Chapter 7
Naptime brought peace and quiet, but Twilight still felt unsettled right down to her soul after everything Spike had told her. Now she paced, hoping her nervous, repetitive movements would jog her memory. This was not the calm, relaxing time she had anticipated, not at all, but that was okay. All of this distracted her from what was really bothering her, and that was explaining everything that had happened to all relevant parties. To Spike, her friends, and Sumac’s mothers, who still did not know. At least, she was pretty certain that Sumac would keep a secret, even under intense interrogation.
She could fix everything with ink. This realisation bothered her, as it introduced a level of intellectual laziness. With but a little willpower, she could place the knowledge of everything that had happened into the minds of her friends, editing their stories, so to speak, and even Sumac’s mothers too. They would know, and she could even make a footnote that they were satisfied with knowing, and then this problem would go away.
The problem with Nuance could be dealt with in much the same manner; give his book a thorough examination to determine the exact moment where things went wrong, and then begin editing to fix the problem. Twilight sighed, knowing that this was not a fix, at least, not a good one, and doing things this way would lead to consequences. Little consequences at first, which would snowball, until such a time that the ink had to correct itself, and Twilight figured that she would need to be replaced, just as Eternity had. It was a chilling, gripping thought, and with this in mind, she resolved not to abuse the ink.
“Where does our relationship go from here?” Seville asked while he raised his head up from his work. There was a terrific crackle from his neck, which he rubbed with his hoof, and he glanced over at Pinkie Pie, perhaps seeking some support.
But Pinkie Pie was oblivious and rather quiet as she sat upon the couch, looking at a photo album. Seville blinked a few times, tilted his head, and his neck crackled again, this time sounding somehow worse. Groaning he leaned back in his chair and stared at Twilight, who had ceased her pacing.
“You’ve changed,” Seville began, “and in some ways, you’ve become a bit distant and even more distracted than usual. The paranoid part of me thinks you are pushing me away because there is something about us that bothers you. An even more analytical part of me says you are pushing me away so you only have yourself to blame. You have this thing about tackling the biggest projects in your life, alone, until such a time that you become overwhelmed and it falls upon your friends to rescue you. It’s a self-destructive pattern that I just don’t like about you. When things go wrong, you want the blame to fall on you and never others. You want to be the only one facing the consequences.”
“Yeppers,” Pinkie Pie said while she turned a page and kept her eyes in her photo album.
Twilight’s first thoughts were of Sumac facing his mother in Manehattan, this paralysed her. She was to blame for that, but it was Sumac who had paid for it, and was still paying for it. Her mouth opened to reply, but there were no words, and all that came out was an emotional huff.
“Something tells me that getting involved in a relationship would put a real crimp in your plans, hoarding all of this blame and consequence for yourself. A relationship means a connection. It means having co-conspirators and facing things together, and facing those consequences together.” Folding his forelegs over one another, Seville rested them on the edge of the table and stared at Twilight.
Something about the word ‘co-conspirators’ made Twilight think of Luna and Gosling. The wrong thoughts for the moment ran wild in her head and all she could think about were the shenanigans those two somehow managed to pull off. While Gosling and Celestia had a celebrated romance that was known throughout the land, Gosling and Luna had something… else. Something that defied definition.
Something she herself wanted, and she found herself looking at Pinkie while she corralled her thoughts. Gosling indulged Luna’s mercurial moods and her wacky spontaneity. They went on adventures together, some of which were already transcending into Equestrian legend. Gosling allowed himself to be lead along—he allowed life to happen—and Luna had lead Gosling to places where he would never go on his own.
“She’s gone quiet and I bet her brain needs reset,” Pinkie Pie muttered while she turned another page. “Oh look, it’s Limestone and she’s smiling. Such a nice picture of such a sour sister.”
“I’ve always thought of marriage as a slice of life moment,” Twilight blurted out, “and I suppose for some ponies, it is. But I don’t think I would be happy with a slice of life marriage.” Licking her lips, Twilight tried not to think about how she had blurted out something supremely dorky, and now she had no choice but to keep going. “If, uh, if I was to get into a relationship, and it was, uh, to be categorised in much the same way a book might be, it would be an adventure. I think? Look, I’ll be honest, I just poured my heart out and I have no idea where I’m going with this. I’m talking like a librarian again, aren’t I?”
Seville nodded his head, which caused his neck to crackle once more.
“Oh, that picture,” Pinkie Pie murmured and she seemed to be lost in reminiscing for a moment. “The holiday get together with Maud and Tarnish. Mom and Dad showed up. And Mom, being Mom, she suggested that Tarnish take Limestone as a wife. Ah, that was an interesting holiday.” The pink earth pony let heave a colossal sigh and when she turned to look at Twilight, she grinned. “Mom was so convinced that she was right, ya know? Ah, being a mom.”
“Do you think Celestia sent us Nuance to test our resolve?” Seville asked Pinkie. “A shake test, to see where we fall apart. I don’t doubt for a moment that she’s been waiting for a situation like this one. That mare…” Seville snorted and shook his head. “That mare, she uses everything as an asset for development and improvement. Even her own son.”
“That would suggest some advanced level of relationship between us that Celestia knows about—hey!” Twilight blinked and stomped her hoof. “Did you just try to trick me into revealing my own stance on our relationship?” Eyes narrowed, she glared at Seville Orange, feeling a curious mix of resentment and attraction.
“Did I?” The yellow-orange earth pony smirked, radiating a level of silent sarcasm matched only by Snarkle Sharkles, and then he winked. “So, we are back at the beginning. Where does our relationship go from here, and what do we want from each other?”
“I’m on relationship restrictions.” Pinkie Pie closed her photo album, looked at each of her companions, and then offered up an apology. “Sorry, Rainbow insists. After everything that’s happened, I’m on the rebound and I’m emotionally vulnerable. She’s right, you know, and I decided to trust her on this one. She doesn’t want any of us getting hurt.”
Twilight thought of her own emotional vulnerability brought about by thousands and thousands of years of separation. The book had been a long one to read, and after making some mistakes, she had gone back to the beginning a number of times. How long had it been? Time had lost all meaning during those blurred-together years, and she didn’t have an answer.
“Seville, you need to stop hunching over your work,” Twilight said as she uprooted herself from where she had been standing so she could go over to him. When she was mere inches away, she stopped, hesitant, and she realised that Seville smelled like ink, Windian ink. This ink was high end stuff, somewhat perfumed for a more pleasant writing experience. She sniffed, trying to figure out what the familiar scent was, but she was far too distracted to reach a conclusion.
Seville was one of the few ponies to care about such things as fancy inks, and Twilight didn’t think she’d ever find another penophile, or another fellow papyrophiliac. Distracted, Twilight tried to remember why she had come over here, but the reason escaped her. Seville turned his head, and this time, his neck did not crackle. She found herself looking into his eyes, which were green and inviting.
It was now hard to breathe.
Twilight Sparkle drew the curious conclusion that she was now close enough for a kiss, and Seville was sitting in a chair, which left him at just about the right height. Perhaps because she thought about it, her mouth went dry and all of the muscles along her belly started jerking. She stood there, mouth dry, wanting to lick her lips but worried about what sort of message it might send. Even worse, a new fear manifested for Twilight.
Did her wingpits stink?
It was terrifying to think about, and the anxiety was almost paralysing.
While Twilight was trying to jumpstart her now broken brain, the door slammed open and Spike came stumbling into the room, his claws snagging on the carpet. He gripped the doorframe to keep from falling over, his tail lashed from side to side for balance, and he sucked in a deep breath.
“There’s been an accident!”
Twilight hurried down the hall, her wings fluttering, trying to keep herself calm and collected. She could hear voices as well as crying ahead, and she already knew the nature of the accident. All three siblings had been put in the same bed for a nap together, with minimal protests from Nuance. He was just too cold and exhausted to put up a fight.
“It’s okay, NuNu, I’m not mad… lemme hug you, okay?”
Relief flooded through Twilight. Corbie was so sweet and good, a fine mix of both of her parents. She had her mother’s gentleness and her father’s playfulness. Ears perking, Twilight listened, hoping to hear what might be said when there were no grown ups around. Foals were completely different creatures without adult supervision, much to Twilight’s shock and surprise.
“Get away from me you fat, disgusting birdbrain! Stop trying to hug me!”
“I’m sick of how you treat her! I’ve had it Nuance! I’ve had it with you!”
There was a heavy thud, a pained cry, a frightened scream, and then a muffled-sounding thump of something hitting the floor. It felt like hot, broken glass had lodged itself in the back of her throat and she had to stifle a scream. There was another heavy thump, followed by a much weaker cry, and another ear-piercing shriek.
“I’M SICK OF YOU! I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND HOW YOU TREAT OTHERS!”
“Rad! Stop! You’re hurting him!”
“He has it coming!”
“Stop! Please! Stop!”
Twilight struggled to even bring her magic to bear, but somehow she did, and right as she winked out of existence, there was another heavy thud, which was drowned out by the crackle of magic. A filly’s scream poured out of the room and echoed up and down the hallway as Twilight winked herself into the middle of the crisis.
Using her magic, Twilight froze the situation, stopping Radiance mid-blow. The much larger earth pony colt had the much smaller unicorn colt pinned to the floor and was about to punch him in the face again. Corbie was pounding on Radiance, trying to stop him, but the earth pony colt shrugged off his sister’s weak, ineffectual blows.
The stench of urine and fear was thick in the air, along with the overpowering scent of ozone, as Twilight’s magic crackled from her seething, boiling emotions. With her lip curled back into a frightful snarl, she snatched up Radiance, freeing Nuance, turned the little colt around, and held him up at eye level.
“And just what do you think you are doing?” Everything in the room shook from the force of Twilight’s voice while she bellowed with bellicose fury. The colt she held was fearless, utterly and completely fearless, and this infuriated her even more.
“I’m giving him what he deserves,” Radiance responded and he snapped out a foreleg to point in Nuance’s direction. “He NEVER gets what he deserves! My parents won’t punish him right! Nopony will punish him right! And with them gone it falls on me to do what must be done because I’m in charge—”
“No you’re not,” Twilight snapped, interrupting the babbling colt whose words were just spilling out of his mouth. “I’M IN CHARGE!” Grinding her teeth together, Twilight battled to contain her growing fury, and for the first time in her life, she felt the pressing need to actually paddle a foal for misbehaviour. She understood now, and it was an unwanted understanding, a lesson she would have rather not learned.
She was tempted to follow through with her idea, too. Perhaps it would be possible to paddle this poor behaviour right out of Radiance. Twilight’s telekinesis fizzled a bit and sparks flew from her horn while her eyes began to whiten from the thaumaturgical overload. Spike had already scooped up Nuance and was now departing the room with Pinkie Pie and Corbie. Seville however, remained behind, staring, waiting, and watching.
“It’s not your place to punish your brother,” Twilight said, and her voice now had an eerie tranquility to it while raw magic continued to sizzle along her wings. All evidence of rage had vanished from Twilight’s voice, and Radiance, hovering in front of the angry alicorn’s face, now looked terrified. “It never will be your place to punish your brother. It doesn’t matter what you think is fair, and you are never, ever justified in hitting him.”
“Says you,” Radiance replied, his voice squeaky with fear. “I can see he’s worked his spell on you too. You pity him now, so you won’t punish him either. You’re no better than the others! You’re not! You’re going to go soft on him now and he’ll get away with everything! You’re worthless and weak! Some alicorn princess you are, letting yourself be controlled by that weakling!”
“After you have had a bath, you are going into your room, and you will stay there,” Twilight said in a voice filled with soul-curdling calm. “You will remain in isolation and you will think about what you have done. I will bring your meals to you and I will check on you periodically to make certain you are okay. But you are staying in your room. And there will be no watching the dawn tomorrow, because you’re going to be in your room, not watching the dawn as punishment. Do you understand me?”
“He’s turned you against me too,” Radiance spat, and he took a swipe at Twilight’s face with his hoof. “All of this weakness! Can nopony see what is going on? How he is turning us all against each other? Why won’t somepony do something about this? Seville, help me! You have to know what is really going on!”
Arming herself with a horrendous maternal scowl, Twilight stomped out of the room to give Radiance a bath; she couldn’t wait to toss him into his room and lock the door. Saying nothing, Seville followed her, also scowling, and had anypony been observing this moment, they would have seen two distraught parents and one petulant foal in need of a bath.
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Okay...hit the breaks right there...did Radiance just entered in full Nuance-mode at the end !?
Someone needs to explain the reasons behind Nuance's behavior to Radiance, he doesn't understand how much his brother suffers.
8181746
Yeah, see, you can do that all day long, but until he actually believes it...
Actually, this provides some pretty interesting insight into Radiance's character. It leaves me wondering exactly what happened to cause him to think of everything in terms of power dynamics, particularly of this kind. It doesn't sound anything like what Celestia or Luna or Gosling would have taught their son.
No, this seems like something he would've learned from Flicker Nicker.
Oh kids. Always blind to the big picture. The problem is, you can't tell him otherwise, he'll think you have been blinded.
Im also slightly worried for Nuance as I'm quite positive that Radiance could punch the shit out of many, and he hit him in the head.
Alfred Adler had some interesting postulations(?) about sibling dynamics. I'm way too tiered to see if the royal brats fit into his scheme...
Radiance is kinda messed up, to think in terms of who's in charge. Not as messed up as Nuance, but still.
This is like a messed-up-family rabbit hole, man.
Radiance, that kinda happens if you go around hitting others. People get upset and 'turn against you'.
I do wonder... Since Celestia knows she births good and able earth ponies, did she favour Radiance subconciously? Might be where he gets the "I'm the leader, I'm in charge" attitude.
I think regardless of the risks the royal brood needs to get more socialization with other foals thier own age though not just with foals of the Canterlot elite
8181977 Hardest job I've ever done.
8181749
Of course, this is somewhat what Nuance admitted that he wants anyway ... he manipulates others using Radiance's loathing of him, Corbie's love for him, and the pity of the adults for him. Nuance is most definitely a child-sociopath.
Radiance on the other paw/hoof/hand, despite his intellect and his natural gift of brightening things up, seems to have 40K Ork syndrome - "I's da Biggest, so's I's DA BOSS!!"
Let the ink and paper love flooooooow.
Man, Radiance is as terrible of a child as Nuance in his own way.
Radiance is a fitting name. He's so filled with his own sense of righteousness and justice, he's blinded himself, and whenever he looks at another they appear darker by comparison
Nothing's more dangerous than a man who genuinely believes he's doing the right thing
It's certainly interesting, seeing that Nuance isn't the only one with issues in this family. It's true that Nuance causes issues, but it's obvious that Radiance hates his brother too much to be objective about whatever punishment he receives for his actions. I wonder why he thinks he's the one in charge, and I almost shudder to think just what he thinks punishing Nuance "right" looks like.
Having said all that, who's to say that Radiance isn't right about Nuance here? We already know that he hates his whole family, and wants to see others suffer, so maybe he is in fact trying to get everyone to fight for his own amusement...
I'm starting to wonder if perhaps some of those distant cosmic horrors sang to Nuance in his crib, like that time with Sumac...
You know, after giving it some though, I can't help but think that perhaps a big part of the problems these foals are going through is the fact that they're basically all alone, with no friends their age to hang out with.
I understand that they live in dangerous times, and that both Grogar, as well as other evil ponies would want to get their hooves on the royal trio to hurt Celestia and Luna, but they're three little ponies who are stuck together even though they don't get along at all. At least by having friends and socializing outside of their family, they could have a chance to vent their frustrations and play like normal foals.
This is not a good or healthy situation they're currently growing up in, and even after they deal with Grogar, they'll still have assholes like Mister Mariner out there who would love to exploit those little foals.
Nuance, Radiance and Corbie seen to be stuck in some kind of cycle that can't be broken (And corbie gets the worst of it) Nuance is constantly in pain and in turn hurts everyone around him plus, seeing how corbie is happy anytime she can be. he hurts her, so radiance takes a bit of vigilanty justice and beats on Nuance (only hurting corbie more) bringing more pain on Nuance and so it continues. There's much more than that but that seems to be the size of it, tell me if I missed anything
I'm struggling now. I was pitying Nuance quite a bit and wanting to smack Radiance. But the theory that Nuance might actually be either clever enough or powerful enough to be a master manipulator and a child sociopath as Radiance may be suggesting rings all kinds of bells back to the Royal Wedding and Chrysalis. With master manipulators you never know if you seeing through them is just you foiling them or if they want you to figure them out so you sound paranoid and untrustworthy.
This feels far simpler, that Nuance suffers from a clinical depression (among other things) and that Radiance has that big brother attitude coupled with the tendency for highly intelligent children to feel they're always right and nobody can tell them otherwise. But the idea that it isn't that simple... this hole could go very deep.
What I'm struggling with is that now I don't know which foal to "cheer" for. So I'm just gonna join team Twilight.
I'm curious as to why Twilight won't use the 'Books'. We've already seen that the Books tell someone's story so why can't Twilight look at that. I understand that the allure of power can be strong but I see no reason as to why she can't look up in a 'Book' what's wrong with them and then from there figure out how to help them. She dissent need to change their past but she can help them have a better future.
8182694
Intellectual laziness. If she just uses the books all of the time, her own senses will grow dull from lack of use.
Right now, Twilight is still trying to strike a balance as she recovers her old life.
Ah Radiance, I don't fault you for your ignorance but punishment won't help someone who already feels overwhelmed with punishment.
Yep. Radiance and Nuance need help, counseling, and family therapy. And Gosling, Celestia, and Luna should feel some serious shame. Over a thousand years of life experience between the lot of them, and they let their kids reach this state. Whewwwwww, I'm honestly a bit steamed at all three of them. Frankly, they should have taken them to be helped by less-busy ponies sooner.
8183163
That isn't a fair judgment. They have been getting help. For quite some time now. Sometimes, you can get help and things still go wrong.
If you recall, in Compeer, the events there mirror this story. Things have been coming to a head for a while now.
8183163 Actually it;'s been said that they mostly had their kids raised by nannies.
Also, in terms of therapy, part of it requires the person to WANT to get better, along with being Open & Honest. The problem is we have NO IdEA what all has happened when it comes to Nuance.
Though I really do feel for Radiance and can see his side. He feels like everyone is too soft, therefore "Nunu" continues to misbehave, because he's never truly punished. Plus he probably feels like Nuance is Evil, or at least worthy of being locked up in Jouvie
I mean honestly, if he was NOT Royalty, with Twilight being so close to Celestia, this would be very different. So in a certain sense Radiance IS right to say that everyone is coddling Nuance, due to the complexity of him being part of the Royal Brood.