Importance is relative
Twilight found herself prancing home with a crazy smile on her face. It had just been a couple of days since Operation Starswirl, but it seemed to have worked; Luna was in good spirits, and seemed to be making new friends.
All according to plan!
Twilight flung open the doors of her crystal home with a villainous cackle, prancing inwards and slamming the door with her magic.
And all of the preparations are complete for Discord's party in two days! Oh, I need to tell Spike about the game I came up with for him!
"Spii~iike!"
Twilight called through the halls as she pranced towards the dining room, saddlebag clinking with gems and a dinner she had purchased while she was out.
"Spike, can you come here? I want to share the details of my latest crazy scheme with you!"
Twilight started to open the door, giggling uncontrollably.
"I brought dinner! It's your favorite – sorry I'm back so late, I didn't even realize the time until the sun was—"
Twilight was cut short by what she saw in the dining room; Celestia patiently sipping a cup of tea while Spike set out a kettle for her. Twilight sheepishly floated the saddlebag with the gemstones over to Spike with her telekinesis, silently taking a seat.
Hoo, boy... I knew it was too good to last.
Spike, meanwhile, opened the bag up and practically hovered with joy.
"Ah, Twilight, you're the best! Do you mind if I have these right now?"
Twilight nodded to Spike, who did a happy prance of his own right out of the room. Twilight nervously set her other saddlebag on the ground, avoiding locking eyes with her mentor. It was Celestia who spoke first.
"Twilight, would you mind discussing what you've been up to the past couple of weeks?"
Twilight shuffled nervously and locked eyes with Celestia.
"Well... I realized that ponies were nervous around me because of my title as a princess, so I tried to do something about that."
Celestia nodded, using her magic to pour Twilight a cup of tea and levitate it over to her, silently. Twilight just couldn't get a read on how she felt, so she pressed onwards.
"S-so, at first I just tried being introduced a different way, you know? Like, instead of 'here's princess Twilight!' it was, 'here's the ponyville librarian', that sort of thing. I mean, the title isn't what makes me who I am..."
Twilight trailed off, uncomfortably, but Celestia nodded warmly.
"It's who you are that makes you a princess, not the other way around."
Twilight nodded, somewhat relieved, and continued.
"So I tried that for a while, and I made some new friends, b-but... well, I had a discussion with Luna, and she pointed out that, maybe people would get the idea that I didn't like being a princess, or maybe that I was ashamed of it... or that maybe just, telling people to ignore my title would erode their respect for it, and that could cause problems."
Celestia nodded, setting the tea down and staring into it as she responded.
"Luna came to me after that. She was very upset..."
Twilight nodded meekly, casting her gaze down.
"I thought she might be. It wasn't my intent, but... I thought on what I'd said to her afterwards, because she seemed upset, and I realized that maybe she thought I was implying that she had her priorities mixed up."
Celestia nodded, looking forward again.
"She did. She wondered if she had been remiss to ask for respect instead of friendship. What happened after that?"
"Well, I read a paper that mentioned I was still considered the most popular princess... and apparently my recent actions had made ponies think of me as 'the approachable one'. That made me angry, so I might have gotten a little... carried away."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, I thought about what Luna had said, and I had started using my influence as a princess instead of downplaying it. Trying to improve things for my friends. So I just extended that to Luna and threw a party for her. I mean, it was a celebration of the night sky, but I was really trying to help her make new friends."
Celestia raised and eyebrow, a small smirk forming.
"How is that getting carried away, exactly?"
Twilight looked surprised, frowning slightly.
"Well, isn't that why you're here? I mean, I started meddling in things, and I figured I'd mess up sooner or later."
Celestia laughed softly at that, sipping at her tea again.
"Twilight, I came here because I've been so impressed with what you've done lately. I wanted to discuss it in person."
Twilight blinked a few times in silence, mind blanked, before responding.
"So, wait... why didn't you just call me up to Canterlot, then?"
Celestia scoffed slightly, setting the teacup down.
"Would you summon me here to Ponyville if you wanted to discuss my latest accomplishments?"
"What? No! I wouldn't impose—"
Realization dawned on Twilight, cutting her short. Celestia's smirk had grown into a genuine smile.
"You're a princess now, Twilight, and a very busy one at that, it seems! I know you want to be approachable, but there's a certain level of decorum that's just respectful."
Twilight smirked back, her expression matching that of someone who knows they're being pranked.
"Wait, did you come all the way here just to subtly teach me a lesson about where to draw the line on people respecting my title?"
Celestia laughed, drawing up a hoof to her mouth as she did so. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle as well, seeing the sudden display of mirth.
"You've grown so paranoid! Even after all these years, you're worried I'm going to fail some test for you. No, Twilight, what you do as the Princess of Friendship is your business, unless it starts to harm somepony. And what have you accomplished? You have new friends, Canterlot is abuzz with recognition and respect for your friends, who well deserve it, and Luna is happier than ever – did you know that she and Rainbow Dash have been visiting every day this week?"
Twilight started slightly at that last tidbit.
"They have? But no one was supposed to know Dash was involved with the convention!"
Celestia nodded excitedly, her demeanor surprising Twilight slightly.
"It seems that Rainbow told Luna, because she realized she had common ground with her. They've been goofing off together all over Canterlot!"
Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof, thoughtfully.
"I had considered that they might have some, but I didn't expect Rainbow to go out and do that on her own. I guess I haven't seen her around town since then – I've been busy preparing a party, so I was too distracted to think about it."
Celestia nodded, a relieved smile forming.
"I deeply appreciate what you did for Luna, Twilight. When you became the Princess of Friendship, this isn't what I expected – you've truly grown into your role."
Twilight couldn't suppress flushing in response to that. She crossed her front legs on the seat, trying not to look foolish as she started to ramble out a response.
"I'm still figuring it all out, though! I mean, it was Luna who pointed out that authority is kind of important to a princess, and that got me thinking, you know, what does a princess have besides authority? I mean, besides alicorn magic, but that's not really what I mean – I mean the title itself, it's authority, you know? And what good is being an important pony if you don't use it to do important things, and what's more important than friendship? I mean, I guess a lot of things might be, to some ponies, but I think what intrigues me about friends is that, if you have them, they have to be important to you – that's sort of the idea, right? And if they're important to you, then what's important to them is important to you. That sort of bond is what's important to me; I started to realize that even things like not wanting to disappoint you, it was because you believed in me, and I believed in you, so I didn't want to bring you down... is this making any sense?"
Twilight was panting slightly from the sudden outpouring of thoughts from the past week. Celestia, for her part, had an odd, crooked smile that Twilight couldn't quite place, until she realized that Celestia was tearing up slightly.
"Uhh... are you okay, Celestia?"
Celestia sniffed slightly and wiped her eye off on a hoof, her response coming out clear despite her level of composure.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm simply glad to see how you've grown; you've always had a big heart, Twilight, and now you're sharing it with so many others."
Twilight thought on that for a few moments, stirring her tea in silence. She had expected Celestia to put an end to her wacky schemes; she had been probing the boundaries of explored territory, and she was aware of the pitfalls of trying to 'fix' things in other ponies' lives. The map had certainly put her through a few harrowing experiences, but things had always turned out for the best, hadn't they? And now she didn't need a map to see friendship problems, or to figure out who was needed to fix them; but it wasn't the map that had first taught her that, was it?
"You know, Celestia... sharing your heart is a skill. It's easy to feel compassion, but acting on it carries a lot of risks – somepony who is too caring, but not aware of the risks, could get hurt, might become cynical. Or they might just cause more harm than good."
Twilight leaned across the table with a smile as Celestia processed what she was saying, continuing.
"But I didn't run across those problems, because I had a great teacher."
~FIN
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6802189 The next chapter was ultimately the final one, but not because I got discouraged. I feel it works better this way; while I did have other ideas for a chapter, everything feels like an anticlimax after the Dash chapter.
We need an epilogue!
where celestia goes:"so, about your 'latest crazy scheme' then?"
See, Twilight? This is what happens when you explicitly refer to your plans as "crazy schemes." The worst possible ponies hear you do it.
Hmm. I'm not sure if this quite works as a conclusion. It tries to tie up everything a bit too hastily, leaving out the aftermath of the more outrageous moments like Fluttershy performing at a major conservatory. Still, I can't begrudge you deciding that the story came to a natural conclusion here. I'm glad I was able to help inspire this.
You know, I've spent the last hour between Undertale comic dubs and listening to the One Punch Man theme on repeat, trying to think of something to say to this. I wanted to quote some flowing, beautiful Shakespearean platitude on friendship, and just couldn't think of any... I wanted this because this fic, in the end, said something beautiful and true to me, and I just wanted words beautiful and true enough to match it... and I am left, unfortunately, bereft.
Thank you.
6804643
6804709
Oh my. For all that you guys seemed to like the story, it seems you desire more! Well, I will take that under advisement. I was considering doing a few standalone sequels in a sort of serial fashion; that's where most of my remaining ideas will probably go. I generally lean towards it being better to write too little, than to write too much and overstay one's welcome, but in the context of other stories it's not such a big deal.
6804727
But come off of the fence and tell us how you really feel.
Alternatively: so what you're saying is that reading this filled you with TWILIGHT SPARKLE
6804747
I will kill you in your sleep you memeing son of a bitch.
6804763 Knowing that I will one day sleep, and you will kill me, fills me with OVER NINE THOUSAND 20% COOLER BRACE-YOURSELF-WINTER-IS-COMING TWILIGHT SPARKLE MEMES nope just chuck testa SHOO BE DOO SHOO SHOO BE DOO
Hee. You're being treated as an equal, Twi
And thus started the Tale of the Epic Night Prankster Duo!
This is such a d'aww chapter. Just... all of it
6804799
Eh, I rate the whole thing a 5/7.
I'm not usually one for random comedy fics but I really liked this one, and it even sorta kinda has a moral at the end, which is nice. I think it was a clever idea, having Twi go from downplaying her princessiness to using the power it gives. Go show :)
6808427 Aww, thanks! You might want to check out The Queen and I (Different fic by me) if this appeals to you. It's not a random comedy fic (Though there's comedy in there), but it otherwise has a lot in common stylistically, and it sounds like it would appeal to you!
6808427 Of course I'm just angling for another one of your comments :P
6808492 haha, its all good my friend. I've put the first on on my read later list, as I'm currently trying to finish Earth and Sky (such a long fic but so good). The Queen and I sounds interesting, and I'll give it a look soon.
:'D
6803539 It was originally unclear to me at first whether or not she was being announced at a new event, or simply left and returned to be announced under a new title.
I was completely blown away by this fic. I still can't get over how pitch perfect this story is. The characters, their interactions, the fast paced plot, and the emotions and values expressed are all a perfect match to the show. This would be an amazing episode and is an amazing story.
The only complaint I have is that the story summary doesn't really match the story. The summary's wording and tone highlights makes it seem like Twilight gets a silly idea and goes overboard with it, causing problems and misunderstandings. I can understand this story is a subversion of that cliche, and you might want to use the summary to draw attention to that cliche. However, I put off reading this story for weeks because I wasn't interested in reading that type of cliche story then. When I started reading it I was expecting much more random comedy than there actually was. I much prefer what you wrote to what I was expecting. Anyway there is some tone dissonance between your story and the summary. Sorry for the rant.
6908295 To be honest, I wrote the summary first, and I intended for there to be more random comedy in there. I just seem to be incapable of writing crackfics. I am glad you enjoyed it so much, however; now I'm curious to see what you think of the rest of the stuff I've written.
It's always weird for me when ponies use words like "people"
Ultimately, this was both a sweet and funny story.
7332787 >Sees your comment
>Has forgotten ending of story
>Rereads
>Cries deeply
7332998 True, but this trilogy is the only time every chapter of each story was in third person.
7333012 ...Good point.
8979928
Oh, no, you misunderstand. I'm not a shadow of a brony, I'm a brony of the shadows. Also, I see you, SoloBrony.