I emerged from the basement the next morning with light-deprived vision and a killer crash from excessive amounts of caffeine. None of that would be too bad if it weren't for the most annoying feature of the library's main room: its windows faced the rising sun.
Blinding rays of warmth and life tore through my vision like a samurai sword through butter, leaving me fumbling blindly to a nearby chair. I plopped heavily onto the seat and struggled to get my sight accustomed to the daylight. I swear, I'm never going to do another all-nighter again. So, considering the sun was just rising, I must have spent the past eighteen or so hours studying and double checking my divinations. While progress felt great, it wasn't helping me with my present state of fatigue.
Wait, is it fatigue or sickness? I assumed most of my sluggishness came from the soda, which would be sickness, but I also felt really sleepy from a lack of rest, which was fatigue. Maybe I had a detrimental mix of both.
Whatever the case was, my eyes were heavier than my weights, so I closed them and placed my head on one of the library's tables. Never before had a firm surface given me so much comfort. I swear my mane must have been a mess, but who could care about such frivolities when I could already feel myself drift away...
"Twilight?"
I opened my eyes, but didn't budge my head. Sometimes it sucks being a light sleeper. "Yeah?" I groggily asked whoever that was.
There were footsteps going down the stairs. I guessed it was Spike. "Did you just now come out of the basement?"
"Yeah." I said, closing my eyes again. My mouth hung open. A little bit of drool was pooling up and ready to trail down to the table. I didn't care.
I could practically hear Spike crossing his arms. "Huh. You didn't get any sleep, did you?"
"Nuh uh..."
Spike sighed with agitation. "And I guess that means I'm in charge of the library. Again."
That rattled about my brain a little bit. Spike spent all day yesterday acting as the head librarian while I sat in the basement chasing ghosts. Even with sleep at the forefront of my mind, I knew it would be unfair for Spike to do that two days in a row. I summoned my willpower and pushed myself up to a sitting position. I leaned my head in Spike's direction and let it sag to the side with him in my sight. "You know what? You deserve a break."
Spike raised his head in curiosity. "Huh?"
"Yeah." I said, forcing a tired smile. "You spent all day doing the combined work of two people. So I tell you what, you go outside and play or do whatever it is you wanna do; I got the library."
Spike didn't look very certain this was a good idea. "I dunno. What if somepony comes in here wanting a book?"
I waved his worry away. "Aw, that's not a problem. Everyone knocks before they come in anyway, so they'll wake me up between naps."
Spike still looked suspicious. "This seems awfully generous."
"That's the kind of guy I am." I said, pointing my hooves at him like the suave motherfucker I am. The shift in my weight, combined with the double fatigue-sugar crash, sent me toppling to the floor on my side. "Ugh... nighty-night. Have a good day~."
I think I dropped out of consciousness then.
I woke up with thoughts of cotton and clean bedsheets as I heard something pound on the door. I raised my head to check the time to find that only an hour had passed.
The pounding at the front door continued.
I took a moment to clear my head, sighed, and pushed myself up to the door. Whoever was at the door had better have a good reason to interrupt my nap. I opened the door, recoiling from the brightness of the outside world. "Guh, freakin' sun." I held a hoof over my eyes to keep the light out, so I could at least stop feeling that burning sensation. "Welcome to the library. Need something?"
"I would think your slogan could use some work, Twilight." A familiar regal voice said with amusement.
"Oh, is that you, princess? Wanna come in?"
"I'd be delighted."
I stepped aside to allow Celestia entry. As I went to close the door, I looked outside to the guards that took their usual spots flanking the doorway. "So do you guys want some juice or something?" No answer. They didn't even seem to acknowledge my question. "Soda? Mints? Chairs? Anything? No? Alright, then." I closed the door, finally giving up on talking to them.
I took a seat across the table from Celestia, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Celestia took notice of this. "Late night?"
Thanks for the reminder princess, because now I had to yawn. "You could say that, but I worked through all of last night, so I guess it's more accurate to say I missed it."
Celestia frowned with concern. "Twilight, I've told you many times before that working all night isn't good for you."
"Relax, I was planning on resting all day today to compensate. 'Sides, it was totally worth it."
Celestia smiled familiarly, as if this was a regular occurrence that she found endearing. "So I usually hear. May I ask on what you were working?"
I looked up in thought. "Uh, something about oranges."
"Oranges?"
"Yeah, like why they get so fizzy in water, or something?."
Celestia looked me over in confusion. "I... see. And your findings?"
"I forgot."
A moment of silence for Celestia's wasted time. Admittedly, I didn't handle the lack of sleep very well. "How unusual. Perhaps you would like to discuss something more productive, like your anger management?"
I laughed. "Oh yeah, I made some progress with that."
"Really? Would you like to elaborate on your progress?"
I leaned back and smiled with misplaced pride. "Yeah, I got a new teacher."
"You... changed teachers?" I nodded. "And you didn't feel the need to ask my permission first?"
I chuckled. "Nah, I figured you wouldn't mind as long as I was trying to improve myself."
She hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I suppose I don't mind, but I'm surprised by your initiative. So if you aren't learning from the Element of Kindness, then who are you learning from?"
I was about to answer, but I didn't have to. Thudding sounds with accompanying grunts fell down the library's chimney. Yes, the library had a fireplace. I had no idea why you would put something like that in a giant tree, but that's a question best saved for an architect. The source of the noise hit the floor of the fireplace and rolled out like a bowling ball, slamming into the table in a frizzy pink ball.
Shaking her head, for I recognized it as a pony, the eccentric pink pony looked up at our curious faces with the usual glee. "Hi Twilight, hi princess! It's a nice day, isn't it?"
I giggled at Pinkie's antics, as I didn't have the energy to resist its silliness. "Pinkie, you loon, why did you come through the chimney? I have a front door."
"Yeah, but guards don't like me for some reason." She hopped up to her hooves and stood as the third side to our little circle. She took one look at me, then Celestia. Her face lit up when she made eye contact with the princess. "Oh, I just remembered you never got any of the cakes we made you for your visit that one time!"
Celestia, despite the sudden intrusion and declarations, smiled understandingly. "It's okay, my little pony. You don't need to trouble yourself on my account."
Pinkie giggled. "Nah, it's no trouble at all! I'll just get one of the cakes I stashed in the kitchen!" Pinkie bounded past the kitchen door. The door barely even bounced on its hinges once before Pinkie emerged from the kitchen with a cart carrying a double-decker cake with rich white frosting. "Here we go: one 'making-up-for-lost-desserts' cake!"
Celestia stared ahead at the scene for before turning to me with her question. "Did she have that cake in your kitchen this whole time?"
I shrugged sleepily. "I didn't even know I had a dessert cart."
Pinkie wasted no time carting it over to us and holding out plates for us. Celestia looked up at the cake with indecision, an argument between self-control and desire bringing hesitation to the Equestrian monarch. Pinkie decided to be more convincing than either side. "It's buttercream frosting."
Without a second thought, Celestia's golden aura cut a sizable slice of cake with a knife, plopping the sugary morsel onto her plate.
Pinkie kindly gave me a slice of cake, for which I thanked her with a yawn. We each took bites of our cake, each bite being almost immorally tasty. Whether for my sleepiness or the delectable baked goods, each bite was physically stunning. It was so good.
Presumably because she's more used to indulgently rich desserts, Celestia managed to bring up a topic of conversation. "Your name is Pinkie Pie, correct?"
"Yep!" Pinkie answered with a mouthful of cake. She chewed merrily, almost as if she didn't care that she was in the presence of royalty.
Celestia calmly swallowed another bite. "You must be the Element of Laughter. Tell me, are you the one from which Twilight is learning to calm herself?"
Pinkie smiled wide. "Yep, again! You're really good at guessing games!"
Celestia accepted the compliment with a smile. "Thank you. Tell me, how did the two of you begin this new arrangement?"
"Well, it all started when Twilight and I met in town yesterday." Pinkie recalled. "Twilight mentioned her anger issues, so we decided to spend some quality time together in Sugarcube Corner's basement. Afterwards, we decided that we should spend even more quality time together!"
Celestia glanced between the two of us, and smiled impishly. "Quality time, you say?"
Pinkie seemed to catch on to whatever Celestia was talking about and smiled wider. "Yeah."
The two looked at me, wanting some kind of reaction from me. "Uhh, I don't know what you want from me."
"You two were alone. Together. In a dark room." Celestia said with implications I didn't quite get at the time.
"In a building filled with whipped cream!" Pinkie added.
"I don't get it." I said simply.
The two of them laughed at a joke I didn't hear. It became obviously clear that I was in no mental condition to hold a conversation with these two without some kind of chemical assistance. "Okay, I'm gonna need some coffee." I announced on my way to the kitchen.
Celestia sat in a strangely modest dining room for a castle. While one is likely to expect a grand chamber with an impossibly large table that could sit a hundred ponies comfortably adorned with fine silverware and settings, this one was merely just a room with a table. Nothing too fancy by the standards of royalty, but still of high-class quality. The oaken table shined with polish, two occupied chairs on opposite sides to face one another.
Celestia would have put forth more of an effort to eat the food before her, but she was lost in thought as she was for a few hours, gazing beyond the lone window in the room towards a rising moon on the horizon. The one pony that accompanied her this evening wasn't much for recognizing social cues, but even she could tell when something was on Celestia's mind. "You seem troubled."
Celestia absent mindedly spun her fork on the table with a bare hoof, taking a moment to meet the speaker's eyes. "I doubt 'troubled' is the word I would use, but I'll admit that I've become curious as of late."
"A question that the great Princess Celestia cannot answer? Oh no, what shall we do?"
Celestia shot the mare a smirk for the jab and shook her head. "Not panicking, for a start. I'm just pondering a few questions I have about my student."
"I see. So have you spoken to her about your questions?"
"I have, but the more I think about it, the less convincing her answers are." Upon seeing the confusion on her audience's face, she backed up her explanation. "My student, Twilight Sparkle, has been acting differently lately. She says that she's just being true to herself and that she's been using her friendship studies to do so. Her behavior was definitely a change of pace, but now it's starting to border on strange."
"Ponies change, don't they?"
"They do." Celestia acknowledged. "But what bothers me is how drastic the changes are."
"I fail to see what troubles you. Do you suspect something nefarious, or are you just upset to notice the changes she experiences?"
Celestia thought back to those previous encounters. "I suppose I'm worried that she's been passing me by. She's become so much more independent than I was expecting. I thought she would have been sending me more letters than she has, but so far she's only really been sending them when I start asking."
Celestia's listener tapped her chin in consideration. "Am I correct in assuming that your objection is how Twilight Sparkle is distancing herself from you?"
"It's not just that. I've never known Twilight do go against my word or live her life so loosely. It would seem Twilight has disregarded some of her own inhibitions, not to mention that she's been exercising."
"Hmm, then if your student has changed so drastically, why aren't you investigating?"
Celestia sheepishly lowered her eyes to her peas. "Because I do not know if her changes are drastic enough to warrant further prodding."
The dark blue pony looked questioningly at her companion. "But Twilight Sparkle is your student; surely you would know her well enough to make such a judgement."
"You would think so, but honestly, we only met each other on occasion. We would gather every month or so, but mostly kept our discussions to letters." Celestia recalled. "Twilight's studies kept her within the school most days. Really, it was more of a scholarship than mentoring."
"I see. But she is still acting familiarly, yes?"
"I suppose. She admitted to spending all last night reading and studying, which I've known her to do. She's every bit a mage as I remember and she still listens to my advice and lessons, but she's been handling them in a new way. She still seems like Twilight, but something about her is just wrong." Celestia sighed and looked up to her audience. "This will just bother me until I can get some answers. I hesitate to ask, but can I ask you to check on Twilight? You've always been better at gathering information than I have."
The dark blue pony smiled with kindness in her turquoise eyes. "Of course, sister."
Well, it looks like Luna is going to go dream diving to see what she can turn up. This should be interesting.
Time spy on some dreams
6376158
I read that as
Honestly, that'd be amazing.
6376228 That would be hilarious.
Twilight "WHY?"
Pinkie's response "It is Cutie Marks' Dialectic Materialism in action!
Thesis: I wanted you to get up.
Antithesis: You did not want to get up.
Synthesis: You got up but you aren't happy.
The jury's verdict: Not Guilty By Reason of Temporary Insanity
Readers are silly. That ain't Luna.
The companion is obviously Bluey the Blue Pony, duh.
Luna is gonna be diving into dangerous territory. The dreams of a man, trapped in a mare's body. It can't get more dangerous than that.
6376276 Because proper story writing? She hadn't yet been properly introduced to the story itself, and such a method is actually a valid and genuinely suggested way to bring in a major new character fairly quickly. I.e. if you were NOT a big MLP fan reading this, you'd not know who Luna was, so this would be a good way to clue in who she is and how important she is without spoiling it all.
I don't get it either...
And beware, pony-who-is-apparently-Luna-according-to-the-comments-section! Thou art about to entereth the dreams of a guy turned mare! Prepare thy self for the horrors... of a technologically advanced society! (She's gonna get get hit by a car... dang it, which story was it where Luna got hit by a car when she entered the main character's dream?!)
"Okay, but I'll have to warn you, things may get a little weird..."
You promise, you deliver.
6376413
Hum... (it seems ded, though)
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/122954/4/hail-to-the-king/alicorns-dont-get-concussions
so Tia is finally noticing, well given her track record with Luna and Cadance.
and those notes funny.
oh sweet my story is on the list above.
Ohboy this will end well! Mixing one anger prone pony with another... Luckily Luna has only known her since her un-banishment. Unluckily Luna might mistaken him for Nightmare Moon 2.0 should she find out the truth, and we all know how well that would go.
6376900 keep writing that story of yourse has my interest too!
Luna is involved.
Oh Snap doesn't begin to cover how dangerous this could be,.
6377034 i8t will be updated soon, Prepare for laughs.
This chapter, I like it. ANOTHER!
BTW how is Luna gonna tell the difference if they haven't met yet anyway? Even if she does see his dreams, what if he starts dreaming about himself as Twilight since he's been her for so long? Heck alot of stuff in dreams can just be chalked up to wild imagination. And even if she does find out would she even tell anyone? She probably could relate to this guy and would keep his secret and try to help him. After all he is the one who freed her from nightmare moon in this version.
6377052 I literally read this comment, went to the main page, and saw the new chapter. I have the best timing.
Anyway. To the Axel, keep this story going, it's quite enjoyable.
You know, if he can't figure out how to rescue the real twilight, I can totally see him begging discord for help when he finally shows up or something like that.
He's shown he's not too proud to beg for help.
Great chapter! I look forward to seeing just what Luna finds
As a tabletop adventurer Rouge myself, I must protest 'Twilight' lying to her party as much as she does. Lie to everyone and anyone else, but always keep the party in the loop. It never helps keeping them from knowing the whole story. (That and you really want to limit the number of sense motives that need to be rolled when you open your Mountain Dew intake valve.)
Otherwise this has been quite the little character exploration. I do wonder what happened to Original-brand Twilight. Hopefully our wayward protagonist opens up to her friends soon, or I am gonna strangle the bitch.
I could just imagine her coming upon Twi dreaming she's asleep (if you can dream you woke up, you can dream you're asleep) and getting confused when SUDDENLY FOGHORN NOISES and both of them flail and panic. Never watch Inception til two in the morning, kids.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Luna didn't know the original Twilight. Can't compare the two. Also, anything alien that turns up in Not-Twilight's dreams can be rationalized away as abstractions.
Apparently Spike was the only one Twilight was really close to. Maybe also her brother. The brother she never mentioned until she got a surprise invitation to his wedding.
6376158 methinks the jig is up.
Owwwyea, stuff is getting serious, Luna is on the hunt!
Wow, could all of Twilight's past relationships be so shallow and one dimensional she was easily replaced by an adult Timmy Turner without notice?
6376228
You say that as if what she is really doing is any different.
6377539 To the lost soul's credit, he was going to tell them, but when he'd finally worked up the courage, the other five did something stupid.
6376413 its a lesbian joke.
I am sorta interested to see how our portagonsit reacts to later events, like the town shunning the CMC or the GGG or even holidays like hearths warming (NC: CHRISTMAAAAASSSS!!!!)
6376328
No no no. It's OBVIOUSLY Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
The biologically ejected leftovers is about to colide with the fast rotary wind circulator.
I love the fuck ups in pronouns and gender clues.
6385316
The mares of the show have also used the word guys sometimes.
Awwww damn, I'm at the end.
Hurry up and write moar!
just kidding. Love the story and can't wait to see what Luna is going to do
Love this story`))
P.S. Princess luna is the best pony! (Feel the power of the dark pony!)
Aw. Looks like I won't get my wish of Celestia remaining comically oblivious to the whole thing after all.
6404737 Me too, I had hoped for the big reveal to Celestia to go like this:
Umm, I've been Twilight pre Elements of Harmony. I was sorta put in her body by an angry wizard while she was on route to ponyville. Please don't banish me to the moon or execute me or-
oh, I knew. To be honest I prefer 'new Twi'. Twilight always had a stick up her plot she needed removed if you get my meaning.
finished reading this the other day! Cant wait for the next chapter!
6426324 Not even sure why you commented ;P
If you hated it that much, just dislike it and don't comment and go on about how 'bad' of a story it is. Tell me, if it's such a bad story, why would it be Featured and have 805 Likes and just a mere 41 Dislikes?
6466012 In his defense, The Rise of Spike the Dragon also has a bunch of likes that it doesn't deserve. That, and I'm not exactly happy with the first two chapters myself. Still, it's way too late in my story's life span to say that the first two chapters are kind of bad. Geez, as if I didn't know. But you stole my line: "Not even sure why you commented".
Really, my problem with his reasoning is that he's really sad about the real Twilight having never met the rest of the Mane Six. Yeah, that's pretty sad, but I hardly see how that's an issue. It's as if he thinks I haven't thought of that.
(BTW, conveniently timed update.)
I love whats in your authors notes too funny.
Yes! Yeeeeeeessss! Your days are numbered protag! Soon you'll be discovered, reducing you to a whimpering mess as your former friends abandon you and your life slides out of view! And it shall be GLORIOUS.
6583998
asshole
Twilight, you could have told her about the divination spells! Just think about the whole Diamond Dog disaster, where you could have used one of those!
The implications! These two are such trolls!
This is GLORIOUS! Whipped cream!
*rolls on floor like infant child*
Bad Celestia, get your mind out of the gutter
All truths shall be revealed when the viel od lies is peeled back from the mist of ignorsnce and denial.
time for the equestria's greatest stalker!