Show Stopping Revelation
Despite his desires, Emerald did not return to Ponyville immediately. Of course not! As the only member of the Guard in the immediate area, it was his duty to organize a party to secure the area, search for survivors, and arrest any of the criminals in the area.
Of course, thanks to the collapse of the Tower, there, well... there weren't any survivors. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. Ahuizotl's body wasn't anywhere to be found, meaning the creature had, most likely, escaped to who knows where, and Caballeron and his little group hadn't shown up after two days of waiting around, implying that they, too, had fled.
But aside from those individuals, everyone else had died in the collapse. He, Daring, and Iron were the only ones left, especially after that last... altercation.
Summer and Winter would be remembered. If not in the stars, then in his memories.
It took, in total, another two weeks away from home for the whole case to be closed. He'd contacted Luna and informed of what happened, and had managed to convince her to send a letter to Nocturne informing the Skies Clan Head of the death of Summer and Winter Skies-having to fight her on omitting his presence entirely, as he wasn't ready for that and, truthfully, might never be-and Daring and Iron had contacted some friends of theirs to help with all the archeological stuff Emerald neither knew nor understood.
And then, it was time.
Returning to Ponyville was, in short, a blessing.
To see, again, the place he had come to call home after all that happened was heartwarming in a way Emerald had never honestly felt before. The warmth in his chest, the smile on his face, all things he cherished once he had touched down upon the outskirts of town.
It was quite amusing, really, to see how Ponyville had fared in his absence. Nothing had changed, of course. He wasn't as integral to the town as Pinkie or Applejack, not as popular as Rainbow or Rarity, nor even as loved as Fluttershy and Twilight. But even so, a part of him, even if it was so small, had thought that... well, that something may have changed.
Ah, but that was arrogance, he supposed.
But even if nothing with the town had changed, he knew that he had.
Winter and Summer had taught him a valuable lesson. Had shown him the distances he had left to run, the sights that had been clouded from him, the truth of his own inadequacy.
He thought himself at the summit, but, in truth, he stood upon the hill before the mountain. Ignorant of the skies that lie beyond him. There was still so much left to explore. A sea of potential as vast and endless as the sky, and he had only just stepped into the waters.
There was so much more he could be. But how was he to get there?
He shook his head, gently pushing those thoughts aside, but not out of mind. Never out of mind. Not again.
Important though that may be, there were... other things to tend to for the moment.
Of course, he spun right around and headed away from those things. Or rather, that one in particular.
Heh, it was... almost pathetic how funny it was. He could feel that familiar burning in his chest, that warmth in his heart whenever he thought of Twilight once more. He felt a part of him practically jump for joy at the resurgence of his feelings, his love, for that mare. He wanted nothing more than to run to her, to cry and shout his feelings to the sky! But... after seeing Winter and Summer... something else had sprouted.
Fear.
Of the desire, of the madness.
Of the Obsession.
Why? Why did this fear find him now? He'd known of that blessing, of the curse, his entire life! Though memories faded, the lessons had returned after study, but that had been one of the few that had never left!
So why? Why now?
Was it because he had known, but not understood? That he did not comprehend what it meant to fall so deeply? Was it because it had never occurred to him that he would be the one falling?
...
Was it because of Mother? Because he had lost his foalhood, and had it, mostly, replaced? To have been taught thestrali values, only to have lost them, and then replaced with pony ones? No... no. That wasn't it. His love for Twilight had fled him once, whilst it was unrealized. What would happen to him if it fled again when his heart was deep in the throes?
He feared that outcome, more than he feared the obsession.
A mirthless chuckle escaped him as his home came into view. Regardless of the reason, it was woefully in character of him to run from an issue such as this. Just as he had fled from Zecora and his own fears after Discord, so to does he flee from Twilight.
Ha! What a pathetic sight he must make...
He shunted those thoughts to the side, focusing instead on his front door. As he did so, thoughts of Wisp and Starlight flooded his mind.
How had they been? Had they made sure to eat properly? Was Wisp still doing well in school? Had Starlight died of boredom yet? Had they somehow managed to use every last bit he'd saved up buying a bunch of random stuff?
He shook his head. No point in thinking about it when the simplest way to find out was to just... walk in.
He opened the door-ignoring the slight annoyance he felt at the fact the door was unlocked-and peered inside to find-
...
That nothing had changed. The house was still the same as he had left it. Barren and unmodified. He felt his shoulders sag in relief. He hadn't even realized how tense he was! Had he really expected anything else?
Well, knowing this town, anything might've happened.
"Hey!" he shouted, "I'm home!"
He'd been hearing Wisp and Starlight's voices coming from upstairs prior to his announcement. After it, all he heard was grunting, the sound of something falling, and a door slamming open.
The first to appear was Wisp. Blue coat, silver mane, red heart and star on her flank. She came skidding around the corner at the top of the stairs, nearly slamming into the wall as she did so,
"Emerald!" she cheered, orange eyes shining. She bolted down the stairs two at a time, and barreled straight into his chest.
"Oof!" he gasped, catching the little missile, "Yeesh, miss me?" he asked playfully. Wisp only nodded against his chest in response. He felt a question begin to form on the tip of his tongue regarding her abnormal reaction, but was prevented from asking it when Starlight appeared.
Unlike Wisp, who looked properly fresh and groomed, Starlight looked remarkably like she'd just been in a fight with a bush. And lost. Her mane and tail were twisted and poofed without reason, visibly bunched up and knotted with... was that glue?
"Heeeey Emm," she greeted nonchalantly, leaning against the wall, "Glad to have you back." Emerald blinked at her, and snickered, which caused her grin to melt into a frown,
"Wha-a-at happened to you?" he asked. Starlight rolled her eyes,
"Yeah yeah, I get it. I look like I took a tumble in a tornado," she said, beginning to stroll down the stairs, "I was helping Wisp with a school project... thing." Emerald raised his brow,
"And... this-" he gestured to, well, all of her, "-happened... how?" Starlight reached the bottom of the steps, shaking her head,
"Honestly, I'd rather not relive the memory..."
"Riiight..." Emerald said, then looked down at Wisp, "So, what's this 'school project' you're working on, then?" Wisp finally let go, backing up to look at him properly,
"We're gonna have a talent show next week!"
"A... talent show? Next week? That's... huh. I picked a really good time to come back, then," Emerald said with a grin, then raised his gaze to Starlight, "But... how-?" Starlight cut him off,
"They get extra credit if they make a poster for their act."
"Ah," he turned back to Wisp, "so, what's your act, then?"
"Magic!" Wisp chirped. Emerald snorted,
"Should've guessed," he said with a grin, "Learning magic is your special talent, after all."
"Yeah!" Wisp said, "An' Starlight's been helpin' me learn some new magic too!" Emerald laughed,
"Twilight and Starlight, teachin' ya?" he asked, "Ha! With those two teachin' ya, there's no doubt you'll be the greatest unicorn the world's ever seen!" Wisp perked up at the praise, even as her entire face went red, a rather goofy looking smile appearing on it as well,
"Hehe, I dunno about that..." she muttered, shyly looking away.
"Well I do," Emerald said, tapping her on the nose, "Glad I got back in time to see you on stage. I woulda been pissed if I missed it," he added with a chuckle.
"Yeah!"
Starlight giggled,
"Well, it's good to see you home too. How was your, uh... trip, I guess?" she rubbed her cheek, "Or would it be, like, a mission?"
Emerald's grin fell at that, which got Starlight to wince,
"Ooh... that bad?"
"What happened?" Wisp asked, looking at him worriedly.
"Yeah, uh... it couldn't have been that bad, right?" Starlight asked, "I mean... Equestria hasn't been invaded or anything, soooo...?" Emerald shook his head, walking passed them to sit on the couch,
"It was... eventful," he said with a sigh, "We managed to stop Ahuizotl, recover the Rings, and even destroyed the Dark Tower, so we won't have to worry about anything like that again." Wisp and Starlight trudged over to him, the younger of the two hopping onto the couch next to him,
"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Starlight said.
"We spent most of the time on the run," he said in lieu of a response, "Rushing through the forest, being chased by Caballeron and his little goons. Normally they wouldn't be an issue, but, as it turns out, Ahuizotl managed to hire not one, but two thestrals to help him out," he revealed. His sisters gasped,
"Thestrals?" Wisp asked, brow furrowing, "Were they, uh... ya know... related to you?" she asked. Emerald scoffed,
"Oh, they were Skies alright," he said.
"Ouch," Starlight muttered, "I can't imagine how that must've felt. Did you have to... 'take care' of them?" she asked. Emerald couldn't help but laugh at that, startling the two.
"Uh, was it something I said?"
Emerald shook his head, a sort of wry grin on his face,
"'Take care' of them? Ha! I could barely touch them!"
Now that got a reaction.
"What?!" Starlight gasped, "You mean, they beat you?!"
"No way!" Wisp denied, pouting, "You're the best fighter in Equestria! How could anyone beat you?"
"Evidently, pretty easily," he said, shaking his head, "Those two... they were so far beyond me it was a wonder they could even stand to look at me..." Starlight sighed,
"Well, now it just sounds like you're being dramatic... Still, you're here, aren't you? Sooo... you won in the end, right?"
"Yeah," Wisp agreed, "you still beat 'em!" Emerald shook his head, leaning back against the seat,
"Nope. Not even a little. Turns out they were on our side the whole time," he said. Starlight shifted,
"... Well, if they were on your side, then the rest of this little, uh, mission of yours must've been pretty easy..." she trailed off, staring at him, "... is what I would say if I didn't get the feeling that it wasn't, am I right?" Emerald sighed,
"Well... I wouldn't say the rest of the mission was hard. You're mostly right... it wasn't until the end when things got... messy."
Telling the story was... harder than Emerald thought it would be. Not the simple parts, like getting to Vanhoover, being ambushed, the chase, all the filler bits really. No, the hardest parts were the confrontations. It was because of what happened to Winter and Summer that made it so difficult, unsurprisingly.
Just... how was he to describe what happened? What he felt in the moment versus what he could now see in hindsight? But most of all...
How was he to explain Winter's death?
They... they would not understand, could not understand. Just as neither Daring nor Iron could. But... he would tell them all the same. It would be an insult to their memory to keep their tale a secret from what were essentially fellow Skies, after all.
Their reactions were about what he expected. Shock. Horror. Confusion. A tiny bit of disgust on Starlight's part, but a rather... surprising awe on Wisp's.
"Wow, that's... wow," Starlight muttered, looking away, appearing deep in thought. He couldn't begin to guess what about, though. Wisp's reaction was, of course, much different,
"Wow..." she gasped, "That's... kinda romantic, I guess."
Emerald could pretty much hear the record scratch.
"What?"
"What?"
"What?" Wisp asked, tilting her head as she looked between her elder siblings,
"Since when did you read romance?" Starlight asked, peering at their littlest sister in a new light. Wisp only shrugged,
"I get bored in the library sometimes." Emerald scoffed,
"Twilight not working you hard enough?"
"Eh, it's mostly theory," Wisp said, then narrowed her eyes, "Well, that an' a buncha weird spells."
"What kind of weird?" Emerald asked.
"Turnin' apples into oranges weird." Emerald blinked,
"Wha-? What's the point of that?" he asked, though Wisp's only response was to shrug. Starlight spoke up,
"Actually it's a pretty good exercise for stretching the imagination. Casting most magic requires a flexible mind, and finding a method to turn one thing into a completely different thing helps with that. Turning an apple into an orange is good because they're very different, but still hold a number of similarities that make it altogether easier," she said, tilting her head in thought, "Though... it's a bit odd she'd have you doing that particular exercise."
"Why?" Wisp asked. Starlight made a noise in her throat,
"Well... it's more of a beginner's exercise, and, while I wouldn't say you're an expert yet, you're definitely beyond beginner's exercises. Adept, I'd say." Wisp blinked, tilting her head,
"Really?" she asked, "But... Miss Light said she had a buncha trouble doin' it..." Starlight stiffened and looked away, chuckling nervously,
"Hehe... weeelll.... I wouldn't say Twilight has the most... flexible mindset. She's very... rigid in her thinking, at times."
Emerald stiffened, body tensing as an uncharacteristic anger flooded him. The urge to lash out, snapping at Starlight hit him, but he forced it down, if only just.
"Is that why you're better than her at magic, Glim?" he asked instead, hoping neither of them noticed, "You're more creative than Twilight?" Starlight suddenly started coughing, and shook her head, a faint blush on her cheeks,
"Wha-no! I-I'm not better than Twilight!" she cried, looking at him as though his head popped off, "Are you crazy?! She's been studying magic way longer than I have!"
"Yeah, studying," Emerald said, brow rising. His anger had fled, now replaced by curiosity. Why was she so against the idea that she might be better than Twilight? "But, you actually do a lot more magic than I've seen Twilight do. Sure-" he began when she opened her mouth to speak, effectively cutting her off, "-she does a lot of basic magic everyday. I see Twilight levitating stuff a bunch and teleporting around town every now and again, but from what little I know about magic, levitation and teleportation are a lot less... flexible than turning an apple into an orange. I mean..." he sighed, "I know it's been a long time, but I remember all the stuff you did back in the Facility-" Starlight twitched and Wisp frowned at the memories, "-and I have to say, I can't imagine Twilight even thinking of half the shit you came up with."
"Well... those situations were a lot more extreme than anything Twilight's gone through," she insisted.
"Oh, you mean like facing off against a chaos induced being of darkness that wanted to end the world by getting rid of the sun? Or the literal god of chaos that tried to warp the world into it's idea of a vacation spot?" he asked dryly. Starlight stared at him for a moment, before responding,
"Sweet Celestia, it sounds like some weird fantasy novel when you say it like that..."
"Well it was a novel experience."
"Oh shut up."
There was a small round of chuckling from the three of them, which ended when Emerald stood up,
"Well, I'm hungry and back home. You two eaten yet?" they shook their heads, "Great! Let's head out. I don't wanna cook."
They, of course, agreed, and the three of them headed out. The only problem, was Emerald... didn't know where he wanted to go. Horte's Café was an idea, but he was getting sick of the place, really. Eh, they'd find a place just walking around.
At least, that was his plan. He was a tad distracted by the townsfolk. His initial glance into Ponyville hadn't revealed much more than the average pony going about their day, but now that he was getting a closer look?
The townsfolk were going nuts! He could see dozens of ponies frantically running around like headless chickens. Re-painting buildings, collecting the very few bits of trash he could spot along the road, sweeping the front of shops. They were, essentially, doing a weird mass cleaning of the town.
His ear twitched, picking up the sounds of shouting in the distance. He focused a bit, and realized it was the Mayor's voice.
"-on ponies! We've only got a few days to make this town perfect! We don't want to disappoint, do we?!"
He turned his attention to the girls, ignoring the Mayor's voice for now,
"So, mind telling me what's going on?" he asked, brow raising, "No offense, but I don't think the town cares this much for your talent show, Wisp," he said. Wisp shrugged,
"I dunno. Nobody said anythin' to me." Starlight's head snapped to Wisp,
"They didn't?" she asked, "Not even Cheerilee?" Wisp shook her head, "That's... weird. A-anyways, the princess is coming to Ponyville for the talent show." Emerald turned to her,
"She is?" he asked, "Why?" This is where Starlight shrugged,
"I don't know. She's actually coming by to talk to the Mayor about a bunch of legal stuff," she said, then smirked a little bit, "The princess was supposed to come by last week, but apparently she heard about the talent show and wanted to come watch, so she rescheduled."
Emerald's eyes narrowed. Coming to Ponyville to talk legalities? Didn't she have delegates to do that for her? What was the point in one of the two rulers of the entire nation coming to a small town to talk even if it was important legal crap?
... Was there something more? Something important she needed to speak to the Elements or him about? Er-right, uh, he was an Element now-and he's never going to get used to that-but the point still stands. Yet... why not just summon them to the castle, then? What reason could she possible have-?
... Waaaaaiiit.
"Is Luna coming down as well?" he asked suddenly. Starlight blinked, but shook her head,
"Uh, no. Why?"
"Just curious."
Emerald had the sneaking suspicion his Mother was trying to take a day off.
-----
They eventually found a decent spot to eat. It was some... diner(?) that Starlight had found and liked. Though, with an... inventive name like The Hayburger Joint, he was reasonably certain it wasn't that popular.
His low opinion of the place immediately flipped on its head when he saw a familiar purple mare.
It was interesting, how he froze up. He felt his eyes widen, felt his heart seize, his stomach flutter. He could practically see the imaginary hearts surrounding the perfect mare before him as the world shifted into a pinkish colour.
He blinked and the vision disappeared, replaced by a dry throat and a hammering heart.
Fuck.
This was-! This was-!
"-ight?" he caught the very end of Starlight's statement, causing his eyes to snap away from Twilight, whatever strange... feeling he had fading away once she was out of sight.
But not out of mind.
"Hm? You say something?" he tried to be nonchalant, but the raised brow he was getting from both of his sisters made it clear he'd failed somehow.
"Right..." Starlight muttered, "What's the matter with you?"
"Ah, nothing."
"I don't believe that for a second. Did something else happen on that trip of yours you haven't told us about?" she asked. Emerald licked his lips and shook his head,
"Of course not," he said flatly, brow rising, "What do you take me for?"
"An idiot with self-advocacy problems."
While he and Starlight were bickering, Wisp took it upon herself to get them a table. Or, at least, she tried to. She was interrupted by the very mare Emerald was trying not to look at.
"Wisp!" the little filly started slightly, but turned to the voice, finding the familiar sight of her tutor smiling down at her,
"Oh, hey Miss Light. Ya here to eat too?" Kind of a stupid question, she realized, but who knows? Maybe she was on a business meeting or something? Miss Light nodded,
"Yep! This is my absolute favourite restaurant!" she chirped, clapping her hooves together once, before letting out a little gasp, "Oh! Why don't you sit with me? You can tell me about your act for the talent show!" Wisp tilted her head,
"Nah, I wanna keep it a surprise," she said, before, "But, uh... 's it alright if...?" she trailed off, turning to face her elder siblings, who were still sniping at each other.
Twilight followed her little pupil's gaze. Her eyes first landed on Starlight but were quickly drawn to who she was talking to. Twilight sucked in a large breath, eyes going wide,
"Emerald?!"
He winced at the call, his 'conversation' with Starlight ending abruptly.
"Oh, uh, h-hey there?" he muttered, turning to face the mare. Even as he turned to her, his eyes remained fixed at a level just above her head, even as the urge to stare into those deep pools of purple tore at him. Twilight nearly leapt from her seat, but managed to refrain, instead waving them over,
"C'mon, sit! We can eat together! Er-the four of us, that is..." she said, adding that last part as more of an afterthought.
"A-ah, we wouldn't want to i-impose-" Emerald tried to say, but he was beat to the punch by Starlight.
"Sure, sounds good," she said, walking over and taking a seat, followed shortly by Wisp. Emerald's eye twitched a bit as he stood there. He sighed eventually and, slowly, took a seat as well.
"So, Twilight," Starlight began, "do you usually come here alone?" she asked. Emerald grit his teeth. Wasn't that question a little insensitive?
His ears flicked attentively. What? He was still gonna listen.
"Yeah," Twilight admitted with a shy smile, before it faded into a thoughtful sort of pout, "Hmm, now that I think about it... the seven of us don't really go out to eat, do we?" she asked, the question directed at Emerald. He fidgeted when her gaze settled on him, feeling a heat ignite in his chest.
"A-ah... I suppose we don't... is... is that important or something?" he asked, face twisting as he forcibly kept his eyes locked just above her face.
"Well... I suppose not..." Twilight muttered, tapping her chin with a hoof, before smiling, "But my parents always said that a good meal helps ponies bond!" she suddenly blushed, her ears folding against her head, "Hehe, I guess that's why my mom always forced me to come eat. If it wasn't for her... well, I don't know if I ever would've stopped studying to eat."
There was a moment of silence in which that information was absorbed, before-
"Wow, that's pretty bad," Wisp stated bluntly with a tilt of her head, "I couldn't imagine goin' all that time without eatin' again."
"Again?" Twilight muttered, before paling, "O-oh, right..."
Emerald felt a surge of anger flood him, memories of the poor little filly he'd met whose ribs showed so clearly echoing through his head.
Guilt tore through him a moment later when he recalled his own poor eating habits not too long ago.
"A-anyways... Emerald!" she snapped suddenly, causing Emerald to reflexively look at her.
His heart stopped for an instant. Those purple eyes of her, narrowed firmly, burrowed deep into his soul. Her face was set, lips firm, the way her attention was directed so solely upon him stole his breath away.
It was only by the barest minimum that he managed to catch himself, and respond,
"Y-yes?"
Damnable stutter.
"Where have you been!?" she snapped, "You just up and disappeared almost two months ago! Not even a goodbye or anything!"
Emerald cringed away from her almost shouting, ignoring the waiter who came by and left some menus,
"A friend needed some help. I-I, well, I wasn't gonna say no..."
"But you didn't even tell anyone!" Twilight added in a much quieter tone, her brow furrowed in what might have been disappointment.
"Well, I wanted to, but evidently it was urgent enough that... my friend wouldn't allow it."
There was silence, for a minute, in which Twilight kept staring at him, as though she could force the answers from his skull with her gaze alone. Considering what her looks were doing to him, she just might succeed in that endeavor.
"Yeah, Miss Light was pretty sad 'bout it," Wisp interrupted, speaking in an almost... teasing tone as her tutor suddenly went wide-eyed and red faced,
"Wha-Wisp!"
"Yeah, she was comin' over, like, everyday an' stuff to see if you were home yet."
"Whisper Moon!" Twilight snapped, though any authoritativeness in her voice was lost as a result of her impressive tomato impression.
"Yeah," Starlight suddenly cut in, grinning, "She came over everyday with a completely different excuse. Tutoring Wisp, coming to talk to me, you renting a book you left behind, all sorts of stuff."
"Starliiiiight!"
Emerald gave a weak sort of chuckle, ignoring the way Twilight pawed at Starlight in protest.
She had missed him. That was... nice. Very nice, actually. But also rather gut-wrenching. Knowing what he now knew, he'd come... well, not really near dying during that trip, but...
What if something like that happened again, only for the ones responsible to not swap sides like Winter and Summer did? If those two had truly been enemies, Emerald would've died in that cabin. Imagine that? The supposed 'Champion' meeting his end in a random cabin outside Vanhoover. Daring and Iron would've died as well, and none would be the wiser!
The girls would've just thought he'd up and disappeared! He would've left Wisp and Starlight alone! He never would've seen his family again, all because he wasn't strong enough.
If something like that happened again...
He needed to climb that mountain. To stand amongst the Skies. Beyond it! For that, he needed to be stronger. Better. More.
And he needed it now.
He was, momentarily, brought out from his musings when the waiter from before came back,
"Have you all decided what you'd like?" he asked politely, a bright, if somewhat plain, smile on his face.
"I'll take my usual," Twilight said, earning a nod.
"Uh, I'll have the... green salad," Starlight put in.
"I'll have a hay bacon and daisy sandwich!"
Emerald panicked for a moment, having not even glanced at the menu, before lazily copying Starlight's order.
"A-anyways!" Twilight stuttered, "Enough of that!" she turned to Emerald, "So, um, what did your friend need your help with?" she asked, shunting the previous topic aside. Emerald shook his head lightly, and responded,
"Nothing much. She's an archeologist and needed some help with an artifact."
"Right!" Twilight said, perking up, "Wisp mentioned it was related to fire, right?" she asked, then continued without a response, "I can see why someone would go to you in that situation. What was the artifact?"
Ah.
Fuck.
Wait!
"Sorry, but she made me swear not to tell anyone," Emerald said, fighting down the slight panic, "She still has a lot of research left to do on it, and she doesn't want anyone knowing about it until she submits her research." Twilight stared at him, hard, for a moment. Emerald could feel the coolness of sweat beginning to build on his brow. Had his lie been unbelievable? He'd thought it well within reason! Oh no, had she learned to see through him?! Did she know his tells?!
Suddenly, Twilight smiled and nodded,
"Yeah, that makes sense. Work tends to be a lot easier without any distractions..." she mused. Emerald blinked.
Had he... been imagining all that?
"So Wisp!" Twilight began, causing the three of them to start, "Tell me about your act tomorrow! Er, well, what you want to, anyways."
"Oh," Wisp tilted her head, "well, it ain't gonna be much. I'm just gonna show off a buncha the stuff you and Starlight taught me, 's all." Twilight looked at Starlight, a bit of surprise showing on her face,
"You tutor as well?" she asked. Starlight stiffened, and started waving her hooves,
"N-nothing much! I'm not as good a-"
"That's amazing!" Twilight chirped, completely ignoring Starlight's stuttered attempt at deflection, "We should come up with a lesson plan for her! Oh this'll be amazing! I can already imagine it! We'll need to schedule some days to discuss, draw out a time-table, figure out which schools of magic to teach, and-!"
Emerald snickered slightly at the looks of horror on both Wisp and Starlight's faces.
Twilight kept planning up a storm, and was still going strong by the time their food finally arrived. It was nothing special, but it was still surprising to see the fervor with which Twilight devoured her food. Even more so when she didn't stop talking in between mouthfuls of food.
Really, he'd expect it of Pinkie, but Twilight?
Wow.
Eventually the food disappeared and Emerald's attempts at paying were immediately waylaid by Twilight, who insisted since she'd pretty much forced them into joining her.
All that said and done, and they were out the door five minutes later.
"Hehe... sorry about all that," Twilight muttered, sheepishly rubbing her neck. Emerald raised a brow and looked around her,
"Sorry for what?"
"Well... I know I can be a bit of a pig, especially with hayburgers. It... couldn't have been a pretty sight..."
It wasn't, but Emerald wasn't going to say that.
"It wasn't."
Wisp however...
Twilight didn't take any offense at Wisp's comment, giggling instead,
"Hmhm, yeah, Spike tells me that all the time. You should see how messy he gets with gems though, the little hypocrite," she added, smiling fondly. Wisp narrowed her eyes,
"... How're gems messy?"
"Crumbs."
"Oh." Twilight giggled,
"Yes, 'oh'!"
"Crumbs and 'oh's aside," Emerald decided to interrupt, "it was good to see you again, Twilight. I suppose absence does make the heart grow fonder." Twilight blinked, then stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. He blinked in response, "... What?"
"You... said my name," she muttered. Emerald tilted his head,
"What?" he asked. Twilight shook her head,
"You... you said my name. You called me 'Twilight', instead of 'Sparky' like you always do," she said, furrowing her brow.
Emerald frowned, and replayed their interaction in his head, then winced,
"Ah... so I did. Well... I-I suppose I was bound to slip up someday." Twilight narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to swallow and take a step back, "Wh-what?"
Twilight just continued glaring at him, before nodding with a huff, her horn lighting up,
"That's it," she said without explanation, grabbing onto his hoof with her magic, "We're getting the others and you are telling us about that trip of yours because, honestly? I don't believe this whole 'helping a friend with an artifact' story you're giving me."
Emerald blanched as he was dragged off, neither Wisp nor Starlight doing a damn thing to stop it. And this was happening all because he forgot to call her by that nickname!?
"Twil-er-Sparky, calm down!" he tried to stop her, really, but she just shook her head and kept pulling him.
"Pinkie!" she randomly called into the air, despite the fact that the pink mare was literally nowhere near them-
"Hi Twilight! Whatcha need?"
-but of course Pinkie would suddenly pop up from... somewhere.
"Hey Pinkie. Can you go get the others and then all meet up with me and Emerald at the library?" Twilight asked, not once slowing down on her way. Pinkie saluted, her tongue sticking out slightly,
"Okie dokie! We'll be over in a jiffy!" she chirped, before bouncing away, sparing Emerald only a wave and a chipper 'Hi Emerald!' as she did so. Emerald stared after her for perhaps a second, before tuning out Pinkie's antics, focusing back on the mare trying to rip his leg off.
"Seriously Tw-Sparky? Don't you think this is a bit much? So I forgot to use that nickname. Doesn't mean anything happened!" he tried to reason, but she just shook her head,
"Emerald," she began plainly, "since the day you gave me that nickname, the only times you've ever dropped it were when things were serious. I don't, for even a second, believe that you would just randomly forget it," she said, glancing back at him, "No, something happened on that trip of yours. Honestly, it's not even surprising. Something always happens whenever the seven of us are involved. And, considering how much of a trouble magnet you are-"
"I am not a trouble magnet!" he cut her off. Twilight immediately came to a halt, turning back to glare at him with a very impressive deadpan,
"You're joking, right? Do I need to list off everything?" Emerald scoffed,
"List? Name one-"
"You got eaten by a hydra."
"Wh-that doesn't-"
"You charged in against a bunch of diamond dogs, alone."
"Oh please, they weren't a thr-"
"Discord."
"... Okay you got me there, but-"
"Everything after Discord."
Emerald stared back at her, before huffing,
"... Fine, you win."
Twilight nodded, as if that was that, before turning back around and resuming their trek to the library.
"Well, I still say I'm not a trouble magnet," Emerald muttered petulantly, "I didn't get into anywhere near as much trouble until I came to this town. If anything, you lot are the magnets. Not my fault you rubbed it off on me..." He didn't see it, but he was sure Twilight was rolling her eyes.
"Well even still, I can tell you're hiding something."
"I'm always hiding something. Everyone is. It's natural." Twilight's head snapped back to level him with a glare,
"You know exactly what I mean. Besides, I know you. Not as well as your siblings, or Pinkie, but I do. And I know something happened on that trip." Emerald only scoffed, though he scowled on the inside,
"And how, exactly, do you know that?"
"You tend to try to forcibly change the subject when hiding something. Like right now," she said.
Emerald huffed and glanced away,
"I do not..."
She didn't respond to that, instead continuing to pull him along. They arrived at the library about a minute later, where he was rather unceremoniously shoved onto the nearest couch.
"Alright, once Pinkie and the others get here, you're going to spill," Twilight said, smiling down at him smugly. Emerald huffed, leaning back into the couch with his hooves crossed,
"You're lucky your magic works on me," he muttered, before rolling his head to the side, "And exactly what am I spilling here?"
"Everything," Twilight said, "and I mean, everything. I don't care if this friend of yours swore you to secrecy, tell us... Tell me," she said, expression morphing into worry, "I... I care about you Emerald. A lot. And I know you care about me, no matter how confused Rarity says you are."
... That bitch!
He wasn't really angry at her, but still. That bitch.
"I'm not confused, Twilight," he said, "I never was. Things just... happened. My head's on straight now."
"What things?" Twilight asked, shaking her head, "How in the world am I supposed to be there for you if you don't tell me anything? I want to be there for you, Emerald. I want it so bad it hurts!" she admitted, causing his breath to hitch.
She... did she...?
"I don't... I just... want you to be honest with me, Emerald," she continued, sitting down next to him, "If it's something you can't say, then... fine, but... I... I want you to trust me. Trust us, you know?"
Emerald licked his lips and sighed,
"I... I do trust you girls. More than you realize. More than I ever thought I would, to be honest."
Would Daring hate him if he told them? Would she even care? The girls weren't the type to needlessly spread secrets like that, and... well, Twilight and Rainbow would surely get a kick out of it.
But... Daring knew him as he was before. She'd only seen him as he was now for a comparatively short amount of time. There was no way for her to know how completely he had changed, nor the cause as to why.
When he first arrived in Ponyville-when he was in pieces-he might have told them if he thought it would earn their trust. But now he valued that sort of trust. Well, more than he had before. Did he want to break Daring's trust by revealing it to his friends?
This... this was a lose-lose situation. Either he kept the secret or told it. Regardless, someone's trust would be tarnished!
But, if Emerald was being perfectly honest... he valued these girls way more than he did Daring and Iron.
And... really, what would it hurt if they knew? So what if they knew he was 'friends' with Daring? So what if he was a character in a book that two of them happened to like? The only one who'd give him trouble, if she even did, would be Rainbow. And, if she did, she'd surely realize he wasn't comfortable with the attention. She might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but Rainbow was not an idiot.
As for Twilight... well, she'd probably try to weasel more information out of him, but he couldn't really say he minded any attention she gave him... biased as he was.
... Thinking about it... what was stopping him from telling them? He'd never actually promised to keep it a secret, had he? It was just... another thing he didn't want to be known for. There was a lot of that, in hindsight. He'd run from the spotlight his entire life, too scared of who might seek him out, but that plan was already bust, wasn't it? The whole of Equestria, or at least a good portion of it, knew him as both the Champion and an Element of Harmony. He was bound to be found by those he ran from, so, really, what was stopping him...?
...
What was stopping him?
It had been... stars, how long had it been? Months since the announcement, and he hadn't been contacted by any Skies since. What were the chances that, if they hadn't already, they would in the future? And, really, he'd have to face them eventually... no matter how frightening the idea may be.
Then again, he'd have to explain Winter and Summer. That... probably wouldn't go over well.
But... they knew he came from a culture very different to their own, though however faintly he could claim it to be now. There would no doubt be disagreements...
Fuck, this was gonna be a long explanation, wasn't it?
"... Alright, I'll tell you," he said after a long silence. Twilight's head snapped to look at him,
"What? Really?!" she asked, clearly stunned, before smiling, "That's-that's great!"
"I wouldn't get too excited," he warned somberly, a soft frown on his face, "it's not a happy story. There's a reason I didn't want to explain it, after all." Twilight blanched,
"O-oh! R-right, of course! I-uh... I just thought..."
"That I was being a secretive moron?"
"... Kinda?" Emerald chuckled,
"It's fine. I suppose I deserve it, don't I?" he asked rhetorically, before shaking his head, "Well, I'd rather only explain it once, and I know some of you aren't gonna like what I say. It's fine if we wait 'till they show up, yeah?" Twilight nodded,
"Of course!" she said. She stared at him for a moment, before placing a hoof on her cheek, "I-I know I'm kinda pressuring you, and stuff, but... I don't want to make you feel... you know..." she trailed off. Emerald shook his head, smiling,
"Yeah, I know."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, which gave Emerald ample time to figure out what he was actually going to say.
It wasn't just Daring or his fellow Skies he'd have to worry about. He remembered his turmoil, the agonizing self-hatred that had gripped him when he'd realized just how outclassed he'd been. That moment when he realized that, for the better it may have been, Ponyville had changed him in a way that weakened him. The memories that plagued him. Of the exhilaration, the burning in his veins, the anticipation of bloodshed-
It was something he'd tried to forget, if unconsciously. Ponies were creatures of magic and harmony. He was no pony, but a thestral. A creature of fire and chaos.
A Creation of Discord.
How could he describe those feelings? How could he translate to them that which they couldn't understand? That to survive he had to forget, for a time, what he had learned here?
Fluttershy would... try to understand. Perhaps she would, being half-thestral. A Skies at that. Had she ever felt that need for blood? That burning in her chest...?
Pinkie... wouldn't understand. But she'd accept it as just some part of him. She'd go on smiling and trying to cheer him up, probably hiding how she really felt on the inside...
Rainbow Dash... was a wildcard. But, as a thrill-seeker, perhaps she'd understand those feelings? Those base instincts that beg for more?
Applejack... who knows? Perhaps she wouldn't really think too hard about it. Simply putting it out of mind until it became an issue. Maybe she'd say it didn't matter, since they were friends, and all that.
Rarity... would likely try to understand, just as Fluttershy would. But, unlike his meek cousin, she'd probably ask questions. Seek out some sort of understanding. Who knows, maybe she'd be the one to understand the Curse of the Skies?
Twilight... now there's a problem. She'd seek the information out, try to wring it from him until all the answers were pooling in her mind. She wouldn't understand, but she'd try. She'd twist and turn the information until it settled. She'd break herself trying to understand. Or, perhaps, she'd give up like she had with Pinkie?
Hmm... doubtful, considering how interested she'd been in his culture so long ago.
This... wasn't going to be easy, but he'd known that from the beginning, hadn't he?
It took an astonishing fifteen more minutes before the girls finally arrived. With Pinkie on the job Emerald might've expected it to take significantly less time, but, he supposed, there were some things even the seemingly impossible mare couldn't do.
"Hi Twilight! Hi Emerald! I brought everybody!" Pinkie chirped, bouncing into the room, trailed after by the other four. Twilight smiled,
"Thanks Pinkie."
"Is everything alright?" Fluttershy asked, "I-" she paused when she spotted Emerald, "Oh! Welcome home, Emerald!" He smiled,
"Hey cuz."
"Oh, hey Greenie."
"Good ta see ya, Emerald!"
"My my, it's wonderful to have you back, Emerald darling," Rarity added, smiling prettily, "Starlight mentioned that you went on a trip, yes? Oh you must tell us about it!" Twilight nodded, and spoke before he could,
"That's actually why I asked Pinkie to bring you all here," she began, a frown appearing on her face, before she turned to him, "Emerald?"
He glanced at her for a moment, before sighing.
"Okay, so..." he trailed off. How was he to start this? "Like I told Twilight, a friend of mine came by asking for help. She said it was urgent, so I didn't really get much time before we left, and-"
"An' all this took ya two months?" Applejack asked as the bunch of them settled around the couch, "Must'a been some tough work!" she added with a grin. He grimaced.
"You... wouldn't be wrong."
"What did she need?" Fluttershy asked. He sighed. So much for just getting it over with...
"She's an archeologist, but-"
"Like Daring Do?" Rainbow cut in, looking somewhat more interested already. He sighed again.
"Yes, but-"
"Ooh! Ooh! Didja find some super secret magic thingy?!" Pinkie chirped excitedly.
"Er, yes, I gue-"
"Did it have these super awesome magic powers?!" Rainbow but in. Emerald's eye started twitching.
"Can I-"
"Did you-"
"SHUT! UP!" he snapped, voice appearing even louder in the quiet library. He glared heatedly at Rainbow and Pinkie, who both looked utterly unapologetic, "If you want to hear the fucking story, then be quiet!" when he wasn't interrupted again, he finally began, "I suppose I'll start off by saying that the friend who came by asking for help was A.K. Yearling-"
""WHAT?!?!?!"" He winced,
"Ow!" he snapped, glaring at the two mares responsible.
"Oh! Sorry Emerald," Twilight apologized, though the excited look on her face made it look like she was just barely refraining from jumping him. Was it bad that it wouldn't bother him?
"I'm not!" Rainbow shouted excitedly, "You're friends with A.K. Yearling!? That's epic! You could totally get me a signed copy of like, all her books! Oh! I could totally show off some of my moves, maybe I'll even get in the next Daring Do book!" she gasped, reaching out and grabbing him by the fur on his chest, "Dude, you totally gotta introduce me! I'll-!"
Rainbow was cut off by a hard yank on her tail, curtesy of Applejack,
"Alright, simmer down Rainbow. We get yer excited an' all, but let the poor colt finish 'is story before ya go an' ask 'im fer things." Rainbow sort of waved her off,
"Yeah yeah, fine," she muttered, then locked eyes with him, "Well come on! Tell the story!"
Rolling his eyes at the mare, Emerald continued.
"Right... anyways, I should clarify one thing above all else. Yearling's books? All real. Daring Do isn't a character, she's the author."
There was silence. The girls were sort of just... staring at him now, though the glossy look in Rainbow's eyes somewhat worried him. It was broken, after maybe a full minute, by Twilight.
"U-uh, what do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head, "Daring Do can't be real... she's just a character in a book..." Emerald shook his head,
"No, she's not. The only 'character' is Yearling herself."
"Oh!" Pinkie gasped, "A.K. Yearling is Daring Do!" she chirped, evidently understanding, "OH!" she gasped again, "Does that mean you're-?!"
"I'm Green Sky, yes," he cut her off. This was going to take long enough without one of Pinkie's little tangents.
"Wait... A.K. Yearling... is Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash asked, still looking more than a bit lost, "That's... AWESOME!" She perked up instantaneously, beginning to nearly vibrate in place from sheer excitement.
Emerald sighed as Rainbow started babbling on about the books. Mostly stuff about how 'radical' it was that it was all real, and how 'cool' it was that Daring had kept such a secret. But his attention was more focused on the mare next to him, who finally spoke.
"... You're Green Sky?" Twilight asked, staring at him. He nodded,
"Yeah. And Sturdy Rock, or whatever, is actually a stallion named Iron Rock." Twilight blinked,
"So... it's all real?" she asked, "The temples, dungeons, artifacts... Caballeron, Ahuizotl... it's not just based off of real things, it's... it's actually real?" He nodded, then tilted his head in thought.
"I haven't actually read the books, so I'm not sure what she left out or put in, but... for the most part, yes. It's all real."
Silence, for a moment, until-
"Does... does that mean that what happened..." Fluttershy trailed off,
"Will probably be in the next book?" he asked, to which she nodded, "Most likely."
"Is that why her latest book was delayed?" Twilight asked, easily putting the pieces together, "Because it hadn't happened yet?"
"I would assume so," he responded, before a thought came to him, "You know... I know you and Rainbow are big fans, so if you don't want the book to get spoiled..." Twilight glared at him,
"Oh no, you're not getting out of telling me, mister," she said, punctuating that statement with a jab at his chest.
"Yeah, like Tartarus I'm missin' this!" Rainbow agreed, settling onto the floor excitedly.
Well, he supposed he wasn't surprised. She was getting to hear what might as well be a Daring Do story from someone who lived it, and before anyone else at that. It would be pretty interesting to her...
Putting that out of mind, he glanced at the others, only to find the others sporting the same vague combination of interest and worry as Twilight was. Though Pinkie's was somewhat mitigated by her excitement. For what he wasn't sure.
Well, no point in wasting anymore time.
"So it, obviously, began when Daring showed up at my front door..."
-----
"-was easy enough. After all was said and done I came home, and, well... here we are."
This time the silence was expected.
At some point during his story, his eyes had drifted upwards. And now he had a hard time dropping them, for what would he see? Confusion, no doubt. Horror, perhaps. But what would they see when they looked at him? The differences between he and they were plain and obvious, but they ran more than just skin deep.
It was as he thought, after all. Harmony and magic. Chaos and fire.
"Wow..." Applejack was, unsurprisingly, the one to break the silence, "that's... some story."
"Yeesh, I'll say," Rainbow added, before sighing, "But damn... that was epic!"
His gaze snapped downward in shock, even as the chromatic mare was scolded,
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity snapped, turning to the mare in horror, "That was a very serious thing we were just told! It isn't one of your stories!" Rainbow just shrugged,
"Aw please, you gotta admit it was awesome! I mean-" she started shifting in place, miming the act of dodging, "-epic fights and sweet chase scenes, come on! I mean, don't get me wrong, it's all sad and stuff," she added glancing at him, before turning back to Rarity, "but what's gettin' all mopey and stuff gonna do?"
Emerald found himself agreeing with that, but for altogether different reasons than she no doubt had. The others didn't seem to think along the same lines, however.
"I agree with Rarity, Dash," Applejack said sternly, brow furrowed at the blue pegasus, "A lotta ponies lost their lives, even if most'o 'em weren't, ya know, good. It's always a shame when somebody dies," she said, mouth turned in a somber frown.
"I wish I could've met them..." Fluttershy murmured softly, seemingly unaware of the others. Pinkie wrapped a hoof around her, pulling her into a hug,
"Aw, come on Fluttershy! Don't be sad they're gone! I bet they're having a super amazing time together where they are!" she chirped. Emerald smiled, but frowned on the inside. Pinkie... did she understand, or was she just trying to cheer up her friends?
"I don't understand..." Twilight muttered next to him. He turned to her,
"What is it?" She looked up at him, brow furrowed,
"I'm sorry, it's just... why?" she asked, "Why did Winter...?"
Ah, he'd worried one of them would bring it up. In hindsight, perhaps not telling them of Skies tradition and hoping they wouldn't ask wasn't a good idea.
He sighed.
"It's... I don't know," he lied, grimacing. Thankfully Twilight seemed to take his obvious discomfort for something else.
"R-right, of course you wouldn't," she muttered, "I-I'm sorry. They were your family, it... it must've been hard."
Quite the contrary. It opened his eyes to things he hadn't seen. A new appreciation for that which he knew but didn't understand. Not that he'd tell them that.
Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were still having their little pow-wow, though Rainbow was clearly losing. Pinkie was still comforting a now sniffling Fluttershy. And last, but not least, Twilight was looking a distinct combination of guilty and uncomfortable.
And of course, it was all his fucking fault.
He sighed, inwardly. If only there had been a way to make it all easier on them. He hated causing issues like this, for multiple reasons.
Hmm... maybe... he could try changing the subject? Or would that be too heavyhoofed?
Whatever. Being unsubtle was better than seeing all... this.
"So, anything interesting happen in town while I was gone?" he asked, a bit louder than he'd usually speak to gain everyone's attention. Everyone quieted down and looked at him, but only Pinkie jumped on the subject, likely fully aware of what he was trying to do. Or not. Who could tell?
"Ooh! Ooh! Me! Pick me!" she shouted, raising a hoof into the air, causing the others to sigh. Emerald blinked, but didn't react beyond that,
"Okay, Pinkie?"
"The whole town is going to see the school's talent show!" she chirped, "They've got a fundraiser selling tickets and everything! Ooh! And Princess Celestia is coming to meet us!"
"'Meet us'?" he asked, brow rising, "But she knows us all already, if some more than others. How is that supposed to work?" he asked, turning to Twilight. The mare shrugged,
"I'm not sure, really. She sent me and Spike a letter asking if we all could have a little get-together before she talked to the Mayor about some legal business. Then she heard about the talent show and rescheduled."
"I'm surprised," Emerald admitted, "I never would've imagined she'd rearrange her schedule for a school talent show." Twilight nodded,
"I was surprised as well!" she said, before smiling, "But it's nice that she wants to come and watch. I bet the foals are so nervous!" Rainbow took that moment to interject,
"Ha! No way Scoots is nervous!" she boasted proudly, "The Squirt is gonna take the whole thing home, no doubt about it!" Rarity rolled her eyes,
"Oh come now, Rainbow Dash, we all know my darling Sweetie Belle is going to be the star of the show," she scolded, Applejack scowled,
"Hold on now, I think ya mean Applebloom! Mah lil' sis ain't gettin' anythin' other than first place!" Emerald scoffed,
"Oh please, we all know those three are going to do something together," he said, earning some concessions from the three mares, before he smirked, "Besides, it's funny how you think those three are gonna outdo Wisp. There ain't a chance in Tartarus! She'll be the one takin' home the gold!"
Twilight sighed and shook her head, but smiled fondly as she watched the four of them start to bicker. It was good to see that even after what happened, Emerald was still able to smile and get along with them. Still... was it just Twilight, or was he coping with the loss of Winter and Summer rather easily?
... Too easily, even.
Her brow furrowed, a frown overshadowing the smile on her face. She shook her head. No, he's had a lot of stuff happen to him. He's... probably used to losing others.
But then... he seemed so uncomfortable when she brought up Winter's s-su... Winter's death. She narrowed her eyes at him.
No, not uncomfortable. It was close, but not the same. He spoke of Winter so easily, so casually, not at all like someone who just saw their family pass. Was it shock? The still fresh remnants of a pain so sudden? Or... was it something else?
... He was hiding something, again.
But, what?
Twilight.... was not a subtle mare. She was clearly suspicious of him, suspicious of something he had no doubt let slip during his time with the girls, but...
Well, Emerald had never been good at honest self-reflection. He might be able to take a guess at what had tipped her off, but, truthfully?
No clue. That mare might not be subtle, but she was smarter than he'd ever be, and had been getting better at reading others all the while.
On an unrelated note, he'd asked around before heading to the schoolhouse, where he found the stall selling tickets to the talent show, manned by a vaguely familiar colt with a camera. He'd briefly questioned the idea of needing to sell tickets for the thing, but then assumed it was probably going to the school in the form of extra funding.
He picked up two, of course.
It was while he was wandering the market afterwards, for honestly no real reason, that his name was called out,
"Emerald!" he perked up, and turned to face his caller,
"Hey Glim. Sorry for getting dragged away like that," he murmured, a bit awkwardly, then glanced around, "Hm? Wisp ditch you?" Starlight rolled her eyes, but smiled,
"Her friends Dinky and Twist came by and dragged her off as well," she chuckled, "Ah, just like her big brother that one!" she teased. He rolled his eyes as well,
"Very funny, Glim," he responded, walking off. Starlight stepped in line beside him,
"Aren't I?" she asked mockingly, grinning wryly.
"The funniest, of course," he returned with a chuckle, then changed the subject, "Since you're following me, has anything else happened in town since I've been gone?"
Starlight hummed, clearly thinking to herself.
"Well... The Crusaders finally got a clubhouse, if that interests you." Emerald glanced at her,
"They did?" he asked, earning a nod, "Hmm, good for them. I imagine they talked about it in class and Wisp mentioned it?" another nod, "Hmm."
"Yeah, not to mention they've been stepping up their 'crusading' lately. It wasn't until Cheerilee announced the talent show that they let up a bit," she paused, but only for a moment, "What do you think those three are going to do for the show?"
Emerald shook his head,
"Not a clue. I don't know those girls very well. Though, I suppose I should get to know Scootaloo a bit more." Starlight paused for a step, before continuing on.
"Why?" she asked. Emerald blinked,
"... I didn't mention it?"
"Mention what?"
"She's related to me. Her father is a Skies, but only half like Fluttershy."
"Oh. Yeesh, you Skies are just about everywhere, aren't you?" Emerald smiled sadly,
"I wouldn't know," he muttered.
He saw Starlight wince out of the corner of his eye. She didn't say anything after that.
Neither did Emerald.
-
-
The blades would clash once, twice, thrice in rapid succession, sparks would fly bright enough to cast shadows upon those locked in battle. A thin blade would screech through the air, far faster than the eye could track, but would be deflected at the last instant. A moment, a brief instant in time left open, spear in motion unable to be retracted, a hoof collides with flesh, bearing strength that seemed to almost be beyond mere flesh.
He would be knocked back, sent flying, but would recover. The shaded figure possessing the rapier would dash forward with speed beyond his own. Another set of three strikes would come, but there would be no lull after the third. A fourth strike would come, cutting the air with an audible shriek finding purchase upon the shaft of his weapon, bringing it to a halt. His second opponent would come in from above, having used that clash of steel to close in. Wood would splinter, shattered into pieces, he would be left weaponless. This second opponent, wielding a thin short sword, would land, and both would together launch an assault. He would dodge, parry a blow with the wooden stick he still held, but he'd be forced back a step, two, three. Again and again they'd clash, but again and again he'd lose ground.
A wild swing of his would be thrown out, seeking ground, a moment of respite, anything at all to allow him a moment of thought, but a flash of coloured fire would startle him, blind him, and his vision would clear just in time to see the steel imbedding itself in his ey-
He came to a stop, panting heavily. Sweat dripped from his nose, soaked his coat all over, allowing the light morning breeze to chill him further. He stared down into the ground for a moment, planting his spear and letting the battle replay in his mind.
Pathetic, but this was to be expected. So little time had truly passed, so how could he have possibly improved already? Even still, the loss irked him.
Having recovered a bit of his breath, he lifted his head, the sight of his course and the field it resided in coming into view. It had been...useful in staying in shape, but that was pretty much all It was good for in regards to him. Twilight might still use it, but it had been so long since he himself had that he wasn't sure. As far as he was concerned she could have it. It served no further use to him. Sure, he could continue to train his speed and endurance with it but, for now, he sought something else.
Something more.
He let out a breath and readied his spear.
This was only the beginning.
-
-
Several days had passed since and just about everything had returned to normal. For Ponyville standards at least.
The Cakes had been happy to see him return, though he still apologized heavily for leaving like he had. Really, the fact they hadn't fired him on the spot really spoke of their characters. Or of how little an impact his absence made. Who knows, really?
Wisp had practically disappeared from the house, likely spending nearly everyday out practicing her magic for the show. Her dedication was equally as amusing as it was adorable, and Emerald didn't have the heart to stop her. He only made sure there was food waiting for her when she got home, all tuckered out from practice.
And speaking of the show, or at least of the day it was happening, the town's frenzy hadn't let up in the slightest. Though, thankfully, it hadn't gotten any worse. Ponies were still going around doing every little thing to keep the town perfect for the princess' arrival. At this point, the town was preparing more for the princess than they were the talent show! Though that was, in part, because all the prep for the show was done. The stage was set, lights were up, everything was in place except for the little actors. With how quickly it was all done, Emerald was surprised to learn that this talent show wasn't a regular thing like he might've thought!
Apparently this was going to be the very first talent show Ponyville's schoolhouse had ever hosted! Cheerilee had, evidently, been hounding the Mayor and school board about hosting a talent show for a few years now, and was hoping to make it an annual thing. To Emerald's minor surprise, he hadn't been wrong when he'd assumed the tickets the school were selling were for school funding. The tickets were actually funding the whole talent show, which explained why they'd been priced at the somewhat expensive fifteen bits a ticket. With the princess coming to watch, Cheerilee was practically assured that the talent show would become an annual event like she hoped.
And today, all of that came to a head. Mother was set to come by somewhere between ten and midday for 'brunch' at Sugarcube Corner and the talent show was scheduled for around seven at night for some odd reason, though it explained why Luna couldn't attend.
This, effectively, meant that Mother would be in Ponyville all day.
Of course this led to a problem. Namely, what they were all going to do. Then again, Twilight probably spent all night putting together some odd schedule of things to do and/or talk about. While following it might not be the best idea, it would serve as a general outline, so they shouldn't have to worry about all that, much.
He and Pinkie were given the day off, because of course the Cakes would do that, which meant that, instead of being out at the bakery early in the morning, Emerald was, for the first time in quite a long time, sleeping in.
"EMERALD! GET UP! YOU'RE LATE!"
Or was, at least.
He tumbled out of bed with a loud squawk, hitting the floor with an equally loud thud. He groaned and picked himself up off the floor, rubbing his head,
"Why...?" he grumbled sleepily. The sound of thumping hooves preceded his door flying open, revealing... Twilight?
"Wha...? Twilight?" he muttered, staring at her with narrowed eyes, "What are you doing here?"
"No time!" Twilight barked, horn lighting up and lifting Emerald into the air, "Princess Celestia will be here any minute!" she added, rushing down his stairs with him in tow.
"Twilight..." he yawned, "Why the rush?" he asked, ducking his head to avoid slamming it against the door frame. Twilight kept running right out onto his yard and down the path leading into Ponyville, all without stopping or slowing in the process. This, of course, proved to him that she was, at least, still using his course, even if he hadn't seen her use it in a while.
"The princess is coming Emerald!" she shouted, "She's coming and you're all going to meet and talk and get to knoweachotherand-!"
Twilight's speech ceased to be speech, instead turning into a rapid mesh of jumbled words that Emerald was sure only Pinkie would manage to understand. But from what little he got he could make a guess as to what had her in such a tizzy, though not why it did.
The what was easy. She was nervous about the six of them meeting Mother and was having some sort of episode. The why was much harder. After all, they'd met, interacted, and spent time with her numerous times before, so what was it about this time that would spark such a reaction? Was it because this meeting was more casual?
Hmm... ugh. He was too tired to be thinking so heavily.
Not that it wasn't his fault. He hadn't let up in his training in the slightest. Every free moment was spent training, working, building himself into something better. He'd upped his regimen, wearing heavier weights, had higher repetitions, pretty much everything to above his current limits and it was fucking exhausting.
But it was good. Every moment that passed, every ounce of sweat that fell, every drop of blood that sang in his veins told him he was getting closer. He may have only covered an inch of that endless sky between he and they, but it was an inch farther from what he used to be.
But it wasn't enough. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
And now here he was, getting carried in the magic of his friend/crush, fighting the urge to fall right back asleep.
And somehow this was normal by Ponyville standards.
They arrived, soon after, at Sugarcube Corner, where a pair of Royal Guard pegasi stood by the entrance. Was Mother here already? Or were these two early?
The two of them barely spared him and Twilight a glance. The only sign they'd even acknowledged their presence was the one on the right opening the door for them. What awaited them inside was only mildly surprising.
Sugarcube Corner was packed. It didn't look it from the outside-since all the curtains were closed for some reason-but there were ponies galore on the inside. Ponies were chatting, eating sweets, and generally doing what ponies tended to do when in gatherings such as this. It was when one noticed the main attendees, namely Emerald and the girls, that things turned... abnormal.
Applejack was by the food, looking utterly lost with herself. He didn't know why, but it rather looked like the mare was having trouble deciding what to eat. Why she didn't just load all of what she wanted onto a single plate was- actually, if Twilight was being a hard ass about all this, no doubt she'd said something to Applejack about 'manners in front of the princess' and such. Well, her or Rarity.
Though, given the way Rarity was snarling and snapping at anyone who got close to her, usually accompanied by something along the lines of 'Watch the dress!', he doubted she'd been the one to lecture Applejack on manners. Really, he'd have expected better of Rarity than... this.
Pinkie was zipping around, excitedly chattering with anyone that lent her an ear for even a second, whilst also munching on some sweet she kept procuring from one of the tables set up. Which was entirely in character of her. It looked like Mr. and Mrs. Cake were the ones providing the food this time, and, judging by the periodic flare of green light he saw from the kitchen window, Spike seemed to be helping out.
Rainbow was... actually he didn't see Rainbow anywhere. Was she late too? In fact, he couldn't find Fluttershy either...
"Can you put me down now?" Emerald asked, glancing down at the mare who was still carrying him in her magic. Twilight, who had placed her hoof against her chest to take a breather, yelped a bit, evidently having forgotten his presence. She blushed, cutely of course, and set him down,
"S-sorry Emerald, I'm just a biiiiiiiit nervous, hehe?" she sing-songed... nervously, eye twitching. She turned to face him, then visibly recoiled when she saw his face. He raised a brow at her,
"What...?"
Twilight shook her head, then regarded him with open concern,
"Are you... okay, Emerald? You look... off," she said diplomatically. Emerald blinked, then turned to face the window, angling his head so he could he his reflection in it. His eyes widened, but only slightly. The sight of a pair of deep bags under his eyes was... only the slightest bit surprising, really. He'd certainly felt like shit, so it only made sense he looked the part too. He shook his head, and turned back to Twilight,
"I'm just tired, Twi-...Twilight," he finished, not particularly caring about keeping up with the whole 'Sparky' thing. He was too tired for that. Besides, there was no chance of Twilight letting it go, even if she wasn't currently on him about it. Better to simply let it go so that his insistence on using it after the slip up couldn't be used against him. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a commotion just outside.
"Halt! Who goes there?!"
"Uh, woah buddy. I'm supposed to be here."
Well, there's Rainbow.
Twilight rolled her eyes and walked passed him to lean her head out the open top half of the door,
"It's fine, she's on the list."
"Are you certain, Miss Sparkle?"
While Twilight was dealing with the two Royal Guards, Emerald made his way further into the party/brunch or whatever it was. Specifically towards the hors d'oeuvres table with Applejack.
... Was she sweating?
"What's happening over here?" he called, eyes slowly scanning the spread. It was pretty good. More variety then he'd first assumed, too. There were sandwiches, salads, fruits, sweets, drinks, what might've been some kind of soup, and, quite surprisingly, fish.
Did ponies eat fish? He was pretty sure they were pure herbivores, so why was there fish here? Was he wrong?
Regardless, there wasn't a lot. There only seemed to be enough for one or two servings. Not that that stopped him from salivating slightly. It had been a long time since he'd eaten meat of any kind. Maybe he should grab some...
"Oh, uh, howdy Emerald," Applejack responded, startling him. Damn, he'd really zoned out there. Was he that tired? Or that hungry? "I'm just, uh, tryin' ta figure out what ta eat," she said. Emerald blinked, then shrugged,
"Does it really matter what you eat?" Applejack shook her head, eyes still focused on the food.
"Heck if I know! Twilight came by the farm yesterday an' made me read through this book on etiquette an' stuff. I couldn't get any'o that when I was a filly an' my aunt an' uncle were teachin' it! Ain't no book gonna be enough ta do it now!" He hummed,
"So... you're trying to figure out what you should eat first?" he asked,
"Yeah," she said with a frown, "I'm jus' stuck. Am I supposed ta eat the salad first, or the appetizer? An', uh, which is which again?"
He scanned the table once more.
Yeah, no clue either. Etiquette like that wasn't part of his studies under Mother. Just basic table manners and politeness for him. Thankfully.
"Well," he began, idly scratching his head, "this whole thing is supposed to be casual, ya know? So, uh... does it matter?"
Applejack sighed, rubbing her head, which Emerald just noticed was lacking the usual stetson.
"I mean, ya got a point, but I'd rather not get another one'o Twilight's 'lessons'. Or worse, Rarity's," she muttered, shuddering at some memory. Emerald glanced over at Rarity, who was clutching her dress close to her-and was that her gala dress? Why was she wearing that here, of all places?-and clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, I don't think she'll have much room to stand on. Not today, at least." Applejack snorted at that, finally turning to him with a grin,
"Yeah, I guess yer-holy hayseed!" she yelped, causing Emerald to jump,
"What?!" he snapped, glaring at the mare. She just ignored it and kept staring at him,
"What'n the hay is wrong wit you?! Ya look like ya ain't slept in weeks!" Emerald blinked, then rolled his eyes,
"Oh come on, I don't look that bad," he said with a frown,
"You kiddin'? Ya look like ya jus' went two rounds with a rock. An' lost!" He winced, slightly tapping the spots under his eyes. They were just some eyebags, right? Why make such a big deal out of it?
"Just... just eat a fuckin' salad," he muttered, looking away. Applejack, probably for the better, ignored that comment,
"What in the hay have you been doin' that's got you lookin' as tuckered as Mac an' I do durin' harvest season?"
"Training," he said lamely. Applejack blinked,
"'Trainin'''?" she asked, brow rising, "An' what kinda trainin' makes ya look like this?" she asked pointedly, eyes visibly scanning him. He scowled,
"The kind that should get results. Fuck off, I know what I can an' can't handle, so don't go tryin' to lecture me or some shit," he snapped. Applejack didn't look impressed at his attitude, brow somehow quirking further,
"Uh-huh, 'course ya do, never said ya didn't. Jus'... don't go overboard, Emm-" he twitched at her use of his nickname, it was the first time someone outside of his family used it, at least that he could remember, "we all care 'bout ya. Don't want ya blowin' a fuse or anythin'. I know what that's like." He stared at her for a moment, before sighing,
"Yeah... yeah, I know. Sorry for snapping."
"Ain't a problem! Now, uh... which'un's the normal salad?"
"Like I would know."
"Didn't ya live with the princess fer a couple'a years?"
"You think I have the patience for this kind of crap?"
"... Fair 'nuff."
The two of them bantered for a bit longer, before Emerald eventually bid her goodbye and moved on. By then, Rainbow had joined the party and made a beeline right for the apple cider, inadvertently crossing right into Emerald's path.
"Oof!"
"Ugh."
The chromatic mare stepped back with a chuckle,
"Heh, sorry 'bout that Greenie-" his brow rose at the nickname, "-but I gotta get some of that cider!"
And just like that, she was off once more. The sheer energy radiating off that mare so bright and early-a mare who, mind you, usually slept in until the afternoon-just served to make Emerald feel even more tired. He groaned.
What were the chances he could hide under one of the tables and take a quick nap?
"Hi Emerald!"
Zero, evidently.
"Hey, Pinkie," he muttered, turning to face her. She looked... happy. Er, happier than usual, that is. He supposed it made sense. Whatever this thing was, it was very similar to a party, so she must feel in her element.
"Isn't this amaaazing?!" she chirped excitedly, "The princess is coming to one of my parties!" she pumped her hoof, "I'm gonna show the princess a real Pinkie Party! It'll be sooo much better than all those stuffy pony parties back in Canterlot!" she declared, a fire visibly burning in her eyes.
Emerald blinked. Was Pinkie feeling... competitive? That was... actually, that was a surprisingly scary thought. If she felt the need to compete with someone in the party department, then who knows was strange new 'party games' she'd come up with in an attempt to one up... whoever. The royal party planners, maybe?
... Wait, did those even exist? He wouldn't be surprised.
"Right," he said diplomatically, he really couldn't think of anything else to say to that, "well... er, good luck, Pinkie? I, uh... I believe in you." He started slightly when Pinkie suddenly grasped one of his hooves in both of hers, staring up at him with watery eyes,
"Y-You do?" she asked. Feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second, he smiled weakly and nodded,
"O-of course, Pinkie. Always have."
The mare was moving in an instant. Literally. One second she was practically on the floor-when did she even get there?-hooves over his and the next she was standing tall, hoof high in the air and posing majestically, and-was that a fucking spotlight?!
"I won't let you down, Emerald!" she chirped, clearly determined. She then popped away, leaving behind a smoke duplicate of herself that faded away after a second.
He just.... sort of stared for a moment, before reaching up to his face and lightly smacking his cheeks.
"Dear stars, please tell me I'm sleeping....!"
He wasn't, unfortunately.
The doors to the bakery suddenly slammed open, immediately halting all conversations and drawing everyone's attention. The two guards from outside stepped into the bakery in nigh perfect unison, before stepping to the side and saluting.
"Now announcing the arrival of Her Majesty, the Princess of the Sun, Princess Celestia!"
Emerald winced almost immediately as the entire room burst into applause as Mother serenely walked inside. She smiled regally, and addressed the room,
"Good morning, my little ponies!" she spoke softly, but her words easily reached even those furthest from her, "It is wonderful to see everyone, and I truly cannot thank you all enough for coming to this little soiree. But!" she stomped her hoof lightly, "You did not come to hear me prattle on. Please! Enjoy yourselves! I look forward to meeting all of you!"
Applause filled the room once more after her little speech, even as ponies all but leapt aside when she strode forward. Ignored by most, the two guards, and presumably the ones that no doubt pulled her chariot here, returned to guarding the front doors outside.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake met Mother head on, practically falling over themselves to present her a seat at the table and, when she took it, actually fell over trying to give her, well, all the food. It was amusing, and Emerald would certainly have been enjoying the scene, were he not struggling to fall asleep on his hooves.
It really was a struggle to keep his eyes open. Just blinking had him nearly tipping over, only escaping the sweet embrace of sleep with a healthy dose of not wanting to whack his skull against the floor.
But, try as he might, the gods wanted him unconscious and, eventually he succumbed.
-
-
Okay! Okay! Okay okay okay! Everything was running juuuuuust fine! The Princess had gotten here without issue, Rainbow Dash had stopped harassing the guards, and the girls and Emerald were all here!
Sure, the Cakes were being a little in-your-face with the Princess. Sure, maybe Applejack looked totally lost over by the food. Sure, Rarity might be, just the littlest bit, freaking out about her dress, but, hey! Nothing had caught fire, no monsters had attacked the town, and no biiiiiig issues had cropped up for a couple days! That meant that everything was going to be just fine.
And for the love of Celestia, let it stay that way.
Twilight shook her head, taking a quick sip of punch in the hopes it would calm her nerves. It didn't, but it at least kept the panic on the inside.
One might be wondering why Twilight was so nervous about all this. After all, she'd known Princess Celestia nearly all her life! There weren't a lot of other ponies who could claim that, so you'd be forgiven if you'd assumed Twilight knew the princess pretty well. And she did! It was just, well, her friends were a little bit odd and, sure, maybe the princess had met all of them before and read about them in Twilight's letters andhadactuallybeentherewhenshefirstgotthemandshehadn'tseemedtohaveaproblemthenbut-
Well! She was panicking because she wanted the princess to approve of her friends, in short.
Yes, sure, the princess had met them before and knew plenty about all of them! But, it was just... this would be the first time, first real time they'd met in a casual setting. Everything other time they'd interacted something had caused it. Be it Discord returning or the Gala being ruined, it was never just a casual meet-up to properly introduce each other. And well...
She wasn't blind to their faults.
Rainbow was a bit of an arrogant ass, Applejack was stubborn and a bit stuck in her ways, Rarity could be prissy and overdramatic, Pinkie was hyper to the extreme and didn't understand personal space, Fluttershy was almost irritatingly timid at times, and Emerald was sarcastic to the point of rudeness and could be surprisingly condescending.
But she loved them all the same. Would never trade them away for anything in life!
That's why she wanted this meet-up to go, if not perfectly, then as close to it as she could get.
And...
"Oh no..." Twilight muttered. Why was-why was Fluttershy approaching the princess?! That-that couldn't be! Fluttershy was too shy for such a bold move! She'd lock up in front of the princess for sure!
Thankfully Princess Celestia was still being occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, so she was able to quickly rush over to the butterscotch mare.
"Fluttershy!" she chirped happily, or at least as happily as she could manage. The way the shyer mare's eyes widened at seeing her meant she probably had failed in some regard.
"O-oh, hello Twilight... Um... is everything alright?" she asked, looking worried. Twilight smiled,
"Alright? Of course everything's alright! Why wouldn't it be?" she asked.
"Your eye is twitching. And your mane is all.... frizzy." Twilight blinked. Really? She shook her head, idly rubbing a hoof through her mane,
"O-oh! Um, sorry, I'm just..." she huffed, though Fluttershy just smiled at her,
"You're nervous, right?" she asked, earning a nod from the unicorn, "I thought so. I can't imagine what it must be like for you. Princess Celestia is such a big part of your life, but so are we... It would be awful if something happened and none of us got along," Fluttershy said. Twilight perked up,
"Y-yes! Exactly! I'm glad someone understands!" Fluttershy's gentle smile didn't waver,
"W-well, if it makes you feel better, you should, maybe... introduce me to the Princess? It's just-" she glanced over, prompting Twilight to look as well, she idly noted that Pinkie was dragging the Cakes somewhere, "th-that cage. I-I didn't know the Princess had a pet!"
Twilight blinked. A pet?... Oh. Oh.
She felt herself sag. Great. Just great. The princess had brought Philomena along. She shook her head, trying, and failing, to toss the thought aside.
"Well, I'm sure Princess Celestia would love to introduce you." Fluttershy immediately lit up,
"Really? You think so?" Twilight waved off her question,
"Of course. Besides," she said, expression twisting into a grimace, "Philomena just loves showing off."
Fluttershy fidgeted in place, clearly not noticing Twilight's fallen expression, an adorably shy look of excitement on her face. It was calming, in a way, to see that someone was more nervous than she was. Even if that someone was Fluttershy, a mare who was naturally more nervous than she. With more confidence than she'd expected to have, Twilight gently dragged Fluttershy over to the table the princess was sat at, idly nibbling on a cupcake.
She noticed their approach quickly.
"Well, hello Twilight, I hope you've had a good morning," Princess Celestia began, earning a hasty-
"Oh absolutely, Your Highness! The mornings you bring never disappoint!" The princess smiled,
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Twilight," she then looked over at Fluttershy, "And, Fluttershy, was it?" a nod, "It's wonderful to see you again! I hope you've been well?"
"Oh, yes, Your Highness, very well!" Fluttershy gushed. Princess Celestia's eyes widened, a tad,
"That's wonderful! I've heard all about you girls in Twilight's letters, and I must say, I'm looking forward to properly getting to know you all. Though-" the princess's voice turned... wistful? "I do wish Emerald would write... at all, really... How has he been doing, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Emerald?" Fluttershy asked, sharing a glance with Twilight. The Princess hummed,
"Hmm, that look tells me something has happened. Is everything alright?"
"Ah! W-well... umm," Twilight stammered, hooves nervously tapping against the floor, "Nothing's happened here, umm... I, uh, I don't know if you know about... Daring Do and uh..." Princess Celestia nodded,
"Yes, I am aware of Miss Yearling's little secret," she winked, before frowning, "I take it something happened on their little trip?"
"You know about that?" Twilight asked, surprised. The princess gave a small nod,
"A bit of it, yes. Miss Yearling didn't give me all the details. She was... rather out of it, actually. It was Mr. Rock who filled me in on the happenings of the Tower and Ahuizotl. Though Emerald did contact my sister shortly after, I'm afraid the full details have not been told to me just yet."
"Well-" Twilight cut herself off.
Was this something she should tell the princess? Logically, yes. If Princess Luna already knew then it was only a matter of time before Princess Celestia found out. But, at the same time, it was something that clearly had an impact on Emerald, and likely not a good one. He'd clearly been out of it earlier, and the level of exhaustion he'd displayed wasn't natural.
Was the memory of his relative's deaths hanging onto him heavy enough to disrupt his sleep? Twilight could imagine. If she simply heard about her family's deaths she'd be devastated, but Emerald had watched it happen!
She... she hadn't realized. So focused on the upcoming arrival of the princess, she hadn't realized how much Emerald must be hurting...
Gosh... to think she'd been so insensitive, dragging him to this brunch...
"-ight? Twilight?"
Twilight gasped slightly as she was brought back from her thoughts,
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Your Highness. What were we talking about? I, uh, sort of got lost in thought..." she explained/excused herself with a flush. Princess Celestia simple smiled,
"It's alright, Twilight. I asked about how Emerald was doing, and you brought up his little trip with Ms. Yearling."
Right. Right! That was right. And she was also realizing how insensitive she'd been. Completely missing that her friend was having issues dealing with the loss of his family, even if he didn't know it himself.
"Right, well... I'm... not sure if its my place to say..." she trailed off, "He's... well... he's clearly been having trouble sleeping."
"Trouble... sleeping?" the princess asked. Twilight nodded,
"Er, yes. H-honestly it almost looks like he hasn't slept since coming back. Or, at least, hasn't been sleeping enough." The princess looked up slightly, pursing her lips,
"... Has he been training more often lately, by any chance?" Twilight blinked,
"Oh, I, uh, I don't know, Your Highness. I sometimes use his course, but, aside from that, I don't really know much about his training."
"Hmm... I see," the princess seemed distracted. Twilight bit her lip, but before she could do or say anything, the princess spoke once more, "Well... for now, I suppose we'll simply have to trust the way he's handling things, " she said, before turning to Fluttershy, "Now, Fluttershy, Twilight tells me that you work with animals, yes?"
"Oh yes!" Fluttershy chirped, perking up immediately, "I absolutely adore animals in all shapes and sizes! I'm really quite lucky I get to work with them so much."
"That's wonderful!" the princess exclaimed, leaning back a bit, "Perhaps, then, you'd like to meet my own animal companion?"
Twilight's eyes widened, even as she instinctively ducked her head and scrunched in her shoulders. She'd forgotten the reason she and Fluttershy had come over in the first place, so enthralled in her thoughts and the conversation. Ugh, how could she be so foolish!?
"Oh yes! That would be wonderful, Your Highness!"
Now, Twilight was not the sort of pony to say she hated someone. Really! Even her old bullies never came close to that spot in her mind reserved for those she hated.
Philomena? Ohoho... Philomena came very close to it.
Philomena herself was a fine bird. Majestic, beautiful, all those wonderful things. She was a good pet, as well. Obedient, well-trained-or as trained as you could get a member of the highly intelligent species that were phoenixes-and rarely caused problems. For her owner, at least.
It was when it came to everyone else that Philomena's true nature came out.
That bird. That damn bird. That fucking bird was a prankster. A prankster. The bird was a practical jokester, if you can believe it.
And Twilight was her favourite victim.
Oh! The number of times Twilight had a book, or a quill, or a bit of parchment, or, really, anything even slightly important stolen and hidden from her by that damned phoenix-!
Well, suffice to say, Twilight very quickly learned a spell to prevent theft. A spell that turned out to be intention based and, since Philomena wasn't actively stealing but playing with her things, didn't work!
Did you know that there are no spells currently made with the express purpose of keeping a phoenix away from one's things? Oh, there are spells to trap phoenixes, bind them, forcibly make them burn early, all sorts of horrid things really... but none, not even one spell to repel them? Twilight knew that. Knew that very well, in fact.
So well, in fact, that she tried to make one! When she was fifteen!
Thank goodness Princess Celestia stepped in when she found out, otherwise Twilight might've put herself in the hospital and possibly crippled her ability to use magic entirely. Apparently repulsion spells are more energy intensive than containment spells, which made a sort of sense when you thought about it. A repulsion spell is like an inverse containment spell in theory, in keeping something out rather than in. In practice it turned out that the field of a repulsion spell is constantly active and and as such is always draining magic, while a containment spell was really only active, and consuming any magic, when the target tries to breach it's field.
And all of that on top of the fact that phoenixes are very magically powerful creatures. A spell that was designed to contain, bind, or repel one against their will would have to take a lot of magic to overcome their natural resistance. It was really no wonder they were so rare outside of the wild. Which made the princess having Philomena all the more rare. She was actually gifted an egg straight from Philomena's parents! A process supposedly even harder than catching one!
Though how one were to go about that was a mystery only the princess would know.
"That's wonderful to hear!" the princess said, turning to her left, where a fair-sized golden bird cage sat on a pedestal, seemingly empty. Fluttershy blinked in confusion, and Twilight wasn't far behind her.
"Um-?"
"This is my dear Philomena," the princess said, smiling serenely, while inadvertently cutting off Twilight's question. Fluttershy blinked, obviously confused, before flinching back when a hacking cough erupted from the cage.
Twilight nearly cried in relief! Thank the heavens! Philomena was near the end of a cycle! She only ever coughed like that near one, otherwise the little pest would've been soaking up attention like a sponge in the desert!
"Oh my!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, leaning in towards the cage, even as Philomena rose into view, "You're finally awake. Wonderful! Go on then, Philomena, please say hello to our gracious hosts!" the princess urged.
Philomena in her current state was... not pretty, not in the least. Her feathers had turned a pale, almost flesh coloured, pink, with plenty spots of skin clearly visible. Not to mention how out of sorts she looked, eyes somewhat dazed, body sagging.
In short, she looked like she was on death's door. Twilight wilted further at the thought. If Philomena was this bad, she was likely to burn by the end of the day, if not the morning after. At least Philomena couldn't pull any of her pranks in this state. She'd better enjoy the peace while it lasted.
Philomena hacked in greeting(?), losing a few feathers doing so.
"Oh... my... I've, er, never seen anything quite like her..." Fluttershy looked surprisingly disturbed at the sight of Philomena. Twilight would've figured she'd be used to seeing sickly animals by now. Then again, nuisance as she was, Philomena was still a normally beautiful creature. Seeing something like her being brought so low would be disturbing to anyone, she supposed.
"Oh yes, she is quite the sight, isn't she?" Princess Celestia preened, clearly enthused by Fluttershy's reaction. Twilight wasn't sure if she was teasing Fluttershy, or was just so used to Philomena that she didn't realize what she looked like to others.
Really, either was possible.
"Oh... yes!" Fluttershy forced out, "She's... breathtaking... Um... what kind of bird is she?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight was momentarily distracted from her surprise at Fluttershy's lack of knowledge when one of the guards walked passed her,
"Oh, Philomena is a ph-" the princess paused when the guard politely coughed to draw her attention, "Yes?" He leaned forward, whispering something into the princess's ear. Princess Celestia's brow furrowed, "Hmm?... Is that so?" he nodded. Princess Celestia sighed, "I see. Very well, I'll be right there."
Twilight frowned,
"Is everything alright, Your Highness?" she asked. Princess Celestia smiled down at her,
"Yes Twilight, everything is fine. It just seems the Mayor has requested that I come over to speak with her in a few minutes. Evidently, she expects our meeting to take some time and would like to 'get it out of the way', so to speak, before tonight's talent show." Twilight nodded, though she still frowned,
"Oh, alright..." The princess, tilted her head down, looking at Twilight over the bridge of her nose,
"... I'm sorry I didn't get to meet all your friends like we planned," the princess apologized, immediately holding up a hoof to halt Twilight's instant protests, "No, no. I promised you I would meet with them, and I shall, but I'm sure you know what they say about the best laid plans, and all that."
"Of... of course, Your Highness."
She smiled down at Twilight, before nodding and standing up,
"Attention!" she easily called over the crowd, who immediately quieted down, "It was wonderful to have spent time with you all, even for these briefest of moments. However! Your Mayor has called to begin our scheduled meeting a tad earlier than expected, so I'm afraid I must be going. But please! Enjoy yourselves. The festivities need not stop simply because I am gone!"
There was a round of 'Awww's followed by cheering from the crowd. Princess Celestia turned to Twilight,
"Again, I am sorry Twilight. Hopefully we'll have time for a proper meeting before the talent show," she said, before turning tp the guard, "Alright then, let's not keep the mayor waiting any longer."
The guard fired off a quick salute, before turning and heading out the door, the Princess right behind him. Once she was out the door, Twilight stared at the door for a moment, then sighed,
"Well... at least nothing can ruin the brunch..." she muttered to herself, before turning back to the table, "So, uh, Flutters-Fluttershy?"
The yellow pegasus was gone. Seat empty, food untouched. She'd just disappeared.
"Uhhh...?" That was strange. What could possibly have-?
"Pardon me, Miss Sparkle," a gruff male voice spoke up from behind her. Twilight yelped and spun around, finding one of the Princess' guards standing there. "My apologies," he stated plainly, not sounding sorry at all, "I merely returned to gather the Princess's Philomena and her cage," he said.
"Right, right..." Twilight muttered, gently patting at her chest to calm her heart, "well... don't let me stop you," she said, waving towards Philomena's empty cage.
...
Wait, empty?!
Her neck cracked audibly as her head whirled back to stare at the anomaly. Philomena had just been there! How could she have possibly gotten out?! Especially in her condition!
"She is missing," the guard stated helpfully, his voice not wavering in the slightest, "this is not good."
"You think?!" The guard merely sighed and turned to leave,
"This is not the first time Philomena has escaped. I've no doubt it won't be the last either." He opened the door leading outside and barked, "Stallions! Philomena has escaped once more! Track her down and return her to her cage. She is close to burning so she can't have gone far!"
"""""Sir!"""""
The guards all darted in different directions without further prompting, proving that this was, in fact, a common enough occurrence.
Still, the whole situation left Twilight stumped. How did Philomena get out of her cage? Especially without Twilight noticing. The cage was right there, after all. It was a shame Fluttershy wasn't here, she might've seen what happened to the sickly bird.
... Sickly... bird...
... Fluttershy...
"Oooooohhhh..." Twilight whispered to herself, "Fluttershy took Philomena, didn't she?" she asked the empty air.
"Yep!" it responded.
"AGH!" Twilight screamed, flinching hard and falling off her chair. The air gave off a familiar giggle-snort, before Pinkie's bright blue eyes came into view,
"Whatcha doin' on the floor, Twilight? Ooh! Are we playing a game?"
Twitch.
"... No, Pinkie, we're not playing a game." Twilight ignored Pinkie's 'Aww...', instead responding to her earlier statement, "So Fluttershy actually birdnapped Philomena. You saw it?" Pinkie nodded,
"Yep! Philomena was all 'Eugh'-" Pinkie made a face, tongue out, eyes rolled over, "-and Fluttershy was all 'Huuuuuuagh!'-" she made an exaggerated gasping face, "-and then 'creeeeaaaak'-" she mimed opening a small door, "-and then Philomena was like 'Oh help me, Fluttershy', so Fluttershy was like 'Of course I'll help you Philomena! We must go!' and then she grabbed her and left all super sneaky and stuff!"
Twilight stared at Pinkie, eyes half lidded,
".... Right. And that all happened exactly like you just said, didn't it?" she asked sarcastically. Pinkie either didn't notice or didn't care, giving one, single nod,
"Yep! We just finished getting Emerald up to my room when I came down and saw!"
Like a scratching record, Twilight's thoughts froze.
"What? Why?" Pinkie tilted her head,
"Why what?" Twilight rolled her eyes,
"Why did you have to bring Emerald up to your room?"
"Oh, he fell asleep!"
"He... fell asleep?"
"Yep!"
Emerald fell asleep? Just... just like that? In the middle of a, relatively tame, party? That was... not good. She knew he was tired, he'd said as much, but she hadn't realized he'd been that exhausted.
Suddenly, the princess' words came to her-
"... Has he been training more often lately, by any chance?"
Was Emerald training more often? She hadn't been lying when she'd said she didn't know much about his training, but... honestly, it seemed like something he'd do. Emerald was absolutely the type to throw himself into training after losing family like he had.
But then she remembered. How he spoke of Winter, of his death. Of how he'd been hiding something from them.
... Was losing family really the reason? Twilight knew that family was important to Emerald, the way he doted on Wisp and even Starlight had made that obvious.
But, at the end of the day, Emerald was from an entirely different culture. No matter how similar he looked, and even acted, to a pony, that didn't change the fact that he wasn't one of them. For all Twilight knew, the death of his family wasn't what was weighing on his mind.
It was, yet another, thing he would do. Pretend they'd gotten the problem nailed right away, while hiding the truth.
He really was just a self-sacrificing fool, wasn't he?
"He's sleeping now?" Twilight asked for confirmation, earning it when Pinkie nodded. Okay, so he was sleeping now. That meant she couldn't go up and ask him. Chances are he'd be out for a few hours with how tired he'd looked. Tired enough he might miss the talent show...
"Could you wake him up before the talent show? There's no way he'd be willing to miss it," she asked. Pinkie nodded, and gave a mock salute,
"Yessiree! Pinkie Pie is on the job!" Twilight smiled,
"Thanks Pinkie. For taking care of Emerald."
Especially when I obviously couldn't...
She felt a pit open up in her chest at the thought. She should be the one helping Emerald when he so obviously needed it, yet here she was, completely useless, just standing off to the side, too worried about the princess' visit to give him the attention he needed.
But... what was done was done. She'd have to be better in the future, but, for now, she'd have to focus on present issues.
Like Fluttershy birdnapping Philomena.
On second thought, was it really that surprising? Philomena did look like a sickly bird as she was now. Of course Fluttershy would want to do everything she could to help her. Fluttershy, despite her vast knowledge of the animal kingdom, being unable to recognize Philomena as a phoenix only made the situation worse. Conventional methods of healing wouldn't work on a mystical creature like her.
Not to mention Philomena's pranks. If Fluttershy was lucky, she'd leave this whole endeavor without incident.
.... But when have any of them ever gotten into anything and left unscathed?
... She was going to have to intervene, wasn't she?
Shit.
-----
The walk up to Fluttershy's cottage was simple. Why wouldn't it be? It wasn't like she was walking into a disaster zone or something.
And for once, she actually didn't walk into one!
Fluttershy's door was already cracked open a bit, so she just pushed her way inside, idly calling out to alert the shy pegasus.
"Fluttershy? Are you here?" The cottage wasn't really any different than the previous times she'd been here, aside from a bunch of candles laying on the floor, as well as what might've been a bowl of soup off in the corner.
Oh, and the feathers.
Sweet Celestia was that a lot of feathers.
She recognized them instantly as Philomena's, but that was an easy enough guess even if she didn't recognize them. She glanced around not finding Fluttershy or the little menace... or any other animals for that matter. Fluttershy's home, usually filled with all sorts of sounds and motion, was silent and still.
Then she heard the sound of running water.
She stepped further into the cottage, gently shutting the door behind her.
"Fluttershy?" she called again as she approached the sound, eventually reaching the bathroom. Fluttershy was calmly filling her wooden tub with water. Very hot water if the steam was any indication.
And there she was. That little nuisance, Philomena, was just... sitting on the floor, a pair of towels wrapped around her, and a vacant look on her face.
Twilight wasn't fooled. Philomena, even as close to burning as she was, was still a sly and cunning creature. No doubt she had some big prank planned out in advance, with poor Fluttershy as the likely victim.
Well, not if Twilight had anything to say about it!
"There you go, Philomena. A nice hot bath is sure to fix you up," the gentle pegasus cooed, picking up the bird and, just as gently, plunking her into the water. Twilight rolled her eyes, even as she walked up to the pair. To a phoenix like Philomena that water was probably lukewarm at best and a tad chilly at worst.
"Fluttershy-" Twilight wasn't surprised at the loud 'Eep!' Fluttershy made, or the honest eight feet the mare must've jumped, and just kept talking like it didn't happen, "what in the world were you thinking, taking Philomena like that?"
The mare was staring at her, wide-eyed, rapidly waving her hooves side to side,
"I-I-I, T-T-Twilight!" she stammered, "I-I-I-You-you saw her! Sh-she needs my help! I-I-I couldn't just leave poor Philomena like that!" she defended herself.
Twilight sighed, eyeing her animal-loving friend. Fluttershy's cheeks had puffed up and she had this very determined look on her face, not too dissimilar to the one she had facing that dragon so long ago.
It was hard to be angry at her. Which was precisely why Twilight wasn't. This was sweet, wonderful Fluttershy after all! She wouldn't hurt a fly.
Of course the fact she resorted to stealing someone's pet was worrying. More-so considering it was her first response. Really, she couldn't have talked to the princess first, or, failing that, one of the guards? Asked a couple questions to see if something was wrong? But no, Fluttershy jumped right into committing a crime!
... Which was funny. She'd have bet money that it would've been Rainbow or Pinkie to be the first in their friend group to break the law.
Not that she thought any of her friends would, but if one of them were to... well...
She wouldn't have guessed that Fluttershy would be it, that's for certain.
Twilight sighed.
"Fluttershy, that's no excuse and you know it." The shy mare, rather than back down as one might've expected, stamped her hoof in defiance,
"So?! Even if it was the wrong thing, Philomena still needs my help! What kind of pony would I be if I just let a poor creature who's hurting in front of me keep hurting?!" she demanded, face twisting into a defiant pout. Twilight flinched back slightly, taken by surprise. Though, in hindsight, she really shouldn't be.
"Fluttershy..." The pegasus shook her head,
"I'm sorry, Twilight, but, even if it was wrong, I'd do it a hundred more times if it means I can help!"
Twilight really had to fight a smile at that. She wanted to praise her friend for her determination, for her ever-kind heart. But... in this situation? Where Fluttershy was... Was Fluttershy in the wrong? A few years ago she'd have said yes in a heartbeat, but... if she did, would she be hurting Fluttershy? Would that be striking a blow to the poor, shy mare's growing but still weak confidence? She was doing so much better than when they'd first met, it was almost like staring at a completely different pony at times!
Twilight sighed. Fluttershy... in the end, did only what she thought was right. Did Twilight have the right to tell her otherwise?
...
Perhaps... it was best she hear it from the princess. Philomena was her pet, after all. She... honestly doubted Fluttershy would get in any trouble, not with Philomena's... nature in mind.
Still, it might be best to play up the whole situation as one of Philomena's pranks from the start... just in case.
"Fluttershy," Twilight began, giving the soft pegasus a small smile, which did its job at causing Fluttershy to relax, "maybe we should go talk to the princess? I mean-" she waved a hoof towards the bathroom door, "I can see how much you've been struggling with Philomena's.... condition-" she bit out the word, sending a small glare towards the bird, "and by now I'm sure you're getting really worried about it, right?" she asked. Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, before biting her lip nervously and nodding,
"Y-yes. I-I... I just don't know what's wrong with her!" she exclaimed, falling to her flank in despair, hooves flying to her cheeks in horror, "I've tried everything! Soup, medicine, therapy, a hot bath-" she gesturing to the tub, "but none of it is working!" she sobbed, tears now visibly rolling down her cheeks, "Wh-what if-what if she-she d-d-d-dies?!" she whispered in horror. Twilight noticed Philomena staring at Fluttershy, a distinctly guilty look on the bird's face.
Figures.
Twilight shook her head, and approached the crying mare.
"Fluttershy," she breathed softly, laying a hoof on her friend's back and rubbing in soft circles, "Philomena will be fine. More than fine, really." Fluttershy turned to stare at her with those big, watery eyes of hers,
"H-how do you kn-know?"
Ugh, this was breaking Twilight heart! To see poor Fluttershy crying like this?! She couldn't stand it!
Forget seeing the princess, Fluttershy needed to know, now.
"Because, Fluttershy, Philomena is a phoenix." Fluttershy blinked at her,
"... Wh-what?" Twilight sighed,
"She's a phoenix, Fluttershy. Philomena is just nearing the end of her most recent cycle. This is perfectly natural, and she'll be in top physical health in a few days once she's burned," she explained. Fluttershy tilted her head in obvious confusion, then turned to look at Philomena, who'd slowly been sinking into the water while they talked,
"Sh-she'll be okay?" she asked, getting an affirmative 'Mmhm' from Twilight, "B-but if she was okay, then... wh-why didn't she s-say anything...?"
Twilight scowled, throwing a glance at the now submerged bird,
"Because she's a prankster on par with Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy's head snapped back to stare at Twilight.
"She's... she's been-been pretending to be sick?" she asked, incredulously, eyes wide and staring straight into Twilight's soul. Twilight hesitated for a moment. There was an... edge to Fluttershy's voice, and, truthfully, it struck a little bundle of nerves in her chest. But she'd already told her this much, so why stop now?
"Yes. She actually did something similar to me, once," Twilight admitted. Fluttershy wiped away her tears, and got to her hooves,
"She... did?" Twilight nodded, a tad embarrassed at the memory,
"Y... yes. I had only been the princess' student for a week at the time and, while I'd read up on them, I'd never actually met a phoenix before," she chuckled hollowly, "I was very excited to meet the princess' pet for the first time, and I didn't realize she was a phoenix. I even tried impressing her with some magic... I tried using a spell to change the colours of her feathers and she... burned in front of me. I... I thought it was my fault, that my spell had failed so spectacularly. I was-I was terrified. Not only did I think I'd killed something, but I had no idea how the princess would react. It was... more than a little traumatic. I tried avoiding her after that, but she kept targeting me with her little pranks," she muttered bitterly.
"What?" Fluttershy asked, "That's-that's horrible!" Twilight could only nod, frowning as the memory played through her head.
"Yeah... horrible."
Twilight was being stingy with the details. If she was being honest, the event was even worse than she made it sound.
After that, she'd been terrified of her magic for months. She'd been so scared of her spells backfiring and actually harming someone that she couldn't even muster the courage to cast even a basic levitation spell! She'd had to attend magical counseling and minor therapy before even a spark of magic managed to leave her. It had been so bad her parents had very nearly pulled her from school and the Princess's tutelage outright! She didn't know how, but, according to her mother, Princess Celestia had come by their house one day and apologized for Philomena's behavior.
Though Twilight was certain it was more than just a mere apology. She could remember her mother's loud rage and her father's quiet fury, and sincerely doubted an apology alone could've doused those flames. The princess must have done something to convince them to let her stay.
...
Thinking about it, that does actually explain why she never saw another one of Philomena's burnings after that. She figured she was just lucky enough to avoid it, but, now, she was certain the princess had something to do with that.
She'd have to thank her for that.
She was brought out from her thoughts by the sound of sloshing water, just in time to see a soaking wet, near-featherless bird get set down in front of her.
"Philomena, apologize," Fluttershy's stern voice bounced off the walls of the bathroom. And around the walls of her skull, because what?
Both Twilight and Philomena were staring at Fluttershy in shock. The mare in question was staring at Philomena, very clearly disapproving.
"I'm sorry, what?" Twilight asked, brow furrowed. Fluttershy just glanced at her and nodded, before turning back to Philomena.
"Apologize. Now." Twilight laughed. It was one of those half-chuckle, half-choking sort of laughs, even as she shook her head,
"Fluttershy, y-you don't need to-it's-it's pointless, it was so long ago-"
"No, Twilight," the butter-yellow mare stated firmly, turning to look her in eye. Twilight recoiled, slightly,
"N-no?"
"Philomena hurt you, really badly too. So, she needs to apologize," Fluttershy declared, then, once more, turned to the bird, "I said, now."
Was it weird that Twilight felt like apologizing all of a sudden? She didn't even know what she'd apologize for and she still felt like it.
Philomena, sufficiently cowed, basically threw herself onto the floor in a facsimile of a bow, crowing quietly in what might have been an apology. Considering how badly she was shaking, it sort of came out all warbled. Like speaking into a fan, really.
Fluttershy's glare only hardened, before she gave an abrupt nod, and turned back to Twilight. All the firmness and strength in her gaze softened suddenly, and she shyly kicked at the floor,
"Um... I guess we should get Philomena back to the princess, huh?" Twilight stared at her for a moment, before smiling softly,
"Yeah, I think so."
An endless expanse of green grass illuminated only by the setting sun. There, in the distance, silhouetted against that falling star were two figures, features shaded yet burned into his memory. One of them dared to gaze back upon him, the one so far behind. He ran and ran and ran yet never did he come closer, never did he close that distance.
A voice.
"C'mon cuz, can you catch up to us?"
He did not wake loudly. He did not spring from the bed like a stallion possessed, or lurch up like you'd see in a monster film.
He did, however, wake quickly, eyes opening fully, no need to adjust to the dim lighting of the semi-familiar room.
This is Pinkie's room...
His eyes scanned over the furniture and decorations, but his eyes didn't really see anything. His thoughts were too busy swimming through the churning sea of his head.
I fell asleep. I just fell asleep. I had to be carried up to a room to nap like some fucking foal.
The anger was... indescribable. The sheer raging fury he felt was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. A raging inferno that eclipsed anything, everything-
And it was all aimed at himself.
How pathetic. He was a grown adult, he shouldn't be betting stuck in pitfalls like this! Didn't he already know what happens when his focus becomes so singular? Didn't he fall down that hole, and stayed in it, for several years of his life?!
He could not do it again. Never, ever again! He refused to become that damned shell he'd been for so long!
Yet. And yet.
He could not remain as he was. He was too weak. Too slow. Too stupid. He was the Champion of Equestria, but Equestria was a land of peace. Equestria was only a part of the world, a mere cloud in the vast, endless sky.
He wished to be better, but he could not do it like this. Could not focus so heavily on his combat skills to the detriment of his health. That would end up hurting him far more than it would help.
He needed a plan. A course of action. A proper training regimen.
But he was no trainer. He was self taught in nearly everything he knew. He was suddenly, vividly reminded of something Spitfire had once said to him, not so long ago.
"I'd bet you a thousand bits that you STILL haven't found something you're bad at..."
He couldn't help the scowl that formed on his face from the thought. To think, he took to the physical like a prodigy, to such a degree that his family had been deluded into thinking him better than he was...
But none of that meant anything without-
... Ah, yes, that was a place to start. Winter and Summer were so skilled compared to him, but what else would one expect when doing so? They were trained and experienced fighters. Emerald was not.
How was he to fix that? He needed to receive training. Real, proper training.
And not just regular training. Nocturnian training. Skies training.
...
And he knew just where to find it.
"Wow, it's that late already?" Twilight muttered to herself. The sun was setting, casting brilliant streaks of reds and oranges across the sky. Reds and oranges that would give way to soft blues and purples in an hour or so.
"We should head to the show," Fluttershy suggested quietly, adjusting slightly to keep Philomena from slipping off her back, "it'll be starting soon. Maybe Princess Celestia will be there early?" she added, turning a hesitant gaze onto Twilight.
"Probably," Twilight agreed, then added, "Hopefully there are some empty spots near the front." Fluttershy giggled at that, prompting Twilight to look at her, "What's so funny?" Fluttershy smiled at her,
"Oh, nothing, it's just... well, if there aren't any I'm sure Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and Emerald would make some empty spots in the front row..."
Twilight snorted,
"Yeah, definitely."
The walk to the schoolhouse, and subsequently the talent show, passed by in a pleasant silence after that. Philomena, remarkably, didn't even try to run or otherwise escape from them, a fact that had Twilight on edge. At least, it did, until she realized how few feathers Philomena had at that point. She was down to only two or three, and Twilight knew exactly what would happen once the last one fell off.
She shuddered slightly at the memory, before shoving it to the back of her mind.
The stage, as well as the crowd in front of it, came into view not long later. Even nearing dark, the stage managed to glow in the minimal sunlight, it's cheerful oak frame complimented by the dark red curtain that no doubt hid the participants from sight.
And..... yep, just as Fluttershy had said, she could spot Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Emerald sitting at the front, with a few ponies nearby looking disgruntled, though that might not have been related.
And... there! Princess Celestia also sat in in the front row, talking to, or more accurately being talked at, by Pinkie. She could see the vaguely amused grin on the princess's face as Pinkie no doubt prattled on about... well, anything that came to mind, really. Honestly, that mare...
As the two/three of them approached the princess, Twilight's eyes couldn't help but drift to Emerald, as they so often did. He looked... okay. Significantly less tired than earlier, definitely. Which was good! But... he also seemed... distant, if that made sense. He was just... staring forward, right at the stage, not interacting with the other three. Then again, those three looked like they were in an argument of some kind, unsurprisingly.
It was... cute, she supposed. That Emerald was giving all his attention to Wisp's performance, even so early on, instead of getting competitive like the others. He really wanted to give her all his support, huh?
She was brought out from her thoughts when Fluttershy, surprisingly, spoke up first,
"U-um... Y-Your Highness?" The princess started slightly, glancing over at the two/three of them and doing quite the impressive double take when she saw Philomena.
"Oh! Philomena, there you are!" she said, before giving Pinkie a quiet apology and turning all her attention to them, "I was wondering where you had gotten off to," she smiled down at Fluttershy, "I suppose I have you to thank for finding her. I hope she wasn't too much trouble. Philomena can be rather difficult, at times."
You're telling me...
Twilight shoved the thought away, plastering a smile-and probably not a convincing one-on her face,
"W-well, Your Highness, we didn't exactly... find her..." Princess Celestia blinked at that, tilting her head, before nodding in understanding,
"Ah, of course. I imagine that Philomena was getting up to her usual antics and ended up running into you," she reasoned with a smile. Twilight's strained smile worsened,
"Not... quite..." The Princess' brow furrowed,
"I... see.... perhaps I should let you explain, then?" Yes. Explain. How to do that?
Fluttershy took the decision from her hooves, in yet another display of surprising assertiveness.
"I took her, Your Highness. When you went to go speak with the Mayor, I mean..." Princess Celestia just stared at Fluttershy, blinking uncomprehendingly,
"You... took her?" she asked, earning a nod, "I... why?" Fluttershy fidgeted, her face flushing slightly,
"W-well, um... I-um... I really like animals, Your Highness, a-and I, well, I-I didn't know that Philomena was a phoenix, so I thought she was sick, and-and-I-I just wanted to help!"
"Is... that so?" Princess Celestia asked, eyeing Philomena. Twilight stepped forward,
"Please, Your Highness, Fluttershy really didn't mean to do anything wrong!" she pleaded, hoof clasping against her chest, "While, yes, it was wrong of her to take Philomena as she did, she did it with the best of intentions! Please, just... don't punish her to harshly..." she begged, bowing her head.
"Y-yes! I'm so sorry for what I did!" Fluttershy agreed, and Twilight could see her shaking slightly from the corner of her eye.
Things were silent for a moment, before she heard the princess chuckle slightly.
"Now, now, you two, there's no need to be so worried. You may raise your heads," she soothed, prompting Twilight, and apparently Fluttershy, to look up, finding Princess Celestia to be smiling gently down at them, "It was wrong of you to take Philomena, and, given the nature of such an offense, the punishment would normally be a fair fine and perhaps a few days in prison-" both Fluttershy and Twilight gulped audibly at that, "... however I am willing to overlook this offense... provided Fluttershy promises to never do something like this again."
Both Fluttershy and Twilight were stunned into silence for a time, until the butter-yellow pegasus found her voice,
"I-I promise!"
Princess Celestia's smile widened, and she gently tapped her hoof against the ground,
"Well then! That all seems settled," she said, horn lighting up as she levitated Philomena from Fluttershy onto her own back. She turned to look directly at Fluttershy, "You have a very kind heart, Fluttershy, and I do thank you for trying to help Philomena. I'm glad Twilight has a friend in someone like you," she praised.
"Wha-I-uh-erm...!" Fluttershy stammered, face burning a bright, fluorescent red. The princess giggled at her expression, before calming herself,
"I will admit, however, I am rather stunned that Philomena didn't try pulling one of her pranks she is so fond of..." she mused, turning to glance at her pet, only to turn back and see the grimace on Twilight's face, "... or... did she?" Twilight's grimace worsened for a moment, before she spoke,
"I... I, well, frankly, Your Highness, I believe Philomena was leading Fluttershy on in a long term plan to burn in front of her, after all her attempts and curing her 'illness' failed." The princess's posture, so relaxed and calm, instantly stiffened. Her eyes narrowed and ears folded back.
"She... what?"
It was funny. Her tone was the same and the inflection of her voice hadn't shifted at all, yet something about that one word sent chills down Twilight's spine.
"I-I-I-I don't really have p-proof-" Twilight stammered horribly as sweat poured down her neck, unused to feeling such a frightful aura coming from her teacher,-"i-i-it, well, b-based on her track rec-cord..."
Princess Celestia eyed her for a moment, before mechanically turning her to head to her pet, whispering too lowly for Twilight to hear. Though she couldn't hear, the same was not true for the half-thestral next to her, whose eyes widened dramatically, and her usually yellow face turned a strange sort of ashen white the longer the princess spoke. Eventually, the she returned her gaze onto them, a smile that certainly looked real, but didn't feel real on her face.
"Thank you, Twilight, for bringing this to my... attention." Princess Celestia didn't snarl, but she came awfully close there, before turning her attention fully onto Fluttershy.
And then she bowed.
She. Fucking. Bowed.
"I can't begin to apologize for Philomena's atrocious behavior, Fluttershy," she began solemnly, "I have tried to get it through her head that these sort of 'pranks' of hers are not acceptable, and have severe consequences, both for herself and her unfortunate victim," she returned from her bow, "Rest assured, Philomena will be punished for her actions, and I will make sure this time, that the lesson sticks."
"O-oh! Th-there's no n-need, Your Highness, u-um, I'm sure Philomena d-didn't mean anything by it..." she stammered. The princess only smiled at her,
"Hm, you have a kind heart, Fluttershy. But no," she stated bluntly, "Philomena meant everything she did and everything she planned to do. There is no need to defend her," added, a bit more kindly. Fluttershy's mouth flapped like a fish for a moment, her eyes flicked towards Twilight for a moment, perhaps seeking help... before she stopped and nodded.
"O-okay, Your Highness," she relented timidly. Princess Celestia smiled a bit wider, and went to speak, only for the high-pitched whine of a microphone turning on to interrupt her.
The crowd quieted down almost instantly, everyone turning to the stage to find Miss Cheerilee staring out at everyone with quite the dazzling smile on her face.
"Hello everypony!" she called, the microphone amplifying her voice, but surprisingly not by much. She probably could've just shouted and been heard just fine, "Thank you all for coming, and welcome to The Ponyville Schoolhouse's very first talent show!" The crowd erupted into loud applause, more than one pony absolutely screeching to the sky.
"Ah, it seems the show is about to start," the princess noted, idly waving a guard over with a hoof. She turned to Twilight and Fluttershy with a smile, "Well then, why don't we head over to where your friends are, hmm? I believe I heard most of them have a younger sibling performing tonight," she added, giving Philomena to the guard, who Twilight happened to recognize as one of the ones who'd gone searching for the bird earlier. He saluted in response, before stuffing Philomena back into her golden cage, doing so... perhaps a bit harder than necessary.
Not that Twilight was going to point that out.
"That's right! Applejack and Rarity have their little sisters performing, and Rainbow Dash has Scootaloo, her biggest fan, and, well, you probably already know Wisp..." Twilight muttered as the three of them made their way over to the others. It was funny, really, to see the crowd of ponies parting before the princess, only to close back into place like a wave.
Funny, and useful. They made it to the front row with the others without any difficulty. Now that she was closer, she could spot the other five of her friends a bit better.
For one, Rainbow Dash had a small flag, of all things, with a poorly drawn picture of Scootaloo on it, which she was waving around with a wry grin on her face. Pinkie was bouncing in place like she always was, somehow managing to avoid spilling the humongous bucket of popcorn she was holding. Seriously it was as big as she was! Emerald was focused almost entirely on the stage, seemingly lost in thought, though his ears had twitched towards them as they approached. Rarity was, amusingly, sat on a purple satin pillow and wore a pink and white scarf around her neck. The most interesting of the bunch, however, was Applejack. Instead of appearing excited to see her sister perform, she actually looked... nervous.
Strange. She'd have to ask about that.
"Hey girls! Emerald!" she called. Rarity turned slightly, and perked up,
"Ah, Twilight! Fluttershy! So glad you could make it! Why, I was beginning to wonder- oh!" she started slightly when she realized the princess was behind them, "Good evening, Your Majesty! I hope you've been enjoying your stay in Ponyville, yes?" she asked. Twilight could practically see the sweat forming on Rarity's brow from the question alone.
She was glad though. She certainly seemed much calmer now than she had been earlier in the day.
Though, considering the state she'd been in, it was probably not that difficult...
"Good evening, Rarity," Princess Celestia greeted her, "It's wonderful to properly meet you, and, yes, Ponyville is quite the lovely little town. I can certainly see why Twilight loves it so dearly." Applejack laughed a bit, her nerves seeming to leak away,
"Glad ta hear it, princess! The Apple Family's done its best ta keep the place floatin' all these years!"
"Indeed!" the princess chuckled, "I'm glad to see I left this land in such capable hooves after all." Applejack scratched at her bright red cheeks, laughing slightly,
"W-well, I'm mighty glad ta hear that!" she said, then muttered under breath, "Heh, Granny'll get a kick outta hearin' that..."
"Now, I hear that the four of you have your siblings entering the show?" she asked eagerly. Applejack's bashful expression fell, replaced once more by that strange nervousness.
"Oh yeah, totally!" Rainbow spoke up, waving her little flag a bit higher, "My Squirt's gonna blow the whole crowd away, no doubt!" Rarity gave a dainty little 'hmph!',
"Your faith in darling Scootaloo is admirable, Rainbow, but we both know Sweetie Belle will be the one dazzling the crowd!"
"Wrong," Emerald cut in, not bothering to look over at the bickering mares, "Wisp is going to be the star of the show. The rest of 'em are just a bunch of opening acts." Twilight smiled as Rarity and Rainbow descended on Emerald, the three immediately consumed in their argument. Yet, they seemed to be missing someone...
She turned to Applejack, who was now fidgeting quite a bit, face red and a tad sweaty.
"Applejack?" Twilight asked, "Are you alright?" The orange mare started at her voice, the sweat on her brow really beginning to come down,
"Huh? Alright? Er, course I'm alright!" her eyes darted to the sides, "Wh-what would make ya think I ain't?" Twilight just blinked at her friend. Slowly. Deliberately. Before eventually looking away.
She's... probably just nervous about the performance, she thought, the girls were probably practicing at their clubhouse and she caught them doing... whatever it was.
Thinking about it now... the three of them working together was always a... daunting prospect.
For everyone, even those not involved.
... Especially those not involved.
But-still! It couldn't possibly be that bad? It was a talent show! The girls simply needed to show off the things they liked doing and were good at!
Like a... special... talent... hmm.
...
This was going to be a disaster, wasn't it?
W-well! It couldn't possibly be all bad! After all, the girls were only one act out of... however many there were!
"Alright everypony! Before we start, let's give a warm welcome to all our wonderful participants!" Cheerilee's voice suddenly boomed out, completely shattering all of Twilight's thoughts. Not that she was the only one. Everyone in the front row flinched back as if struck, with Emerald taking it a step further and actually falling backward in pained surprise.
Clearly he'd been stuck in his head like she had, and ended up much worse off than her.
Still, none of that kept her from joining in on the loud applause the foals were being given.
And oh! Weren't they just so cute up there!? There were less of them up there than she'd thought there'd be, maybe twelve in total? The Crusaders were obviously three of them, all three of them standing tall with big smiles on their faces. They certainly seemed confident in themselves. Besides them, she also spotted Wisp standing next to two other fillies, one unicorn with a yellow mane and purple coat, with the odd cutie mark of a pillow and golden horseshoe, and a spectacled earth filly with an amber-ish coat and scarlet mane even more curly than Pinkie's, whose mark was out of sight. She thought she recognized them as Wisp's friends, but she wasn't entirely sure.
Wisp certainly looked cool and collected, looking around the crowd with a calm grin. Oh, but Twilight knew the little filly quite well by now, so it was easy to notice the twitching of her ear and the fact her eyes looked around a little too quickly to really be calm. Her nervousness was so cute! Her friends(?) were more visibly nervous. The unicorn-who looked a lot like Ditzy now that she was looking. Was this the daughter the mail-pony occasionally bragged about?-was shifting and bouncing in place like Pinkie on a sugar high, the nervous energy twisting and bubbling in her until it was fit to burst! And the poofy redhead was sweating buckets, the poor thing! She had to keep pushing her glasses back into place, she was sweating so much!
Those were really the only ones of the bunch she actively recognized of the foals. Sure, she's seen the camera-wearing colt a few times near the schoolhouse, and she was certain that blue-gray pegasus colt had been hanging around Thunderlane once or twice, but aside from them?
Not a bell was rung.
"Okay! With our introductions done, let's get started on the show!" Cheerilee chirped, causing the already loud applause to skyrocket in volume for a moment, making her wince and back away from the mic for a moment. "W-wow! Good to see everypony's excited! Umm...! Okay! Will everypony please head backstage and get ready for your acts?" she asked, directing the question to the foals behind her, "We'll, um, I'll call out the first act when you're ready!" she added nervously, sweat beginning to build on her brow.
Cheerilee chuckled a bit more, before coughing and excusing herself backstage, likely to help out with some of the foal's preparations. Her quick exit got a few laughs from the crowd, though she could tell more than one pony was annoyed by the whole thing.
Yeah, it was easy to tell this was the very first talent show they had put on. Some fairly minor corrections and optimizations could be made to make the whole thing better, and Twilight would certainly be writing them down and giving them to Cheerilee in the morning tomorrow, but...-!
The mess ups were all pretty minor, and even a bit funny. She was sure tonight would still be a success. Barring whatever the crusaders do.
...
W-well, the acts were probably going to take a minute before they were properly ready, so might as well pass the time, right?
"S-so!" Twilight chirped nervously, fully aware of the princess sitting directly next to her, she turned to her friends, Applejack specifically, and spoke, "What do you think they'll all do for the show?" And by all she was obviously referring to the foals they all actually knew. And, once more, Applejack's nervousness started pouring out of her.
"Uh, hehe, I-uh, not a clue! Nope! Ain't got one 'o those!"
"Applejack? Are you... alright?" Rarity suddenly spoke up. Apparently now that the show has, technically, started, the alabaster mare was a little less caught up in the excitement. Meaning she'd finally noticed Applejack's... oddness.
"Whaaat? I'm fine! 'Pletely fine. Ain't nothing wrong here!" Applejack defended herself, a bit louder than she'd probably intended, which drew the attention of the others.
"Yeesh, AJ," Rainbow chipped in, grimacing, "You're, like, the worst liar I've ever seen. Just spill."
"Indeed!" Rarity chipped in, "We're all friends here, no need to worry," she said with a smile.
"Pffbcrn?" came Pinkie's muffled offer, the absurdly large bucket nearly obstructing the sight of her as she held it out in offering.
Under the combined stare of most of her friends, even Applejack's legendary stubbornness fell in this moment. She let out an explosive sigh, gently pushing Pinkie's offered popcorn away.
"Sorry 'bout bein' all..." she waved her hoof around, seemingly unable to find a word, "... its jus'... I happened ta overhear the three of 'em practicin', an' it didn't sound... good," she bit out, grimacing. Rainbow blinked, before grinning,
"What were they doing?" she asked. Applejack shook her head, scratching the back of it with her hoof,
"Hay if I know. I'm pretty sure it was singin'o some kind, but, honestly? Sounded like they mighta been stranglin' cats in there..."
Fluttershy gave Applejack quite the offended look at the analogy, but didn't say anything.
"Truly?" Rarity asked, sounding strangely disbelieving, before shaking her head, "No, that couldn't be true. Sweetie Belle has a wonderful singing voice!" she then dropped her volume, until she was nearly whispering, "I'm actually fairly certain it's her special talent, you see." Applejack rolled her eyes,
"Yeah, an' I'm pretty sure Bloom's special talent is woodworkin', but she sure as shit ain't doin' that!" she snarked, before relaxing, "If'n it makes ya feel better, Rares, I only heard two of 'em singin' an', much as I wish I didn't sometimes, I know Bloom's voice, one of 'em was definitely hers."
There was a brief moment of silence as they all digested the information, before Rainbow of all ponies spoke up.
"Probably Scoots then. I've caught her trying to sing along to some rock songs at her house a couple times," her lips quirked up and she snorted, "She's awful by the way. It's hilarious!"
"Singing for Sweetie. Woodworking for Applebloom. What would it be for Scootaloo?" Emerald spoke up for the first time in a while, looking curiously at Rainbow Dash. The mare in question let out an 'Uhh...' for a minute, before pointing at him,
"Prolly some kind of choreography or stuntwork. I've seen her dance and she's pretty good, and we've all seen her rad skills on her scooter. So, yeah, something like that, I'd guess."
There was yet another moment of silence.
"Think they'll ever figure it out?"
"""No."""
Emerald turned and stared each of the six of them down, seemingly contemplating something.
"... Forgive me if I'm way off the mark here, non-pony remember, but... why not just tell them?"
Seven heads immediately snapped to face him, causing his eyes to widen.
"You can't do that!"
"No way!"
"That ain't right!"
"Absolutely not!"
"I'm afraid that's not a good idea."
Emerald flailed his hooves at the sudden offensive,
"Woah, woah! Don't bite my head off, I don't know this!" he snapped. Rarity grimaced,
"Sorry, darling, it's just..." she trailed off.
"It ain't right," Applejack continued on, "A pony's cutie mark is a real, important thing. Ya can't take that away from somepony." He relaxed, and an expression of honest confusion appeared on his face,
"Why... not?" he asked. Twilight finally stepped in,
"Well, think about it," she asked, ignoring the thrill of her heart when his eyes met hers, "How would you feel if someone told you what you were meant to do with your life? Told you that this was the thing that made you special, instead of learning it for yourself?" Emerald fidgeted slightly,
"Well... I mean, for us its sort of... a given, you know?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head and sounding... surprisingly uncomfortable, "Our Clans are... well, we pretty much know what we'll do from birth, so..."
"What about Traded Names?" Twilight asked. Emerald flinched, clearly surprised by her ability to remember something from so long ago, and remained silent, looking very contemplative. It was, maybe, another minute before he spoke again,
"I... I-I guess I never thought of it like that. It-I... didn't realize..."
Rainbow reached out and gave him a hearty smack on the back,
"Eh, it ain't a problem. Not like you actually said anything to them."
"True..." he muttered, his ear twitching.
The curtain on stage flew open, revealing Cheerilee, but it wasn't really until she'd started speaking that most of the crowd finally noticed her.
"Okay, everypony! Sorry for the wait! Coming up, we have our first act of the night, it's Snips and Snails and their magic act!" she cheered. The crowd applauded, with one or two ponies being particularly loud somewhere behind them.
Twilight smiled as two young unicorn colts came out on stage, with the taller of the two dragging a small podium behind him. A magic act, huh? She wondered what sort of the spells the duo would come out with, assuming they would actually be using spells in their act. The taller of the two had a picture of a snail for a cutie mark-what that might translate into as a special talent, Twilight couldn't fathom-and the smaller had a pair of scissors. How... either of these would be used in this little talent show was lost on her, but she was sure it would be interesting!
She was... disappointed. Amused, but also disappointed.
The two colts, despite being unicorns, didn't cast any spells during their routine. Rather, they relied on magic tricks. Not spells, tricks. Card tricks, basic misdirection, thing like that. Fake magic, essentially.
Not-not that Twilight had anything against it, of course!
B-besides, they were doing quite well with it regardless!
Sure, they... er, they made a few mistakes. They dropped their cards, guessed the wrong card, misplaced their rabbit, one of them ate their props...
Okay, it was a bit of a disaster, but they tried and, well, she was sure that was all that mattered! In the end...
"Well... that was... something, I guess?" Twilight tried as the two of them ran off stage, the smaller chasing down the taller.
"Er.... yes!" Rarity agreed, a stiff smile on her face, "It was certainly... something."
"He ate their carrots!" Pinkie squealed and snorted, legs kicking around in delighted laughter, "They tried turning a rabbit into carrots, and ate the carrots!"
"Well, they tried their best," Applejack cut in, agreeing with Twilight's unspoken thoughts, "An' I'm sure their parents are plenty proud."
That earned a round of nods from all of them. They couldn't exactly disagree, not over the sound of four specific ponies hooting and hollering in the background.
"Eh, that was lame," Rainbow muttered. Emerald hummed,
"Wisp'll knock that out of the park, easily."
"Okay, everypony!" Cheerilee said, appearing on stage, "Give the S&S Magic Act a heartwarming round of applause!" The crowd erupted in entirety, unsurprisingly, "Great! Our next act is Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie-" Twilight twitched slightly, turning slightly to glance at Pinkie, who showed no recognition to the name beyond her cheering, "-who'll be reciting their favourite poem for us! Oooon roller skates!"
Twilight applauded along with everyone else as a pair of cute earth fillies rolled onto stage, each with big, bright smiles on their faces.
Their act wasn't anything too impressive, though cute. The poem they performed was 'Sunlight and Moonlight', an old rhyme about the sun and moon that was popular with young fillies like them. It wasn't too long, only a few stanzas, and they didn't do much on their skates either, other than rolling around each other without tripping or bumping into things. Which, for their age, was still impressive! Twilight certainly couldn't have managed it... she'd have probably broken her nose even trying!
"Wasn't that amazing, everypony?" Cheerilee called, to yet another series of loud cheering, "Well, I hope you're all ready for our next act, it's the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their surprise performance!" she cheered, though if Twilight wasn't wrong, there was a hint of worry in her voice.
A worry that the crowd shared. More than one pony looked around in concern at the mention of the Crusaders, and that wasn't mentioning herself and her friends.
Princess Celestia, funnily enough, just looked confused.
... OH SWEET CELESTIA, THE CRUSADERS ARE GOING TO PERFORM INFRONT OF THE PRINCESS!!
AND IT'S GOING TO BE AWFUL!
Her hooves flew to her cheeks as she started to tremble, curling in on herself. This couldn't be allowed! Not at all!
This is awfulterriblenogoodnotatall! I have to stop this! I have to stop this-!
"Look! Here, are three little ponies! Ready to sing for this crowd!"
OH NO IT'S STARTING!
One could not truly begin to describe the utter horror that coursed through one Twilight Sparkle at that moment. One could say there was a modest amount of horror rushing through her body, just as one might say the sun is a tad warm. But, truly, the closest we might get is a series of hypothetical events.
The horror in Twilight Sparkle could be compared to forgetting to take a shower for several days straight out of sheer nerves, for one has a date that very evening! Yet, when one finally recalls, their water is off. Not only that, but there are no clothes one might wear for this date! Truly a horrible circumstance, only worsened by the fact their date will be held in a very fancy restaurant! So yes, shower-less for several days, no clothes to wear, fancy public restaurant. Oh, and, of course, one can't forget the meteor currently hurtling towards your position this very instant!
Yes, that horrible set of circumstances might have a comparable amount of horror as to the feeling rushing through Twilight Sparkle at this moment. That is to say, quite a bit.
Oh sweet Celestia, it got worse!!
"Listen up! Here's our story! I'm gonna sing it VERY LOUD!!!"
Twilight truly felt like dying, right then and there. It would be the only way to save her from the sheer embarrassment that was witnessing the Crusaders 'performance'. Not only was their singing atrocious, somehow growing worse when they sung in tandem, but... but their outfits!
Twilight would freely admit to not being the most fashionable mare. Her design choice regarding her Gala dress being the prime example of her ineptitude, but... she doubted even that could compared to what those girls were wearing!
Appearing skintight, though each had a collar that popped out, they were dressed in what could have either been a catsuit or a gang outfit. Or at least, that's what they vaguely reminded Twilight of, mostly getting the comparison from Spike's comics-which she may or not sneak a peek of every now and then to make sure he wasn't reading anything inappropriate-they were covered in a mix of colours, all completely painful to look at, in different ways. Scootaloo was dressed in a vibrant purple suit streaked by neon blue and pink, with purple splotches of colour over her eyes, along with styling her mane into a mohawk, of all things. Sweetie Belle wore a full body suit of a vibrant pink, covered by neon white-green stripes, bright pink splotches over her eyes, along with a mussed up mane not too dissimilar to Rainbow's. Applebloom was the most tame of the lot, but the pink and black bodysuit covered in stars didn't exactly match the black, skull patterned bandana she wore.
And then we got into the decorations in the back. Poorly drawn trees on cardboard, what might've been a wooden shack, a wooden sun-that wasn't even painted!-and a pair of... decent looking clouds. It was all made worse by the numerous bent nails sticking out in everything, as well as a couple holes in the trees. It was a strange combination of ugly... and the sort of cute you'd expect of a foal's drawing. There was a definite effort put into the whole thing, but... that was really all it had going for it.
"When your, a younger pony... and your flank is very bare! It feels like the sun will never come, when your cutie mark's not there!"
Oh... goodness the dancing... it was equally awf-hold on... was Applebloom just going through a karate routine? How-on what planet-who would-!?
"So the three of us will fight the fight! There is nothing that we fear!"
And now they were bringing out more props. Fake bats, little ghosts, and hoofmade spiders, just... deliberately hanging from the ceiling with extremely visible strings holding them up. And... that was it, they didn't do anything, they just... stayed there.
Honestly this... this was just somehow getting worse. By now the girls were all frantically running around, Sweetie Belle, mostly, just trying to keep their act from falling apart. And. It. Wasn't. Working.
Twilight couldn't help but glance at her friends, wondering how they were faring in the face of all... this. Their reactions didn't disappoint.
The first of the bunch, Applejack, had visibly given up. Head hanging low, one leg raised to cover her eyes, just... trying in vain to ignore everything happening on stage. Her other hoof was busy pulling her hat down, as if she felt she needed the extra 'protection' it offered.
"We'll have to figure out what to do next, till our cutie marks are here!"
Rainbow Dash was... she was shaking, rocking back and forth on her hooves so hard she was one push away from rolling over. She was visibly struggling to hold back her laughter on top of that, one hoof wrapped completely around her stomach, the other in her mouth, teeth clamping down hard enough that Twilight was honestly surprised she hadn't broken skin yet. Her eyes were completely locked on the stage and even with all her efforts, small grunts, snorts, and breaths escaped from her.
"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, on a quest to find out who we are! And we will never stop the journey, not until we have our cutie marks!"
Fluttershy had hunched herself over, screwing her eyes shut and clamping her hooves over her ears. Not only that, but the poor mare's face had gone as red as a ruby! And it wasn't stopping there! Even as Twilight watched, she could visibly track the redness as it crawled down her neck and onto her torso. She'd never seen Fluttershy this embarrassed before! And to think, it was for someone else's sake rather than her own!
... Actually, no, this made sense.
"They all say that you'll get your mark, when the time is really right! And you know just what your supposed to do, and your talent comes to light!"
Rarity. Oh, Rarity. Her hooves had flown up to her mouth, which lay open in slack-jawed horror. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, locked firmly upon the stage. The rest of her body was completely stiff, so like a statue, Twilight worried the mare would faint! She could sympathize, though. Watching this performance was like watching two pegasi collide head-on, it was just something you couldn't look away from, no matter how much you wanted to.
"But it's not as easy as it sounds and that waiting is hard to do! So we test our talents everywhere, until our face is blue!"
Pinkie's reaction was, unsurprisingly, completely different from everyone else's. Rather than look mortified, horrified, or about to bust her gut, she was smiling, carefree as ever. Her eyes, locked onto the stage, twinkled and shone like they did whenever any of her friends did something amazing. She, like Rainbow, was shaking in place, but it was clear that unlike the chromatic mare's barely withheld mirth, this shaking was caused by sheer excitement. Pinkie looked genuinely starstruck by the performance on stage!
She was either a master at hiding her actual feelings... or Pinkie honestly found nothing about the performance out of place.
It was hard to make a guess between the two. It was Pinkie after all...
"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, on a quest to find out who we are! And we will never stop the journey, not until we have our cutie marks!"
And Emerald. Oh, he had perhaps the most extreme reaction out of the lot of them. He was the only one of the bunch who actually turned away from the stage entirely. Like Fluttershy, he'd hunched over, clamping his hooves down over his ears in a vain attempt at stifling the sound. More than that, he'd planted his face into the dirt, and softly thumped his forehead against the ground in a constant, ceaseless beat, hoping to drown out the noise.
"We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, on a quest to find out who we are! And we will never stop the journey, not until we have our cutie marks!"
And then finally, mercifully, it was over. Silence reigned over the crowd, so thick Twilight half-expected to choke on it. The only sounds easily heard were the labored breathing of the Crusaders on stage, and the soft 'thud'ing of Emerald's skull against the dirt.
And then, of course, the silence was broken by laughter.
Pinkie's laughter.
And, well, in the face of Pinkie's extremely enthusiastic response, hooting and hollering with a bright smile on her face, well... could anyone really be blamed for going along with it without much thought? Spurred on by the ever-smiling mare, the entire crowd, too, was drowning the air in cheerful laughter.
And... if Twilight were to be honest, the whole performance, awful as it was... was pretty funny. You know... once you got passed the soul-rending embarrassment.
Though, with how the girls practically ran off stage, she wasn't sure they felt the same.
Cheerilee stepped out onto the stage, prompting the laughter to die down, looking even more nervous than she had before the show started.
"Well! That was... it was!" she tried to cheer, a wide, strained smile on her face. Twilight could almost see the drop of sweat pouring down her brow, "Ahem... let's, er, let's give the Cutie Mark Crusaders a big round of applause for their... uh, courage!"
The audience's response was much more forthcoming this time around, with the whole crowd applauding en mass. While this was happening, reality came crashing down on Twilight in the form of nothing more than a single, damning, sentence.
"Well, that was certainly interesting," the Princess commented.
She was fairly certain the wheeze that escaped her was actually her soul fleeing her body.
"Interesting is not the word I'd use!"
That was Emerald, unsurprisingly.
"Aw come on, that was super fun!"
And that was Pinkie. Also unsurprisingly.
Emerald sat up and whipped around to glare at Pinkie, eyes flashing,
"That was horrendous!" he hissed lowly, baring his fangs. He was clearly going to say more, but his eyes darted to just above Twilight's head and his mouth clicked shut, and he adamantly looked away.
"That was... better than I thought it'd be, at least..." Applejack suddenly muttered, "Was sure somebody would end up gettin' hurt..." Rainbow snorted,
"You kiddin'?" she snarked, grinning widely, "That was awesome!" she exclaimed. Twilight blinked, turning to her,
"Really? You think so?" she asked. It was strange, she was sure Rainbow would be mortified on Scootaloo's behalf... until she remembered it was Rainbow Dash, and that she probably thought-
"That was hilarious!" Yep. Figures. "C'mon! Everything that coulda gone wrong went wrong!"
"It was rather humorous," Princess Celestia piped in, a small smile on her face, "It is rather clear those girls put a lot of work into their performance. Still, I must admit, I wasn't expecting a comedic performance tonight."
Twilight could practically feel the record scratching in her ear as everything around her went silent. She glanced around a bit, finding each of her friends to be equally as shocked as she was, staring at the Princess wide-eyed. Eventually she turned to look at the much older mare herself, finding Princess Celestia staring at the stage with a fond, if amused, smile on her face.
"... Eh?" was Twilight's eloquent response. A... comedy act? Did the princess really believe the disaster they'd just witness... was intentional?
"Hmm?" the Princess glanced down at them, then looked a bit startled to be receiving such blatantly stunned looks, "I-is something wrong?"
The seven of them all shared glances between each other, all clearly wondering the same thing Twilight was. Did they tell her? Or just... let it be?
On one hoof, honesty was important, especially towards the ruler of the kingdom they lived in.
On the other... who would it hurt? Twilight, at least, assumed the girls had realized how bad their performance had gone, which considering all the laughter... yeah. But... who would say it?
That decision was rapidly removed from her hooves when Rarity sputtered out a response.
"N-no, not at all Your Highness!" she stammered out, shifting nervously on her pillow, "I-I suppose we were just rather, er, stunned! Yes! Stunned at such a..." she glanced at the stage, before looking between the six of them, obviously searching for help.
She... received none.
Thankfully the princess didn't seem to mind, apparently able to come to her own conclusion.
"Oh yes, I've no doubt about that," she began, "Those girls must have a lot of courage, to be willing to put themselves out there like that," the princess smiled warmly, turning to face the seven of them, eyes locking onto Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash in turn, "I imagine they had some fine role models to look up to, did they not?"
The three mares in question each stammered out a response, all clearly stunned by the princess's sincere praise. Twilight, however, couldn't help but sigh. At least those girls would be spared some embarrassment... however minor it may be. Still, if it were Twilight up there... well, she was sure there was a well or two nearby she could've thrown herself into...
A high pitched 'thump'ing sound caused the crowd's quiet murmuring, which had been going on since the Crusader's left the stage, to abruptly fell silent. Twilight glanced up at the stage, finding Cheerilee looking significantly less nervous than she was before, actually sporting a small smile on her face.
"Alright everypony it's time for our next act!" she began cheerily, "We have Peppermint Twist, Dinky Doo, and Whisper Moon coming up with their very own magic act!" she chirped, earning applause from the crowd. Cheerilee smiled, before rushing off stage, while the little unicorn she'd spotted next to Wisp earlier pushed a large box out onto stage. A large standing box with a door in the front, to be specific.
While the little unicorn, Dinky Doo, Twilight guessed, was doing that, a series of annoyed grunts from behind her caught her attention. Twilight turned just in time to witness several ponies get pushed to the side, with Starlight's familiar form emerging from between them.
"Oh shut up," she muttered to the grumbling ponies left in her wake, "This is more important to me than any of you."
"Oh, Glim, you made it," Emerald commented idly, turning to glance at his sister as she plopped herself next to him, uncaring towards any of the ponies behind them, "I was wondering where you were at."
"Eh, just at the back," Starlight answered simply. Twilight blinked. She'd really forced her way to the front? Through this crowd?
"Er, no offense, but... ya sure ya can jus' force your way up here?" Applejack asked, glancing back at the disgruntled ponies behind them with some concern in her eyes. Starlight looked at Applejack, clearly disinterested.
"I mean, I just did. Why?"
"W-well... er..." Applejack trailed off, clearly unsure of how to protest further.
Seeing that that wasn't going any further, Twilight turned her attention back to the stage, where Dinky had finally gotten the box to the center of the stage, and turned to face the audience.
Twilight squealed inwardly at the sight. The little filly looked so cute up there, especially wearing that little red bowtie around her neck!
"HEllo everybody!" Dinky yelled, her voice squeaking a bit at the start. She ignored this quite well, even if her face turned a bit red at the crowd's good-natured laughter, "Thank you all for, uh, watching this long! We hope you all enjoy!"
While the crowd gave a hearty cheer at the comment, Dinky rushed over and pulled open the box's door, revealing an empty interior. She stepped back and held a hoof out towards it.
"As you can see, there's nothin' in the box!" Dinky even stepped into the box for a moment to prove that, indeed, it was empty, before hopping out and closing the box. "But-!" she chirped, "if I say the magic word then something will appear inside!"
Twilight couldn't help but smile. She could already guess what the trick was, Wisp or that other filly, Peppermint Twist, probably hid behind the box while Dinky moved it onto the stage and-
"Abraaaa-cadabraaaa!"
There was a visible flash of orange light from beneath the box's door's frame, which prompted Dinky to open the box, revealing the red-maned filly standing inside!
"Taaa-daaa!" they cheered in unison, as Peppermint Twist stepped out of the box, stumbling slightly.
Twilight was stunned.
Teleportation?! she thought, Where in the world did Wisp learn that?!
Her eyes widened and her neck cracked as her head whirled around to stare at Starlight, who was watching the show with a smug grin on her face.
She-she couldn't believe it! Teaching teleportation to a unicorn as young as Wisp?! That was insane! Teleportation was a very advanced spell, advanced enough that Twilight had only, somewhat, recently become proficient in!
Sure, there were safeguards implemented into the structure of the spell, but they weren't perfect. If the spell failed for whatever reason it was entirely possible for Wisp, or somebody else, to lose a leg! Or worse!
Wisp was a very bright young filly, especially when it came to magic-her mother had remarked, once, that if it weren't for Wisp's more outgoing and sarcastic personality, she'd have been a mirror image of Twilight at the same age-but teleportation was a whole other beast. For all her talent, Wisp was still only at mid-to-late adept level spells in terms of skill and knowledge, not early master level spells!
Oooh! She was going to have words with Starlight! How could she be so irresponsible as to teach a filly how to teleport!
That said... it was hard for Twilight to not be impressed, doubly so when Dinky and Peppermint closed the box, only for Wisp to teleport inside it herself and burst out the door, her horn sparkling like a firework.
Twilight joined in on the crowd's applause, hers being the harder in comparison because she knew exactly how hard the teleportation spell was, especially for one of Wisp's age.
"And that's not all!" Wisp announced, "Dinky, Twist, colour explosion!"
Dinky's horn lit up an amber-gold color, sparking just like Wisp's horn. Peppermint Twist, however, grabbed a hooffull of something from a red pouch she was wearing-that Twilight hadn't noticed-and... threw a bunch of glitter of some kind into the air, creating a large cloud above the three fillies.
Dinky's horn shot out a single bolt-like projectile into the cloud of glitter and all of a sudden, a thousand little flashes of coloured light lit up the darkening town! It was a display that extracted a onslaught of 'Ooh's and 'Aah's from the crowd.
Twilight smiled, giggling slightly.
'Colour explosion'? How adorable!
The three fillies then proceeded to bow, signaling the end of their rather short act. Still, short or no, the crowd erupted with applause all the same.
"Wooo!"
"Good job!"
"Great work you three!"
"That's my daughter!"
*FWOOOSH*
A sudden gout of blue fire erupted from the front row of the crowd, causing the applause to stutter, cries and screams of alarm echoing from a few startled ponies.
Twilight turned her head, leveling a flat stare at Emerald, who looked far too pleased with himself. Her stare softened as her thoughts ran adrift. Was that a normal form of applause for a thestral, or was that just Emerald going over the top for his little sister?
Honestly, either option was possible.
As she stared at Emerald, her eyes began to drift, until they rested on Starlight.
Starlight, who taught Wisp teleportation.
Twilight frowned.
When it came to magic, there was a sort of... unofficial difficulty rating on spells. It wasn't official since it wasn't really taught in school, but most unicorns ended up learning about it through cultural osmosis anyways, so it was still widely used.
The 'rating's, or 'levels', ranged from Novice to Fledgling to Apprentice to Adept to Expert and finally Master.
Teleportation was an early master rated spell. Both because if you messed it up, you were almost guaranteed to lose some limb or worse in the aftermath, but, more importantly, because of its complexity.
Teleportation required three things to complete. Power. Control. And a Destination. A lack of power causes the spell to fizzle out, incomplete. A lack of control causes the spell to implode on itself, generally resulting in exhaustion and a very loud noise when the magic goes off. Neither of those were particularly dangerous, depending on how much power is put into the spell.
No. It was the destination that made the spell dangerous. Which was... funny, in a macabre way. What should be the easiest of the three to have, turns out to be the most important, and most dangerous of them. Regardless, one needed to either be extremely familiar with the destination to teleport properly, know it's exact coordinates in relation to your own, or exactly picture the area you are teleporting to.
The last of the three was, obviously, incredibly difficult to do without an eidetic memory. Twilight's memory was good, quite good in fact, but recalling exactly what a certain area within an area of up to one-hundred feet looked like was just a tad out of her capabilities.
The second method was much, much easier, but still had a degree of difficulty. Knowing the destination's exact coordinates was easy. It was knowing your own coordinates that made it hard, without preparation. That was why there were dedicated Teleportation Spots set up for unicorns in most cities to have a safe place to teleport into and from, even if it wasn't a big area. It was either just one building with two or three rooms ready for teleporting unicorns, since not many unicorns just had the power to spare to do it that often to necessitate more space, or just a small open area. Of course if you were able to figure out or just know the exact coordinates of the Departure and Arrival sites, then you could just teleport anywhere from anywhere, provided your power and control are sufficient to manage it.
Incidentally, Ponyville didn't have any Teleportation Spots set up, or if it did then Twilight still hadn't found it even after more than a year pf searching. That was why Twilight had memorized the coordinates of multiple different areas around Ponyville after she finally managed to get through the rut that had kept her from figuring out the spell sooner.
The first method to cast the spell was the easiest to use, but harder than the second at the same time. It was easy in that, if you had that deep familiarity with the destination, you didn't really need the coordinates for it. The memory of it provides all the information the spell needs to activate. It was the harder to use, because one needed that familiarity first, meaning you couldn't use the memory of somewhere you never were.
Of course, being able to use the first or third method usually implied the ability to use the other, given that anyone who could picture the exact area they needed to teleport to could, probably, remember what it looks like enough to picture it perfectly anyways.
There actually used to only be two methods, the familiarity and coordinate methods specifically. The only reason the exact image method exists was because one pony some forty or fifty years ago managed to teleport to a place she'd never been just by using the pictures someone else took to build an exact image of where she wanted to teleport to and succeeded, thereby adding the third method to the spell's potential usage requirements.
It was not an often used method...
It was likely that she used the coordinate method to teleport into the box, all things considered.
Which means Wisp had been forced to memorize, at minimum, two separate coordinates, ensure that both were met during her turn on stage... and then used it on someone else, meaning she needed another set of coordinates. Twilight couldn't imagine how difficult, or tedious, it all had been. Finding the exact coordinates to the inside of the box, the box's location itself, and at least two other spots that she had to stand in to teleport from would have taken possibly hours to find. Combined with her normal schedule and then the added magic practice go along with it all?
It was a lot of work for such little payoff, in the end.
Regardless, words would be had.
While Twilight had been lost in her thoughts, the next, and final, act of the night came onto the stage. The camera wearing colt and what Twilight was sure was Thunderlane's younger brother-though his name completely escaped her-doing... something with stilts and failing to juggle some rubber balls.
It was actually a bit funny to watch, though not on the same level as the disaster that was the Crusader's act.
Granted, Twilight doubted much could top that...
All said and done, the act was over fairly quickly and Cheerilee came back out on stage, passing by the two colts with a smile.
"Alright everypony! Please give a big round of applause for Rumble and Featherweight's act!" she called, and continued as the crowd erupted, "And that does it for our acts tonight! Wasn't that amazing?!" she cheered, earning a renewed surge of applause from the crowd, "Okay! Now, while our wonderful contestants rest for a bit, will our few volunteers from among the crowd hoof out the voting slips?" she called.
Twilight blinked. Voting slips?
A few moments passed, before the Princess beside her suddenly spoke.
"Oh, thank you dear," she said, prompting Twilight to turn. She found Blossomforth of all ponies nervously bowing to Princess Celestia, with a small stack of papers and a pencil being held in the Princess' magic. The papers moved over to Twilight, "Take one and pass it along if you would, Twilight."
Twilight paused for a moment, before her brain kicked in.
"Oh! O-of course!" she stuttered, taking the papers and passing them along to Fluttershy.
Vote for your favourite acts!
Best Comedy Act:
Best Dramatic Performance:
Best Magic Act:
Snips & Snails; Rumble & Featherweight; Sunny Daze & Peachy Pie; Whisper Moon, Dinky Doo, & Peppermint Twist; Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo
Well, this seemed simple enough.
"Here, Twilight. I suppose it's your turn." The Princess's voice startled Twilight from her thoughts. She glanced up and gave the smiling mare a weak smile,
"Oh! Um, thank you, Your Highness," she said, gently taking the pencil from her grasp. Princess Celestia just nodded at her, gently folding her voting slip.
Twilight was tempted to ask her for whom she voted for, but eventually decided against it. She turned her attention to her own slip.
Well, she thought, Wisp, Dinky, and... Twist, I guess are an easy vote for the magic act. Twilight nodded to herself and she noted that down. She honestly doubted those two colts, Snips and Snails, were even a contender given, well... everything.
But... comedy and dramatics? None of the acts were really... geared towards those ideas, comedy especially. Twilight supposed it was yet another sign of the talent show's total newness that these were the options given. She really would like to talk to Cheerilee about organizing another show and working out the kinks with her...
Err, back to the voting... She supposed the Crusader's were really... the closest thing to a comedy act there was here. But it was obvious, to Twilight at least, that the girls weren't going for a comedy show with their act. Should... should she be nice and vote for them as best dramatic act? That felt... a little scummy, if she were being honest. To vote for them like that just because she knew them better than the other acts...
Maybe... I'll just leave that one blank... she thought.
As for best dramatic act, well... she guessed... those two fillies and their poetry reading would fit the bill? It was all she could really think of...
Twilight sighed and passed the pencil along, noting that Fluttershy seemed even more nervous about the vote than she did.
It was, maybe, twenty minutes later that Cheerilee called for the votes to be tallied up, prompting Twilight to wonder if there were a better way to go about voting. Yet another fifteen minutes later had Cheerilee strolling onto the stage, followed by all the attending foals.
Twilight couldn't help but smile at the foals on stage. Well, Wisp specifically of course. She could see the way Wisp licked at her lips, how she kept glancing back and forth at herself, Starlight, and Emerald in turn. She spared a glance at Wisp's siblings herself, and couldn't help but smile softly at the proud look on Starlight's face, and snorted slightly at the smug grin on Emerald's.
"Okay everypony! Please give another round of applause for our adorable contestants!" Cheerilee called out, to, yet again, more applause. "Okay! Now, for our first award for the best magic act iiiiiits....."
Twilight tapped her hooves together nervously. She didn't think Wisp would lose, but there was always the chance...
"Wisp, Dinky, and Twist!"
Twilight nearly jumped into the air screaming when she heard Wisp's name. While she didn't, it did not stop her from clapping her hooves together as hard as she could! As for Wisp's actual siblings though...
"Woohooo! Great job Wisp!"
"That's my baby sister!"
Unsurprising, really.
The tree fillies all walked up to Cheerilee, looks of excitement and relief on their faces. Wisp was almost hopping in place until the little gold medal was placed around her neck. A nearly ear to ear smile split Wisp's face, and she gave a cute little wave to the crowd before they went back in line with the others.
"Okay everypony! Our second award, for best dramatic performance iiiiis.... Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie!"
A round of applause greeted the two as they skated up to Cheerilee, smiling just as brightly as Wisp was when they received their medals. They even gave each other a cute little hug in celebration!
"And for our final award of the night, for best comedy act, iiiit's... Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo!"
Twilight's jaw dropped in shock, a look shared by the Crusader's themselves!
"Pfft!"
"What?!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
The reaction from her friends was equally as stunned. The rest of the crowd didn't get the memo, though, clapping and cheering for the Crusaders as heartily as the others!
Huh, I really wasn't expecting that... she thought to herself. She glanced at the princess sitting next to her, who was smiling serenely up at the stage, seemingly unbothered by the looks of shock still on the girl's faces as they received their awards, Then again, maybe I really shouldn't be...
"Aaaaand that a wrap everypony!" Cheerilee spoke to the crowd, a wide smile on her face, "Please give another round of applause for all our wonderful contestants! I hope we can all do this again sometime! Goooooodnight!"
The stage's curtain closed to the sound of rapid applause, marking the end of a successful show.
Twilight smiled as she clapped. For all the kinks and wrinkles, it really was a fun little event! Hopefully the mayor will greenlight more of these in the future!
-----
-----
"That was amazing Wisp! I can't believe your teleportation was perfect! And only after a few weeks of practice!"
"I know! It was so cool, bein' in one place and suddenly in a whole other! Kind a made me dizzy, though..."
"Oh that's normal for the first dozen or so, but it'll go away the more you do it, don't worry."
Emerald smiled lightly as Wisp and Starlight chatted behind him. After Cheerilee ended the show, the crowd mostly dispersed, only the family of the contestants remaining behind to gather their foals staying behind.
Despite it obviously not being their intention, the Crusaders were all quite happy with their gold medals in the comedy department, even going so far as to take it as a sign of their future cutie marks in comedy!
Predictably.
He also got to meet Ditzy again, as well as the parents of one Peppermint Twist-or just Twist as she seemed to prefer-so the night was also quite productive.
He glanced back at his sisters, finding the the younger of the two nearly skipping along, the three golden stars around her neck flopping against her chest as she did so.
It was hard to describe how proud he was of her. While short and simple, her act was clearly well thought out and practiced, not to mention executed perfectly. It really showed how much work she, and the other two, put into it.
Oh but that wasn't why he was proud of her. It certainly played a part, but it wasn't the main reason. No the obvious trust that Dinky and Twist had in her was why. Wisp was only a young filly, and teleportation was a fairly advanced spell as far as he knew. That Twist and Dinky were will to have her use it, on one of them no less, told him that they held his baby sister in a positive light. It was the kind of trust that only really good friends had in each other.
That Wisp was making those sorts of connections in this little town, connections that, as far as he knew, she'd never made in Canterlot, really sent home how wonderful Ponyville was for her. For Starlight. For him. This town was by and far the best thing that had ever happened to the three of them! And it was only going to get better as time went on!
He turned back to the road in front of them, even as his smile fell.
But... for all the good it did, it was clear that Ponyville was stunting him. He was good enough for the town, but not for the world. Not for himself. Not for Twilight. He was naught but a mote of dust blowing in the wind that Winter and Summer left behind. And that was only them! Who knows how far the others stand above him?
What heights did Ruby Skies reach?
What mountains did Sapphire Skies climb?
What canyons did Moonlit Skies cross?
What foes did Ashen Skies fell?
What did they do whilst he rested on his laurels?
His face twisted into a snarl that no one saw.
Ponyville was wonderful, amazing, a true home he was happy to have. But it weakened him, made him soft, pliable, and dull.
To survive being hunted he'd needed to forget himself and be who he once was. The shell that barely survived, a twisted mockery of a life he failed to live. He refused to do it again, refused to fall so far. But he needed that strength, that will to survive. It was a wretched thought.
They arrived home and Emerald was all smiles, bidding his dearest sisters goodnight. He crawled into bed himself, thoughts spiraling, falling into a deep abyss of 'what if's, 'how's, and 'why's.
He must become more than he was. No matter the cost!
An endless expanse of green grass illuminated only by the setting sun.
He needed to fight, to bleed, to train like never before!
There, in the distance, silhouetted against that falling star were two figures, features shaded yet burned into his memory.
His blood needed to sing!
One of them dared to gaze back upon him, the one so far behind.
His journey was not yet complete, a million miles he had left to run!
He ran and ran and ran yet never did he come closer, never did he close that distance.
But he could not run here. Could not wet his blade surrounded by sheep.
A voice.
He needed to surround himself with the wolves, and be drawn into the Hunt.
"C'mon cuz, can you catch up to us?"
It was time to leave Ponyville.
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HES BACK!!!!!
Holy kiwi, another story that comes back to life! I've already lost the count! Yay!
Its back, and I'm hopping in the front seat of this trainwreck once again!
Oh shit, hes leaving because he thinks himself as too weak. This is gonna be interesting
11517409
"Trainwreck"?
I stopped reading 7 chapters ago because nothing new has popped up in 2 years and it seemed like a fitting place to end...not I may have to continue
Woot an update that's a holiday miracle... just gotta find what holiday it is today
Well, this is certainly a surprise I didn’t expect to see today! Despite the fact it has been about a year and a half since the last chapter, I like how a lot of the plot came back to mind only reading the first few paragraphs. I really enjoyed the added depth of Philomena as a trickster who has tormented Twilight in the past (and Twilight’s lasting grudge toward the phoenix). I also enjoyed the talent show too.
One suggestion that I have is to perhaps break up this chapter into smaller sections. It pains me to have to leave a chapter in the middle and have the latter part of the chapter lose the impact you may have intended for it. (Coincidentally enough, you posted this chapter on the one day I had enough free time to read it in one sitting, so that’s lucky haha). If you still want to release these smaller sections in one batch, then I think that is fine. I just think it would be beneficial for you to choose where the chapter would break up instead of leaving it to randomness. Knowing how much work you put into these chapters, I want it to shine as much as possible. However, that is just my opinion. Best wishes and until you post again, farewell!
11517788
Bad wording. But I guess my enthusiasm wasn't obvious enough for you?
Eh, whatever . Life goes on.
11518158
I didn't remember what happened in the story and was asking for clarification. And it wasn't me that put the dislike on your comment. I put a like to prove that
11518306
Aight man, is fine honestly.
Sorry bout the pointed comment then. Was just a bit annoyed that someone didn't get the message. That type of stuff always did.
Basically; Understandable, Have a great day.
Oh joyous day! To find one of your favorite stories still lives.
I have now completed rereading this.
great chapter was rereading this story when u posted the chapter
And thus it returns. The greatest story on this website. This is the very story that introduced me to the world of My Little Pony and its fanfictions, guiding me from AO3 to FIM as well as making me watch the show. In spite of the hundreds of other fics I have read since coming here, this one is still my absolute favorite!
Thank you for not abandoning it. I’ve kept this in my “favorites” folder for years, hoping it would someday be updated. Only two other stories have ever joined it as part of my “favorites”. I am very picky on what I consider to be gems, but this story stands above them all!
Emerald remains my favorite OC, a male who struggles to show emotions and is thus so relatable for me. Your portrayal of his relationship with Twilight was the first pony romance I ever read, and it is probably the biggest reason she’s my favorite ship now. And of course, the way you use Emerald to be a voice of reason during some of the stupidest misunderstandings from the show is quite amusing. (See the gala tickets, Appleoosa, Zecora, etc.)
Thank you for your hard work. I will patiently wait however long it takes for the next chapter to come.
P.S. I hope you have plans for the absolutely massive amount of rage Emerald will feel once he figures out what happened to his love for Twilight. I hope he ends up absolutely destroying the invasion, maybe even negating the need for Cadence and Shining. Also, Thorax better have some pretty dang good excuses for why he’s just (apparently) going along with whole invasion plan.
11545520
Truer words have never been spoken.
Is there any pictures of emerald
11586531
Unfortunately no.
Fools like me are unworthy of your sacred "art".
Man, this is an amazingly well written piece, heck, It didn't even feel like half a million words due to how well it all flowed.
But my lord, the romance has felt like Marvel's Peter Parker Torture Porn ever since the Discord chapters.
I swear, next chapter better start with him charging up to Twilight, tossing her on his back and taking off with only a "I'm bringing you to meet your future in-laws! ...Also to get myself some training in the Skies way of combat." to her frantic question of "What the hay!?"