Proxy

by Thithle Candytufth

Chapter 7: What Friends Do

The two unicorns walked, nearly silently, through the winding dirt roads of Ponyville. Lavender made no attempts to initiate conversation. Twilight felt a slight unease return to her.

This is normal. Going to lunch with some new friends. This is what friends do, right? They do the things they would do alone, but together. There’s no reason to be alone in Ponyville. Just go with it.

“So, where are we going?” Twilight broke the silence.

“Hm?” Lavender turned to Twilight, surprised at her interjection. “Well, there’s just this little café in the town square that we frequent. It’s a quaint little family-owned place. I think it’s probably been here a couple generations.”

“Oh, that sounds really nice.” ‘A couple generations’. Nothing’s lasted long enough here for me to remember it.

“Yeah, there’s a reason we keep coming back!” Lavender beamed.

This is what it’s like for everypony else, making new friends. I’m sure Lavender met Bay Breeze in some mundane way, too. Not everything is magical adventure, I assume. They probably just do things like this all the time. Twilight shook her head. No, no. This isn’t mundane. This consideration she’s been showing has been nothing short of magic.

“Okay Twily, we’re here!”

…And all that goes out the window.

The café was pressed between two larger buildings. An awning hung overhead, shading the unoccupied outdoor tables. It had caught a few of the colorful fallen leaves from the tree planted in front of it. An occasional breeze knocked a curled leaf off of the awning, letting it drift down and alight on the dirt road. A hand-painted wooden sign above the door read “The Hay Barrel: Est. 1924”.

The door opened with the cheerful jingle of bells. The lighting was dim, partially due to the aged dark brown wallpaper. No standing room was present— the tables and chairs formed an interlocking jigsaw puzzle to seat the maximum amount of ponies. There was no uniformity in the furnishings. One table was low to the ground and had cushions as seats; another was a coffee table with two loveseats on its sides. Nearly every seat was occupied, but the atmosphere was quiet and calm.

As Twilight examined her surroundings thoroughly, the waving of a hoof from the back of the café caught her eye.

“Over here!” A stallion’s voice exclaimed, with another wave of his hoof.

The two unicorns sidestepped through the obstacle course of chairs to reach the furthest table against the back wall. Seated at the table were Bay Breeze and the stallion to whom the waving hoof belonged. A mop of unkempt rusty hair was perched on his head. His short tail swayed excitedly beneath the table. A pair of overalls partially obscured his sienna coat. His sapphire eyes instantly focused on Twilight Sparkle.

“Hello,” Twilight said, walking over to the opposite side of the table. “You must be—”

The stallion swiftly got out of his chair and swung around the table. He gripped the head of the chair Twilight was headed to and in one swift motion pulled it out from beneath the table. He bowed his head respectfully and waited for Twilight to sit.

“Oh?” Twilight climbed onto the chair. The stallion gently pushed her in. That’s… nice. “Th-thank you. You are Solar Flare, correct?”

“That’s me,” He said, trotting back to his seat. Lavender pulled out her chair and sat next to Twilight.

“Oh, Flare,” Lavender giggled, “isn’t that a bit much?”

That was ‘much’? Oh no.

“N-not at all,” Twilight said, “you’re a… gentlecolt.”

“Oh? Thanks… It's Twilight, right?” Solar Flare practically whispered, his voice trailing off. His face turned crimson and he slumped back into his chair, practically slipping beneath the table.

"Yes. Pleased to meet you." Not good. Change the subject, he’s getting uncomfortable.

“You two share the cottage attached to the record store, right?” Twilight said, glancing at Bay Breeze.

“Yeah,” Bay Breeze and Solar Flare said in unison.

“So…” Twilight could not think of anything to say.

The waiter arrived at the table with a pad of paper in hoof. Twilight gave a sigh of relief. He took a quick glance at her customers. “Oh, it’s you three. And somepony new!”

“The usual, for us, please,” Lavender said, “Twily, what do you want?”

“Oh! Um…” Twilight had failed to notice the menu before her. “Whatever this is.” She pointed to a random portion of the paper.

“That’s our address,” the waiter said.

“Oh, right. Of course. Hay fries, then?”

“Thank you. It’ll be out shortly.” The waiter rolled his eyes and trotted to another table.

“So, Twilight,” Bay Breeze said with a wave of her hoof, “I’ve been dying to know. As a Canterlot native, what did you think of the wedding?”

“The wedding?” Twilight blinked a few times.

“Omigosh!” Lavender exclaimed, putting her hooves on the table and leaning towards Twilight. “It’s felt like so long ago! Were you there?”

Well, sort of.

“Yes, I attended. It was a beautiful wedding, to say the least,” Twilight said, looking to the side.

Solar Flare had risen from his seat, and leaned into the center of the table. “Were you involved in the proceedings at all, or were you just a guest?” Solar Flare asked.

Strange question. Depends on your definition of ‘involved’. “Just a guest,” Twilight said, “I’m not really anywhere among the higher-ups in Canterlot.”

“Were you scared?” Bay Breeze asked.

“Of what?”

“The Changeling Army,” Bay Breeze said.

“How did you manage?” Solar Flare asked.

“Oh! That actually happened?” Twilight exclaimed.

Oh, horse apples. I shouldn’t have said that out loud. They must think I’m such a freak.

“It was pretty surreal,” Lavender said, “I’m still having a hard time believing it.” She smiled at Twilight. “I’m sure you could fend for yourself, though, being a student of magic.”

“I made it out, didn’t I?” Twilight returned the smile.

Thank goodness. I made it out of something just now, to be sure.

“I’m surprised we didn’t see you there,” Lavender said, “I would probably notice a unicorn tearing through mobs of changelings.”

“Oh, I’m not that good— wait.” Twilight stopped herself. “You were there?”

“All three of us attended, yes,” Bay Breeze said, adjusting her glasses.

“Pardon my asking, but how exactly did you get in?” Twilight said, perplexed.

“Oh, well, I don’t want to toot our collective horns, but, if you insist…” Lavender smirked. “I was asked by Princess Luna herself to have my students perform a show for the reception. Not bad for a small town teacher, I’d say.”

“I was asked to play for the wedding march alongside the Royal Orchestra,” Bay Breeze said. “I play violin. I suppose I’ve garnered somewhat of a reputation here in Ponyville.”

“I was just there to assist Bay Breeze,” Solar Flare said.

The table fell silent briefly. Lavender gave Solar Flare a disappointed look, then returned her gaze to Twilight.

“You must’ve been so honored,” Twilight said, “I can’t imagine what it would be like to be that close to the Canterlot royalty.” Twilight nearly choked on the irony of her statement.

“Well, aside from the interruption,” Bay Breeze said, “it was a great experience.”

“We got to meet the bride and groom, albeit briefly,” Solar Flare said.

“They were so sweet,” Lavender said, “like, you could tell they’re perfect for each other.”

Oh, Shining… I truly hope he's okay. He must be worried sick.

“I agree,” Twilight said, “it was clear that they’ll be happy together for a long time.”

“We all wish them the best,” Bay Breeze said, “it’s not every day you see such love and conviction between two ponies.”

The conversation paused, everypony waiting for Solar Flare to chime in.

I don’t get it. Why did Celestia include the Changeling Army incident in the fabrication? It never happened to her in her time in Ponyville. Why would she throw that in?

Oh, I see. It must have been to remind me of my past reality. I had not spoken and had hardly thought of Canterlot or Shining Armor until that event. She wanted to lull me back into believing the reality was complete, since I had gone so very long without seeing him.

But wait, if the Changeling Army did invade, who helped fend them off? Who discovered the real Cadance and helped her defeat Chrysalis? For that matter, who defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord? That must have happened. But the stained glass… I only remember seeing my friends and Celestia sealing away Luna. So who revived her? Could they have? But there are only—

“Your hay fries, ma’am,” the waiter said, dropping the plate before her. Twilight took a few seconds to snap back into reality and return eye contact and a ‘thank you.’

None of that even matters right now. I’m putting all of that behind me.

Twilight grabbed a fry and chewed it thoughtfully. She entered the conversation again.

Comments

[archonix]

Mystery upon mystery... I like.

[Thithle Candytufth]

1350294 First off, holy crap that was fast. Second, yeah, lots and lots of mystery!

[archonix]

1350297 I'm a fast reader and have incredible timing.

I do like the way you've had Celestia incorporate "reality" into the dreamworld Twilight was in. It neatly explains a whole load of problems in the show canon.

[Thithle Candytufth]

1350314 Haha, yes. I really love how it works, especially for "Luna Eclipsed" and "A Canterlot Wedding". I think it gives some sense to why Luna was introduced early on then dropped, and why Cadance and Shining Armor seemed like an afterthought. Happy you caught that.

[CanterlotGuardian]

Me likey. Pls update soon.

[khatre]

It feels like poor Twilight is still holding on by the skin of her teeth.
It cant be much longer before the walls fall down and leave Twily defenseless.
hopefully her new friends will help her pick her life back up.

Will she ever meet Lavender's students?
Teaching the young can be very therapeutic

[Thithle Candytufth]

1350415 I'll try. Next two chapters are currently being edited within an inch of their lives.
1350487 Yes indeed. She's most definitely having trouble. Also, to answer your question: mayyyyyybe.

[Xanderfox]

Ok now we're getting to the interesting bits where this universe's Twilight has to try and figure out what parts of her memory are completely fictional and what parts only edited versions of reality. Can only assume Cadence foalsitting her was real, and that she had the potential to the the element of Magic. Leads me to wonder, do the "real" Elements know her? And what important events did she have a key role in? She was still Celestia's personal protege, also how much of Celestia's decision to use Twilight as her proxy was a misguided attempt to help Twilight while getting to relive her own past? She tried to use it as a justification, but how true is it? Also you kind of skimmed over it, but in chapter 1 you mentioned Twi looks different, what does she look like?(aside from the fact you mentioned her coat is white) A lot of this isn't stuff you have to go back and add, just thoughts on things yet explained.

[Thithle Candytufth]

1351499 Well, most of your questions/doubts will be answered as the story progresses. And no, her coat isn't white. She looks the same. It was that it was Celestia in the stained glass depicting the elements of harmony vanquishing Nightmare Moon, not Twilight. I'm sorry that wasn't obvious enough. I edited the chapter to make it more clear, since you're not the first person to think that.

[Baby Rhino]

well, you defiantly have my attention now