Hùndùn

by LoZLttP13

I-VIII. Twilight's Dilemma

Twilight hoped that when she woke up the morning after she'd received her Gala tickets from Celestia, she'd at last know who she should bring as her guest. To her enormous frustration, however, she awoke no more sure than she was the previous night.

With a weary groan, Twilight got up and woke Spike, as well. They got ready for the day, catalogued the books, and attended to the patrons as usual. When the library's grandfather clock struck eleven, Spike set his quill down, slid away from the writing-desk, and said, "Want me to make lunch, Twilight?"

Twilight shelved a book, then stepped down the ladder she was standing on as she hummed in thought. After a few moments, she softly smiled at Spike. "Actually, you know what? Let's eat out today."

Spike jumped up excitedly. "Really?!"

"Yeah," Twilight replied. "You've been taking everything really well, and I think you deserve a reward for it. Besides, I'm stressed enough already; I don't want to have to worry about dirty dishes today."

Spike grinned. "Alright!"

Once Twilight and Spike had put everything away, they flipped the library's sign around to read "Closed" before heading to Frappe's, the cafe at town square across the street from the Sugar Shack.

It was a cloudy day out, but it didn't look like it would rain, so when Twilight and Spike reached Frappe's they sat at one of the outdoor tables. A waitress approached them, then said, "Are you sure you want to be out here? It might rain."

"No, we're fine," Twilight said cheerfully to her. "I'd like a deviled egg salad sandwich, please."

"I'd like some fish and extra-crispy chips," Spike said.

The waitress nodded as she jotted their orders down. "Very well. Would either of you like any drinks?"

"Iced tea would be lovely," said Twilight.

"Same," said Spike.

With a nod, the waitress jotted down their drink orders before reentering the restaurant.

Twilight and Spike played Rock-Paper-Scissors while they waited for the waitress to return with their meals. Unlike at chess, Spike was a better Rock-Paper-Scissors player than Twilight, and he was able to win fifty-three and draw twenty-seven of his one hundred two throws against Twilight. They stopped when Twilight saw the waitress push open the cafe's door and return with their orders, but as Twilight smilingly said, "Thank y-" she felt a drop of water hit her head.

Twilight looked up, and saw that it was beginning to drizzle. The waitress said, "Would you two like to come inside?"

There was a dull thump, and Twilight was suddenly shaded by a blue umbrella she saw open over her head. "There's no need," Rainbow Dash said from behind her.

Twilight turned to find Rainbow standing behind her stool, leaning forward with a smirk as she held the blue umbrella over both of their heads. "Hey, Twi," she said.

Twilight sighed. "Hello, Rainbow," she replied.

"We can't have any rain ruining your pretty hair, now can we?" Rainbow said with a slight flirtatious purr.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "How did you know it was going to rain, Rainbow?"

"We Angels have a better idea of the weather than anyone else; we feel the clouds move beneath us and the air blowing against our wings. As big as the brain is behind that pretty face of yours, there are some things even you can't learn from studying, no matter how many books you read."

Twilight gazed with anger and annoyance at Rainbow. "You're not doing this to get extra consideration for my extra ticket, are you?"

Rainbow shrugged. "So what if I am? I've really been wanting to ask you out anyway." With another smirk, she added, "You'll be hard-pressed to find someone more fun at parties than me."

"Rainbow, I'm really not comfortable with accepting any favors. Please go," Twilight said firmly.

Rainbow blinked. "Umm, the rain's about to get a lot heavier-"

"I don't care. Fold up your umbrella and leave us alone, please."

Rainbow sighed, then groaned, "Fine...." as she folded her umbrella back up and began strolling away, exposing Twilight to the rain again.

With a grin, Twilight said, "That's better." She lifted her sandwich up and took a bite out of it, but a few seconds later an intense surge of rainfall descended from the heavens, rapidly drenching her, Spike, and their meals.

With a furious groan, Twilight let her soggy sandwich slide from her hands onto her plate. She heard a dramatic gasp, and when she turned towards it she saw Rarity standing behind her, a ruffle-edged umbrella over her head. "Twilight! You're soaked!" she cried.

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "No. Really?" she said flatly.

"Come!" Rarity cried, grasping Twilight's arm. "Let's go to my shop before you catch a cold!"

Rarity ran down the streets to her shop, guiding and shielding Twilight from the rain while Spike jogged close behind them. In a few minutes they arrived at the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity got towels for Twilight and Spike to dry themselves off with.

After Twilight and Spike had wiped down their arms and dried their hair, Rarity said, "There. Better?"

"Oh yes," Twilight said, smiling at her. "Thank you, Rarity."

"Oh, no trouble, no trouble at all!" Rarity replied. "Actually, I needed a little help with something. Do you think you could quickly try on a dress for me? I want to be sure it'll fit."

Twilight raised a brow in puzzlement. "Huh?"

"I'm making it for a client whose measurements are the same as yours. Will you try it on, please?"

After a few moments, Twilight smiled and nodded. "Of course, Rarity."

"Thank you so much!" Rarity said elatedly. She went to a nearby mannequin and removed a light blue ball gown from it, which she handed to Twilight. Twilight went into one of the changing rooms, and found that when she put the dress on it was quite comfortable and fit very well.

"Oh my gosh, this fits perfectly!" Twilight exclaimed. However, she then flinched and frowned with realization. "Too perfectly," she muttered.

Twilight walked back out, and Rarity smiled upon seeing her. "Oh, that gown looks marvelous on you, Darling! Oh, you'd look absolutely perfect at the Gala in that; you'd be the belle of the ball!" She clapped her hands together, then pointed at Twilight. "I've decided: I'll make you a replica of this one at a high discount!"

"And you're hoping I'll repay the favor by taking you with me?" Twilight said flatly.

Rarity laughed nervously. "Why, of course not, Darling! I simply wish to show my affection for my friend! After all, we are the best of friends, are we not?"

Twilight frowned disbelievingly, but after a few moments she nodded. "Well, good. But I'm still not comfortable with accepting any favors while I'm trying to decide, so you can keep the dress."

Twilight went back into the changing room, put her clothes back on, then handed the dress back to a rather anxious-looking Rarity as she and Spike walked back out of the boutique.

Twilight and Spike conjured barriers over their heads to shield themselves from the rain as they returned to the library. Once they were inside, Twilight collapsed in one of the chairs with an exhausted sigh. "Should I make us lunch, Twilight?" Spike asked.

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, thanks. I'm just going to read and try to relax for a while."

Spike nodded, then walked into the kitchen as Twilight levitated a thick tome about nebulae titled Clouds of Stars from the top of one of the bookshelves into her hands. She sat and read as Spike searched their pantries for bread, but he found that only a portion of one loaf, enough for two slices, remained of their stores. "Uh, I can make each of us a half sandwich," he called out to Twilight.

Twilight groaned; she was getting quite hungry, and would have liked more than half a sandwich. However, she called back, "Yes, that'll work."

Spike got some peanut butter and grape jelly from their pantry, divided the hunk of bread in half, spread the fillings over them, then closed the sandwich and divided it in half. He brought one to Twilight, then both of them ate.

Twilight was still hungry after she had finished her half of the sandwich, but her hunger was more bearable. With a sigh, she stood up and said, "You can do whatever you like, Spike; I'm going to study the cults for a few hours, then we'll go to the market to get groceries and the post office to send books back to other libraries."

Spike nodded. "I'll go and read in our room," he said, then he scaled their stairs and opened the door to their bedroom, where he took a Steam manga volume from one of his shelves, lounged across his bed, and read with his head propped up by his pillows.

Twilight sat at her desk, put on her reading glasses, and opened the book on Sonatian cults she was currently studying: a tome on the subject of Sonatian laws and customs.

Twilight was beginning to wonder if there was any aspect of a Beings' personal life the Sonatian priests didn't dictate; she learned that Sonatians prohibited the playing of role-playing games and the reading of comics, speculative fiction, romance, adventure, or horror novels. They weren't allowed to engage in theatre or juggling or any other form of stage entertainment, as they were considered "immodest," "prideful," and "salacious." Sonatians were also prohibited from reading or writing any form of poetry, unless it was a hymn commissioned by the priests. Reading or watching a play, listening to non-hymnal music, or reading an unsanctioned book were all considered serious sins by Sonatians. They also had very strict laws against celebrating holidays of any kind, as they were "gluttonous," "wasteful," "immodest," and "tumultuous." Naturally, this meant no birthday celebrations.

Twilight smirked upon reading that particular bit of trivia. "Well, no birthdays alone would be enough to drive Pinkie away," she observed.

She also learned that Sonatian Beings were strictly prohibited from being alone with someone of the opposite gender who wasn't their sibling, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or spouse. A Sonatian's spouse was chosen by the priest of their community, who would perform a simple, unostentatious wedding ceremony in which the couple were commanded in Sonata's name to never take any other lovers, to have as many children as they could, and to spread Sonata's teachings to them and all the world so that Sonata's empire would at last encompass the entire Earth. Consummating marriages was mandatory for Sonatians, and birth control was strictly forbidden; all sexual activity was required to be exclusively for procreational purposes.

The most disturbing thing Twilight learned, however, was that Sonatian law dictated that some sins were so serious that death was the mandated punishment for them. Such crimes included adultery, homosexuality, incest, bestiality, public nudity, premarital sex (Twilight was at this point awed by how much they seemed to be obsessed with sex), directly speaking against Sonata and her priests' teachings (known as heresy), leaving the Sonatian community altogether (known as apostasy), or breaking a priest's oath or any other oath taken in Sonata's name. To Twilight's relief, however, all Sonatian cults known to actually carry out their law of executing offenders of cardinal sins were personally forcibly disbanded by Celestia long ago, and the remaining cults instead began the alternative practice of forever shunning the committers of deadly sins. The shunning was considered a symbolic execution, as expressed by the proverb: "Until Sonata returns to reign righteously over the Earth and judge and sentence the unworthy to their doom, the heretics and apostates shall be dead in spirit, and shall forevermore be regarded as lifeless and without honor by Sonata's faithful."

Nonetheless, though Sonatians were no longer known to murder heretics and apostates of their philosophy, Twilight was still deeply disturbed that Celestia seemed to be the only thing holding them back from doing so. Worse still, their leaders, the priests, were shrouded almost completely in secrets and mystery.

Though she was only able to learn a little about the priests, Twilight was able to glean a few facts about them from her studies: first, that priests were the only members of Sonatian communities who were permitted to not marry. However, they were required instead to take a lifelong vow of chastity and to dedicate themselves fully to Sonata's service. Beings could only become priests by being chosen by other priests to become one, and once they had the calling they couldn't refuse it. Priests often chose children to become their apprentices, though sometimes they would select teenagers or young adults. A priest's apprentice was required to dedicate themselves completely to studying Sonata's teachings for several years, then they were sent to "infidel" lands to preach and attempt to gather converts. When the apprentice missionary returned, they were made a full priest and were then required to preside over a community, preach Sonata's teachings to that community in a dedicated building known as a "church" every Saturday (a practice Sonatians knew as the "sabbath"), and continue to send missionaries to evangelize to infidels and bring them into Sonata's empire.

There was little else that Twilight could find about the customs of the priests, so her searches for the scarce information regarding them became quite intense. She wished to know what secrets they kept, as those could be the key to discovering who was responsible for Luna's unsealing. As she was busy writing a letter to Celestia asking if she could point her in the direction of more resources on the subject, there was a knock on the library's front door. Twilight hurriedly folded up the letter before turning to the door and calling, "Come in."

The door creaked as it opened, revealing a smiling Applejack, who held a steaming, golden-crusted pie. "Hey, Twilight," she said cheerfully.

Twilight made a small groan. "Hello, Applejack," she replied.

"Ah was bakin' apple pies, but one of my customers canceled their order, and now Ah have an extra one! Ah thought you might like it."

Twilight frowned. "No! I don't want any favors or bribes while I'm deciding who I should give my ticket to!"

Applejack's smile faded. "Oh. Uh, alright...." she said quietly. "Well, can Ah give this to Spike, at least?"

Twilight sighed. "Yes, you may give it to Spike."

With a nod, Applejack went to the table to set the pie down. Twilight's stomach grumbled, and she groaned; her hunger made Applejack's bribe more tempting than any the other girls had attempted to give her.

Once Applejack left, Twilight called upstairs, "Spike! Come down!"

Spike obeyed. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes were caught by the apple pie. "Hey, what's the pie for?" he said, pointing at it.

"Applejack tried to give it to me to bribe me to give her the extra Gala ticket," Twilight answered stiffly. "You can have it."

Spike grinned. "Thanks, Twilight!"

Spike retrieved a fork from their silverware and began digging into the pie as Twilight completed her letter to Celestia. Once she had sealed and burned it, she removed her glasses and turned to Spike, who was about halfway through his pie. "Let's get some groceries and go to the post office, Spike," she said.

His mouth full of pie, Spike grunted and nodded. With a loud gulp, he picked up the remaining half of his pie and placed it in their ice box.

Twilight gathered up some books from around the library and placed them in a satchel, then she and Spike went to the market, where they got groceries to replenish their stores. They then went to the post office, where Twilight traded the books she brought for ones the other libraries had sent her.

When Twilight and Spike reentered the library, Twilight flinched at what she saw: Fluttershy was standing on the ladder, dusting off the bookshelves as she hummed a cheerful tune to herself.

"Fluttershy! You too?!" Twilight groaned.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight, then smiled. "Oh, hello, Twilight," she said. "I came to visit you, but you were gone. I saw that your library was a little dusty, so I've just been cleaning it up a little for you."

"Thanks, but I don't need any help," Twilight said. She went back to the door, opened it, and gestured out, saying, "Now leave, please."

There was a loud sound of a noisemaker blowing, followed by an explosion as confetti was fired into the library, causing Fluttershy, Spike, and Twilight to all jump and yelp in shock. Pinkie Pie cartwheeled inside, then took Twilight's hands and spun around with her as she sang,

"Twilight's my bestest friend, whopee! Whopee!

The cutest, smartest, all-around best girlie, girlie!"

Twilight muttered, "Pinkie-"

Pinkie interrupted her, "I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party"

Twilight said sharply, "Pinkie-!"

Pinkie leapt into the air as she concluded, "She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to meeeeeeee!"

"PINKIE!!" Twilight screamed.

Pinkie spun around instantaneously to face Twilight. "Yes, Twilight?" she said, grinning and fluttering her eyes.

Twilight groaned frustratedly. "Ugh, at least the other girls tried to be subtle!" Twilight's expression became quite distressed as she said, "The Gala means so much to all of you and I don't want to disappoint any of you, and all these favors aren't making it any easier to decide! I can't stand to disappoint any of you, because you're all my friends and I want to make you all happy!"

Fluttershy and Pinkie both frowned ashamedly and looked away from Twilight as she despairingly made her confession to them. Fluttershy anxiously touched her forefingers together as she softly said, "I'm... I'm sorry, Twilight."

"Yeah, me too," Pinkie said. "I'm sorry we're making things so hard for you."

With an exhausted groan, Twilight covered her eyes with one hand and opened the door with the other. "Please go," she said. "Please leave me alone."

Pinkie and Fluttershy quietly obeyed, then Twilight shut the door behind them. With a weary sigh, she muttered, "Things were easier when I didn't have any friends...."

Twilight sighed again, rubbed her eyes, then said, "Let's go to the pub, Spike. I need a drink."

Spike nodded. "Alright."

Twilight set her satchel on the table, then she and Spike walked to the Town Square's pub. When they entered Twilight was met with a comforting sight: a fashionable, elegant, slightly dimly-lit room with stone tables and booths with plush, cushioned seats and stools. There were dart boards on the walls and billiards tables on the floor, over which lamps with stained glass shades hung from the ceiling.

Martini, the pub's Angel barkeeper, turned to Twilight as she entered, and smiled. "Ah, Twilight!" he said. "The usual for you, then?"

"Yep," Twilight said, sitting at the bar counter. "Daiquiri on the rocks, please."

With a nod, Martini poured rum and squeezed lemon and lime halves into an aluminum cocktail shaker as he said, "Would you like a soda, Spike?"

"Yeah. Orange, please," Spike replied.

Martini added sugar and ice to the shaker, covered and shook it, then poured it into a salted cocktail glass, completing it by placing an orange slice over the rim. As Twilight took her drink, Martini took a glass bottle of orange soda from an iced cooler beneath the bar before sliding it down the counter to be caught by Spike.

Twilight sipped her cocktail as Spike went to an empty billiards table to arrange some balls for a game. As Spike was placing balls in a triangular rack on the table, Martini refilled another customer's glass as he said to Twilight, "Stressful day?"

Twilight nodded. "Very."

After taking another sip, Twilight added, "Princess Celestia sent me two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, and except for Spike all of my friends want to go."

Martini nodded. "That's rough."

Twilight had a couple drinks while Spike sipped his soda and struck the billiard balls with a cue stick into the tables' pockets. Once Twilight felt a bit less anxious, she stood up, thanked Martini, left her charge and a tip for him, then exited with Spike.

They walked back to the library, and as they traveled Spike gazed concernedly at his mentor. He desperately wished that he were allowed to date Twilight; if he were her boyfriend, he could offer her comfort and reassurance at times like these. When Spike was first apprenticed to Twilight, he would often entertain a fancy of the possibility of a romance blossoming between them, but he soon abandoned it; it had gradually become clear that Twilight was a rigid stickler for the rules.

Spike smirked. That didn't stop her parents, though, he thought to himself.

When they reached the library, it was nearly dusk. When Twilight opened the door, she found her five new friends all standing inside, waiting for her.

"Hello, Twilight," Rarity said, smiling apologetically at her.

"We, um... we all came to apologize," Applejack said, anxiously looking away and rubbing her arm.

"Yeah," Pinkie said. "We all wanted to go to the Gala so badly we didn't realize how unhappy we were making you."

Fluttershy smiled, closed her eyes, and said, "You can bring whoever you want, Twilight."

Rainbow said, "Of course, I still wouldn't say no if you invited me-"

Applejack jabbed Rainbow in the side with her elbow. "Rainbow!" she hissed.

Rubbing her side and grinning nervously, Rainbow added, "Of course, I don't need to have the ticket. You do whatever you want with it, Twi."

Twilight blinked astonishedly. "R-really, you guys?"

"Yeah," Pinkie said. With a grin, she added, "There are always other parties, right?"

Tears began to well in Twilight's eyes, and she smiled happily. "You girls are all so amazing...." she said.

She walked forward and embraced each of them. Afterward, she wiped her eyes and turned to Spike, saying, "Can you write a letter for me, Spike?"

Spike nodded. "To who?"

"Celestia," Twilight replied. "I've made up my mind," she added determinedly.

Spike gazed surprisedly at Twilight for a moment, then nodded. "You got it."

Spike sat at the writing-desk, selected a quill, opened the ink well, dipped the quill in, and wrote on a blank sheet of parchment as Twilight dictated,

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I am deeply honored for the invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala. However, each of my friends wants to go, and I cannot go and leave any of them behind. If all of them can't go, I don't want to either. So I am sending the tickets back and respectfully declining your invitation. I apologize and beg your pardon.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight's friends stared astonishedly at her as she took the letter from Spike, placed her tickets on it, folded it, levitated it into the air, and burned it.

"But- Twilight!" Rarity cried. "It's the Gala!"

Twilight shrugged. "There's always next year," she replied.

"Wow. That was... really cool of you, Twi," Rainbow said, smiling at her.

"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight replied, smiling back.

After a few moments of silence, Rainbow said, "Hey, guys, wanna go to a basketball court and play a match?"

"Sure thing!" Applejack replied, and their other friends voiced their agreement, except Rarity, who said, "I think I'll just watch, if you don't mind."

Twilight, Spike, and all their friends went to the park, were there were several turf basketball courts. All of them except Rarity played a three-on-three match, which quickly raised their spirits and drove the Gala from their memory. They played until the stars began to shine in the early nighttime sky, and when they ended the game Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy had beaten Twilight, Spike, and Applejack by twenty-five to eighteen.

They all went back to their homes. Once Twilight had reached the library with Spike, she yawned as she pulled open the door. "Let's have a quick salad for dinner, then go to bed," she said.

Spike tiredly nodded in agreement. However, as he went to the kitchen to make their salad, Twilight's eye was caught by a letter from Celestia that was resting in her letter-box. She opened it, and read:

"My dearest Twilight,

Why didn't you say so? If I'd known all of your friends also wished to attend the Gala, I would have sent you all tickets earlier.

Hoping to see you all there,

Princess Celestia."

Stunned, Twilight reached into the envelope again, and pulled out seven golden Grand Galloping Gala tickets. With an excited gasp, she cried, "Spike! Spike!"

"What is it?" Spike said, running back into the room.

Twilight held up the tickets and elatedly cried, "Celestia sent enough tickets for all of us to go!"

Spike grinned. "That's great!"

Twilight flinched with realization. "But- you don't want to go, right?"

Spike shrugged. "Hey, if all you girls are going, I think I'd like to, too."

"Really?" Twilight said surprisedly.

Spike nodded. "Yeah. I think it'd be fun to spend the evening with you guys. Besides," he added with a smirk, "I get to see you all in sexy dresses."

Twilight smiled as she gave a look of mock disapproval to Spike, who laughed. Gazing back at her tickets, she said, "We all get to go to the Gala together. This is going to be the best night ever."

Comments

[ElCazadorDeHistorias]

All is well what ends well. This story is always good to read, with the little twists from the original show and the many characters' interactions.

Uhm, I'm starting to suspect that the next god to defeat will be Sonata

[Adixon524]

nah who you kidding sonata is probobly in an alternate mirror world with the mane 6 are ponies why because it itd get lols

[Daybreaking Sun]

7426301
7436037
Thank you!

[Krauser]

I am very intrested in this story it seems nice to read but the sex tag is intimidate me. Someone can explain that to me?

[LoZLttP13]

7445451 As you've probably seen by this point, sex is a rather frequent topic of this fic. However, it's not a clopfic, and it will not get any more explicit than it already has.

[Krauser]

7446341 Thank you for your answer.Now I will read this story

[Nevermore777]

Twilight was beginning to wonder if there was any aspect of a Beings' personal life the Sonatian priests didn't dictate; she learned that Sonatians prohibited the playing of role-playing games and the reading of comics, speculative fiction, romance, adventure, or horror novels. They weren't allowed to engage in theatre or juggling or any other form of stage entertainment, as they were considered "immodest," "prideful," and "salacious." Sonatians were also prohibited from reading or writing any form of poetry, unless it was a hymn commissioned by the priests. Reading or watching a play, listening to non-hymnal music, or reading an unsanctioned book were all considered serious sins by Sonatians. They also had very strict laws against celebrating holidays of any kind, as they were "gluttonous," "wasteful," "immodest," and "tumultuous." Naturally, this meant no birthday celebrations.

Are they based off a specific real religion or organization, or are they a creation? I know some monks have similarly dictated schedules but I can’t think of any that are quite that dictated

[LoZLttP13]

9432794 It's everything awful about Islam, Amish, Scientology, Mormonism, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

[TheUndeadEmpire]

9432961
Which religion did breeding like rats and going over to other places and trying to convert/take over them come from I wonder?