Chapter 2: Growing Pains
"Are you sure about this, honey?"'
"We all need a day out, Night Light." Twilight Velvet gave her husband's shoulder a squeeze. The two of them were standing together outside their daughter's door, primed to wake her for a trip to the older parts of Canterlot city. "We can treat ourselves to everyone's favorite sights. I can see the falls, you can go to the old observatory..." her voice dropped to a whisper, "...and can you imagine how excited she'll be when she sees Canterlot's oldest library?"
Night Light chuckled and nodded. "You realize you're signing us up for multiple trips to Old Canterlot a week to take out and return books there, right?"
"Well, at least Dusty Pages is going to get a bit of a break!" The two of them laughed again at the thought of the haggard librarian before she knocked at the door and began to crack it open. "Twilight? Are you up, sweetie?"
The first thing that they noticed was that Twilight's bed was empty, but the fear only lasted for a moment until they spotted her laying on the floor, pressed against the wall. Twilight Velvet's breath caught in her throat as she spotted movement, something curled up beside her and stirring now that they had intruded on her room. It took only a moment for it to become clear WHAT the creature was: a dragon. A blue dragon, curled up beside their sleeping daughter. The dragon stretched itself for a moment before sitting up and staring directly at them. Its blue eyes were bright and intelligent, feeling like they were burning their gaze into her with an aura much bigger and more regal than its size would imply.
"Where- how-" Night Light started to stammer, only to shake his head in disbelief and fall silent again. That seemed to be enough to finally wake up Twilight, though. She stirred and groaned slightly as she rolled onto her hooves. When she finally seemed to be awake enough to recognize what was happening, her eyes shot open wide and her head snapped back and forth between her parents and the dragon. Twilight Velvet almost snickered at that, she KNEW that expression: her daughter knew she'd been caught. Caught in what had yet to be determined, but caught nonetheless. After several seconds of frantic panicking, she finally resigned herself to using her giant, adorable eyes to plead with them.
"Can... we keep her?"
Twilight Velvet had already made her decision before her daughter could finish the question. She was a thrill-seeker, it had always been in her, down to her bones. This was clearly an adventure planting itself right in their daughter's hooves, and she was begging for the chance to take it. If Twilight Sparkle was going to take after her mother, there was no way she could deny it. She smiled and poked her hoof into her husband's side.
"Well, honey? CAN we keep her?"
Night Light looked frantically back and forth between his daughter and his wife, and Twilight Velvet took a moment to savor how flustered he was. Over the years being married to her, he seemed to learn not to be surprised by anything, and it was fun to see him lose it again for the first time in years.
"W-Well, I- I suppose if your mother's okay with it..."
"YES! YesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesYEEEEESSSSSS!" she immediately took to her hooves, beginning to jump gleefully around the room in the most adorable way. The dragon watched all of this with fascination, not seeming to be disturbed at all by the deliberation or Twilight's sudden celebration.
"Are you sure about this?" Night Light whispered.
"Come on, there's no coincidences, right?" She replied under her breath. "Besides, look at how happy she is... I'm sure it'll work out." She walked up to the tiny dragon and bent down to look it in the eyes. "Welcome to the family."
The dragon tilted her head (Velvet still wasn't sure how Twilight knew it was a "her," but she was willing to trust her daughter on that one) and returned the stare with burning intensity. Something in those eyes told Velvet that this creature, while seeming to be mute, was certainly intelligent enough to understand her.
"So... what is your name?" She glanced over the dragon's scales, watching them shimmer and sparkle in the morning light. "Blue... Aqua?"
The dragon's eyes narrowed aggressively, making her disapproval clear.
"Okay, what bout... Azure- no- Azura?"
The glare didn't budge.
"Cobalt? Indigo? Marina?"
Finally, Twilight's ecstatic prancing came to a stop, walking up beside her and staring at the little dragon with equal scrutiny.
"She's like a sapphire... What about Saphira?"
The dragon finally seemed to be pleased with that suggestion, letting the glare drop and walking over to Twilight to rub affectionately against her.
Twilight Velvet resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course none of her suggestions had been good enough, but Twilight's first idea was accepted. Clearly, this little dragon had picked a favorite.
"Saphira it is!"
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"Come on, you have to eat!" Twilight urged, pushing the saucer of milk towards Saphira. "You're a baby dragon, and babies have to eat so they can grow up strong!"
She could practically feel the dissatisfaction washing off of Saphira as she glared at the offering. Finally, she spun in place, smacking the saucer hard enough to send it flying. Twilight only barely managed to catch the saucer in a levitation spell before it hit the wall and shattered, but she wasn't able to do anything to stop herself from being soaked with warm milk.
"Fine... what DO you want?" Twilight grumbled. "I've read some dragons eat gemstones, or Mom made hayburgers the other night-"
Twilight cut herself off as she felt a wave of disgust wash over her, almost strong enough to make her breakfast return to her mouth. Her head was swimming, almost spinning, and she leaned against the table to steady herself. After several seconds of breathing heavily and screwing her eyes shut, the sensation passed enough for her to look back at Saphira.
"Was... was that YOU?"
The little dragon nodded slowly.
"Okay... I guess you don't like hayburgers..." Twiight mumbled, reaching to pour her third bowl of cereal. Usually, she didn't eat more than two, but she was still ravenous. Her mind, however, was focused on other questions. How did Saphira make her feel that? Was that telepathy magic? How was a dragon using telepathy magic? Wait... is that why I'm so hungry this morning? Am I feeling HER hunger?
"Fine... then what should we- hey! Where are you going?" Twilight watched as Saphira finally seemed to give up on the dining room table and its contents altogether. With a flap of her wings, the tiny dragon took to the air, flying in a tight circle around the kitchen before making a beeline for the open window. Twilight's eyes widened as Saphira escaped outside, rushing for the window to try and follow. Even in the time it took for her to scramble up onto the window, Saphira had completely vanished.
"SAPHIRA, COME BACK!"
Twilight wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't a pegasus, there was no way she could catch up, even if she DID know where Saphira had gone. She wanted to take off running after her, but that would almost certainly be fruitless, too. In the back of her mind, Twilight knew that the most important thing was to stay here, make sure that if Saphira came back there would be someone to meet her. After what felt like a hundred options ran through her mind, Twilight finally hung her head and resigned herself to the worst feeling in the world- sitting and waiting.
"We could have figured it out..."
"Squeak!"
Twilight blinked, her head snapping down to the sound just below the window. Her eyes widened as a mixture of relief and shock filled her.
There was Saphira, hardly gone so much as a few feet from the house. She had pinned a large rat under her claws and latched her fangs onto its throat. Twilight could hardly do more than watch as the rat stopped moving, and a few seconds later it had disappeared down Saphira's throat, swallowed whole.
Okay, DEFINITELY a carnivore... I probably should have guessed that. Twilight thought. This time, the urge to vomit was entirely her own.
With her belly now full, Saphira licked her chops with a satisfied look on her face before flying back up to the windowsill. The dragon was clearly proud of herself, licking her claws clean before staring up at Twilight with a look she would almost describe as "smug."
Twilight sighed, wrapping a hoof around Saphira and pulling her close. Saphira let out an indignant squeak, but Twilight refused to relent.
"Don't scare me like that! Canterlot's a HUGE city, and if you get lost out there we might never find you!"
Twilight felt a grudging acceptance coming from Saphira as the drake pushed back against her, trying to escape the embrace. Twilight refused, pulling her tighter.
"Promise me you won't go out by yourself again! If you want to go hunting, I'll go with you!" It was a hastily-made promise Twilight knew she wouldn't enjoy keeping, but the fear of losing Saphira she'd gone through just now vastly outweighed the disgust she felt at watching her eat another creature. "I know my way around, it's how I get to the library by myself!"
This time, the impression Twilight got was one of indignation and frustration, but she stayed firm. "Or... I can tell Mom and Dad to keep the windows shut from now on! There's ways to get meat without letting you go out and hunt it, yourself!"
Saphira pulled away from her enough to arch her long neck and stare at her in disbelief. Twilight settled on her best impression of her mother's "try me" face. The two of them stayed locked in a staring contest for a few seconds, and Twilight could feel her will quickly eroding under Saphira's smoldering gaze, but she refused to back down. Finally, Saphira relented, looking to the side and scoffing angrily.
"Good!" Twilight smiled and let go of her grip on the proud little dragoness. "Now, I've got dishes to do, and then we need to study for the entrance exam!"
Saphira nodded, hopping down from the window and taking up a sentry position by the kitchen sink. A moment later, however, inspiration seemed to strike, and a glint of mischief appeared in Saphira's eyes. Without warning, her tail snaked around the counter and swept the majority of the dirty dishes into the soapy water with an ear-splitting clatter.
"No no NO! I had those... organized." Twilight sighed. Well, THAT was clearly payback for the unwanted hug... Still worth it.
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"So, once we return these, we need to get..." Twilight went over the list of topics in her head, crossing off one magical subject after another. "Thaumic iconography and modern incantation composition!"
Twilight cast a glance back at Saphira, where she was perched on top of a small pile of books in her wagon. Saphira nodded, affirming that she would commit the topics to memory and make sure Twilight stuck to them. Twilight knew that if she got distracted, Saphira would make sure that what was supposed to be a five-minute trip to check out new books wouldn't turn into a five-hour one. It was a rapport they'd repeated at least a dozen times over the last week as Saphira integrated herself as an essential part of Twilight's library trips.
"I don't know if two books on each will be enough..." Twilight tapped her chin. "We might have to swing by the Canterlot University library on our way home."
CU only let her take out two books at a time, and that was thanks to her other teachers making a provisional account for her there, but it had some of the best and most thorough textbooks she'd ever seen, and she felt like it had taken her studies to a whole new level.
The problem, of course, was that they refused to let Saphira in because of the "fire hazard" she presented, no matter how many times Twilight told them that she wasn't even old enough to breathe fire, yet! That meant that she had to either leave Saphira outside on her own (which made her worry, no matter how many times Saphira had proven to have an impeccable sense of direction) or go by herself, which was becoming more and more uncomfortable. In just over a week, Saphira had become an irreplaceable part of her routine, and it felt wrong for the two of them to separate.
"Hey, Twilight!"
Twilight drew up short as a trio of other fillies came running up to her, inadvertently cutting off her path to the library. Moondancer, Lyra, and Minuette all looked excited, but Twilight would have been lying if she said she was eager to find out why.
"Told you we'd find her going this way!" Lyra smiled and poked Minuette in the ribs.
"That new carousel is opening up today!" Moondancer smiled and pointed in a direction perpendicular to her path. "They're throwing a big party, there's even cake and a prize for the first filly to ride it ten times in a row without getting sick! Wanna come?"
Twilight cringed. She didn't want to go to some party when she had so much work to do, and even worse, these fillies were cutting into her valuable study time!
"I don't think so... I've got my entrance exam in a few days, and-"
"Ugh, all you ever DO is study! Don't you get bored?" Minuette asked. "Day and night, all you ever do is go to the library and back! Don't you want to have some FUN?"
"Studying IS fun..." Twilight mumbled, trying to hide her annoyance as she took hold of her wagon's handle and started to side-step the other girls.
"No, it's not!" Minuette insisted, going out of her way to get back in Twilight's way. "Come on, Twilight! You need to do something fun, or you're just gonna turn into a giant nerd! Come with us!"
"Well, maybe I LIKE being a giant nerd! Now go away!" Twilight snapped, trying to push past. Minuette held her ground, refusing to let Twilight continue on her way to the library. The two collided, and when Twilight tried to push past, Minuette pushed back, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the sidewalk.
"I think you just don't like us! This is why you don't have any friends, Twilight!"
"W-Well, you-" Just as Twilight felt the tears beginning to flow, her response was cut off by a furious-sounding hiss and a flash of blue. Saphira had rushed out in front of her, interposing herself between Twilight and the other girls. Her hackles were raised and her needle-sharp teeth were bared in a show of aggression. Her wings were half-unfurled to make her appear bigger and her entire body was coiled like a spring. The other three stumbled back, clearly terrified of the out-of-control dragon. Saphira snapped at them, looking as if she were trying to take a chunk out of their legs but had come up short by several inches. Lyra and Minutette both screamed before sprinting away in the direction they'd pointed to, leaving them far behind. Moondancer hesitated for a moment longer, giving Twilight a sad look before turning and following the other two.
Twilight sniffled as she pushed herself back to her hooves, and Saphira settled into a much calmer, aloof-looking position sitting on her haunches. She smiled and sat down beside her dragon friend, mimicking her pose and gently stroking the top of her head with her hoof.
"Thanks, Saphira..."
Saphira looked for a moment that she was considering ignoring Twilight's thanks, but she leaned over and affectionately nuzzled Twilight's side. It only lasted a second, and to any outside observer it would have looked like Saphira just momentarily lost her balance and leaned on her for support, but Twilight could feel the love behind the action. When the moment had passed, Saphira returned to her perch on top of the tiny hoard of books, and Twilight wiped away the last remnants of her tears. Together, the two of them resumed their trek to cycle through the libraries of Canterlot.
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Yeah, let's just go ahead and skip that old saw about ponies being completely terrified of the very idea of carnivores.
Hmm....what Saphira did at the end isn't going to have repercussions. Nope, none at all.
I feel a bit sad about the way you set up Minuette and Lyra here. - especially Minuette
At first it seems like a well meaning but misplaced clash of Intro/Extro kids and priorities - but then Minuette gets down right mean.
( I'm probably fairly coloured on filly Minuette by 'Bug in the mirror')
Omg that’s so cute
Saphira will have to get used to hugs... they happen quite often around these parts. Nice to see Velvet and Light accept the new member of their family. Though, they might need a bigger house soon. I am eager to see the next part.
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I’m looking forward for the day they go to the dragon lands and Saphira says.
Are you sure I’m related to these idiots as a species
what is the ancient language for hoof....
i don't think that ever came up during the story....
(if you dont get my musings its cause dragon riders are ususaly marked on there hands with there dragon mark, hence argetlahm, silver hand)
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right up till she meets ember then shed probly be like 'okay yeah shes a bit tsunadere but i can see the resemblance now'
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And ember would be like.
Ok who let the pony in and why is she riding a dragons back
smolphira is best saphira
10730690
Alright, I suppose this ought to be addressed here, since it really can't come up in-world. (can't discuss something that nobody knows about.)
Twilight is not, was not, and will not be a capital "R" Rider. She is neither an elf nor a human, and in addition the tumultuous interdimensional journey shredded the enchantments that had been placed on Saphira's egg. They are merely sisters and friends, which is quite an extraordinary bond already methinks.
While we're on the subject, I'm afraid this was very much a one-way trip, and utterly untraceable, if anyone was wondering. Alegaesia's problems will stay in Alegaesia.
Thst was sufficiently cute, and very well-written.
Feels like the events are rushing a little, though?
The parents not bothering to ask "how?!" to a dragon appearing in Twilight's bedroom (though reasoning behind the rushing of the decision on Twilight's mom being quite adventure'y is decent), nor any legalities happening is mite weird.
Like, they essentially adopted Saphira, yes?
And she's been seen out in the city, a baby dragon in ponies' company.
I recon there ought've been at least some bureocracy happening, along with Twilight's parents running around trying to make sense of things.
While Twilight
relaxesstudies for her entrance exam and bonds with Saphie.That the other side of crossover is not going to bleed-through (at least in foreseeable future) is good news. Stuff like the story here needs set-up time, rushing crossover events would just make a mess of things.
Also, am echoing the sadness over the handling of Twilight'a social ineptness and other ponies.
Woild've been nice if Saphire's involvement cracked that shell a little, but I suppose Twi's still too laser-focused and driven to study to care about social niceties.
The only thing I didn't like by this chapter was that they accepted the Saphira a little to fast to their family.
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I usually just see things like that as "Oh, that's just bleed-over from the show being both a cartoon and for little kids." It helps me dismiss anything that doesn't seem "realistic" enough. And then I can enjoy the moments that ARE realistic enough when they do occur.
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Congrats on single hoofedly ruining any hope of me enjoying this...pardon us for making assumptions based on your improper taging if it's just one character pulled from a world with nothing else from that world involved that's a displaced story not a crossover
10730796
ed! Eragon never finds the egg, never meets Brom, doesn't become a rider, therfore doesn't go on the journey... etc. The more you think about it, the sadder it gets...
Kind of also means Algesia is f
10731167
Looking at your profile, it doesn't seem like you've submitted any stories, so you probably don't know... There is no "displaced" genre tag. I can take a screenshot later if you need it.
Displaced stories are just a subset of crossovers, anyway.
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I would argue that around Fimfiction, "Displaced" is not even Crossovers in a regular sense - but a variation of HiE/Isekai genre overall.
This story is a proper crossover, even if only a single character is transferred between the settings.
Now, if Saphire was in fact a reincarnated human...
....Still wouldn't be a "displaced" story :V
Because that subset generally has the shoddy "bought the costume at a con and became the costume"-set up :p
10731167
I would say that the description does a very good job of describing the story, Saphira has "crossed over" in the most literal sense possible.
Indeed, this is exactly why I made that comment, to properly set expectations so that nobody's waiting for unicorn Eragon to show up sometime in the second act dragging his baggage behind him.
10731277
Indeed. This is a proper crossover, with the actual character. None of that done-to-death costumed impostor nonsense. One of the benefits of commissioning, yeah? You get the story you want to read.
10731211
Just how bad were things in Alagaesia anyway?
It's been years since I last read the books (and I couldn't bring myself to finish book 4), but I recall that the Empire was relatively stable and peaceful at the start of the series. Galbatorix didn't dip back into war crimes until Arya and the Varden rekindled an age-old conflict that most humans wouldn't even care about.
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As fun as the ideas of watching how the rest of Canterlot react to Saphira and her actions here are, the commissioner (Venerable Ro) wanted the focus to be on Saphira and Twilight, themselves. They're both too young to really know or understand what other ponies are thinking or saying about them, so it's not going to be part of the narrative. It might be touched on, but it won't be a major plot point.
10731626
I can only applaud your dedication to doing things exactly as asked then.
I, however, will still argue that seeing the reaction of the setting to an outside element being thrust into it is not just a good thing, but one extremely important to keeping everyone's SoD intact.
Meanwhile, it would also allow you to show off more of Twi and Saphire - seen by the adults, the perspective change serving all the better to show their relationship.
Bottom line, the events of this chapter are felt like "rushing" because there isn't much time spent establishing the down-to-earth matters and the logistics of Sapjire's appearance in pony-world.
I mentioned "bureocracy" before.
It is a truly vile concept, but would it not serve to better ground the readers in the setting, if while in one scene we see Twi forcefully cuddle Saphire, in the next one we see her parents trying to set up the events on the "adult" side, discussing the situation beyond "yes, Twilight, you can keep her", and thinking up the solution to actually doing that legally?
So there isn't the "Saphire appears in the pony world and has zero ioutside impact she should logically have in a world with existing concept of laws, child protection services, and magical researchers"?
It is still competently and heartwarmingly-written, mind.
I just want this story to be the best it can possibly be :3
10731650
(The other problem with exploring all that, of course, being that it would push the word count even higher, and this was only a 7,000 word commission at the time. I didn't want to do anything that would look like I was trying to "stretch" the length to ask for more money. Thankfully, Ro was pleased enough to ask for an extension after I reached the desired 7,000, so there ARE going to be scenes of Saphira interacting with ponies around Canterlot other than Twilight!)
10731658
Ahhah, fair enough, fair enough.
I am rather unused to thinking of commissioned stories differently than the regular stuff an author puts out just because they feel like it.
Having that paid-for ceiling on ehat can even be included in the story can't be much fun, for either of the parties involved.
And to be clear, it wasn't so much a lack of "Saphira & other ponies"-interaction that I argued for/about, but more so "Everyone reacting to Saphira's appearancen as an element foreign to the setting", and mostly Twilight's parents being shown doing legal stuff that'd allow them to keep Saphira w/out any In-character trouble.
One can stretch the legalise to being barely consequential in Equestria, it being a much friendlier place than ours after all, and still make the story's setting feel more 'real' by such detail being in it?
Sorry if rambling, at this point I'm not quite sure how else to phrase the notion I initially argued (in light of it being strictly paid-for words, I am withdrawing the argument. Tentatively. )
10731650
Oh I heartily agree. The best way to world-build is to show the characters moving through the world and interacting with it. Thing is, there was a certain fiscal limit to the size of this project, and since the focus of this is intended to be Twilight and Saphira, we felt that the story was best served by moving along to the points that best allow them to shine as characters.
That said, I think you'll quite like what we've got in mind for Saphira.
Cool. One question, Spike is gonna appear? Our little boy needs love
10731884
Spike and his big, blue sister are gonna get up to soooo much hijinks...