The Lost

by Lux

Time and Twist

Chapter 6 – Time and Twist

The next day, Twilight got up early, eager to learn about the next part in the story. She was so excited to start that she almost planned on skipping breakfast. Princess Celestia, however, implored her student to sit and eat with her and Luna. The white princess chuckled as she remembered when Twilight was a filly and shared the same exuberance when first learning from her. Some things changed in the princess’s life, but there were some moments that stayed the same.

After breakfast and a few royal duties to be taken care of, the princesses and the unicorn returned to the same familiar study room. Twilight was still wondering how a seemingly ordinary colt, albeit with great magical talent, became the creature known as Discord. The mare knew that to look for the truth, one had to look for proof. Yet so far, the proof was not there.

“So, Twilight, shall we begin our next part of the tale?” Princess Celestia asked her student.

“Yes, please,” the unicorn replied, “So what am I going to see next, and when?”

“We are going to see now how Twist was six years from the last vision,” Luna replied.

“Six years? Why such a jump in time? Didn’t anything happen between when I last saw him and what you will be showing?”

“Well -- yes and no,” Luna replied, to which Twilight gave a confused look to the Princess of the Night.

“What my sister means to say,” Celestia explained, “That back then we did not see anything -- not even the slightest indication -- as to how Twist would become Discord. As we have said, that while we as princesses are blessed with many magical abilities, we cannot look into the future. Even if we did, it would prove useless as time is constantly changing, and what a pony does or does not do can easily alter that vision of the future. In other words: the future is what you make of it. But I digress. In hindsight there were subtle changes that happened during those six years that could have indicated that something was amiss. But even if my sister and I showed you events from those years, you would not be able to see them.”

“Twist, by all accounts, was a normal pony,” Luna spoke up, “As time went by he learned and struggled and lived like a unicorn. Admittedly he was different in some cases. He didn’t have parents like most ponies, so there was never familial affection in his life. We, as his teachers, tried to share our affection towards him, but we knew there was no way we could replace an absent parent. He also possessed great magical ability, including his power of altering the very fabric of reality. This was difficult to work with, for up until that point we did not know this type of power even existed. There was also the balancing act of trying to control a magic that was very wild while at the same time trying to not make Twist feel like he was being restricted. Sometimes it worked, other times he rebelled, as many ponies growing up do when facing control issues.”

“And so,” Celestia said as the room faded into darkness once more, “Twist grew into a handsome and intelligent stallion. He was blessed with great magical talent that only became greater with our guidance and his practicing. Yet there were certain things that he picked up as he grew up. The first was this sense of entitlement that he had from being our student. True, he did have many benefits, but sometimes he was prideful about them rather than grateful and humble. The second thing was that he was a little mischievous towards others. I believe that he got this from my sister and I being playful with each other. The last thing, and this was what troubled me the most, was that Twist had certain spitefulness towards the privileged members of Ponytopia. He felt jealous towards these few who had much when he was born with very little. We tried to quell these negative expressions, especially the spitefulness, as best we could.”

With those words, the scene returned to the room where Princess Luna taught Twist his spells. Twilight saw that the stallion was indeed handsome and intelligent, a pony that she might meet if she was from that time. She quickly cast off that notion, disgusted by the fact that with that logic she would eventually be friends with Discord. The thoughts of how her friends became corrupted and devoid of harmony raced through her mind.

“Twist, you know you shouldn’t have turned the Moneybags’ carriage into a pile of snakes,” the younger Luna replied.

“Oh come on Luna! Where’s your sense of humor. It was all in fun. You saw the looks on those ponies’ faces when that happened. It was priceless!”

“Ok,” Luna said as she looked at Twist’s face, “You had your fun pranking ponies today. Just don’t do anything like that again, ok? My sister and I have already received several complaints from ponies today about your ‘fun’. Now let’s resume your lesson on the principles of energy manipulation into elemental forces.”

“Oh such a boring topic,” Twist said with a forced yawn,” why don’t you teach me something with a little more of an interest.”

“Like what,” Luna said with a curious tone.

“Like emotional magic. Magic can affect emotions, right?”

“Well, anything that a pony does can elicit an emotional response. Take your little stunt with the Moneybags family. They were afraid of those snakes.”

“Ugh, again with that prank. I said I was sorry to them. The snakes weren’t even poisonous. No, I’m talking about magic that directly affects another pony’s emotions. You know, like sadness, joy, even love?”

“Well… in theory, there is magic out there that can do that, but my sister and I choose not to explore that, and we encourage other ponies not to use it as well. Meddling in the emotions of other ponies is denying them the control of their own lives.”
“But Luna, have you ever met a pony that you ever loved but they didn’t share their love back to you?”

The words struck the younger Luna like the force of a runaway cart. She immediately began to feel embarrassed at such a personal question, something Twist had never before done. A hint of embarrassment tinged her normally blue face a shade of violet.

“Yes, I have -- I mean had ponies who I took a fancy to, but I would never use magic to make them love me.”

“Oh, you said that that you love a pony now, eh?” Twist said with a wide smile, “So who is it?”

“That’s… too personal to explain to you, Twist,” Luna said feeling now very uneasy as she shuffled her hooves a little, “Anyway, it’s time for lunch and then for you to study with my sister.”

“Fine then,” Twist said with a sigh that he didn’t get the truth out of the princess. He headed out of the room but then stopped and turned towards the princess with a smile. “Maybe someday I’ll find out,” he said before trotting down the hall, leaving Luna standing in the entryway of the room.

“Yes, hopefully one day,” Luna said quietly, “my dear Twist.”

Comments

[Cat Eye]

She likes Twist

[Dragon Angel Knight]

Wow... Out of freaking left field there... It's usually Celestia and discord, isn't it? This has caught my interest and I would enjoy more, good sir.

[Symphony]

OH HELL YEAH! ANOTHER DISCORDXLUNA FIC!
1208958
I write that pairing in two of my stories, but always nice to see more.

[Lux]

Well ZebraGirl and Dragon Angel Knight, You're both right.

Let's just say that next chapter you'll see a "Twist" in the whole romance area!

[Lucky424]

Sounds like Twilight had the fleeting notion, that if she were alive at that time,
she would've been quite good friends with Twist, until that pesky logic
got into gear!!

[Lux]

Well Twist I'd say is maybe not as much of an egghead as Twilight, but the two would definitely be friends, maybe even more.

Of course there's the whole "draconesque bent on the world's plunge into total chsos thing..."

[-Brutus]

1208958 The ball hits my head!