Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Vydeokldt Rediostahr

"Hello, Twilight."

Twilight, whose head was currently held low just past the rail while a hoof on her mouth tried to help in preventing her from vomiting, slowly pulled herself back and turned towards the other. "Do we know each other?" she asked, studying the pony.

"No. I do know a Twilight Sparkle though. But she doesn't have wings or a horn, most of the time." The mare was busy trying to give her surprisingly long mane a shape with some hair ties.

Twilight just raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips to suppress another gagging fit.

The other's mane finally settled on what was probably the desired shape. "I'm Sugarcoat."

It took a moment for Twilight to actually process that. "Oh. Oh, right, Sunset wrote to me about you. I didn't realise you were coming today." She looked back inside the building, a little embarrassed. "It might not be the best time."

"Did someone die?" Sugarcoat asked the question almost emotionlessly, like she was asking about the weather or about the most boring and trivial of matters. She looked towards Twilight, a flat and calm expression on her face.

"Not exactly." Twilight stood a little straighter. She didn't want to traumatise someone on their first meeting, but the other seemed weirdly unfazed by the possibility. "Why do you ask?"

"I can smell it on you."

"Oh." Twilight's cheeks went a shade darker again. "I'm sorry about that. Yeah, it was something along those lines."

"What exactly is it about?" Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses with a hoof. "Or is it classified information?"

Twilight looked up for moment, frowning in thought. She decided there was no harm in telling the other about it. A piece of the whole story, at least. "I'm sure you will believe me if I tell you parallel universes exist, right?"

Sugacoat's silence and unchanging expression were an effective answer, though one that made Twilight regret the attempt at humour.

"It turns out some are less friendly places than others. And someone decided to..." Twilight actually had to pause for a moment, her brief academic excitement strangled by remembering what she was actually talking about. "Well, let's just say you don't want to go into that room with the guards in front of it. It wasn't anypony from this world, but still someone."

"Knowing there are worse universes than my own is oddly reassuring in a way I feel it shouldn't be." Sugarcoat turned and began to walk away from the balcony, following the direction Twilight herself had seemed intent on going towards.

Twilight walked beside her. "Have you been enjoying your time here?" she asked, trying to bring the conversation back onto happier themes.

"Yes," said Sugarcoat, in a tone that did not line up with the word. "Cadence gave me a brief tour of the place. Your Cadence. Our Cadence doesn't have wings. I suppose it's still better than demonic bat-like wings though." She was silent for a moment. "I'm bad at telling jokes, so I mostly don't, and as a result I never get better at it."

Twilight looked puzzled. "No, I guess that one was okay. It's the timing you should be working on." She pursed her lips. "Are you alright?"

Sugarcoat didn't turn as she answered. "I'm being crushed by guilt thinking about how a version of Twilight that had a proper group of friends to support her through her life became the leader of a nation while all I did for mine was pressure her and be mean to her until she snapped and almost destroyed the world. But aside from that, being a horse is very nice."

Author's Note:

Proofreading by IncongruousAndHarmonious

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see...

Most relevant part of the song I can find, though Lemon Zest may be the better one to talk to on the subject of remixes and other ways of playing the same song to different effects. In any case, interesting to see the different worlds interact with one another. There's a growing sense of structure to the story's multiverse, which I appreciate.

Also, this is one heck of a friendship problem. Heck, Sugarcoat grappling with the objective harm she did to her Twilight could make for a gripping story in and of itself, and I may need to adapt it for the Oversaturated World.

All told, I appreciate any instance of the Shadow Five in Equestria. The further developments of the overarching story are nice as well.

[WanderingPony]

On the other hand, tragedy can breed prodigy.

After all, if the Buggles had worked out so well, Thomas Dolby would have never been playing keyboards on Pyromania or blinded us with science. If Cobain hadn't ended himself, we'd never have had the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl wouldn't haven't been free to work with Reznor on "With Teeth", and I'd never have gotten to listen to Mantra.

Sorrow can make the world end up a better place, too. We just don't like how we get there as much.