They were making progress. Spike had, thus far, managed to correctly pronounce ‘tree,’ ‘cloud,’ ‘sun’ and ‘awesome,’ although that was not one of the things Twilight was trying to get him to pronounce. She puffed out a quick breath before reaching for another object. “Alright, let’s do one more, okay Spike?” Twilight pulled up a water bottle in her magic, letting it float lazily in the air in front of Spike’s eager eyes. “This is water. Okay? Repeat after me: water.”
“Wah-bo,” Spike tried, scrunching up his little face and then smacking his lips together.
Twilight rolled her eyes at him in amusement. Despite the butchery he was committing upon the Equestrian language, his self awareness made it forgivable and, to be fair, rather adorable. “No, Spike. Water. Try again.”
“Wagau…” Spike said again, tilting his head and then frowning. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth for a few seconds before speaking again. “Wakar!”
Twilight laughed again at that before shaking her head. “That’s closer, but you’re still off, Spike,” She then stole a look to her clock and sighed heavily. “And I hate to break it to you, but we’re out of time. I gotta get a move on. Class starts in thirty minutes.”
“Klouth…” Spike echoed, before wilting slightly. He glanced over to the saddlebags with the gems in them. “Foug?”
Twilight giggled at the gibberish that she had learned to interpret as ‘food’ from the tiny creature. “Okay, Spike. Give me a second,” She turned and lifted four or five sizable gems from the saddlebags in her magic. She then set them down in front of Spike, who squaled in delight. “Dont shovel them down too fast, now. I don’t want to come back and see you choking on the floor. We’ll pick this up when I’m back, okay?”
“Akee!” Spike replied before contentedly picking up the first gem in his tiny claws. He licked his lips and took a bit, suddering with ecstacy. Twilight smiled warmly before assembling her supplies, consisting of three notebooks, a stack of flashcards bound by a rubber-band, a text book and a box of pencils. Satisfied that she had everything, she shot one last look at the baby dragon on her floor before setting off, exiting her room and then leaving the private wing.
As she trotted down the halls towards the exit that would put her close to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop on nearby ponies, nobles and the sort, as they went about their business. Her ears flattened back at some of what she heard. The nobles were talking about Princess Celestia’s announcement the previous day, unveiling her adopted daughter, Rainbow Dash.
Well, everypony was talking about that, not just the nobles. But while many of the commoner ponies were touched or pleasantly surprised by the announcement, there was no small amount of disdain and disapproval among some of the more ‘refined’ noble families.
Refined… tch, yeah. Stuck up jerks would be more accurate… Twilight thought bitterly to herself. She had to admit, albeit only ever silently, that there was one massive downside to being in Celestia’s school, and even moreso to living in the castle. The sheer arrogance of many of the nobles who paraded around these halls was enough to make her stomach turn. Seriously, I come from a noble family too but I manage to not be like… well, that!
She shot a disapproving glare at one noble in particular, spouting some nonsense or other about Rainbow Dash while the pony listening simply looked at him with a bored expression.
She refocused when she got outside, though. Twilight took a few seconds to enjoy the breeze and fresh air before continuing on her way. Celestia’s school would be on the street just across the drawbridge that connected the west castle courtyard to the city. It looked like the weather teams were putting together some rain clouds for later. Twilight frowned at this, but otherwise didn’t give it much thought.
The streets were busy as usual, chit-chat among the residents blurring together. Twilight scampered across the street and then smiled upon stepping onto campus grounds. She could see that there were a fair number of unicorns already making their way inside as well. Twilight felt her smile flicker only slightly when she spotted Moondancer approaching. Oh no… social activity.
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” Moondancer remarked with a friendly smile.
Twilight shrugged absently. “I had to work on Spike’s talking.”
“Makes sense. Is he getting better, at least?”
“Yes.” Twilight said nothing else before trotting past Moondancer for the school’s main entrance.
Moondancer frowned at Twilight’s lackluster response. While she was definitely used to Twilight being blunt and anti-social, that was a bit unusual. She trotted to catch up and fell into stride next to Twilight. “You okay? You seem a bit more out of it than usual.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes Moondancer, I’m sure. Just thinking about some stuff.” Twilight replied vaguely. Moondancer raised an eyebrow at that.
“Nothing new there.”
“Uh-huh.”
Moondancer sighed and fell silent. The two continued on with neither one breaking the silence. At last, they reached the classroom they would be using for the day’s work. Twilight found her seat and plonked herself down without much ceremony. The agitating jabbering of the nobles up in the castle was agitating her so much she missed it when Moondancer asked her a question from the seat next to hers.
“Uh, Twilight?” Moondancer tried again, poking Twilight in the shoulder to get her attention.
“Huh, What?” Twilight jumped slightly upon the physical contact. Moondancer’s frown deepened, but she repeated her question regardless.
“You’ve heard about Princess Celestia’s big announcement yesterday, right?”
“Yeah, I heard.” Twilight said, looking at the surface of the desk in front of her.
“What are your thoughts on it?” Moondancer asked, leaning back a bit to be more comfortable in her seat.
Twilight snorted. “I know I’m more okay with it than some other ponies I could mention...”
Moondancer flinched from the harshness in Twilight’s words. “Woah… who?”
“Nobles up in the castle,” Twilight replied with a groan. “A lot of them are looking at it purely from the perspective of what it does for their own power, or outright berating the act because it ‘lowers the Princesses status to adopt a peasant,’ blah blah blah. It’s frustrating.”
“Oh… so that’s what’s bothering you.” Moondancer deduced with a small nod.
“Yup.”
“Well, wanna know what I think?”
“Sure.” Twilight looked to Moondancer with some interest. If nothing else, the butter-colored filly was a fantastic intellectual peer.
“I think she made the right call. In her position, I can’t even begin to imagine the sorts of pressures the nobility and other such types put on Princess Celestia. A lot of what I know about the aristocratic part of Equestria’s government shows a stunning lack of morality or empathy. For Princess Celestia to adopt a previously unknown orphan filly with virtually no status… it shows the sort of kindness and moral fortitude Equestria needs to remember.”
Twilight nodded, actually impressed with the depth of Moondancer’s words. “You make a good point. I’d give my own but, well,” she pointed to show that Princess Celestia had just entered the room. “It’s time for us to be quiet.”
“Ah, right.”
Rainbow Dash was bored. Supremely so.
Twilight was off being taught by Princess Celestia down at that special school, meaning that the two ponies that Rainbow actually knew were not present. She still wasn’t feeling very social, either, so popping out to meet others wasn’t high on her list of priorities. It didn’t help that she was still very unaware of the usual customs and standards of Canterlot society.
Supposedly though, Celestia had arranged for Princess Cadence to come by and keep her company (and out of trouble, should they exit the castle for whatever reason), so there was that. It would help if Cadence would show up, though. Rainbow Dash stared blankly at the wall, unmoving and unblinking. Maybe if I sit here long enough, I’ll go insane and hallucinate the wall turning into a monster I could beat up.
A knocking came to the door a moment later, jarring Rainbow from her trance. She approached slowly and put her ear to the door. “Who is it?” She asked, worried it might be the press. She wouldn’t put it past them if some of them missed the notice to leave her alone.
“Princess Cadence. I’m speaking to Rainbow Dash, right?” came the gentle voice on the other side. Rainbow sighed in relief and opened the door.
“Took you long enough,” she said bluntly before flinching, remembering that she was in the presence of royalty. She then flinched even more upon remembering that she was also royalty. “Heh… Sorry about that. Been kinda on edge. Hiya.”
Cadence chuckled good-naturedly. “It’s alright, Rainbow. Princess Celestia filled me in when she asked for my help,” she knelt down slightly and ran a hoof over Dash’s mane. “Wow, you really don’t manage your appearance much, do you?”
“Uh, no, not really. I’m usually too focused on my flying and exercise to think about keeping my mane neat,” Rainbow replied, stepping back from Cadence’s touch.
Cadence took the hint and stood back up with an apologetic smile. “Aunty Celestia did mention you were quite the athlete back in Cloudsdale.”
“Uh-huh. Haven’t really been able to practice recently, though…” Rainbow nodded before looking away. “A lot’s been happening, you know?”
“Yeah, I heard,” Cadence’s smile softened somewhat. “Well, tell you what; my guidelines are simply to keep you company and out of trouble until Celestia gets back. How about we head on down to the west castle courtyard? You can practice your flying there without any interruptions.”
“Really?” Dash asked, excitement entering her voice. Her wings gave an excited buzz on her back.
“Really,” Cadence smiled warmly. “I’ll make sure you aren’t bothered. Sound good?”
“That. Sounds. Awesome!” Rainbow proclaimed enthusiastically, zipping into the air and cheering happily. Cadence giggled before reaching out to Rainbow with a hoof.
“Come on, then. Let’s go.”
Rainbow was only all too happy to oblige.
It was an amazing feeling, getting to spread her wings and fly again. For the first while she wasn’t even practicing any of her tricks, moves or working on her agility. Rainbow just enjoyed being in the air again before shifting back into practicing about half an hour after they reached the courtyard. Cadence smiled as she watched, more than a little impressed with Rainbow’s speed and agility. Even at her age she was faster than a lot of adult pegasi ever became.
After a while, Rainbow came back down for a quick breather. She set down and took a deep breath. “Whew! boy, it feels good to get the blood pumping again!” she said between breaths before sitting down in the grass next to Cadence.
Cadence smiled and ruffled Dash’s mane. “I imagine so. You’ve been cooped up for a while.”
Dash didn’t reply. She simply sat there and took a minute to catch her breath.
Cadence simply smiled at seeing the little filly feeling genuinely happy and relaxed. It was a very noticeable change from when they had met earlier, where Dash had been tense and jittery.
The mood was instantly broken, however, when she heard the sound of the most pompous colt she knew clearing his throat. Cadence glanced over her shoulder and refrained from grimacing at the sight of Prince Blueblood, who stood only a head taller than Rainbow did at this point.
The adolescent colt gave a respectful bow to Cadence. “Princess Cadence,” he then turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who was looking at him over her shoulder curiously. “And the newest addition to the royal family, Princess Rainbow Dash herself.”
“Ehhh…” Rainbow cringed at the use of her new title. “Please don’t call me ‘princess.’ Just my name is fine.”
“Oh?” Blueblood held a hoof to his chest in mock shock. “Truely? You must be aware of the power you now carry. Why would anypony want their status to be ignored?”
“Because I didn’t earn it,” Rainbow said plainly before looking back to Cadence, how was barely repressing a scowl. “Now, uh… do you mind going away?”
“Didn’t earn it?” Blueblood recoiled slightly. “You caught the eye of our nation's ruler! You have most certainly earned something grand for that alone! Besides, is it not a wonderful feeling to be lifted from the common rabble to a position of such privilege?”
Dash narrowed her eyes and stood up. Cadence moved to intervene, but Rainbow was already speaking. “Hey! Some of those ‘common rabble’ were my parents!”
“That doesn’t make them less common, you know.” Blueblood pointed out. Rainbow felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Luckily, Cadence chose now to step in. She quickly put herself between Rainbow and Blueblood, glaring at the latter. “That’s quite enough, Blueblood. Where’s your father?”
“Father’s tending to some issue or other in the estate. Why?” Blueblood asked, looking at Cadence with mild concern.
Cadence narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. “Because I am sure Princess Celestia would like to have words with him-and you-later. Now leave us in peace.”
Blueblood nodded and quickly scampered away. Once he was out of sight, Cadence turned around to see Rainbow had sat back down, facing away. Her shoulders were hunched up and she was shaking from barely controlled rage.
“I’m sorry about him… Aunty will make sure he gets punished for that, I promise.” Cadence said gently, laying down next to Rainbow and wrapping a wing over her shoulders.
“...Jerk… how could he say that?” Rainbow muttered, sniffling slightly as her parents were returned to the forefront of her mind.
Cadence noticed the little filly’s turmoil and gingerly picked her up. “Shh, hey, it’s okay. Let’s get something for you to eat, okay? Then maybe we can find something to do around town. You know, to take your mind off of this?”
Rainbow sniffed, then nodded. “S-sure... yeah, that sounds cool, I guess…”
Cadence nodded slowly before spreading out her own wings and taking flight, heading for one of Canterlot’s numerous restaurant streets.
Princess Cadence might like to share a few things with Rainbow Dash. She was a Pegasus herself raised in an Earth Pony village after she was found in the woods as a foul. It could be a bonding experience for both of them. Cadence would be able to connect with her being they both were Commoner Pegasus turned Princess.
Hey there. Thanks very much for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Great job on the scenes with Twilight with both Spike AND Moondancer as well as Rainbow's scenes with Cadance AND Blueblood. That is some VERY good compare/contrast. I particularly liked Cadance telling Blueblood off AND Twilight respecting Moondancer's insights on Celestia's adopting Rainbow.
At any rate, I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this, but will also be quite willing to be patient.
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Indeed so. Those are some pretty good insights.
Maybe it being a minor nobility helped with that.
Out there, somewhere lost in time, Princess Twilight Sparkle felt the sudden need to hit herself.
Unknown to them all there was a 'slight' ulterior motive involving a battered timeline.
I wasn't aware RD had a single fuck to give.
Might I recommend anywhere other than Restaurant Row.
8349534
fuck that shit i agree with restaurant row. go to donut joe
This is an intriguing AU. It's not as extreme as something like the Sombra-verse, but shows signs of becoming that way down the road. I really feel for RD losing her parents. You'd think Celestia would put her in a flight school or some kind of inter-tribal pony school, though. The School for Gifted Unicorns can't be the only school in Canterlot.
Meanwhile, Celestia has to know that Twilight traveled back in time from the future. No doubt she's furiously researching time travel spells behind the scenes.
Your knowledge of BlueBlood is probably on par with the rest of the fandom. Even with the comics, there's not much to go by. But considering the alternate timeline you've created, not everything has to be identical with the show. If anything, perhaps you could even give him character development. For all we know, his personality could've been different had he met Rainbow Dash when he was young...or not. If nothing else, I'd say you certainly got his personality down.
Should be
To take her mind off things, Rainbow Dash later became a bat-winged vigilante that patrolled the night and became a beacon of justice for the world.
8525668
I'm Batmare.
Does this means that as the time go on and the time When Twilight got her wings,Rainbow Dash will know what happened to her when she was a filly?
I might be going out on a limb here, but is what Blueblood said really that horrible?
Yeah, it's not right, but the characters act like he asked to have Rainbow's parents deported or something. If he keeps getting punished for everything, maybe that's what's screwing him up?
Not that that's going to be explored, but... well. Food for thought.
8689336
It's more due to how inconsiderate and poorly timed it was. Rainbow is still grieving about her parents at this point in the story and for somepony like her, callous or blunt remarks directed at such a fresh wound is likely to elicit a very intense response.
8690150
Are these things he knows? It didn't seem like he said it to hurt her. I've been in a similar situation once, where I said something that ended up hurting someone who was grieving but I had no idea.
It's a little weird when he isn't even offered the chance to apologise. It defaults right to punishment, a stark contrast to the interaction between Twilight and Rainbow, for example. So, I'm left questioning Highblood's parenting skills, and going by Celestia's reaction, I'm not the only one.
And, well, it's a little unfortunate that he gets cut out of the story so drastically. It might have been a chance to develop a bit of a bond. Maybe even friendship.
8690256
I don't like writing him, though. I mainly had him here for the purpose of setting up a scene for Cadance and Rainbow to bond a bit.
Just had a random thought after reading some of the comments in this chapter:
If Celestia now knows that an older and alicorn version of Twilight travels back in time, then she has to know that she can’t allow anything to alter the present Twilight’s ascension to alicornhood. This new Twilight will then have to travel back in time and fight Starlight and make sure that things somehow go exactly the way that they are supposed to go in order for Dash to lose her parents, Celestia to adopt her, find out about alicorn Twilight, and start the cycle all over again in a never ending loop. Any alteration and the whole thing goes “tits up”, as someone once said.
....
I think I just broke my brain.
The Shadow.exe has stopped responding. Reboot, Retry, Quit?
8750927
Heh... not quite. Read on and find out more.
8690459
Blueblood is mainly written as a jerk. Of course, this is because of the way that he treats Rarity in Best Night Ever. IMO, this isn't entirely fair.
Yes, he treats her like a gold digging skank. This is because she acts like one.Of course, he also acts vain & cowardly.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=b+stands+for+bronco+benz+bmw+bass&&view=detail&mid=848BF892D6281B67544D848BF892D6281B67544D&&FORM=VRDGAR
8617412
Or she became a bacon of justice. Hmmm... bacon.
8750927
If that was an MS-DOS reference at the end, might I suggest changing it to "Abort, Retry, Fail"?
So seems Cadance is now a baby sitter for 2. And like I didn't already not like Blueblood before.
I just wish you didn’t portray Blueblood like 95% of the stories I read do. Through those stories you could see Blueblood’s actions as getting rid of a potential gold digger which honestly if you look at her reason for going to the gala is kinda what she was doing. Though if Rarity has done it the way she had seen in her fantasy in S1E3 Celestia might’ve been able to introduce her to Blueblood as the Element of Generosity and it might have turned out different
The worst part of this is that Blueblood doesn't even seem malicious. He's just that callous.
correction...I do not think Cadence would use the title on herself, especially in such an informal encounter.
Looks like one has slipped through the cracks. Or at least the H did.
10066114
Everyone is ever-so-slightly off-model, and the prose in general is a little stilted and with a tendency towards irrelevant lists.
Caddy is supposed to be informal, the conversation between Twilight and Moony felt super forced and expositiony...
Moondancer is pretty taciturn unlike her portrayal here. Twilight was never asocial as she's portrayed here, nor even conventionally socially awkward. She didn't actively avoid ponies, friends just weren't her priority.
I'm gonna continue but I don't see this improving enough to finish...
9818388
considerign the other nobles we see the potrayal it accurate. I wouldn't call Rarity a gold digger. just one wanting a fairy tale romance.
To be fair there is not much on Blueblood in general.
10574961
We don't even know the color of his magic for certain.
Twilight: Spike, this is water, okay? Repeat after me: water.
Spike *english accent*: woo-tah
There isn't a whole lot to know about Blueblood from cannon sources. You more or less nailed what little of his character we see in the show.
I don't think I can stomach another round of Prince Blueblood being a one-dimensional asshole, so please let that not be the case.