quicker than she had lost it, leaving only those eagle-eyed enough to spot it to figure out something was wrong.
“I was visiting Shining.” Cadance responded confidently. “I’m afraid time got away from me, and before I knew it the sun was starting to set and rain was already coming down. I even forgot about storm, silly me.” Twilight knew a lie when she saw one, especially when it was Cadance. The alicorn had lied to Twilight enough about misplaced books and hard-truths for the filly to know when something was wrong.
“How is my Grandson? I’m afraid I haven’t seen him in quite some time.” Everypony at the table rolled their eyes ever so slightly as if to say ‘gee I wonder why.’ “I hope he’s staying out of trouble.”
“He’s doing fine, just caught up in his work.” The short statement with no follow-up was enough of a cue for Twilight to pick up on. This conversation was going nowhere fast.
“Do you want to know what I’m studying now, Cadance?” The filly perked up as she redirected the topic to something she could take the reigns with: school.
“What does Celestia have you studying now? I assume nothing too difficult.” The Princess responded with a kind enthusiasm. “Who am I kidding? Nothing is too difficult for you, right Twilight?”
“Right!” Twilight shot back, emboldened by the praise. “She has me studying evolution now.”
“Poppycock.” The hateful phrase was thrown out by the eldest mare at the table. “We ponies changed those animals, not some nonsense.” Now that was something Twilight could pick up! She had a long conversation with Celestia about this exact thing not even a few days ago.
“I don’t think it’s poppycock. It makes a lot of sense.” Twilight wanted to grab a book, but she had it nowhere near her at the moment. If she had the time and lack of manners, she would run up to her room and get it for reference, but for now her memory of the subject would have to do. “Things change over time when presented with challenges. We ponies do it, so why couldn’t animals do it over a long time? If you burn your hoof on the stove you won’t put it on the stove again, right? Well what if an animal is getting picked on by another bigger animal with really sharp claws? Eventually that type of animal will ‘learn’ and change so that sharp claws can’t get to it.”
“That’s fascinating, Twilight.” Cadance prodded the topic. “Do you think we ponies evolved from something?”
“Well...the book said we were all earth ponies once and that the other two races developed when things got too hard for just the earth ponies. So yeah.” Twilight thought back to her book, trying to remember exactly what it said. “We just changed because something bad happened to us, that’s all. We learned and got better. Everything changes if enough bad things happen to it. I don’t really think we have a choice in it, we just have to try and use those changes right or else more bad things will happen and we might change again.” Twilight was not the most elegant speaker when it came to articulating her own thoughts. They often came out cluttered and clumsy, reducing her vocabulary to a fraction of what it actually was. She could write on this all days at a higher level than she could ever hope to speak it.
“I think you’re right, Twilight.” Cadance said, a small smile across her features.
“I know she’s right.” Night Light added. “Change does a lot more than we realize. It pushes us in the right direction, and enough change lets us know we were doing something wrong. It tells us that we needed something else, that we weren’t safe where we were. If we ponies can figure out, there’s no reason that nature couldn’t figure that out a long time ago.” Leave it to her dad to be on her side when it came to philosophy. He was always the one more liable to wax poetic about feelings out of Twily’s parents.
“Change can be bad, though.” Cadance added in. “Not everything can be fixed with change, some things can even be ruined by it.” The tone in which the Princess spoke made it seem like she had a very strong opinion on this subject. This was adding to the growing list that Twilight was putting together.
“Only if we don’t learn from it.” Twilight said, making sure to add a strong note of finality to her statement. She wasn’t one-hundred percent certain what Cadance was hiding, or why it seemed to be bothering her, but the little filly felt like that was something Cadance desperately needed to hear.
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7445341
It's okay. I like you even if you are wrong.
7445435
Read to the latest chapter. I promise you'll be happy.
7445495
Keep reading. I promise you won't regret it.
...wait. Is this chapter saying ponies believe in Lamarckian evolution? Because that's what it sounds like. If that's not what you meant you may want to reword Twilight's explanation.
7445531
Twilight is smart, no doubt about that. She understands many things and could tell you a lot about them. Well that is if Twilight was good at speaking off the cuff, which she isn't. Without any notes or anything really planned, Twilight can lose the meaning of what she meant to say. I think I addressed that in the chapter
She understood everything, she just couldn't articulate that understanding in a way the conveyed the idea correctly. It stands to reason they believe in Darwinian evolution and Twilight just didn't explain it well enough.
7445438
7445498
I shall keep on reading, it has kept my interest thus far, it would be a shame to stop now.
Desperately wants Shiny/Scratch
Keep it up
7445531
Who knows. From what little I understand we now know that stuff is also passed on by other mechanisms than Darwin evolution even if we don't understand how it all works. I think the author gave his view, but it's safer to assume that 'evolution' means the usual inherited genetic mutation variety without more context.
Of course, if earth ponies had evolved into unicorns and pegasi I'd be inclined to think that outside forces might be responsible. E.g. mutations caused by radiation (or wild/raw magic) rather than a simple error in duplication/recombination whatever the correct term is. Such a drastic change seems unlikely to happen quickly and the initial change would probably not be one of need or necessity. Like so many cases, it's probably a case of a favorable mutation which was perpetuated perhaps by deliberate action by ponies (placing extra resources into supporting those offspring with unusual or useful abilities). Perhaps even cutie marks are an evolution...
7445540
Okay, just wanted to be sure. Given that it's a magical fantasy land it's possible they could believe in Lamarckian evolution. Heck, with magic involved it could even be true.
7445595
I think under normal circumstances you would be right. If Shining had figured this out in his own time, when it didn't involve his work, he and Cadance would've worked this out.
That's the tipping point, though. Cadance interfered not just with his feelings, but with his job.
I think everyone has a limit, and Cadance just found Shining's.
'tis true.
Mishuk gotal'u meshuroke, pako kyore.
(Fuck Disney and their heresy. THERE IS NO EPISODE 7)
A nice interlude. Satin is wonderfully hateable.
I'm a bit amused by the subject of the conversation, I must admit. Considering how little sense that world makes and how it literally falls apart if nobody is around to actively maintain it, evolution always seems like one of the things that definitely doesn't apply to it.
7447043
Ponies may have muddled it a bit.
7447300 I may have made a few errors that I glossed over when writing the comment. I remember writing it at around 2:00AM, while binge-reading through this story
(Looking back, I did notice "when the subject is sleeping" could be taken literally.)
7447298 That applies to actual adventure stories, this is more of a dramatic slice of life that focuses on character growth, not overcoming manufactured obstacles.
Hahaha, wow... finally caught up and I'm happy where this is going... even if it may not be going where I'm hoping its going.
Ha!
So nice job on this, Satin is, like WLAM said, wonderfully hateful.
Good work and awesome job, keep it up!
7448235
I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. It makes me so happy when people can enjoy my stories, and I love reading every comment that comes through! So thank you so much for reading and commenting, it really brightens up my day.
7448244 Hahaha, I'm glad it brightens up your day
I know how it feels to get a nice comment every now and than, and I'm happy I can do the ame for a fellow writer! 
so keep up the good work my friend! And have a follow~
7446098
Sums up really nicely what's the later part of the fic was about. I enjoyed this, it was well written and didn't fell into any easy pitfalls. I would have hoped Shining and Cadence would have make amends and get back together, but honestly I think this is better what I hoped for. It really drives the point home how Cady messed things up without making her literally Hitler about it. There's no blatant character torture to feed audience's vengeance. It was a mistake, a bad one, but such is life.
This last chapter where she comes to Sparkle family is also a nice scene. You can taste the melancholy in it.
7448228
I suppose that's a reasonable point.
Malts are supposed to be thicker than shakes,and V-Moda headphones are better than Pioneer headphones. This is important information.
How does Satin know it wasn't Discord who changed those animals by speeding up evolution to less than 1 generation.
Tradition is a set of guidelines to build a better future not steadfast rules to be followed, if they don't work discard them.
9460023
To build off of that, tradition guides our future by keeping us in touch with our ancestors.