The Magnificent Six

by Paradise Oasis

Fifth Lesson- A Generous Apology

Fifth Lesson- A Generous Apology

"There there, Twilight. It's not all that bad!" Firefly consoled her, as she and Posey stood over the weeping pony. "I'm sure Surprise really didn't mean to ruin your dress."

"Yes, she probably just thought it was harmless prank." Posey added soothingly. "And I'm sure Glory's magic can get that stain out of your grandma's dress in a jiffy."

"Ah don't know gals, this gunk is in here pretty deep." The white unicorn replied, her horn glowing as the inky liquid was slowly drawn out of the garment. "It could take awhile before this dress is back to it's original colah."

"It's not just the dress!" The pink filly wailed. "I can't believe one of my friends would do something like that! Doesn't she even care how other ponies feel?"

"Of course she does, Twi." Firefly replied, trying to reassure her. "She was just trying to make you laugh, that's all."

"No she wasn't! Everything's just a big joke to her!"" Twilight sobbed, standing up and jumping off the bed. "I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think we could all be friends!"

"Now wait just a sec, Twilight. We-" Glory looked up from her work, to see her fellow unicorn trotting out the door. "-wait, where are you going?"

"Somewhere I can think, Glory." The sorrowful pink unicorn whinnied. "Right now, I just need to be alone."

"Twilight..." Glory called out sadly, as her friend closed the door behind her. "Oh dear, I do hope she'll be all right."

It was only a few minutes later, when knock came to the door.

"Twilight?" Posey asked, opening the door with her mouth. "Is that you?"

"Sorry girls, I'm afraid it's just me." Princess Cadence whinnied sadly, trotting into the room.

"Oh! Hello, your highness." Firefly greeted her, as the other ponies all bowed respectfully. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard what had happened from one of the guards, and I came to see if Twilight was all right."

"She hais already left, ahm afraid." Glory replied, turning away from the work on the dress. "Ah don't possibly know where she could've gone."

"Oh dear, I'd better go look for her." The princess sighed, trotting back out of the room. "That poor pony's been through more than just a practical joke these past few days."

Cadence had only trotted to the end of the hallway, when she saw a familiar white Pegasus flying back towards the room.

"Surprise, there you are!" The princess called out to her, trotting up to the filly. "Have you seen Twilight around anywhere?"

"Oh hello, your highness." The white Pegasus lowered her head shamefully. "I'm sorry, but I've done something just awful to Twilight. I'm so sorry, I really let you down."

"That is all right, child. You aren't the only one whose hurt her feelings recently." She trotted up to the remorseful filly, and put a wing around her. "I think we both have some mistakes to make up for, and I think I know how we can set things right."

...

Well, this is the only place I haven't checked for Twilight. Princess Cadence thought to herself, as she slowly pushed the door open with her hoof. Ah, I thought she might be in the royal chapel.

Having searched the entire Royal Paradise, it was a few hours before dawn when the alicorn finally found the sorrowful pink filly. As she trotted into the darkened chapel, the light of a thousand glowing candles, and the sweet scent of incense flowing from the braziers on the altar. Twilight was kneeling on all four hooves before the elegant glass statue of a pink Pegasus pony, her translucent wings stretching out over the entire altar.

Ugh...the great horsemaster. The princess thought to herself in disgust. The statue represented one of the three aspects of the self-proclaimed master of all equines- a Pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony- a trinity believers claimed were separate, yet at the same time all one pony. The alicorns had long held this being in contempt, this omnipotent deity who nearly all ponies believed had created their entire race. How dare the Zoroponthians worship this abstract being, over the princesses who had given so much for them? It disgusted her that her own subjects in Misty Mountain, had turned to this faith long ago.

"Oh Angel Pony, where did I go wrong?" The mournful unicorn asked, her eyes closed in prayer. "Please, please give me a sign I'm not just being a foolish dreamer."

"Why don't you ask that question, of someone actually capable of answering you?" The princess spoke up, trotting up to the reverent filly.

"Oh, good evening, your highness." Twilight replied, wiping her teary eyes with her hoof. "How'd you find me here?"

"When your friends told me you weren’t in your room, I decided to search for you." The alicorn trotted up to her. "Twilight, I am so sorry about the way I treated you and your friends."

"But you were so right about us, princess. We're not half the ponies, or the friends, our ancestors were." The filly sighed, her eyes gleaming in the candlelight. "A bunch of freaks and nutcases... I doubt we'd even be worthy of the elements anyway."

"Twilight, listen to me." The alicorn mare turned, and looked back at the altar. "When I was young, I had all of my friends and family around me all the time. My aunts, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor; no matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, they were always there for me." She closed her eyes. "but as time began to pass, more and more of the ponies I cared about got older and died. The world changed around me so fast, and everypony I cared about was gone."

"Oh, Princess..." Twilight Shine muttered sadly.

"The towns and places I knew, the language we spoke, even the beliefs we held about friendship... everything I had believed were important disappeared in a wave of invaders and strange new cultures and ideas. Ponies hated and mistrusted one another, and the alicorn of love couldn't do anything about it." She shook her head sadly. "I thought that maybe, if I could get the harmony bearer's descendants to be the ponies your ancestors were, that you could put Equestria back to the way it was."

"A-aunt Cadence?" The pink unicorn asked in an uncertain tone.

"But now I understand that you and your friends are your own ponies, and and that's what makes you special." She looked back at the pink unicorn, and smiled. "If you're going to earn the elements of harmony, Twilight Shine, you and your friends will do it as the ponies you are, not the ponies others believe you should be."

Twilight stared at her great aunt in disbelief for a few moments, before rushing forward to embrace the alicorn in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you, Aunt Cadence! I'm so sorry I said those terrible things to you!"

"They needed to be said, my child, to a stubborn old alicorn who just couldn't let go." Princess Cadence replied, pulling away from her young charge. "And I am sorry I wasn't the mentor you deserved."

The pink unicorn wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof. "So...what now?"

"Now, we'd better get back to your friends." The alicorn replied, as the two trotted out of the chapel. "They're probably worried sick about you."

As the two exited out into the hallway, a white Pegasus came zooming down the hallway.

"Oh, Twilight, there you are!" Surprise called out excitedly, as she galloped past the two other ponies. "I was looking all over for youuuuuuuuuuuu-!"

Suddenly, the blonde bimbo suddenly went out of control, sliding across the floor, and slammed into a stained glass window at the end of the hallway.

"Ow..." Surprise moaned painfully, as she slid down the glass like a pigeon that had run into a translucent window.

"Surpise! Are you all right?" Twilight asked, galloping up to the scrambled Pegasus. "You really need to watch where you're going!"

"I don't know, Twilight..." The alicorn smiled mischievously, her horn glowing. "...it's kinda hard to pay attention when you're such a featherbrain like her!"

Twilight looked around the room, Twilight noticed the oily substance spread across the floor, and the bucket of grease Princess Cadence quietly slipped behind her with her hoof, then looked back to the white Pegasus smattered on the floor, who was also grinning in an equally goofy fashion.

"Hehehehehe..... ahhahahahahahahaha!"

At that, all three of the ponies burst into hysterical laughter, nearly collapsing in the hallway as the other two moved to help Surprise up.

...

"Blimey, so Cadence had run into Surprise in the hallway, and she and that crazy Pegasus planned the whole thing to cheer Twilight up?" North Star asked, looking at the other pony.

"Yep, killed two birds with one stone, as the humans say." Fizzy giggled, her eyes twinkling in the light. "I heard the three have gone down to Cadence's room to sort the whole thing out."

"So the old girl has realized the true meaning of laughter, after all." North Star smiled. "Well, jolly good for her!"

"I guess she really is as cool as Pinkie Pie." Fizzy giggled. "Looks like we have our next element of laughter, after all."

"I still don't believe that Surprise's ancestor's name was Pinkie Pie, I won't be convinced of that until I see some hard evidence." North Star replied skeptically. "But I do believe that we successfully tested another harmony bearer."

"Now, only generosity and magic are left." Fizz replied, as they arrived at the harmony bearer canidate's room.

"And now, it's time to test the former." North Star agreed, as she knocked on the door.

"Yeas, please come in." Glory's voice replied, as North Star opened the door. "My my, ah do declah, this place is turnin into lil go grand central station!"

""Yeah, sure looks that way." Fizzy replied, as the two ponies trotted into the room. "You the only one here, Glory?"

"Hello girls!" The white unicorn replied cheerfully, looking up from the work she was doing on the dress. "Sorry, but Fiahfly and Posey went down to the gahdans to get some air."

"That's alright, old girl." North Star replied, wincing at Glory's terrible accent. "Actually, you were the one we wanted to talk to."

"Me?" The white unicorn asked, puzzled. "Naow what could y'all want with lil' ol me?"

"The Princess thought you must be feeling lonely, so she arraigned for you to have a candlelight dinner with a certain colt friend of yours this evening."

"A-a candlelight dinnah? This evening?" Glory's eyes went wide. "Oh, haow romantic! Ah'd simply love to!" She turned back to the dress. "Just give me an hour or two ta finish cleanin' this mess up, ahnd ah'll be raight daown."

"Blimey, I'm terribly sorry, Glory." Firefly frowned. "But with the tight schedule things are on, the dinner has to be now or never."

"Princess Cadence is sending your boyfriend back to Misty Mountain citadel tonight, to complete his guard training. "Fizzy added. "If you don't go now, you won't be able to see him for six months."

"But... I wanted to cheer Twilight up...." Glory looked at the dress, then looked back towards the two waiting mares. If I don't get it out in the next few hours, the gunk will perma-stain! Oh dear, what do I do?

Comments

[Tovan]

Hmm... Is it just me, or are the moral dilemmas getting even tougher. Now, it's choosing Twilight Shine or her coltfriend. That dress was worn by her grandmother. So, I would lean toward that but then again, the meaning of "generosity" takes many forms.

And apparently, they already tested Posey for kindness. I wonder if that whole debacle she faced was a set up or not..

Also, shouldn't this be the "Fifth Lesson"? I thought the "Third Lesson" was concluded when they left Flutter Valley. Unless...

[La Vallett1]

2427371 I believe it is more generous to give up the date for another time and try to help a friend in need. They're lucky that it's Glory and not Sparkler who's with them.

[Tovan]

2430873
Agreed, considering that she can see him again after six months. That dress probably has a lot of sentimental and personal value to Twilight, which cannot be replaced. So, she should probably help out Twilight. Unless, this a trick question, and the two are intending her to pick a third option.