Shades of Grey

by Inquisitor M

8. Actions, and Reactions

8. Actions, and Reactions

Vanilla gave a thorough recounting of everything he’d heard, and Splashdown led the way to the room in question using areas that other ponies never knew existed: innocuous doors, tight staircases, and service tunnels.

She wrestled with worries about leaving Luna to those detestable meeting, but didn’t realise how much it must have been showing until Splashdown spoke.

“Worried you shouldn’t be interfering or worried about leaving Luna?”

Rarity peeked around the corner at the two pegasi guards standing in front of the heavy wooden door. “Both, I suppose.”

“Well, Luna will be giddy as a schoolfilly when you go back with stories of getting into trouble. Trust me on that.” He strode out into the corridor, in full view of the other guards. “As for the getting into trouble part, that’s where all the fun is.”

Splashdown straightened his posture and looked back at Rarity. She took her place beside him, and they walked up to the white and gold guards.

“Is this the room allocated to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Splashdown asked with a stern face that matched his clear, military tone.

He’s like an actor. He puts on that mask just as Luna does.

One of the castle guards nodded slowly, but both continued to pierce Splashdown with hard, unblinking stares.

“Then Lady Rarity and myself require entry into the room.”

The three stallions stared each other down for several seconds until a castle guard spoke. “You don’t have the authority to make that request.”

“Correct, but she does.”

Rarity flinched as three pairs of eyes turned on her.

“And she is?”

Suddenly, the stern guardspony voice vanished, and Splashdown announced his winning move with a pompous flourish. “The Lady Rarity of Ponyville, lady in waiting to Princess Luna.”

Yes, an actor. You’re about to do exactly the same though, aren’t you? You’re going to tell him that Princess Luna said no door except Celestia’s would be closed to you. You’re going to wear that mask, but it’s just one of many masks you wear, isn’t it Rarity?

She puffed herself up and projected her best regal voice. “My good gentlestallions. As Princess Luna’s lady in waiting, I have her permission to access any door in the castle except those restricted by Princess Celestia herself. If I am not mistaken, it was one of my guards who requested that you prevent Twilight Sparkle from entering the room, was it not?”

“With all due respect, Lady Rarity, I am not aware of such a position. Splashdown, do you give your word as an officer that this is true?”

“On my word, and in Luna’s name. Consider my colleague’s request officially revoked. You may leave now.”

The castle guards took one last look at Rarity and Splashdown, and then looked at each other, before marching off down the corridor.

“Your room, m’lady,” Splashdown said with a deep bow.

“You know, you really should have warned me you were going to do that.” She lifted her hose into the air as she walked. Behind her, she heard a faint chuckle and the door clicking shut. Splashdown was conspicuously on the other side of it.

Easy to act rashly when you have a personal bodyguard. You’d better hope this doesn’t blow up in your face. Or Luna’s. Or Twilight’s.

The desks were littered with books and writing utensils. The room itself was much larger than the meeting rooms downstairs, and the assortment of more personal items, like half-eaten food, scribbled parchments, and bags, gave testament to the fact that real work was going on in here, not just a quick visit to the castle.

Catching herself procrastinating, Rarity set to work, neatly aligning all the books so that she could read the names on the spines. Vanilla had been very specific about the name of Twilight’s book, but it didn’t appear to be out in the open. She started searching through the bags and quickly located what she was after: The Encyclopaedia of Forbidden Magics. It was incredibly old; it was easy to imagine Twilight getting feisty over it.

You do realise that if you’re wrong, then you’re the one stealing a book?

“Twilight wouldn’t lie about something like this. I trust her.” Puffing herself up again, she took a deep breath and trotted towards the door, taking the satchel the book rested in to keep it safe.

“For Twilight.”

( II )

She was too embarrassed to actually ask where Princess Celestia might be, or have a message relayed. Having wound herself back up until she was shaky and sweating, Twilight hurried back down the rear corridor to the audience chamber, in case the princess had arrived there in the past ten minutes. Passing that door, she stopped suddenly. The guards were gone.

She looked around, but there was not another pony in sight. She shook her head vigorously. No. Definitely no guards. Stalking closer, she put an ear to the door, but heard only her own, rapid breaths. Turning the handle with magic, she grimaced as the old door groaned and creaked in protest. Rushing a last look up and down the corridor, she dove into the room and slammed it shut behind her.

Seeing the books neatly arranged on the tables, it took her mere moments to take in all the names. The encyclopaedia itself wasn’t there, but some of the other stolen books were—books that might be enough to prove that she wasn’t lying about Sonata. She rummaged through all the bags until there were no more.

“It’s not here!”

“What isn’t here?”

“The Encyclopedia of Fo—” Twilight froze. After a few seconds she very slowly turned her head. Princess Celestia stood just inside the open door. Princess Celestia did not look happy.

The slightest of frowns on the Princess’s face kept Twilight’s eyes locked as she turned to face judgement, acutely aware that shaking and sweating had been joined by flushing and nausea.

“I’m sorry, Princess!” she finally said in a rush. “I lost the book I borrowed last night, and…” Lowering her head, she continued in a small voice. “I should have owned up to it, but I didn’t.”

“I received word that there had been some commotion, and that my student was reported to be at the centre of it. Perhaps you would care to explain yourself, Twilight?”

There was no accusation in her tone, but to Twilight, her lack of warmth said as much as a bawling rant by a lesser pony might. “I fell asleep in the study last night. I was woken up by Miss Sonata, from your school. She said I was late for an appointment and I panicked and left the books behind. I left your book behind, Princess. It wasn’t there when I went back, so I assumed Sonata had taken it.”

She animated the missing books she’d found and floated them towards her mentor. “I found the rest of the books here, but the encyclopaedia is still missing. I’m sorry, Princess! I know I should have told you right away, but you said the book was old and rare! I wanted to get it back for you before anypony knew it was missing.”

Celestia said nothing. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and shied away from the impending disappointment.

“Where are my school staff now?”

Twilight looked up. “In a meeting with Princess Luna, I think. That’s where they were heading when they left, with one of the princess’s guards.”

“Since there is an official request to look into the matter,” Celestia said, returning to her more natural, melodic voice. “I suppose we could settle this once and for all.”

Looking up, Twilight knew that the warm, welcoming smile on the princess’s face hid the terrible truth that she was about to be brought to task for her actions. Experience told her that Celestia wouldn’t stop her from falling foul of her own mess until she’d learned something from it. In this case, that probably meant facing up to her accusations against Sonata… alone.

( II )

Rarity strode ahead of Splashdown this time, entering the rowdy conference room with her newly acquired satchel beside her. Aside from Luna and Thunderer, only an older, orange unicorn was silent, and the rest talked at, past, and over each other at varying degrees of volume. Rarity could see that Luna was tense: hard lines formed around her closed eyes, and her mouth twitched faintly.

She took up her usual position opposite Thunderer. The princess opened her eyes and turned her head, gave her another slight smile, then looked down at the satchel that now lay on the ground at Rarity’s hooves.

“Princess Luna! I must protest!” Spellsong’s outburst silenced the room. Everypony stared at him, and he stared at the satchel. “Who has been into our room? I was promised that it would be under guard until we returned!”

“One moment please,” Luna said, turning to Rarity. “Is there something I ought to know?”

Rarity’s poise cracked—the whole room was staring at her, now. Her throat went dry and her mind spun out of control. “Your-your guard, Vanilla, h-he reported that Twilight accused one of these fine ponies of stealing a book from her. I… I decided to investigate and found the book in their room, in this bag, Luna.”

Horn glowing, Luna loosened the top of the satchel and slipped the book into view. She stared for a long moment, and then looked back to Spellsong, speaking so softly as to almost whisper. “Whose bag is this?”

“I do not know, Princess. I only recognised that it was part of our luggage, and unless there is evidence of Miss Sparkle’s accusations I do not appreciate what your associate is implying.”

Rarity saw Luna’s visage darken immediately, and something tapped her hock. Splashdown’s attention was fixed firmly his princess. Rarity backed up as Splashdown changed to tugging gently on her leg and he took her place beside Luna. Thunderer closed up, too.

“You are not talking to my associate, Spellsong. You are talking to Princess Luna. Do you not appreciate what I am implying?” There was no immediate answer, and the pegasi stepped forward in unison, level with Luna.

What have you done now, Rarity? What’s going on?

“I... I… I honestly don’t know, your Majesty!”

“Very well then. Who has been reading this book?” Luna pulled the encyclopaedia free from the satchel, levitating it in front of her. The room remained silent as the princess stared at each unicorn in turn, eventually turning back to Sonata. “Where did you get the book?” she asked with a slight rise in volume.

Rarity’s mind raced. What had she had missed that the two guards responded to so crisply?

She’s protecting me. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! I didn’t want to cause any trouble. I just wanted to help Twilight…

“Where did you find this book?” Luna’s voice was the same, but her eyes grew wider, more intense, while Sonata’s darted around the other tutors before settling back on Luna.

“I found it in one of the private study rooms,” she said.

Luna stepped in front of her guards. “Then why would Twilight Sparkle accuse you of stealing the book from her?”

“She must have forgotten it. She’s probably just upset because she was careless enough to leave it behind.”

“Princess,” Spellsong said. “You must believe me, we had no idea tha—”

“Silence!” Luna used her fully augmented voice; it was loud enough that it might have drowned out even Thunderer. Her eyes were wild now, and she sneered at Spellsong for several seconds before she turned her attention sharply back to Sonata.

To Rarity, Luna’s soft voice now felt eerie. “Why did you take the book?”

Sonata’s mask of confidence slipped. “I hadn’t seen it before! We h-have a big task ahead of us, and I was looking for any kind of edge. Anything that might help us!”

Undeterred, Spellsong interrupted again. “Why didn’t you show us the book, Sonata? Why were you hiding it?”

All at once, the tables upturned themselves at Luna’s magical command. She slammed them back against the walls so that their tops and legs fenced off the eight school staff and unfurled her wings, spreading them in an unfettered display of dominance.

Unicorns yelped and whinnied. The tables were too low to stop them from jumping away, but none of them dared to move, Spellsong included.

Rarity was frozen in place until Splashdown walked towards her and spread a wing in front of her face. “You don’t need to see this, m’lady.”

You caused this, Rarity!

The forced calm of Luna soft voice began to break as she trembled with rage and stepped closer again to the penned-in Sonata. “Would you lie to my dear sister to get an edge?”

The cream-coloured mare squirmed at the princess’s proximity and barely managed to stutter an answer at all. “N- n- no, o-of course n-not.”

“Then why is it you would lie to me?”

The table around Sonata glowed and warped, pooling itself like liquid. It smothered the tutor until she was a ball of twisted wood with a head and legs then rose into the air, taking her with it.

“Is it because it is more important to impress her than it is me? Is it because I am only her little sister? Am I simply less important?”

The wooden cage sprouted rods that buried themselves in the walls, ceiling and floor, leaving Sonata stuck once the magic faded. Luna stood still, growling faintly with each ragged out-breath. The room remained silent until the princess stormed out.

The door slammed hard enough that motes of dust fell from the ceiling.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Splashdown whispered. “Do you want to step outside?”

It’s my fault… what have I done?

( II )

The sound of more than a half-dozen arguing unicorns had merged together into a brain-melting cacophony so disorienting that Rarity staggered and stumbled as Splashdown gently guided her out of the room. The heavy wooden door sealed off most of the noise, giving her a few blessed moments of relief before one of Celestia’s guards summoned them all the audience chamber.

The cooler air and spacious halls of the upper level went a long way to clearing out the fog in her mind. They walked, and walked, and walked, until it felt like they had walked in circles.

“Are we going the right way?” she said.

“Now that you mention it, we do appear to be taking a rather… what’s the word… circuitous route. All the better to give you some air, m’lady.”

Rarity halted and stared at the guard. “Did… did I cause all that?”

“Can’t say. Luna caught something she didn’t fancy. You can usually tell because she gets really quiet.”

“Doesn’t it scare you? Even a little bit?”

“Nope. Our Luna would no more hurt anypony than Princess Celestia would. Believe me, you’ll understand when you talk to her. Better for her to explain than me.”

The sounds of that panicked room as Luna’s rage overtook her still echoed through Rarity’s mind. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but as she pushed the thoughts away, the image of a pink face, stricken with fear, forced its way in, instead.

“Are you all right, m’lady? You don’t look well, if you don’t mind me saying. I could escort you back you your room, if you prefer?”

Rarity opened her eyes, but did not look up. “But… Princess Celestia… we have to—”

“No. You are Luna’s lady in waiting, I am second in command of Luna’s guard, and you are my charge at this moment. Your health comes first, no questions. Princess Celestia is the one who wanted Luna to be equal in all things, and that means that, for today, she really doesn’t have any power over you. Even if she tried, she’d have to get through me, understand? But let’s be serious, we’re talking about the princess who’s been our benevolent whiter-than-white ruler for longer than written records have existed. Just answer her questions truthfully and we’ll all be fine. You might even have that juicy story to tell Luna when we get back. Now which is it: to Celestia, or back to your chambers?”

Rarity gave the guard a weak smile. “You know, I’m still not sure if you’re a very good pony, or just obnoxiously self-important, but… I do trust you. We shall go to the audience hall.”

Splashdown took a deep bow. “I’m honoured, m’lady. If you would follow me, please. You appear to be late.” Turning swiftly, he trotted off in the direction they had just come.

“Late? Oh! Late!”

( II )

Time to put on the mask again.

The huge doors to the audience chamber swung open, pushed by the hooves of the attending pegasi guards. Rarity took the lead, lifting her head and her knees with immaculate poise—the feel of silk lining reminding her with every step how fabulous she looked and whose dress she wore.

Inside, Celestia’s presence held the centre of the raised stage in the way that only she could. Twilight looked small beside her, head hung low, but she brightened as soon as Rarity caught her gaze. Below the stage, castle guards and Luna’s unicorns accompanied three tutors: Spellsong, Sonata and a pale purple pony whom Rarity had yet to hear named.

Continuing down the carpeted aisle, Rarity breathed a sigh of relief when Vanilla and Silverlight fell into position at her flanks. As they did, Splashdown soared overhead and landed before Celestia.

The pegasus slammed down with a heavy thud that reverberated through the stone floor. He reared up, flexed his wings just as Luna had, and released a whinny that echoed around the acoustically-favourable hall. Snorting as he dropped back to all fours, he fixed his eyes on the princess.

“Princess Celestia. May I present Lady Rarity of Ponyville, lady in waiting to your sister, Princess Luna.” Introduction done, he prostrated himself before her.

“You may rise, protector of my sister,” Celestia said warmly. With a wide and welcoming smile, she turned her attention to Rarity. “I heard rumour that my sister had appointed a lady in waiting, but I am not sure if your presence has anything to do with this matter regarding this book. Is there anything you would like to say before Twilight begins?”

This is it. You can do it.

Rarity smiled and focused on projecting her own regal persona. “Princess Celestia. I’m afraid I’m still not quite sure what all of this is about. I heard Twilight had made a complaint about a stolen book, so I investigated while Lu—Princess Luna was otherwise engaged. Twilight? Whatever is going on?”

Twilight looked to her mentor and received a polite nod as the princess sat back and closed her eyes. Stepping forward, she blew out a breath and levelled a stare at Sonata. “Late last night, I borrowed a very rare and precious book from Princess Celestia to help me do some research. After reading for hours, I fell asleep, only to be woken up this morning by Miss Sonata. She startled me and accused me of drooling all over a book in my sleep.”

Horn glowing, Twilight lifted a pile of books from behind her and separated out one to hold up. “Exhibit A. This book is in almost perfect condition. There is no drool, which means you lied!”

A quick glance at the school’s unicorns revealed that both Sonata and Spellsong were unperturbed, but the purple pony was already cringing.

“It’s true,” the tutor replied in a calm, clear voice. “I found your lack of regard for books disgraceful, so I perpetrated a prank to teach you a lesson. If the books were so important, then you were negligent in leaving them behind. Wouldn’t that be correct, Miss Sparkle?”

Rarity frowned. The confident rebuttal heralded a high chance of escalation, and even Splashdown slipped away from the crossfire. He flashed her a quick smile, but Twilight’s shouting claimed her attention.

“You lied to me about being late for a meeting!”

“I did no such thing. I was aware that Princess Celestia would be relaying additional information her protege to assist in our work. I was simply mistaken about there being a meeting that morning. After all, we have been extremely busy doing our research instead of dozing off in libraries well after sunrise.”

Rarity watched Twilight pass straight through frustration into disbelief as she stacked all the books together and levitated them in front of her.

“On to exhibit B then. I found all of these books in your room. These are the very books I had with me when I was studying! Do you deny that you stole them?”

“I stole nothing. You left the books behind and I deemed them useful to the work Princess Celestia asked us to do. I took them for the good of the project, and they have helped us produce a great many ideas—ideas that we were discussing with Princess Luna until we were interrupted.”

Rarity ran through the confrontation in the meeting room, trying to pick out anything that might help her embattled friend; meanwhile, Sonata went on the offensive.

“Miss Sparkle. If I may ask, would you have preferred that I abandon the chance to further our research in order to spare you your blushes?”

Rarity’s lip curled and she suppressed a growl, but suddenly her eyes widened and she spoke loudly. “Miss Sonata, you already know that I found the book Twilight was looking for in your room, but if I might ask, why was it one of only a few books that were not on the desks?”

Again, the tutor replied quickly and calmly. “It is a very old book, much older than the cover looks. I wanted to keep it protected. It is, as Miss Sparkle has already told us, an extremely rare and valuable to me.”

“Oh, of course it is. Actually, that’s exactly why I kept it in that rather drab satchel. So if I may ask a question of you, sir.” She pointed a hoof at the purple tutor, causing him to recoil. “I’m sorry, we weren’t introduced. You may call me Lady Rarity.”

“Ahh, err, it’s Amethyst, Lady Rarity.”

“Now, Amethyst, whose bag was it that Princess Luna asked you all to identify?”

The tutor flashed a look at Sonata. He paused, then looked to Princess Celestia. “It’s Sonata’s bag, Lady Rarity.”

On the stage, Twilight grinned.

“So," Rarity continued, “Sonata, if this is your bag, then why did you not answer Princess Luna when she asked who owned it?”

“I was simply taken aback by the fact that you had been through our room to find it. I just wasn’t thinking straight, that’s all.”

“You don’t seem like the kind of pony so easily flustered, but then Princess Luna can be rather intimidating, can she not? Still, I do believe I heard Spellsong imply that you had been hiding the book. Princess Celestia’s book. Didn’t you say that, Spellsong?”

“Whose book?” Celestia said, receiving a raised eyebrow from Twilight.

“Your book, Princess,” Twilight said.

Celestia opened her eyes and looked at her student. “Whose book?”

Twilight shifted her weight backwards and stared at her mentor. After a few moments, she straightened up and repeated, “Your book, Princess.”

All of the assembled ponies watched closely. Whatever the purpose of the question was, the meaning seemed to escape them all, except Spellsong. The aging orange unicorn bowed his head and groaned.

Celestia lifted the Encyclopaedia of Forbidden Magics carefully from the stack of books it rested on and drew it over to herself. She ran a hoof tenderly across its cover. “I have had this book recovered dozens of times over many centuries. The first few pages are always fresh and blank to protect the original inscription. It is very easy to miss it, but perhaps you would like to answer the question for us, Lady Rarity.”

The book floated over and opened in front of Rarity at the first of its aged pages. “To my beloved Luna…” she read out, before recoiling with a loud gasp.

No! Luna… what have I done? Luna’s book… she must have known right away that Sonata was lying to her face. She’s not just angry, she’s hurt!

Stepping back again, she watched Splashdown move in to read the inscription. “Go,” he whispered. “Go and do for Luna what the rest of us can’t. I’ll cover for you here.”

He unfurled his wings again to draw the attention of the room. “Vanilla, Silverlight, please escort Lady Rarity to Luna immediately. You know where she’ll be.”

The stallions jumped into action, spinning around and heading towards the main doors at a swift canter.

Splashdown bowed briefly before the princess. “Princess Celestia. It seems that Princess Luna may be in need of her lady in waiting.”

Frozen to the spot, tears rolled down Rarity’s cheeks.

“She needs you,” Splashdown whispered in her ear.

She backed away, forcing a modicum of grace. “I’m sorry Princess, I… I have to go.” She turned and fled after the two unicorns.

“My sincerest apologies, Princess,” said Splashdown. “There was an altercation before we were summoned. Luna was angered by something, but we had no idea what. We had no idea about the book.”

“I don’t understand!” Twilight shouted from the stage. “What else was in that inscription? What’s going on?”

Splashdown stepped in to finish reading:

To my beloved Luna,

This was the book you borrowed most often. I always told you I would

make you a copy that included all the extra work you have put in since

the original. Now that it is finished, you are not here for me to give it to

you. You are not here for me to tell you how much I love you.

I write this so that one day, when I see you again, you will know that I

have always been thinking of you, and waiting.

Your eternally loving sister,

Celestia.

Twilight stared at her mentor. “Princess…” Her voice was quiet and trembling, but Celestia’s composure had not cracked. Instead, it was Spellsong’s head that hung low.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I should have seen it because I know where your copy of this book is. It’s in our vault at the school for safekeeping. It just didn’t occur to me…”

“There is no need to apologise, Spellsong. What is past cannot be undone, but I am grateful to hear that something may have come of it. Is it true that you were making progress in your meeting with my sister?”

Spellsong raised his head to meet the Celetia’s welcoming gaze. “It is, your Majesty. Though I had no idea how Sonata had acquired the knowledge, we did manage to narrow our searches considerably. We still only have a loose collection of ideas that need verifying, of course, which is what we were discussing with Princess Luna. If it was indeed Twilight Sparkle that had picked out these books and led us to these conclusions, might I humbly request some of your student’s time?”

Sonata barely suppressed a hiss.

“If I might make a suggestion, your Majesty?” Splashdown said. “Princess Luna was organising another meeting for this afternoon in the hope that she would have Twilight Sparkle’s report. Everypony in the research teams already knows, except for the school staff here and the Council of Academics from Trottingham. Perhaps a report could be compiled of the new information, to be presented then?”

“An excellent suggestion. Spellsong, my old friend, I apologise for the lateness of my student’s report, but it was I who told her to rest until she was ready. She and her friends have been through quite an ordeal…” She glanced sideways as Twilight and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “But I believe she is quite strong enough to assist with your efforts now. I would be very grateful if you could have a report ready by sundown that my sister can use.”

Spellsong bowed deeply. “Of course, your Majesty, I would be honoured.”

“Good, then I will leave the details up to the two of you. As for you, Sonata, thank you for taking the initiative. If we are lucky, this may be the first breakthrough in a very long time. I am certain my sister will forgive you for whatever you have done if you can deliver the results both of us desire.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “But… but…”

Ignoring the protest, Celestia walked away from centre stage, pausing only to turn to Splashdown. “Loyal protector of my sister, would you indulge me and answer some questions about Luna?”

“It would be my pleasure, your Majesty.”

Together, the princess and the pegasus walked out of the rear exit of the hall, leaving the school staff, and Twilight, silent.

“Saving face, Miss Sparkle,” Spellsong said. “Nothing more.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Sonata said.

“It means we have a great deal of work to do and recriminations can wait until later. It also means that this would be a really good time to learn to shut up. Otherwise I might decide that you and Autumn Red should switch places for the rest of the week. I’m sure Twilight would appreciate a personal scribe.”

( II )

Pinkie’s To-Do List

Write a to-do list of things to do
Bake 2 dozen cupcakes for Lilly
Bake birthday cake and party food for Sweetgrass’s party
Clean cake batter off the ceiling
Buy a new chew-toy for Gummy
Take cupcakes to Lilly in exchange for fresh flowers
Bury the confetti experiment so that nopony will ever know
Interrogate Prancer and Pom-Pom about where Rarity went
Bake more cakes to replace the ones I ate.
Walk on the ceiling with plungers to clean up cake batter
Pick up more streamers and balloons from the store
Take fresh flowers to Sour Grapes to cheer her up and collect a fresh bottle of

extra-extra-special grape juice
Give out balloons to everyone at the hospital
Give out cakes to all of the doctors and nurses
Throw a party for Sweetgrass’s eldest filly and friends (don’t mention confetti!)
Trade the extra-extra-special bottle of grape juice for fence posts
Take Digby on a balloon ride in exchange for fitting fence posts for Windlee
Collect on the favour from Windlee to swap weather shifts with Dashie
Ask Zecora if she has a potion for getting cake batter off the ceiling
Get Dashie to help decorate the town hall
Pick up some sprite-weed for Zecora
Ask Applejack why she was looking for me. If she was looking for me. Because I

don’t actually know if she was looking for me or not I only know that Carrot

Cake told me she asked about me and the I was all OOOOOHH and thought

I should ask if Applejack was looking for me or not.
Remind Fluttershy to stop worrying (again)
Decorate the town hall for tonight’s party!
Design a super-duper machine for removing cake batter from ceilings
Plan the biggest party EVER for Rarity
Check with the mayor that it’s okay to have tonight’s party.

( II )

“I can’t believe we never talked.” Twilight walked side by side with Amethyst, each of them levitating a stack of books.

“It’s no surprise, really. You are on the wrong end of the spectrum for us to have any reason to converse.” Away from the other staff, or any other pony at all for that matter, he was far more confident than he had been in the audience chamber.

“You see, I work with unicorns at risk of dropping out of the school. Sometimes I find new things they can try, but usually I just teach them to make the best of what they can already do before they head off to whatever comes after Celestia’s school. It’s a truly wonderful job, really.

“Of course, that’s why Spellsong wanted me to come along. I’m not really the bookish type, Miss Sparkle. I tend to have more of an instinct for what makes young unicorns tick. You know, reading between the lines and whatnot. It seems to be paying off, but we’ll get to that in time. Once we have everypony together, we’ll start on the worst-case scenario.”

Twilight frowned. “How bad is the worst-case scenario?”

“Oh… err, well. Worst case, I think this Stormcloud fellow is going to explode.”

“What?”

“Well, it’s rather a long explanation but… yes. He might explode.”

Twilight rushed down the corridor with her books, yelling, “Ohmygosh! We need to hurry!”

Amethyst belatedly raised a hoof to stop her. “It’s just a hypothesis!” he shouted, but she was already turning a corner at a gallop. “Oh dear. Still an excitable young filly at heart, I see.”

Comments

[djthomp]

All of my hate, Sonata, all of my hate. I suppose being magically devoured by a table is a certain amount of punishment.

Twilight’s checklists have nothing on Pinkie's to-do lists.

[Inquisitor M]

1467188 Awww. And saying so makes mine!

Funny thing is, Sonata is the one character that had no planning of any kind. I just started Rarity's Canterlot introduction and she appeared—alongside a big smile on my face, I should add. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed writing her, I'm still pleasantly surprised at the reactions she generates. :)

With a little luck and a following wind, C9 will be up tonight.

[wYvern]

I don't think that Sonata learned her lesson. Twilight is too little of a schemer to be able to put up much of a fight against somepony like her. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be also a future source of conflict!

Speaking of lessons not learned, Pinkie should clearly bake out in the open.

[redmar]

From what I understand about Sonata is that she has to work hard and hope she won't be punished for her actions. It's clear that the goal she hoped to achieve by her actions is now out of her reach. I guess she will also receive a mark that will hinder her future attempts at progress.

[Inquisitor M]

7507567 I love that you've given some real thought to her motivation and circumstance.