A Royal Problem

by Wearin Hat

A Friend to a Friend is a Friend

Not sure of how to continue after being witness to such an awkward moment between Spike and Rarity, Twilight did her very best to maintain a normal air about her so as to prevent her friend from being burdened with knowing how terribly uncomfortable the purple unicorn had been.

In attempt to return her mind to a semi-normal state, the studious unicorn went over the encounter in her head. So what, Spike had forgotten a friend of Rarity’s, it really didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Her brow furrowed slightly in thought as she recalled the look of what could easily have been mistaken for hurt feelings when the baby dragon revealed confusion over who this Chrome guy was. Was he that important to Rarity? Twilight couldn’t recall ever having heard the white unicorn bring up somepony by that name in common conversation. Despite this unfamiliarity, she couldn’t help but feel as if the name Chrome should be ringing some sort of bell.

Shame crept into Twilight’s mind as she couldn’t place a face onto the name. How would Rarity react if one of her best friends forgot about Chrome? That could lead to an issue that the purple unicorn didn’t want to deal with right then and there. Though she was claiming an inability to help directly, Twilight was already aware that it would be through her friend that she could talk to Sweetie Belle and whoever this Chrome guy was.

That raised another good question, how much could Sweetie Belle help out in this situation? It was clear that the problems between the two sisters often featured them having separate issues of some sort. Though absorbed into her thoughts, Twilight managed an inward smile as she considered some parallels between Rarity’s sister and Princess Luna. Both probably deal with a great deal of jealousy over their older siblings and there was evidence to suggest that Sweetie had let her envy cloud her judgment in the past. This could honestly be the breakthrough that would easily allow this issue to be solved quickly enough as to prevent any lasting problems. Excitement secretly welled within the purple unicorn’s being as she considered that this path would also allow her to help advance in helping Rarity and her sister mend any wounds between them. As a spur of the moment kind of luck, this was starting to look like a miracle.

The sound of the Boutique’s door closing snapped the purple unicorn back to reality. Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, Twilight found herself to remain calm so as not to potentially frighten or alarm her friend with any sudden excitement. However, as she watched the building slowly begin to shrink behind her, the purple pony became aware that the awkward silence from before was still painfully lingering in the air.

Sensing that things would only progressively get worse should the mood remain in its current state, Twilight turned her violet eyes to her friend’s face. Unsure of what to say exactly, the studious unicorn decided to try and improvise –a tactic not known for being simple for her to pull off well, “Rarity…” Again overpowered by the wealth of emotions within her, the purple pony forced herself to stare forward and focus on the sky to try and calm her nerves so as not to have the tone of her voice all over the place as it had been the last time she spoke in extended sentences with her friend.

“Oh good, I was beginning to fear that I’d lost you for a second dear.” Having been fully aware that Twilight had been lost within her thoughts, the generous pony had taken the opportunity to task herself with going over some dress designs in her mind. However, these thoughts were immediately interrupted by the giggling she couldn’t help but utter forth at her humorous statement.

Forcing a rough sounding laugh in response, the purple unicorn decided to take advantage of the slowly breaking tension. “Listen, Rarity, about what happened between you and Spike back there…” Once again the studious pony found herself at a loss for what to say about the situation. She had wanted to reassure her friend that she wouldn’t mention of the dragon’s forgetfulness to this Chrome guy, but her words had been stifled by the fact that she felt as though she should know who this was.

“Don’t worry about it dear, I understand completely about forgetting ponies hen under stress. The only reason I chastised poor Spiky Wikey was that Chrome is rather sensitive when it comes to…well…everything.”

“Yeah, about him, you wouldn’t happen to know if I’ve met him or anything like that, would you? I mean, his name sounds vaguely familiar to me and I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings by forgetting him like that…”

Twilight felt herself near the brink of relief when Rarity cast a reassuring smile to her. Though not as noticeable as with Fluttershy, the purple unicorn had always found those smiles to be very calming. “There’s no need to worry darling, I don’t believe I’ve ever had the chance to introduce you two.” A moment of silence prevailed as the sound of their hooves hitting the dirt echoed quietly into the morning air of the still sleeping town. “As for who he is,” Rarity cleared her throat a bit as she attempted to keep herself from yawning and thus revealing her fatigue, “Chrome is an old friend of mine from since I was relatively young. We’ve been close ever since he moved to Ponyville as a foal. In fact, he was my very first consistent customer when I opened my Boutique.”

Silently giggling as Rarity’s stifled yawn told her that the white unicorn had burnt the midnight oil again, Twilight sighed happily as the tension dissipated. However, despite now knowing that there was nothing to fear in regards to having to worry about having forgotten a friend, something she’d never forgive herself for if it happened, the purple pony continued to feel a tingling confusion about why she felt as though the name sounded familiar. “So, he’s a customer of yours? Is he some sort of model or something like that?” Her foalhood friend being a model would be almost stereotypical for the white unicorn to have had.

Yet again the fashionable pony began to giggle as she pictured her old friend as a model. An odd second passed as the giggling continued only for the white mare to forcibly contain growing laughter. “Oh forgive me dear, I’ve just never thought of Chrome in the light before. He’d be quite unique model if he were to try a hoof at that profession.”

Her own chuckles now showing through her calm exterior, Twilight couldn’t help but share the humor with her friend at the thought. The purple unicorn snorted once as she tried to muffle her laughter at the thought of Spike modeling. Not that it wouldn’t be good if the baby dragon were to model some, but the purple unicorn could at least sympathize with the images of this Chrome guy modeling in Rarity’s mind.

“No, I’m afraid poor Chrome wouldn’t do too well as a model.” A few more girlish giggles came forth as the white unicorn returned to her usual ladylike demeanor. “Chrome is actually a playwright, a play manager, and a connoisseur of fine hats. I never design a hat without consulting him about my idea. He’s got quite the eye for detail when it comes to that particular article of fashion.” Rarity sighed in happy memory of how she had been drawn into friendship with him over that very talent of his. Of course she soon saw just who he really was and how great of a friend he was.

For the first time since she had read the Princess’ letter earlier that morning, Twilight felt the overwhelming weight of her hefty responsibility disappear under the shock of realization. “Wait, is your friend the Chrome Prism?!” A wave of nerdy joy exploded within the purple pony’s mind as her friend nodded in proud confirmation. This was very exciting news for the book fanatic to hear. She’d always loved the few of his scripts that she had gotten her hooves on. Her interest had been perked when she noticed Chrome’s name as the author of the Hearth’s Warming Eve play she had been a part of. Intrigued by the story that was told through the lines and his style of writing, she had sought out his works. “I had no idea you knew the Chrome Prism! He wrote the Hearth’s Warming Eve play, the one that Princess Celestia herself chose us to act out! And to think he’s been here in Ponyville this whole time!”

Pride welled up within the white unicorn as Twilight let her inner nerd out. “Actually dear, Chrome didn’t write that play. He merely revised it by personal request of Princess Celestia. Though I must say that his version was far superior to that dusty old thing they used to perform every year.” Honestly, if you were to mention anything to do with Equestrian history, even those who revised an old tale about Equestria’s founding, then it would provoke the studious unicorn to rant on as if she was Dashie talking about the Wonderbolts.

Relief washed over Rarity as she spotted the home of her friend closing in quickly. This would allow her to escape the inevitable lecture regarding the details of the old story or about the rest of Chrome’s work. “Oh my, time sure does fly when I take my morning walks…”

Taking the hint brilliantly, the purple unicorn felt her oncoming rant subside upon seeing the building that she somehow knew to be their destination. It was actually quite a disappointing sight when considering the amount of bits that the playwright should’ve made with the number of plays he’d written. The building was far from the beauty she would’ve thought would belong to the home of somepony with an eye for fashion. It didn’t even look like it had more than one floor. In fact, the entire building was just one big cube that had obviously been built by somepony unfamiliar with architecture.

“I was expecting something more…”

“Work hasn’t been coming very steadily for poor Chrome lately. I’m afraid his charitable nature hasn’t help anything at all considering his already tight budget. So it would be wise not to bring such up with him.” The warning sunk into both unicorns’ ears as Rarity finished. She had indeed referenced his sensitive personality before, but the fashionable pony needed to make sure that Twilight understood that this was something to be handled carefully. “Listen darling, I know you’re very eager to get Chrome’s opinion of Celestia’s problem, but do be careful when you bring it up. He is very sensitive when it comes to anything to do with his brother. In fact, you’d be better off just staying away from mentioning his brother.”

Understanding set in as the white unicorn knocked on the door politely three times. At first Twilight had considered that Chrome was similar in personality to Fluttershy when Rarity had mentioned his sensitivity, however, these extra warnings gave her credence to believe that this was sensitivity of a different nature that she definitely didn’t want to incite upon first meeting him.

Seconds began to pass by as no response to the knocking could be heard. That weird tension from Spike and Rarity’s argument began to rise up once more as Twilight could see the beginnings of annoyance appear on the white unicorn’s face. Not wanting to give the fashionable pony any more reason to be angry, the purple pony kept her mouth shut as they both kept their ears trained towards the house before them.

Using this time to finally look the building over, the studious pony felt a little off put by how plain everything was. There appeared to be no shrubbery, no vegetation, and very little detail outside of seemingly ancient paint that was showing signs of peeling. It was understandable that a pony would be forced into spending little to nothing on the appearance of their house when bits were scarce, but this was extreme even by that standard. The house looked as though it had never been decked out in any sort of decorations or anything that would improve its appearance. An odd detail that Twilight could only make out being this close was that every window had some form of dull curtain drawn over it. To put it bluntly, this place was creepy looking.

The eeriness that the house gave off brought forth thoughts regarding just how close Chrome and Rarity really were. Twilight could recall hearing that her friend’s Boutique was restocked with hats by a hat salespony once every month. Now knowing what Chrome’s line of work was and what his connection with the white unicorn was lead to the obvious conclusion that this salespony was none other than the pony that lived in the rundown-looking building before them. That meant that they were close to some degree, but were they close enough that the normally protective Rarity would allow him to watch over Sweetie Belle alone? Even worse was the thought of how Applejack would react if she knew that some weird stranger was the sole chaperone of the sleepover? Her thoughts would have continued along that disturbing path had a sound not caught her attention.

This noise was soft, almost a whisper and it was emanating from within the house. It sounded almost like a pony’s voice. Another noise could hardly be heard in response to the first utterance. This one, obviously more feminine in nature, was loud enough that Twilight could barely understand the word being spoken. Her eyes opened wide when she finally sorted it out in her mind. From what she could hear, the purple unicorn could swear that the voice had said either sea or tree. Confused, the purple unicorn decided to inquire as to whether or not her friend had heard it too.

Her mouth open to speak, Twilight found herself surprised to see Rarity holding a hoof to her face as she giggled to herself. “How did I not see this coming? I’m here to pick Sweetie up and they’re both engrossed in another word war. Typical, I bet she's forgotten to pack her things again thanks to their silly game.”

Comments

[Dascuro]

Im assuming this Chrome character will turn very relevant to the whole fic since this whole chapter was fleshing out who he is supposed to be and how did he got to this point of the story.

Never the less, Im more curious of which kind of behavior patterns or reactions has Luna shown to Celestia to make her think and consider that Nightmare Moon would happen again, helping us out on see the urgency and gravity of the situation at hoof.