28 - Leave Her Alone
Sunset shook her head. "Look, if you want to be her friend, great, but she's a girl." He blinked at her. "Think of her as a tiny foal. You wouldn't bother a tiny foal, would you?" She raised a brow, silently praying that his people's 'loving nature' did not extend that way.
"Of course not," he thankfully agreed as he glanced towards Twilight. "But she is far from a tiny foal." He swallowed softly. "I don't want to make an enemy of you, Sunset, you're a good friend. I would even dance with you if you wanted." Sunset went red with a combination of anger and embarrassment. "But it's Twilight that ha-- Did I say something wrong? Please, I meant no offense."
"You were easier to deal with silently," she hissed through clenched teeth.
True cringed and recoiled at once. "I... I'm sorry. You thought I was a simple fool because I kept my mouth shut, except for some harmless squeaking. You probably think I'm the small foal." His head hung a little as he walked along beside her. "That isn't true. That... I left my parents several years ago. I know how to survive on my own in the woods. If not for the spring dance, I would not have been close."
"Are you sad you came back?" Sunset raised a brow slightly. "Are you here only for Twilight?"
"No! Neither of those things." He frowned just a moment before it eased into something far less angry. He loooked at Sunset with wide eyes, asking something of her silently. "I pray that my parents are still alive and that we rescue them safely. I had a few friends, even my favored dancing partner, do you remember her? She cost me my voice for a time, but I would sing Lashtada's praises to have her free of this terribleness."
Morning came closer, gleaming in the light as she looked the two over. "You've been chatting with such serious faces. Anything you need to talk about?"
"N-no!" quickly spat out Sunset. "We're fine."
True looked between the two. "Morning Song, how old would you say Twilight is?"
Morning looked confused at the question, but turned her view over to Twilight marching beside Roll and Ixen. "I would say between seventeen and twenty summers have graced her pelt, why? It's rude to ask someone how old they are, in most cases."
True held up a hoof as he walked. "So you wouldn't say she's a foal, right?"
She leaned in suddenly. "Are you looking for a, how would your people phrase it, dance partner, small one?" He blushed, if only for being found for his attempt to be subtle. "She is no foal, but she carries many mannerisms of one too inexperienced of the world to make such heavy decisions."
"What are you all talking about?" It was Twilight, and everyone started at seeing her. "What?"
Sunset shook her head violently. "Enough! True, remember what I said." She separated with an angry stomping.
Morning watched her go, then looked back to Twilight, who looked confused, and True, who was busy looking dejected. "We are companions of battle. We need the air clear between us. Deny him or accept him, either is worth a song, but the question should not linger."
"What question?" Twilight blinked behind her thick glasses. "I feel like everyone is keeping a secret from me."
Morning pointed at the worried-looking True. "He loves you and would desire to have you as a stallion has a mare and to be had as a mare has a stallion."
Twilight stopped her walking a moment. "Oh..." It took a moment for things to wind back up, for the world to continue spinning for her. "I-I'm not looking for a boyfriend..." Looking at True, she saw a pony. That was a strike against him, as she'd barely begun to think of men as even vaguely appropriate targets, let alone tiny stallions.
"H-Have you danced before?" True looked up at her.
"Huh? If I had to."
"No! The dance of life, to make more life," he explained urgently. "If you have not, I will be as slow and careful as you--"
"Wait, you have?" Twilight blinked. The idea that the little horse had more experience than her was foreign and a little intimidating. "How, uh... many times?"
He moved a little closer. "It is difficult at times to not dance during the spring festival. That is what it is there for. I never had a partner I would dance exclusively with, to wish nothing but to feel summer's day at their side until my passing to Lashtada's side... until I met you."
Twilight began to flush a new dark red through her purple fur as the full weight of the statement settled on her. "You can't mean that," she half-squeaked. "We barely know each other."
"I know you are brave, empathetic, extremely intelligent and curious." He moved to her side. "I know you were enchantingly breathtaking and... you are scared of me." He danced away a few steps. "I... I'm sorry."
She waved a hoof at him, her glasses almost coming free in her energetic waving. "No no! I mean... Thank you, that's very nice, but I wouldn't consider, um, dancing... with anyone I wasn't friends with for a while first. Where I come from, people only... dance... with one person ideally, forever."
He seemed to perk up at that, clinging to some hope. "Then we shall be friends, which I hope we already are? I will go no faster or farther than you want to go." He put a hoof to his chest as he walked. "I respect you, Twilight. I will never make you do something you don't want to do."
"My dear child," whispered Lashtada between Twilight's ears. "He is very gallant to hold himself back. What about him makes for an ideal or unideal mate, in your eyes? I have learned that your tastes are not my own, and not those of most I have met."
Twilight thought back at her. Speaking to herself looked odd, and she didn't want any new glares. "He's fine, really, but kinda small, and I don't have, uh, experience with that."
"How will you gain experience if not by doing?"
Twilight frowned a little. "Can't we start with dating and stuff before we jump right into... that?"
"I understand that. Will you date him?"
Would she? "Let me decide when we're back in civilization." A thought came to her and she perked up. "Wait, I plan to go home, how can I even start thinking of pony boyfriends?"
"Ask him," urged the soft voice of the goddess. "I know that look. He would walk free of a cliff if it meant he could be with you for the moments before the ground."
Twilight shuddered softly. "Speaking of, uh, going home. Will you stop being in my head then?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe? Would you be upset if I remained? I will watch over you gladly."
Ixen snorted a small lick of fire in front of Twilight. "That pony god of yours distracting you that much? We called a break ten meters back." She grasped the distracted pony by the shoulders and hefted her, carrying her right over to the others and setting her down as a fire was started. "Here she is."
Sunset approached Twilight and looked at her a moment before reaching out and hugging her. "Tonight, we're sleeping together."
"Huh? Alright." She didn't understand why Sunset insisted, but she saw nothing wrong with the idea.
True was far less confused as Sunset took a defensive place around Twilight. He would find no help from Sunset. Morning settled beside him suddenly and pulled him closer with a hoof. "You are a brave little thing, but you've said your piece. I'd let them both recover from the truth you've said before you try further."
Ixen raised a brow. "Did I miss the pony mating ritual?"
Roll glanced between her friends and off to Twilight and Sunset separate from the others. "I fear I have missed something."
True curled up in Morning's warm embrace. "I have told Twilight that I--"
Ixen burst into laughter. "You would require a ladder just to reach her properly."
As True turned a dark hue, Iliana, quiet until that point, spoke, "Let us not be distracted. It's bad enough that we cannot end the slave trade entirely. My guilt over leaving any in their grasp is immense, but we have our task, and if we are to storm the entirety of one of their 'tribes', we will make sure it's worth it. Let us turn our minds to this task and leave off thoughts of romance until it's over."
Her dressing down got the others to fall quiet for a time, a small time. Ixen snickered softly, likely envisioning that ladder and how the two would look.
Morning held True close, providing silent but real comfort.
The next day, they broke camp and descended towards the valley that held their enemy.
As they approached, True advanced to the fore and began pointing out pitfalls before them. Progress slowed, but they avoided literal pits, snares, and other wicked traps beside. It seemed these gnolls wanted no guests.
Sunset called out as an arrow embedded itself painfully in her side. "Son of a..." She limped forward, hissing and clearly injured from the missed trap.
Twilight hurried to her side and set her cold free in her friend. The wound frosted over and the arrow fell free, leaving blue lines behind.
Sunset shivered softly, chilled by the touch and the powerful magic, but the arrow wound itself stopped hurting. "T-thanks. Hey, True, be more careful!"
Roll advanced to stand at True's side. "I will assist." She lent her sharp vision to the effort, allowing them to make slow, but safe, passage forward.
"I feel something," Lashtada whispered to Twilight. "There is another god at work, or there was. I cannot tell clearly. Be mindful."
The ground rumbled just moments before a half-dozen gnolls burst free in a loose circle around the party. They did not make threats or demands, they attacked. With long and menacing polearms, they advanced.
Ixen blew out a snort of almost annoyance as one of their weapons skidded along her tough scales. "Pathetic." The fact that she was wearing magical aids might have helped, but woe to the person that insisted on that. She grabbed her attacker with clawed hands and dug into the hyena's flesh even as fire bulged dangerously in her throat. She held the creature firmly as she cooked him in place, reducing him to a scorched mess.
Iliana gestured at the one moving towards her as her horn began to glow. He swung at her only to be repelled by her magic, then slump to the ground, sleep overtaking him.
Roll brought down her pick as she took a spear in the side. The pick thirsted for gnoll blood and drank deep. An arrow thudded into the side of the same gnoll, True's shot living up to his name as the creature fell to the ground, the battle driven from it.
The small force had no hope of turning away the invading force. In the end, only Roll had suffered any injuries, and they were small.
Iliana tied up the gnoll she had put to sleep, and the only survivor of the conflict. "He has information that will see our approach safe and fast. Treat him carefully, but ensure that he doesn't escape."
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Emotional maturity is an important consideration, and Twilight's mental architecture and cultural upbringing are very different from those of the short-legs. If even Lashtada finds her hard to understand—from inside her own head, no less!—then True's going to have a very hard time of it. And that's before taking the logistical issues into account, though I'm sure the short-legs have solutions for that sort of thing. Still, he's definitely taking the best route possible. Of course, Sunset presents a formidable obstacle, especially if she ever expresses feelings of her own. Not saying they're there, but it would surprise me in the least.
But, as Iliana noted, there are far more important matters to worry about right now. At least the party's managed to avoid any typo traps the gnolls might have lain.
So now I think True may end up going home with Twilight after they possibly start a relationship together. It would be an interesting thing to see him react to his new universe.
Wow, that went much faster than I was expecting. Romantic shenanigans of this nature are typically portrayed as drawn-out affairs, with hidden feelings, misunderstandings, flubbed confessions, and a multitude of other obstacles coming up before feelings are made clear.
This isn't to say that things being this direct are a bad thing. Oftentimes that sort lengthy process can feel frustrating, and result in the audience reacting along the lines of "just talk to her/him already!" That that's how things went here is going to largely depend on where things proceed from this point on.
I say that because romantic tension, like all tension, is a great source of drama. But with everyone's feelings now out in the open, resulting in a "let's stay friends for now, and see what the future holds" resolution being supplied, it's going to be up to the story to continue developing new drama on this front. Obviously this will be placed on the back-burner during the upcoming raid on the gnolls, but once that's over we'll need some sort of further happenings in that area.
I should mention that, to me, Sunset's protectiveness is starting to become overbearing. She and Twilight are the same age, and while Sunset does seem to come across as the more forthright personality, she's acting like she's responsible for Twilight, which is going too far. I'm still not entirely clear why she's acting like, at this point, a quasi-caregiver for her friend, but this isn't how someone treats an equal, which is what friendships are predicated on.
My guess is one of two things: either Sunset is jealous and wants Twilight to herself (which is what I thought at the beginning), or (more plausibly) Sunset remembers how it was when she was manipulating Flash Sentry with her charms, and doesn't want Twilight to go through the same thing. Either way, Sunset is overstepping herself; she can offer council, but Twilight has the right to live her own life and make her own mistakes.
7391872 If Twilight EQG was born at the same time as normal Twi, Sunset is indeed older. She was already a student of Celestia's before Twi showed up as a filly, and Sunset was a mare, not a filly, when she left.
7391958 Hm, that's not a bad line of reasoning, but I'm not sure that I agree. According to the first film's transcript, all that Princess Celestia says about this topic is:
I suppose we could take "not long before Twilight" to mean that Sunset is a little older, but that could just as easily mean that she just happened to come to Celestia's notice first. That's particularly notable since she's in the same grade as Twilight's friends, who seem to be very close to Twilight in age.
7391966 EQG time is worse than Equestria time, since they should all be graduated and have real jobs but that's not what Hasbro wanted.
7391966
Also keep in mind that 'Not long before' could be measured in something like decades to an immortal.
7392012 Yeah, no. I suppose that could in theory be possible, but it's self-evidently not the case, since there's nothing to suggest that Sunset is "decades" older than Twilight, nor are there any instances in the show (that I can recall) of Celestia using language to suggest that periods of time that most ponies (or anyone else) would consider long are short to her.
In other words, your idea flies in the face of Occam's Razor, which tells us that it's better to make as few assumptions as we can.
7392038 There's nothing proven but that Sunset was there before Twilight, that's it.
You have a PM!
Yeah, Ixen, we all have had a laugh at that image!
I think Sunset may be jealous....
Porky Pony Mon.
Hmm, that sounded better earlier.
Better let it PokeGo.
Ah, first trial by Gauntlet then an attack probe, whilst the interfereing deity looks on.
Theres something in The Pantheons Rules about direct divine intervention, and gods own responses to that, in rapidity and effort? Like with the Continuum and Q?
Wonder if the Gnolls go for standard brutal traps only, or if the deity , guiding them, has had a few subtle traps such as enviromental spores? Am sure theres plant like where its kept cool and damp, you pick up spore or pollen by proxmity, and if not dealt with and you go into a warm place, they sprout and fungus etc? Others, like Sequioa are only triggered by fire?
Speaking of typos:
It should be "the arrow fell free."
7392644 Fix'd!
Drop this part, it doesn't make sense or add anything to the meaning.
piece
or there was.
the weapons skidded
dug into
I didn't count, but you use "even as" quite often, and it usually results in an awkward structure. You might want to look into alternate ways to say things are simultaneous, such as meanwhile, together, etc.
True is a little pervert, and it annoys me that Sunset is painted as a badguy for protecting her friend from his unwelcome attentions. When Twilight finally got involved in the conversation, the first thing she said was,
but he kept on pestering her like he hadn't even heard. His words are polite, but he's a bully, taking advantage of Twilight's shyness to manipulate her.
7393065 Typos fixed!
7393065
I'm not sure I agree with you on True's nature. He behaves only as he was raised. His entire culture, from what we have seen of it, revolves around procreation. That Twilight, who can be argued as being of age in this world, is not considering the chance to bring new life into the world would confuse anyone raised in such a culture at a fundamental level.
In addition to culture, his race is supported by a literal goddess of love/fertility/sex. Religion for the short legs revolves around life, and the process of creating more life. While he has been rather...persistent, he sees nothing wrong, or perverted, in what he is asking of Twilight as it is considered normal by his people and encouraged by his deity.
Just some food for thought.
7393573 You misunderstand. The big problem isn't that he wants sex, the problem is that Twilight said no, and he keeps badgering her to try and get it anyway.
7393596
True. But you have to take into account that this is Literally the only way he knows to express love/affection. He isn't trying to force her, or bully her into it. He genuinely believes that Twilight is the one, a lifemate, and from how he reacted to her statement that she comes from a culture that has only a single partner shows he would be willing to commit to a long term relationship should Twilight desire it.
While it is correct that Twilight is not interested in a relationship at the moment, True is, and is attempting to express that in the only way he knows how. I don't approve of his methods, but I will not condemn him fot behaving in a way that he has been raised to believe is normal.
7393596
7394723 Are we actually condeming a magical pony from an alien culture for not immediately accepting no as no forever and dropping the topic immediately? I mean, Twilight said 'Let's be friends first', and he said 'Okay'. He has yet to do anything Twilight didn't green light.
7394752 No, we're condemning him for coercing Twilight. When Twilight said no, he should have dropped the issue and raised it again when they were better friends. Instead, he kept pushing her and arguing with her until he pressured her into saying maybe. His single-minded pursuit of his goal reveals his motivation. He doesn't want her to be happy, he wants her. That's the difference between a soul-mate and a sexual predator.
7395922 umm, no its an alien culture, you can't blame them, after that she gave excuses, she does not know what she wants. she wants to drink alcohol, he did NOT coerce her, he said he would be willing to wait and become better friends
And that's only because she's a high-school anime girl. As DWK pointed out,