Fifth Chapter - The Girl of My Dreams
On the morning after the Welcome Party, Twilight woke up with something that wasn’t quite a hangover, but got awfully close, and she thought about Time. More specifically, she thought about how it always seems to find a way to mess with you: when you want something, Time slows down. When you don’t want it, it couldn’t go faster. [1]
[1] This line of thought—that one of the basic elements of the universe is sentient and out to get you—is rather common among living beings. Cosmology is always the last science to develop in any society, because everybody thinks the world orbits around them.
And for once, she was right. Because Time indeed was going slowly, now. It was as if Reality had suddenly been smeared with molasses, and Twilight might as well have been climbing the stairs up to Sunset Shimmer’s room in slow-motion.
Time wanted to savor the moment. It wanted to really appreciate the few instants before Twilight’s hopes and dreams came crashing down. It derived an almost erotic pleasure in knowing that this was Twilight Sparkle’s last moment of peace in a very long time.
But eventually, all things come to an end. Time tried its hardest, but Twilight made it to Sunset’s chambers.
And then she opened the door.
“Good morning, Sunset Shimmer!” she said, voice maybe a little too chipper for her own headache. “I brought you breakfast! I wanted to apologize fo—OH MY GOSH!”
“Gasp!” The Royal Guard stopped kissing Sunset and jumped off the bed. “Your Highness!”
“Twilight!” Sunset roared. “You’re supposed to knock!”
“I KNOW I’M SO SORRY OH MY GOSH SUNSET SORRY.”
Twilight closed the door.
Twilight opened the door again.
“Um. Okay, I know this is probably a bad time, but I just want to make sure—oh, you’re kissing again? That was, uh, that was fast. So just to be absolutely certain—”
“TWILIGHT, FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!”
“Right, yes, no, look, I just feel like this could be a, ahem, a huuuuge misunderstanding. Right? That could happen. And I’d rather, uh.” She coughed. “…Avoid the unnecessary drama if possible?”
“HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY MISUNDERSTAND THIS SITUATION, AGAIN?!”
“I don’t know! Maybe you’re, like, rehearsing a play or something!” Twilight bit her lip. “…Are you rehearsing a pl—”
“WE ARE PRETTY OBVIOUSLY NOT REHEARSING A PLAY.”
“…Okay, yes, that was a dumb question.”
“WHY WOULD WE BE REHEARSING A PLAY THIS EARLY, AND ON MY BED.”
“Look, that was just a random example, I didn’t think it through, okay? Don’t get hung up on it. It’s not representative of—”
“WHY WOULD I BE REHEARSING A PLAY WITH ONE OF YOUR ROYAL GUARDS.”
“Yes, you’ve already established how stupid that idea is! I get it!” Twilight took a step back and massaged the space between her eyes. “That is not—You know what? I’m just going to leave. You probably want to be alone and all that.”
“YES, PLEASE.”
“Sure, sure. Sorry again!”
Twilight closed the door.
Twilight opened the door. “Okay, so, I know this is getting ridiculous, but you never actually told me what is going on explicitly, so, just to be clear—”
“TWILIGHT I SWEAR TO CELESTIA I’M GOING TO KILL Y—”
CHAPTER FIVE
THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS
It’s the most important table in the world. Fate sits on the right. Time, on the left. The name of the game is Star-Crossed Lovers, and it’s about romance. It ends when they fall in love, when pieces get together, look at each other, and there’s a
tink!
in the air.
It’s the oldest game in the world, and Fate just lost—maybe. For him to win, the pieces need to fall in love with each other. Sunset might have killed just killed their future.
So let’s zoom in on the table, just to make sure…
“My dear Royal Guard,” Sunset said, and she bit her lower lip in anticipation. “I’m going to do horrible things to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
And then Sunset grabbed his tail and—
—and we zoom out.
On second thought, Fate muses, let’s go somewhere that doesn’t remind me of how Time is sweeping the floor with me.
Time says: that’s going to be impossible.
But we zoom in anyway…
“…And Sunset is doing horrible things to that Royal Guard as we speak,” Twilight said, eyes wide. “Horrible things.”
Rarity blinked. “Horrible things?”
“Horrible things.”
“Darling. I need more details.”
“Well, last thing I saw, she was trying to grab his tail and—”
—Okay, no, we zoom out, Fate says. We zoom out. Let’s look somewhere else.
Time says: I told you.
Fate says: let’s see what Moondancer is doing.
“It’s Time,” Moondancer panted. “That’s what Flower Fall is doing. It’s bringing Time back to Canterlot, and it’s going to kill us all.”
Silence at the most important table in the world.
Time is filing his nails. Hey, don’t hate the player, he says, cocky. Hate the game.
Fate sighs.
“Time,” Moondancer repeated, gasping for air, sweat rolling down her forehead, “is going to kill us all.”
There was a small pause. Outside the window, flowers fell over Canterlot.
Then Dash said: “Uh, yeah. That’s how aging works.”
And if that wasn’t the one reply that would set the tone of this entire conversation, Moondancer thought as she tried her best not to punch Rainbow Dash right in the face, she would grab her favorite book and eat it.
It is not widely known that the old saying about breakfast—“it’s the most important meal!”—wasn’t coined by nutritionists, but by politicians. Breakfasts define society. They expose the best and worst parts of the ponies around them. A post-scarcity society will have great breakfasts. A utopia will have wonderful ones.
Equestria’s breakfasts? When you were at Canterlot Castle? Those could only be described as a miracle.
Pastries and honey, coffee and tea—whatever you wanted, it was there. Eggs poached to perfection, cow maids ready to produce fresh milk [2] at a moment’s notice, flowers of all colors and sizes. Canterlot Castle’s Breakfast Table was paradise.
[2] Some would say drinking the milk that came out of someone who can hold a conversation is disturbing, but here’s the thing—what is or isn’t disgusting varies depending on the world, but dairy products are a delicious constant across all universes.
But in that moment, for Moondancer, it was the most disappointing thing she’d ever seen. Because, in a place where you could get everything, she was lacking something.
“…Where is Twilight?” she asked, frowning and hugging her book to her chest. There were only three ponies at the table: Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. “I need to talk to her.”
“She just left!” Pinkie said, chewing on some crêpes and beckoning Moondancer. “Like half an hour ago. Also, hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! We already met once!”
“She left? What do you mean, she left? We were supposed to meet here! This is important!” Moondancer frowned as she followed Pinkie’s orders and took a seat at the table. “Also, uh, hi.”
“Hi!”
“I’m Moondancer.”
“I know!”
“Um.” Fluttershy was sitting right next to Pinkie. There was a cupcake on her plate, but she had barely touched it. “I think there was an emergency. She looked pretty upset. Also, hi. I’m Fluttershy.”
“Hi. I’m still Moondancer. Emergency?” Moondancer made a face. “Define emergency, then, because I’m talking about saving the world here, and Twilight Sparkle knows it. So, unless she’s—wait.” She squinted. “Wait, wait, wait. Please tell me this has nothing to do with Sunset Shimmer.”
Pinkie, Dash, and Fluttershy all looked at each other in silence.
Moondancer kept going. “Tell me,” she said, “that Twilight didn’t forgo our meeting because of that character, and that she’s just, I don’t know. Dealing with a completely new world-ending scenario or something?” She looked at them. “Please?”
“Well.” Dash shrugged. “To be completely fair, we are used to world-ending scenarios. They haven’t popped up in a while, but it’s not like we find them unusual or anything.”
Moondancer arched an eyebrow. “…So she’s actually dealing with another crisis, then?”
“Hah! Haaah, hah, hah. Nah, this is totally about Sunset Shimmer. Also.” Rainbow pointed at herself. “Rainbow Dash. Nice to finally meet you.”
“Moondancer. Okay, why exactly—”
“You know that’s not how greetings work, right?” Dash said.
A blink. “What?” Moondancer asked.
“Like, you don’t have to repeat your name every time you talk to us.” Dash leaned over and—in a table with every delicatessen you could hope for—grabbed an energy bar that tasted like chewed gum and kerosene. “We already know who you are.”
Another blink. “You do?”
“Of course, you silly!” Pinkie giggled. “You’re Moonie! Twilight is always talking about you! Also, can I call you Moonie?”
“No.”
“I’m gonna call you Moonie!”
“Please don’t.”
“…Um, we can tell Twilight to look for you when she comes back?” Fluttershy said, once she noticed the kind of face Moondancer was making[3]. “Or, or I guess you can wait for her with us. I’m sure she’ll be back shortly.”
[3] Pinkie Pie was a wonderful mare, and all her friends loved her dearly, but she had the strange tendency to make anypony who talked to her look exactly like a serial killer on the verge of another spree.
“No.” Moondancer’s voice was as bitter as coffee, so she sipped from her cup to further the point before speaking again. “I don’t have the time to wait. Tell me where she is?”
“You don’t have the time?” Dash cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean, you don’t have the time? You look like you’re eating breakfast pretty slowly from here.”
“I’m not.” Pause. Sip. “I’m just talking to you because it’ll save more time in the long run. Also, this is good coffee.”
“It is!” Pinkie said.
“But I am in a rush,” Moondancer said. “You see— remember how I literally just said that I’m talking about saving the world and that’s why this is so important?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“Uh-huh!”
“Right. Once I’m done talking with Twilight, I need to go save the world a little harder. So, if you could tell me where she is so I can move on…?”
Silence. The three mares looked at each other, pondering Moondancer’s words.
This wasn’t lost on Moondancer. “Well…?” she said.
Fluttershy bit her lip, but she was the first one talking. “Um,” she said. “About that—”
“We don’t know where she is!” Pinkie chirped, eating another crêpe in one big gulp. “I guess you could ask Spike to send her a letter. But he’s sleeping off the after party!”
“He should have gone to bed earlier,” Fluttershy said, nodding. “That kind of party is not fit for a child our age.” She looked at Moondancer. “Um. Dragons hit puberty at seventy or so.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Also!” Pinkie said. “Twilight said she wanted to be left alone for a bit!”
“She didn’t say that,” Dash said, looking at Pinkie.
“Hahah. True! But she implied it pretty hard.” Pinkie shrugged. “So Moonie will have to wait with us!”
“Don’t call me Moonie.”
“Okay! What can I call you?”
“Moondancer.”
“But that’s too long! What do your friends call you?”
“Moondancer. My friends call me Moondancer.” Moondancer took another sip of coffee. “Because that’s my name.”
Pinkie frowned. “Huh. You’re a tough one.” Then, she smiled, and ate another crêpe. “I like you!”
“Thanks. There’s literally no need, but thanks.”
“I still like you!”
Pause.
“…Okay, I have to know.” Moondancer looked at Fluttershy. “Is she always like this, or is she going through some kind of sugar high? Because that’s the third crêpe she eats in two minutes.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Who? Pinkie Pie?”
“Yes.”
“…I think both?”
“I think,” Dash said, chewing thoughtfully at her energy bar, “that you can tell us if it’s that important, right? I mean, we can tell Twilight if we see her before you.” Pause. She looked at Shy and Pinkie. “Also we’re gonna save the world too. I think?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh-huh! I wanna shoot friendship lasers at something. It’s been a while since we did!”
“Right, but—okay.” Moondancer took a deep breath. “Look,” she said, looking straight into Dash’s eyes. “I know who you are. I know you’re national heroes, and that you’ve saved the world so many times you don’t even think about it anymore. But this is important. Maybe you’re so used to this you think I’m exaggerating, but Equestria is at stake and I really think—”
“Oh, no, no, no!” Fluttershy opened her eyes wide, and shook her head. “No, we—we know this is important!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie said. Fourth crêpe in. “The world is in danger!”
“Trust me, we always take these kind of things seriously.” Dash nodded towards the window, and the raining flowers at the other side. “You’re talking about Flower Fall, right? Twilight said it was probably gonna kill us all, and also that Pinkie had to stop eating the flowers.”
“But I didn’t stop!”
“But she didn’t stop.”
“Because they’re really good!”
Moondancer’s ears perked up, and she grabbed her cup of coffee again. “Uh,” she said. “Actually, yeah, this is about Flower Fall. I’ve been investigating it for weeks—”
“Oh, uh.” Fluttershy cleared her throat with a cough. “Twilight told us! It’s, uh, it’s about magic, a-and about an imbalance in magic caused because Sunset Shimmer came in here. And it’s probably going to kill us all.” Pause. “And then she said Pinkie should stop eating the flowers. Again.”
“But I stood strong! We had, like, a whole argument about it.”
“Yeah.” Dash made a face. “It was a really long afternoon.”
“And I won!”
“But we still know Flower Fall is really serious.” Fluttershy gave Moondancer a weak smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s… a little scary. To be honest.”
“…Yeah,” Moondancer said. “Yeah. It is. Okay, so—why aren’t you telling me where Twilight is, again? So I can just tell her and end this and save the world already?”
Pinkie smiled at her. “Because Twilight is upset!” she said.
“Yeah,” Fluttershy said. “And she said she needs to be alone for a bit. Sorry.”
“But I’m sure she’ll get better soon!”
It took Moondancer a moment. Then:
“…So it’s not like you’re just brushing me away,” she said. “You’re actually aware the world is at stake. You just… Prioritize Twilight?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeppers!”
“Huh.” And Moondancer took a sip of coffee. “Well,” she said. “I can respect that. I like Twilight, too.”
“Hah-hah! See?” Pinkie elbowed Fluttershy and winked at Moondancer at the same time. “I told you I liked her! I’m so good at judging ponies.”
“Sure. Well.” Moondancer sighed. “I really wanted to see Twilight, but I guess you can just ask her to come to the Royal Library whenever she’s back. I’ll be there working. Tell her that…” She frowned, and thought for a moment or two. “Okay. Remember what I told you earlier?”
“Yeah,” Dash said. “You said aging is a thing.”
“Right. Well, no, but it’s something like that.” Moondancer looked out the window, at the flowers that fell, and her frown deepened. “Look,” she said, looking back at Fluttershy. “I don’t know if you know this, but Flower Fall isn’t that weird.”
Fluttershy blinked. “…What?”
“Yeah. Most magical scholars know about it. Whenever you apply too much strength to a spell, it causes a small rip in the time-space continuum. From that rip, flowers fall.” Moondancer arched an eyebrow. “With me so far?”
Pause.
Fluttershy squinted, and cocked her head to the side. “Uh,” she said. “Time-space… what?”
“Ah.” Dash perked up at this, and she looked at Fluttershy. “I actually know about this! Time and space are actually the same thing for some reason. Pinkie told me. Isn’t it right, Pinkie?”
“Yeah!” Pinkie said, bobbing up and down in her chair. “Shy, you know how you when you’re having fun, time goes fast?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, have you ever thought where it’s going?”
Another pause.
“Huh.” Fluttershy frowned. “I haven’t.”
Moondancer frowned. “Um.”
“Well, that’s because it’s going away!” Pinkie said. “Through space!”
“Ooh. Ooooooooh!”
Moondancer frowned harder. “Um.”
“And that’s why Flower Fall is going to kill us all!”
“I see. That makes sense.” Fluttershy looked at Moondancer. “Right?”
Pause.
“…Yes. You know what? Yes. That’s why.” Moondancer waved a hoof. “Doesn’t matter. Flower Fall is just—it’s not unusual, if you know your way around complex magic. It’s just that we’d never seen it at this scale, so we didn’t know what it was going to do.”
Dash nodded. “But now you do?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“It’s going to kill us all.”
Pinkie Pie gasped.
The others did not.
“You know, it’s not always that that answer manages to be anticlimactic,” Dash mused, looking at Fluttershy and finishing up her energy bar. “But I think Moonie just managed.”
“Don’t call me Moonie.”
“Hm.” Dash looked at Pinkie. “You’re right.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. She’s tough.”
“…Well, I still think it’s scary,” Fluttershy said, looking down and fiddling with her still-untouched muffin. “I don’t like it when things threaten to kill us all.”
“It’s not about knowing if it’s going to kill us all,” Moondancer said. She looked around the table, found a plate with good-looking cookies, and grabbed one. “It’s about knowing how it’s going to kill us all. Because that’s how we discover how to stop it.”
“We shoot friendship lasers?!” Pinkie asked, leaning over the table so much she was almost standing up.
“No.”
“You sure?!”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Well.” Pinkie sat down again. “Shoot. So how is it going to kill us?”
Moondancer nibbled the cookie, then put it down, and made a serious face. She looked straight at Fluttershy when she talked. “It’s going to do it,” she said, “through Time.”
Pause.
“No, I’m not talking about aging. It’s not gonna make us age. Stop looking at me like that.”
“Oooooh.” Pinkie swept the sweat off her brow. “Phew. I was worried there for a second!”
Dash looked at her. “Pinks. We’re still going to die.”
“Yeah, but we’ll die young!”
“That is really not something you should say with that kind of smile.”
“What Flower Fall is doing is obvious once you think about it.” Moondancer had already learned that participating in any conversation where Pinkie and Dash are taking part consisted mostly on ignoring whatever they said, so she kept on looking at Fluttershy while she said this. “It’s ripping up the space-time continuum—so it’s literally bringing back Time.”
Fluttershy frowned, trying to follow her. “Right,” she said. “Through… space?”
“Uh. No. It’s just—”
“It’s making time move, then?” Fluttershy blinked. “Wait. Is this why time flies? Is it flying towards us?”
“Gasp!” Pinkie didn’t gasp, here. She literally said the word ‘gasp’ out loud. “That makes sense!” she said, clapping. “Fluttershy, you’re so smart!”
Fluttershy blushed and smiled a bit. “Eheh. Thanks.”
“You, uh.” Moondancer squinted. “You’re really Twilight’s friends, right? Like, she actually hangs out with you three.”
“Yeah.”
“Yep.”
“Uh-huh!”
“Right.” Moondancer nodded. “I think I’m starting to see why Celestia thought she’d earned those wings.”
Pinkie looked at her with honest eyes. “I can take that as a compliment,” she said. “So I will!”
“Charming. So, about dying.” Moondancer nibbled the cookie again, and downed up with a bit of coffee. “You know, to get back to topic.”
“Yes?”
“Flower Fall is bringing the past back into the future. That can mean… many things.” Moondancer frowned. “Nostalgia, a sweet smell… Everything feels a bit more old-timey lately. But it will get worse.”
Fluttershy hid behind her mane. “…How much worse?”
“Shy.” Dash looked at her. “Killing-us-all worse. Have you been paying attention?”
“The past will literally come back at this rate,” Moondancer said. “Physically. The Canterlot of… Celestia knows how many years ago will appear through the same rip in time and space that’s producing the flowers. And it will appear exactly in the same spot as the present Canterlot.”
There was a moment of silence.
Pinkie Pie ate another crêpe.
“That sounds both dangerous,” Dash said after a bit, “and extremely underwhelming. Is that going to kill us all? Can’t we just move the city?”
“It’s not going to appear on top of Canterlot,” Moondancer said. She finished her cookie and got up. “It’s going to appear in the same spot. Every brick, every pebble—every atom… They’ll occupy the same space. Also, I need to go back to the Royal Library. Tell Twilight this, and then ask her to come with me—we have a lot of work to do. Complex spells, and all that.”
“Oh. Uh.” Fluttershy blinked. “Okay. Um, thanks.”
“You’we welcome.” Moondancer finished up her coffee, and went for the doors. “Nice to meet you all. And nice to see you again, Pinkie. Later.”
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Dash jumped off her seat and flew over the table to stay between Moondancer and the door. “Wait a moment there. What do you mean, it’ll occupy the same space? What will that do?”
Moondancer blinked. “Well,” she said. “Obviously two things can’t be in exactly the same place at the same time. Old Canterlot will be extremely unstable.”
“…So? How will that kill us all?”
Moondancer’s face was grim. She looked at Dash, and shook her head a little.
“Boom,” she said.
And then, she left.
“…And Sunset is doing horrible things to that Royal Guard as we speak,” Twilight said, eyes wide. “Horrible things.”
Rarity blinked. “Horrible things?”
“Horrible things.”
“Darling, I think I might need more details.”
“Well, last thing I saw, she was trying to grab his tail and—”
There’s a sigh at the most important table in the world, and Fate looks at the pieces on the table. Well, he says. Might as well get done with it.
And Time smiles and looks at the pieces, confident in his victory.
(And in doing so, he misses that Fate is smirking, if only a little bit.)
“—and then, elbow-deep, she pulls,” Twilight finished. “With her teeth.”
There was silence after the explanation.
And Rarity made a face that no lady should ever make. “Oh, hoh, hoh,” she said, covering her mouth with a hoof and giving Twilight a sharp look. “My. That does sound horrible.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I’m assuming that’s why I’m here, then, darling?” Rarity asked. “Not because our dear Sunset did that, but—because you caught her?”
Twilight didn’t reply. She just looked down and gave Rarity a weak nod.
Breakfasts define society. They expose the best and worst parts of the ponies around them. And that morning, Twilight had forgotten all about eating.
She was sitting in a park by the west side of Canterlot, near the train station. There was a playground next to them, and the laughter of children having the time of their lives drowned almost any other sound. Flowers fell. There was a sweet scent in the air.
“And it’s a really beautiful scene, don’t get me wrong,” Twilight explained after Rarity pointed this out, perhaps trying to cheer her up. “And usually I would appreciate it? But right now all it does is remind me that, oh yeah, the world is ending.” Pause. “Also that no matter how I try I can’t stop Pinkie from eating stuff off the ground, which is a completely different issue but still pretty high-priority.”
Rarity made a face. “Twilight, we all love Pinkie Pie, but there’s really no use in fighting a losing battle.”
“Look, at this point it’s a matter of pride, okay?” Twilight frowned. “I mean, how hard it is to just—?”
“Twilight. Come on.”
“…Okay. Sure. Whatever, the world is still ending anyway.” Twilight sighed. “Flower Fall can kill us all, and that’s something I should… probably be working on? Because all I’ve wanted all these years has been a chance to save the world again?”
“Uh-huh.”
“But I’m not.” She made a face. “Because I think I can’t. Because I feel really…” The words died in Twilight’s mouth.
“…Upset?” Rarity offered.
“Yes! Yes. Upset. I’m really, really upset. I’m upset to a ridiculous degree, and I can’t even…”
“…Think straight?” Rarity offered.
“Yes. Sigh. Exactly.” Twilight huffed. “All because I saw Sunset doing… Doing that! And believe it or not, I’m self-aware enough to understand that something is going on with me here, so I just…! I…!” She swallowed, looked down, looked up. Looked at Rarity. “I… don’t know what to do.”
Rarity just smiled, and patted Twilight’s head. “My dear little Twilight,” she cooed. “Do you want to talk about this? Maybe sort out what’s going through your head?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. That’s good. I’m here to help.”
“I know you are.” Twilight looked at Rarity and smiled. “That’s why I asked you to be here.” Pause. “Only I also know you’re into tragic romances to an almost fetishistic degree, so I also asked Applejack to come to sorta balance you out.”
“Ah’m just happy to be here!” Applejack said, popping her head out from behind Rarity.
“So. Yeah.” Twilight looked at Applejack and pointed at Rarity. “Balance her out?”
“Sure!” Applejack smiled, and hopped off the bench for a moment to sit next to Twilight. That way, Twilight was sandwiched between her two friends. “So,” she said. “You saw Sunset do horrible things.”
“Horrible things,” Twilight repeated.
“To a Royal Guard.”
“To a Royal Guard.”
“And that really annoyed you, and now you feel a lil’ heartbroken, right?”
Twilight frowned. “Uh,” she said. “Well, I don’t know if that term is the most accurate—”
“Twi.” Applejack looked at Twilight with something that might have been compassion, or perhaps simple pity. “You’re obviously in love with Sunset Shimmer.”
“Obviously,” Rarity nodded.
Pause.
“Okay,” Twilight said, squinting. “I… wasn’t expecting this.”
“You weren’t expecting me to point out the obvious?” AJ arched an eyebrow. “‘Cause Ah’ve seen how you look at her.” She elbowed Twilight. “And her behind, eh?”
“No, I—how I look at her what?” Twilight frowned. “What? You’re the one who spent like ten minutes talking about her flank with—!”
“She’s got a nice derriere, you have to admit that,” Rarity mused, looking at Applejack. Applejack nodded. “I mean, we certainly don’t blame you, dear. It’s just, you’re really not good at faking it.”
Twilight blushed. “I don’t—!”
“You’ve started walkin’ like her too,” AJ said. “A lil’.”
“I haven’t!”
“You have.”
“Darling, you have. You do that thing with your rump that’s—admittedly, really good for your figure, I’m not going to lie.” Rarity smiled at Twilight. “You look good lately! But also you’re absolutely in love and it’s kind of silly for you to deny that.”
“Agreed,” Applejack said.
“Okay. Okay, wait a minute there.” Twilight coughed, and pushed AJ and Rarity a little away from her. “Let’s start over from the beginning here—Applejack, you were supposed to balance Rarity out. I was expecting Rarity to say I’m in love, sure. But—you?”
Applejack nodded. “Ah see,” she said.
And Twilight’s eyes lighted up with hope. “You do?”
“Eyup.” AJ tipped her hat. “Somepony here’s not aware of how obvious she is.”
“What the—no!” Twilight frowned and crossed her front legs above her chest. “No, that’s not what you’re supposed to say! There’s—look, there are plenty of reasons why I’d be upset after seeing Sunset doing that. I thought you would just sorta assume it was one of them!” She pointed at Rarity. “Claiming that everything everywhere is romantic for no reason is her job!”
“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Rarity said.
“Okay, you do you. Her job!” Twilight pointed at Rarity again. “Not yours!” she pointed at Applejack. “Hers!”
“Still taking it as a compliment.”
“Twilight, you got all sulky after seein’ Sunset get cozy with somepony else. Ah might be no big romantic, and Ah might enjoy contradictin’ Rarity for no real reason, but Ah’m not dumb.” Applejack scoffed. “You should’ve got Rainbow Dash if you wanted me to do that.” She got up. “Want me to go fetch her?”
“No, that’s—nopony needs Rainbow Dash!”
“Ain’t that true.”
“Preach, darling,” Rarity said with a smile. Pause. Then: “Ah, but—we all love her, of course.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. Mighty good mare, good ol’ Dash, and all that.” Applejack waved a hoof. “But, like—preach, right?”
“Definitely, preach.”
Twilight looked at them both. “Okay,” she said. “Are you done? No more preaching?”
“Yeah.”
“And are you done insulting Rainbow Dash?”
“We’re never done insulting Rainbow Dash, darling,” Rarity said, still branding that lovely smile of hers that would outshine the brightest of stars. “But, for the sake of the argument, let’s say that we are.”
“Okay. Good.” Twilight frowned and rested her back on the bench. “Because I just said that there are plenty of reasons why I’d be sulky after seeing what I saw. It doesn’t immediately mean that I’m in love.”
“But,” Rarity said, poking Twilight on the side. “You do agree you’re sulky, yes?”
“Uh. Yeah. Honestly, that’s the baseline of this conversation.”
“Well, that’s good. That’s actually really, really good. It’s usually the biggest step.” Rarity eyed Applejack. “It won’t take her much to admit she’s in love like this, will it?”
“Nah, don’t think so.”
And Twilight pouted. “I somehow feel you two aren’t listening to me at all.”
“No, no, we are!” Rarity went back to Twilight, and grabbed one of her hooves. “We’re with you all the way, darling, don’t be mistaken. We’re just, ah.” A smile. “Slightly ahead of the game?”
“That does not help.”
“Twi, don’t be mad.” AJ grabbed another of Twilight’s hooves. “It just ain’t as complicated as you want it to be. But we’re here to help! Honest!”
“Well, that’s good, because you’re not helping.”
A sigh. “Okay,” Applejack said, glaring at Rarity so she wouldn’t interrupt Twilight. “Why don’t you go and list some of those plenty o’ reasons why you’d be heartbroken over this? And we can just go over ‘em. Would that be better?”
Twilight thought about this for a moment.
“Yeah,” she said once she was done. “Yeah. I think that’d be good. And then I can go back to saving the world. I really need go go back to that—did you know I missed my date with Moondancer because of this?” Twilight sighed and shook her head. “She’s been helping me with the research for weeks and I went and left her hanging just because of… whatever this is. I need go get my act together.”
“Boy.” Applejack made a face. “Moondancer, huh. That’s a whole ‘nother thing.”
“Darling, let’s not get wrapped up in that now.” Rarity looked at Applejack. “Don’t you think that would only confuse Twilight?”
“Yeah, good point, Ah guess.”
“What?” Twilight frowned, and looked at her friends. “What? Do you have anything against Moondancer, or…?”
“Nooo, no, no. Not at all, darling. Moondancer is a sweetheart, and I’m sure she’s a wonderful pony. Don’t mind us.” Rarity shook Twilight’s shoulder. “You were saying?”
Twilight frowned at this, but eventually she let go. “Right,” she said. “Well—it doesn’t have to be love, right? It can be something different.” She bit her lip for a moment, and then: “Maybe… I don’t know. Guilt?”
This caused a reaction. Rarity blinked twice, and Applejack tipped her hat upwards as if getting it out of the way to look at Twilight a little better.
“What now?” AJ asked. “Guilt? For what? Did you send the Guard to her room or…?”
“No! No, absolutely not!” Pause. “Well. Uh.” Twilight’s ears went down, and she hid behind her mane. When she talked again, her voice was barely a whisper. “…Maybe?”
Pause.
“Twilight?” Rarity said, voice soft. “I think I need you to give me more details.”
“Yeah, Ah think the same,” Applejack said. She was frowning. “‘Cause that’s one weird thing to be unsure about. Ah didn’t know you could wingman on accident. How bad are you at courtin’ Sunset, again? ‘Cause that there’s impressive.”
Rarity looked at Applejack. “Darling,” she said. “I think you’re supposed to be a good friend in this kind of situation, not a rational one.”
“You’re the best friend, Ah’m the mom friend. We’re a team.”
“Oh. Huh. Good point.”
“No, I don’t mean—” Twilight coughed a bit, took a breath, then tried to look at her friends. “I didn’t send the Guard to her room directly, but I think I’m… maybe responsible for it?”
“Oh?”
“Huh?”
“Yeah.” Twilight fiddled with her hooves. “Well, it’s about… It’s about the dinner we had.” Pause. “With Princess Celestia.”
Rarity and Applejack nodded. This was new information for them, but they didn’t ask any questions. They just waited for Twilight to tell them more.
And Twilight did.
“It didn’t go well.”
People talk about stories. They say a lot of things—that they affect us, that they shape us, that they’re pretty cool. They say countless things—but they always focus on the same thing:
It’s always about the audience.
It is rare to mind the one telling the story. It’s like congratulating the waiter on the size of your table. But ignoring the storyteller is, at its core, a mistake.
So Twilight told a story, here. And it changed her.
It changed her because she talked about the dinner she’d shared with Sunset and Celestia. Because to explain her disappointment, she had to first explain her expectations—that it would solve everything, that Sunset and Celestia would open their heart to each other, that they would finally make amends, after all this time.
And then the dinner had happened.
And it had been hell.
“Princess Celestia said,” she explained, “that there was nothing to do with Sunset Shimmer. That she didn’t want my help, and that I would only hurt us both if I tried to help her, and that…” Pause. “That she wouldn’t forgive her.”
Rarity and Applejack said nothing.
“And it’s my fault,” Twilight said.
Rarity and Applejack said many things.
“What?!”
“Twilight! Oh my gosh, dear, no! No, that’s ludicrous, I can’t believe—”
“Princess Celestia said that? Because if she said Ah’m gonna go and tell ‘er—”
“—that this is not your fault, darling, you have done nothing wrong, you’re—”
“—gonna go there, and say hi your Highness, nice to see you, you know Ah really appreciate you, but Ah’m gonna grab your head and—”
“—promise you that all that happened at the dinner, and whatever Sunset Shimmer has or hasn’t done, has nothing to do with you, and you—”
“—are not—”
“—at fault here.”
And then both of them stood there, eyes intense, looking at Twilight with equal times concern and the purest kindness a pony could ever summon. And in that very moment—flowers falling all around, children laughing in the distance, sweet scent in the air—they were the perfect picture of friendship. In that moment, anypony would have guessed, with just a look, that they could shoot lasers with the bonds that tied them.
And Twilight stood there, slightly overwhelmed, and a little bit creeped out.
She said: “Uh.”
Rarity and Applejack leaned towards her. “Yes?” “Yeah?”
“That is—Applejack, did you just imply you’d commit treason?”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“Wow.” Twilight blinked. “For me? Just because you thought that’d help?”
“Yes.” Again, no hesitation. “Told ya. Mom friend.” She got up. “Want me to? ‘Cause Ah can just—”
“No! No, no, no, no!” Twilight grabbed Applejack by her tail. “No! No treason! There’s no—that was really sweet, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no reason to go to jail just for me. Also, thanks. Also, really—no need.” Pause. “But thanks. You too, Rarity.”
“You’re welcome, dear.”
“You sure, Twi? Ah really don’t mind. Ah can just go to the Castle real quick and—”
“No!” And with a flash of her horn, Twilight pushed AJ down till she forced her to sit down again. “No. No, there’s no—do not commit treason. Princess Celestia didn’t say that, she never blamed me, so there’s no reason for treason.”
Pause. Applejack squinted. “Yeah?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” And Applejack relaxed her shoulders. “Good. No treason today.” She squinted. “But she better not try me.”
Rarity looked at Applejack with a half-smile. “Why, dear. That was positively threatening, was it not?”
“It was?”
“Absolutely.”
“Huh.” Applejack smiled back. “Thanks!” Then she looked at Twilight. “And if she didn’t say that, then why did you say it?”
“Because it’s wrong,” Rarity added quickly, once again placing a hoof on top of Twilight’s. “The dinner was—well, it was a disaster, indeed. But that’s on Princess Celestia and Sunset, from what you said. You did what you thought was best for them. Now, did it work? No. Should the dinner have happened? Also no. Was it a good idea to force it on them? Oh, definitely not.”
Twilight flinched. “Ouch.”
“It’s tough love, darling, I mean well. And if Princess Celestia didn’t forgive Sunset…” Rarity frowned. “Well, quite honestly, I don’t quite understand that bit. It does sound harsh on poor Sunset, but—did the princess give any reason, or…?”
“Well.” Twilight frowned. “She said it was Sunset’s natural disposition to betray Equestria and do… everything she did, I guess.”
“Natural disposition?”
“Y’mean,” Applejack asked, “that she’s, like, evil inside?”
“Kind of? She said that it was about Sunset’s parents. That she wasn’t really at fault for becoming evil, because she was pretty much fated to do it—but that she did hold Sunset responsible for everything that happened afterwards.” Pause. “Which, knowing Sunset,” Twilight added, “can mean a lot of things, and most of them are bad. So.”
“Right, but that’s still—”
“That doesn’t sound like something Princess Celestia would say,” Applejack said. Then she looked at Rarity. “Does it?”
“It does not!” Rarity said. “I do not claim to know the princess better than anypony—but in my experience, she’s always been an extremely forgiving pony, hasn’t she?” She frowned. “She’s been, why, nothing but kind all these years.”
Twilight nodded. “Hmm,” she said. “She’s always had a really big heart. She forgot Princess Luna as soon as she came back.”
“Yeah. She’s mighty nice,” Applejack said. “Still gonna commit treason if you w—”
“Applejack, nopony wants you to commit treason. Please, stop talking about committing treason.”
“Okay! Okay.” Applejack raised both hooves in the air. “Okay. No treason. But it ain’t your fault if Princess Celestia doesn’t forgive Sunset Shimmer, right? It’s weird, and you probably caused it—but it ain’t your fault.”
“Again: ouch.”
“Again: tough love.”
“I thought Rarity was the one saying that?”
“She is,” Applejack said. And then she pointed at her chest. “But, y’know, Ah’m—”
Twilight interrupted her with a smile. “The mom friend?”
And Applejack smiled back. “Atta girl.”
“It still isn’t your fault, darling,” Rarity said, patting Twilight’s head. “It is, admittedly, an uncomfortable situation—but you did what you had to do. I don’t know if it helps, but I would have done the same in your situation. Having Princess Celestia and Sunset talk should have at least fixed something. I truly can’t understand what was going through the princess’ head…”
“Y’know what Ah can’t understand?” Applejack asked. “How this relates to Sunset Shimmer doin’ the do with that Royal Guard.” Pause. “Did Princess Celestia wingman her or…?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “No,” she said. “Wait. Yes. Maybe? Kind of. It’s complicated.” She frowned. “I think that’s why I’m so upset. Because I’m—”
“In love,” Rarity said.
“Heads over heels,” Applejack said.
“Responsible,” Twilight said, with a hint of annoyance. “I’m responsible for Sunset Shimmer doing that with the Guard, and maybe Princess Celestia is too, and it’s just… Ugh.” She rested her head on her hooves. “It’s really weird, and really sad, and really, really confusing.”
“Huh.” Applejack looked up and scratched her muzzle. “Both Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight, huh. Sunset Shimmer sure got a lotta royalty in her bedroom.”
“Hmm.” Rarity looked at her. “Royal Guard, too.”
“Yeah, that’s three for three.”
“I’m telling you it’s not like we did it directly,” Twilight said, still not looking at them. “Just… Don’t you think that maybe Sunset is doing this just because of the dinner? That she’s trying to… prove something?”
Now that Twilight wasn’t paying them any attention, Applejack and Rarity were free to do whatever they wanted. And they took this chance to look at each other—and that look was worth more words than a thousand pictures.
It was Rarity who broke the silence. “Prove something, darling?” she asked. “Prove what?”
“That… That she’s worth something, I suppose?” Twilight said. She was still burying her face on her hooves. “Princess Celestia was ruthless with her. Anypony would feel down after something like that. Maybe she was just looking for some kind of warmth? Some kind of, of consolation?”
Again, Applejack and Rarity looked at each other.
“So you think,” Applejack said, speaking slowly, “that Sunset went with that Royal Guard ‘cause she was down ‘cause of the dinner.”
“Yeah.”
“And the dinner was your idea,” Rarity said. “And that means that you are the reason why Sunset is doing what she’s doing, in a sense.”
“Yeah.”
“And that upsets you,” Rarity said.
“Uh-huh.”
“‘Cause you’re in love with her,” Applejack finished. “Well, this has been productive. Are we done now?”
“Wh—no!” Twilight got up and finally regarded her friends once more. “No, that’s not what we’re talking about! This is the alternative theory we’re working with, remember?”
“It is?” Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow. “‘Cause from here it looks like it’s exactly the same, only it has more layers.”
“Oh, but that’s the mark of a true romance, darling.” Rarity winked at her and let out a giggle. “Needless complications! Oh, they’re the fuel that feeds the flames of love, aren’t they?”
“They’re really, really not.”
“We’re not talking about flaming romance!” Twilight whined, bopping up and down in the chair a little bit. “Listen to me! I’m just—if I’m the reason why Sunset is doing these things, it’s perfectly normal to feel upset! Maybe I just feel guilty, you ever thought about that? Doesn’t mean I’m in love!”
“Rrrrright.” Applejack squinted. “Um—”
Rarity raised a hoof. “Darling?” she said, looking at Applejack. “Excuse me for a moment, but—” She pointed at AJ—“mom friend?” Then she pointed at herself. “Best friend. My turn?”
Applejack waved a hoof. “All yours.”
“Right, thanks. Twilight.” Rarity scooted closer to Twilight, so they were almost touching. “There are many things I could say here, truly. I don’t think that Sunset seeking… comfort, as you put it, in a Royal Guard’s arms is necessarily bad. As a friend, you shouldn’t feel guilty. As a suitor, however, you’re jealous, which makes more sense.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m not—”
“And,” Rarity continued, her tone a little forced to make sure Twilight shut up. Twilight shut up. “And,” Rarity repeated, “I’d be right. However… I don’t really think Sunset was seeking comfort? She’s, ah. How to say this.” Rarity coughed. “Okay. Darling? I don’t think Sunset is with that Royal Guard because of what the princess said. I think one thing has nothing to do with the other.”
Twilight made a face. “Well,” she said. “You don’t know that.”
“I sort of do.”
“We didn’t really tell you ‘bout this ‘cause we care about you,” Applejack said, giving Twilight a sympathetic smile. “And ‘cause you’re really smitten by Sunset Shimmer.”
“You also don’t know that.”
“We really do,” Rarity repeated. “Sadly, we also know that Sunset Shimmer has… Sort of…” Rarity bit her lip. “This is not the first time she’s with a Royal Guard, turns out?”
There was the smallest of pauses. The smallest of silences.
If you had listened hard enough, you could have made out the sound of Twilight’s heart breaking a little bit.
“…She what?” she asked.
“She’s been’ doin’ the do for weeks,” Applejack said. “Weeks, Twilight. Eeevery time you turned around.”
“What?!”
“Well.” Rarity glared at Applejack for a moment before going back to Twilight. “Perhaps not every time, but—I suppose you’ve been too busy studying Flower Fall to notice, and Sunset Shimmer did try to hide it from you, but…”
“Literally the first thing she said after enterin’ the Castle,” Applejack said, “was to fool around with a Royal Guard. Why do you think she got lost in the way?”
“I—wh—what?” Twilight’s mouth was agape. “W—really?”
“She… hasn’t spent many nights alone, yeah. I haven’t really talked to her, I’m afraid—she and I aren’t as close as you two—but it’s easy to see, if you’re paying attention.” Rarity muzzled Twilight. “You were just too busy to notice, darling. Anypony in your situation would’ve missed it too, I’m sure.”
“Ah mean, Ah guess you can’t blame her,” Applejack said, shrugging. “Sure, it ain’t fun to watch when I know you’ve got the silly giggles for her, but Ah guess Sunset just wanted some kind of fun after all those times in the human lands.” She tipped her hat. “Ain’t no human who can match a stallion, Ah’m willin’ to bet.”
Rarity looked at her. “Applejack,” she said. “Gross.”
“Yeah. But true!”
“Still gross. However, you do have a point. Sunset clearly fell smitten for the Royal Guards as soon as she saw them. They are handsome.” Rarity rubbed her chin. “And, well. The Royal Guards are stallions who dedicate their lives to the protection of a maternal, beautiful, older figure. Sunset Shimmer is sort of tailor-made for them.”
“Oh my gosh.” Twilight opened and closed her mouth many times, trying to come up with something to say. She couldn’t. So she just went: “Oh my gosh!”
“Yep. Ain’t scared of havin’ fun, that mare.”
“Something I would have put in more sensitive terms, but yes, Applejack is right, dear.” Rarity nuzzled Twilight again, for good measure. “I’m sorry to tell you this, darling. I know it must be hard, but that’s just who Sunset Shimmer is.”
“On the other hoof, hey!” Applejack punched Twilight’s shoulder. “That means you don’t have to think she spent the night with him because of you! ‘Cause she was gonna do it anyway!”
Twilight whimpered. “Oh,” she said. “My gosh.”
“Yep.”
“I’m afraid so, darling.”
“And she’s…” Twilight swallowed. “You said she’s been hiding this from me? …Why?”
“You do have a thing against Royal Guards,” Applejack said. “Always get fuzzy whenever somepony says you could date one of ‘em—”
“My brother was their captain!” Twilight said, springing up and almost hurting Rarity in the process. “And I’m a Princess! They look at me weird!”
“—Even though they’re the only males you deal with outside of Spike,” Applejack closed. “Literally your only chance for a boyfriend right there, sugarcube.”
Twilight pouted. “I don’t do boyfriends.”
“Well, you’re really in love with Sunset Shimmer, so yeah, Ah guess that’s one mystery solved.”
“Seeing how you react exactly like that every time somepony mentions the Guards,” Rarity mused, fixing up her mane and checking that her muzzle was still intact, “there’s no wonder Sunset didn’t want to tell you. She must have been afraid of disappointing you, see?”
“Right.” Twilight squinted. “Right! She was afraid of disappointing me? SHE WAS AFRAID OF DISAPPOINTING ME?!”
Both Applejack and Rarity flinched, and leaned back. “Uh,” Rarity said. “Twilight? Indoors voice?”
“I THOUGHT THIS WAS MY FAULT!” Twilight yelled. “I THOUGHT I HAD SERIOUSLY HURT HER!”
“Sugarcube, there are children, like, right there, so maybe you should…?”
“BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT NO, SHE WAS JUST AFRAID OF DISAPPOINTING ME!”
“Ah don’t think she’s gonna stop yellin’.”
“She’s definitely not going to stop yelling, no.”
“SO SHE JUST WENT AND HAD SEX WITH THE ENTIRETY OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”
The laughter of children couldn’t be heard from the playground anymore.
Screaming is a funny thing. Sometimes, it works like fueling a fire—yelling begets yelling, the words bounce and echo against each other and come out louder than ever—and it seems like it’s never going to stop. But sometimes, it works like rain. It seems like it’s never going to stop, but then, it does.
When Twilight started screaming, she thought she was a downpour of kerosene. But once she said the words out loud, she found out—it was only a drizzle.
So she just sat down, and looked down, and when she talked again, her voice was just a whimper.
“I can’t believe this,” she said. “I can’t believe she did that.”
And if she had been a lesser mare—if she had been a pony to give up, or to stand around and mop until her problems go away, then maybe this would have been the end of it all.
But she wasn’t a lesser mare.
She was Princess Twilight Sparkle. She was a pony who had outsmarted her way to royalty, a pony who had made ‘saving the world’ her main hobby. She was a pony who had moved to Ponyville an adult and survived to tell the tale, a pony raised by immortal goddesses who saw her as an equal.
So she didn’t sit around and wait. She perked up, took a breath, and said:
“Okay. So that’s that.” And then she looked at her friends. “I guess I can go back to saving the world now. Thanks for the talk, girls.” She smiled. “I mean it.”
And she got up from the bench, ready to face another day…
…only for Rarity to immediately push her back down. “Tut-tut,” Rarity said, frowning. “Darling, you’re not leaving.”
“What? What do you mean I’m not—you know the world is at stake, right? We might all die if Flower Fall—”
“Oh, come on.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “We’re all dyin’. So what? This is important. You’re still upset!”
“We can see it in your eyes, dear,” Rarity explained.
“Yeah. And in how hard you were yellin’.” Applejack pointed. “The kids are still lookin’ at us. HEY, Y’ALL! GO BACK TO YOUR BUSINESS! AH MEAN IT!”
“…Well, thanks for that, I guess,” Twilight said, squinting. “But, ah. The world is still ending, and this conversation is clearly over, so—”
“And why is it over? My, it’s just started, hasn’t it?” Rarity asked, a smile in her voice (and her face). “Now that you know how much in love with Sunset you are, we can finally talk about that, and maybe come up with a way to—”
“Hey, hold on. Hold on.” Twilight raised a hoof. “First: even if I were in love with Sunset—which I’m not, not necessarily—there’d be nothing to talk about. She’s spending her nights with the Royal Guards, so there’s nothing for me to do there. And second: I’m not necessarily in love with her.”
“YES, MA’AM, AH’M TALKIN’ TO BOTH YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN! Sorry, what?” Applejack turned around and frowned at Twilight. “You’re still denyin’ that you’re in love with her? Why?”
“Twilight.” Rarity shook her head. “What you want is a relationship. What Sunset is having right now is fun. She’s still not taken—why, if anything, now you’ve got even more of a chance with her! We know she’s not exactly hard to get. It’s just a matter of playing for keeps now, and you already have the emotional bond you need for that.”
“How in tarnation can you still be denyin’ that after you just went through a jealousy fit?”
Twilight pouted. “That doesn’t have to be jealousy. Maybe I’m just hurt because she kept a secret for me?”
“Yeah, and maybe Pinkie Pie will stop eatin’ stuff from the ground if you tell her about rat poison.” Applejack tipped her hat. “Look, sugarcube—we’re not goin’ anywhere till you admit this.”
“Hmm.” Rarity looked at Applejack, then at Twilight. “What if we don’t force it out? Twilight, what if you just… explain to us what you feel about Sunset Shimmer?”
Twilight arched an eyebrow. “Okay. Not love. Bam, done.”
“Dear, I mean in detail.” Rarity smiled at her. “Come on. Humor me?”
And Twilight sighed, tired, weariness setting all over her.
But she humored Rarity anyway.
“Well, she’s a great friend,” she said. She started speaking slowly, but picked up the pace little by little as she went on. “She’s really funny, and we’ve been friends for ages, so we can really hold a conversation. We’ve got very good platonic chemistry.”
Rarity nodded, and waved a hoof. “Okay,” she said. “Go on…?”
“And…” Twilight thought about it. “And I suppose she’s pretty? But I don’t really care about that kind of thing. I just mentioned it because I know you do. And—well, she knows a lot about magic, and… I mean…”
Applejack waggled her eyebrows. “You mean?” she asked.
“It’s just… This is going to sound weird, right?” Twilight gave them a nervous smile. “But I just—I was waiting for something like her, right? All these years with nothing to do… Just, the stagnation, the feeling of emptiness—I missed this!” She pointed at herself. “Look at me! I haven’t had breakfast, I’m extremely busy, I haven’t slept in days! The moment we finish this conversation, I need to go back to the Royal Library and hit the books for hours, or we might all die!”
“Wonderful, indeed,” Rarity said. “I see why you missed it.”
“Oh, it’s just the thrill of the adventure! This is what I live for!” Twilight let out a small chuckle. “Saving the world is—I’m not a daredevil like Dash, but it’s what gives us purpose, girls. It’s what made us who we are, what let us be the best version of ourselves! And once we saved the world for good, once we were left with nothing but a peaceful life…”
Rarity and Applejack looked at each other. Applejack talked. “You got bored.”
“Yes!” Twilight pointed at Applejack and jumped off the bench in excitement. “Exactly! And nothing was coming, and nothing was happening, and it was unbearable—and then she came! And the moment Sunset Shimmer crossed the portal? Oh, suddenly the world is in danger, and she’s got so many issues that I’ll have friendship problems to deal with for years!”
Rarity nodded. “Yeah?”
“Yeah! She is—I like her as a friend, but it goes beyond that, really. She’s my reason to go on! She gives me purpose! She is—!”
And then Twilight stopped talking, and her face fell.
She sat down.
“She is,” she said, now speaking slowly again, “the girl of my dreams.” And then she buried her face in her hooves. “And I am desperately in love with her.”
And, one last time, Applejack and Rarity looked at each other.
(And they should have smiled at this point, because Twilight had finally admitted it—but something really interesting happened.)
(They didn’t).
Commotion at the most important table of the world. Logic is astounded, and can’t believe its eyes. Reality is assessing the situation, not quite getting which way this is going. Mother Nature is impressed, because she feels this appeals to her. Father Civilization is insulted, because this sort of thing has destroyed many of his creations.
And Time is unsure, because he thought his victory was written in stone. But now, not so much.
So what is Fate doing, then, one might ask? The audience looks at him, with held breaths and uneasy eyes.
Fate is looking at the table, and he’s thinking. Because, he explains once he sees the attention he’s getting, because this is actually a really complicated game. How do they fall in love? Because they’re supposed to look at each other, and then there’s a
tink!
in the air. But that means that they both fall in love at the same time. So there’s a binary outcome: either they fall in love, or they don’t. The pieces always act together, because that’s what the players are aiming for.
But what if there’s a third option?
What if one of the pieces is actually ahead of the game?
This has never happened, Fate says, and his gaze never leaves the table. But if it happens—if—it happens, then Time is at a disadvantage. Because now he’s not just playing against Fate.
Time’s playing against Fate and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Time’s playing against the game itself.
So we zoom in into the game, just in time to see…
…Applejack showing off her knack to say exactly the opposite of what Twilight wants to hear:
“Well, Ah’ll be darned,” she muttered, frowning and scratching her forehead. “Are you? ‘Cause, uh.” She looked at Rarity again. “Ah think you ain’t, actually.”
And the silence that followed this statement could have drowned the sound of a bomb.
Twilight looked up, really slowly, and looked at Applejack. When she spoke, she didn’t ask anything. She merely enunciated the words. “Say. What now.”
“Ah think you ain’t in love, turns out?” Applejack repeated, thoroughly clueless at the tone Twilight was using. She was rubbing her chin, lost in thought. Rarity was by her side glaring daggers, but you couldn’t stop Applejack when she was Thinking [4]. “Ah mean, Ah know you’re not gonna like it, but—”
[4] Not thinking, but Thinking. Related, but not the same—just like the difference between an apple and an Apple.
“You’ve been telling me I’m in love,” Twilight said, eyes icey, voice frozen, “for the last thirty minutes.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And the moment I agree with you.”
“Yeah, Ah know, Ah know.”
“You go and—Rarity?” Twilight looked to her left. “Please, tell me you can balance her out? Tell me y—oh Celestia you’re also Thinking.”
Rarity was rubbing her chin. “Hmmm.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this!” Twilight buried her face into her hooves once again. “Rarity, your one job is to see romance everywhere, and as soon as I want you to—”
“I do consider myself a connoisseur of the romantic arts, Twilight, dear,” Rarity said, and now a frown made it to her Thinking face. “But precisely because of that…” She looked at Twilight. “I agree with Applejack, I’m afraid.”
“You have to be kidding me!”
“Nah. We thought you were in love but—that ain’t love.” Applejack shrugged. “Sorry. Our mistake.”
“Then what the—”
“A crush, dear.” Rarity stopped Thinking and looked at Twilight again—really looked at her—and in her eyes there was mostly compassion. “Just—a crush. Something that might feel like love, but really isn’t.” Pause. “And it might be just a little bit…?”
“Dangerous?” Applejack offered.
“I was going for ‘uncomfortable’,” Rarity said, nodding. “But that works. If the best you can say about a pony is that she’s trouble incarnate in a utopia, and you mean that as a compliment, then we might be in quite the emotional impasse, all right.” Then, to Twilight: “Darling, I know what we’re saying might not make a lot of sense, but—”
And Twilight just sighed, and got up from the bench. “Nah.” And before any of her friends could do anything, she just started walking—forcing Applejack and Rarity to follow her. “I actually get what you’re saying—it’s not love, it’s obsession, right?” She shook her head. “Some kind of unhealthy crush where I idolize Sunset and all that.”
“Uh.” Applejack blinked, and quickened the pace to reach Twilight. “Yeah! Actually, that’s exactly what we meant!”
“My!” Rarity was also trotting, almost to the point of panting. “Dear, you’re growing self-aware, now? Soon enough, you’ll barely need us!”
“I’m not self-aware, I just know how you two think by this point.” Twilight shrugged. “And honestly, I don’t mind.”
“No?”
“Wha?”
“Yeah. I needed to get this sorted out so I could concentrate on saving the world, right?” Twilight looked at them and smiled. The laughter of children could barely be heard anymore—they were out of the park. “I didn’t know why I was upset after seeing Sunset with a stallion. It’s love.” Pause. “Or a crush. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Mystery solved.”
Rarity squinted. “Mystery…? Dear, it doesn’t quite work like that.”
“If anythin’ now we gotta talk to you even harder! Ah gotta mom friend you!” Applejack sounded like she was almost panicking. “You’ve got a crush!” her eyes widened. “My little girl is growin’ up!”
Twilight smiled at her. “Har, har. Ponies seem to be really into momming me nowadays. I wonder what my actual mother would think of that, if she knew.” She shook her head, and quickened the pace even harder, until she was actually galloping at full speed. “Doesn’t matter!” she said, looking upfront. “We’ll talk about this later!”
“Darling, an unhealthy obsession with another pony is not the kind of thing you talk about later!”
“It is when you’ve got a list of priorities!” Twilight replied. She was almost smiling, now. Getting rid of a problem—even if only temporarily—was an euphoric sensation, almost aphrodisiacal in nature, and Twilight was making darn sure she was riding that wave to the very end. “And as much as I love Sunset—”
“You don’t love her, dear!”
“Y’all just got the honeyglow for her!”
“Okay, and as much as I’ve got the honeyglow for her—oh my gosh AJ where did you get that that’s adorable—I still have more important things to care about!” Pause. “Also, she’s with the Royal Guard now, so what do I care? It’s not like I can do anything at the moment!”
Rarity scoffed. “Well, you can talk with us! So we give you even more helpful advice!”
“Hee heeh. Thanks!” Applejack said.
Pause.
Rarity looked at her. “Thanks?”
“She said Ah’m adorable!”
“No, she said your countryism was adorable.” Rarity thought about it. “Which, well—it was. But don’t thank her for it!”
“Why not? Ah like compliments! Just ‘cause Ah’m the mom friend doesn’t mean Ah don’t like it when you say nice things to me!”
“Applejack, darling, I’ll tell you nice things all day long later if you want to, but can we please concentrate on Twilight first? This is kind of important!”
Applejack blushed slightly. “Aw, shucks.”
“APPLEJACK THIS IS REALLY NOT THE TIME!”
Then Twilight stopped, and AJ and Rarity almost crashed against her.
“Actually,” she said once she made sure her friends were okay, “this is the perfect moment for it, girls. So you can go and flatter Applejack till your throat runs dry if you want to, Rarity.” Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Ah’d actually like that!”
“Darling.” Rarity frowned, and looked at Twilight. “We worry about you. What can possibly, in any way, be more important than this? We’re talking about your emotional wellbeing! About your life, Twilight!”
And Twilight just looked at her, and spread her wings a little. In that moment, she looked majestic—like a real princess—and there was no shade of doubt or troubling in her eyes.
Behind her, stood the Royal Library.
“What’s more important than me?” Twilight asked, smiling. “Well, kind of a silly question, Rarity. We have to save the world. And I think Moondancer might be waiting for me.”
And without saying anything else, Twilight Sparkle turned around, and entered the Library.
She did not look back, not once.
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I gotta apologize for this one, I suppose.
Bottom line: Sunsettle was never on hiatus, in the sense that I've been working on it all these months. Problem is, I usually write my fics in one go, and then post the chapters one by one when I'm sure I've finished the story and that I've edited all the little bits that need editing. It helps me see the story as more cohesive -- shit, sometimes I don't even split it into chapters when writing, I just write one long continuous wall of text and go snip snip snip when posting.
But with Sunsettle, I post as I write, and the idea is terrifying. Real life got in the way, I felt like I didn't have the time or the mental strength to polish every chapter to a postable state after writing it, and, long story short, I was too scared to really continue the story. Busy, too, but everybody's busy.
So, an apology. I'm sorry it took so long. There's literally nobody to blame but me.
I like this story a lot. It's probably my favorite fic on the site (at least, my favorite fic with me as an author). This means, sadly, that I live in the constant fear of not living up to it whenever I write something. I've written a lot of stuff between chapters of Sunsettle to wind up and sorta stretch my muscles, but NaNoWriMo gave me the push I needed to actually sit down and work on this full-time; i.e., a daily goal of words.
So, i'm writing on this again. Hopefully, it'll actually be finished now. It's picking up right where it left, though I at least was smart enough to pause the story in a very important moment. You can say there's a new 'arc' starting, in a way, because it really is. You'll see once you read the chapter.
Sorry for taking so long, folks. The story ain't dead. Lessee how far we push this.
8552812
Hey, it's okay. We totally understand that feeling. Sometimes the biggest shadow to stand in is your own, and fear of not living up to your own expectations can be equal to the fear of not being able to live up to the expectations you've created in others for yourself.
Just focus on the doing, and when it hits you, let the writing flow. Try not to worry about you, or us. Just focus on making the story happen.
8552812
It's cool. Still enjoying the story. Write it as you can.
It took me until the end of the chapter, but I finally realized that Twilight and Moondancer are the only ones who really grasp the seriousness of the situation, and that is the reason why everyone else seems to be keen on wasting their time.
Because despite everything, they firmly believe that the problem can be solved by shooting it with friendship lasers. Which I guess is understandable: When you’re all about saving the world, it doesn’t take long before you start trying to nail everything that’s packing a hammer.
Or maybe that’s just Sunset Shimmer....
Sounds about right.
You smug motherfucker.
YIKES.
Probably both.
Basically.
And since two things can't exist in the same space at once...
They're not.
I'm in agreement.
You gotta be fucking kidding me.
8552812
It was worth the wait. It's good to hear you feel settled into your writing again. Thanks for sharing it.
I do really love this story, but I can absolutely see how it could get daunting fast. Not just for the chapter lengths, but the interplay with the characters and the style itself are just amazing. I don't know how to put it into words without coming off as a pretentious ass, but I just love the tone and style. Also, it was surprisingly easy to come back to without being lost.
The redundant dialogue was funny in the previous chapters. But here it was just dull. It just dragged on, especially towards the end. Which made it worse when Rarity and Applejack plain doubled back by saying "Nah, you're not really in love", followed by an equally repetitive back and forth.
Preach.
Hoo boy, i forgot just how much this story grates at my shipping sensibilities. Everything about Sunset just pushes my romance jimmies to the ground and, instead of rustling them, proceeds to kick the ever loving shit out of them. I hate that i enjoy this story, because as it is now, it hurts me on all levels, especially the physical, to read it.
Keep up the good work.
No need for the apology, this is one of the stories which are definitely worth the wait.
While not exactly appreciated, I do understand that the evil thing called life tends to get in the way, so you're off the hook. For now. (insert AJ pirate face here, I'm too lazy to search for it now)
So it would seem that both AJ and Rarity are easily influenced by the highest powers there, as their conclusions changed really fast.
Then again, it would take someone truly exceptional to not fall prey to those powers, so yeah. Also, honeyglow is totally adorable.
How Twi (probably unintentionally) wanted to ship the two of them at the end was quite amusing as well.
Then again, pretty much the whole chapter was amusing. Not just the banter, but all the descriptions. Ah, a looming apocalypse had never been funnier.
Now, Twi has a date with Moondancer. Whether it stays a platonic one, or if it will evolve into something more and disrupts Fate's plans, we'll see.
I was so sure that Twilight's actually in love with Moondancer before this chapter. Now I'm unsure...