As Spike ran to the Golden Oak Library, the maresâ arguing still ringing in his head, he grabbed the closest empty scroll he could find and unraveled it, grabbing a pen and writing in the scroll. Though his pony sister preferred elaborating quite often with big words when it came to her letters, Spike decided on writing a very short letter:
Dear Prince Bolero and Shining Armor,
Twilight is not happy, watch out.
From,
Spike
Spike closed up the scroll and blew green fire on it, sending it to Canterlot castle. He nearly pissed himself as he heard Twilight teleport into the castle, and ran out the door before she could see him. Bolting to the train station, he hoped Twilight would pack his belongings as well. As he arrived, he noticed the only one to already be at the train station was Applejack of all ponies. She stared off into the distance with a dark green suitcase with apple patterns at her side, giving a long deep breath before she looked over at the dragon.
âYa told âem?â Applejack asked.
âY-Yes, I did,â Spike nodded, feeling his head begin to hurt as he glanced back at the library. âListen, you canât tell her. Iâm not trying to take sides here...theyâre both family to-â
âSay no more, sugarcube,â Applejack sighed. âI understand exactly how ya feel. Ya did what you could, just leave the rest to them.â
Fluttershy landed in front of the Golden Oak Library, flinching as soon as she opened the door. Various books, clothing, and other items were flung across the library and into an open suitcase that was close to the door. Stepping inside, surveying the area until she found Twilight stomping around her bed, Fluttershy flew to her side and took a deep breath before speaking.
âTwilight,â Fluttershy smiled despite the unicorn not making eye contact with her as she threw everything on her nightstand into the suitcase. âDonât think of it as two stallions getting married, think of it as your brother and former foalsitter finding love! With each other! Isnât that exciting? Why, Iâm sure that-â
Twilight lit her horn up, causing the open suitcase to close, and teleported out of sight. The suitcase disappeared as well, and Fluttershy stared at the empty space where Twilight used to be. Her shoulders dropping as she frowned, Fluttershy flew out the library to pack her stuff at the cottage. Flying to the train station with only a decently-sized handbag for her travel stuff, she landed beside Applejack. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were on their own bench, the former talking about her Sonic Rainboom and the latter about her dresses, while Pinkie bounced in place as she waited for the train to arrive. Twilight was far away from the others, her ears flattened to her head as she grumbled out of earshot.
âFluttershy,â Fluttershy jolted at the touch of the farm mareâs hoof on her shoulder, then went still as she looked at Applejack. âLogic isnât on her side for a change, let her learn when her brain lets her.â
âRight,â Fluttershy sighed.
âIt isnât your responsibility,â Applejack assured her, her hoof trailing lower down Fluttershyâs foreleg. Feeling her wings beginning to unfurl, Fluttershy blushed as Applejackâs hoof began to reach her own and oh Celestia what is happening-
The train appeared, and Applejack scowled as she pulled her hoof back and got up, tugging her suitcase along as she made her way towards the train. Twilight teleported into a corner seat of the train with her suitcase beside her, and the rest of the Mane 6 got into the train, Fluttershy trailing behind with a clear blush on her face as she eventually sat down next to Applejack. Fluttershy slowly unfurled one of her wings and rested it on Applejackâs back. Twilight frowned as she stared at the two of them.
Iâm sure itâs just Fluttershy cooling off Applejackâs attitude from earlier. I mean, what was her deal anyway? Doesnât matter, need to focus on the situation at Canterlot. It has to be a prank! Shining Armor wouldnât just turn on our parents like this, they didnât tell us stuff for the heck of it, they were real values that guided us into adults! They were saving us from pain!
Twilightâs mind went back to the imagery of two stallions she saw as a filly out and about in Canterlot with her family. The details of what they looked like were too vague to comment on, only that they were together and smiling, kissing each other on the cheek and forehead. Having remembered how mommies and daddies create foals, Twilight frowned as she looked up at her parents.
âWhy are they kissing each other?â Twilight asked, already feeling her body tense at the expression on her fatherâs face. Night Light glared at the two, guiding Twilight away from the pair as Twilight Velvet did the same to Shining Armor. Shining Armor stared after them even as he walked farther away, until he tore his gaze away to scowl at their mother. Now Twilight had to know the answer, and Night Lightâs glare melted away as he glanced down at his daughter.
âEr, sometimes stallions donât become daddies and are very lonely and sad,â Night Light told her. âSo they settle for another stallion. You like chocolate ice cream, right?â
âI love chocolate ice cream!â Twilight grinned, feeling her body start to relax.
âWell, imagine if you got broccoli instead,â Night Light said. âYou wouldnât like it very much, but youâd still eat it if you had nothing else. Thatâs what those stallions choose to do when they donât have mares.â
âHuh,â Twilightâs ears perked up as she heard Shining Armor speak. âThose stallions seemed pretty happy to-OW!â
Twilight Velvet bumped into her son, causing the stallion to stumble and glare at his mother less subtly than before. Night Light leaned over to his wife, whispering to her before turning back to his daughter.
âNot everypony is willing to accept that loneliness drives stallions to date stallions, and mares to mares,â Night Light told her. âSo donât go around telling everypony that, they can be pretty mean when faced with the truth. You and your brother need to be better than that and find ponies to have foals with. A mare wonât give you happiness or foals.â
âDad, sheâs too young to even think about that,â Shining Armor snapped. âIf you like foals so much, why donât you two have more?â
âThatâs enough!â Twilight flinched at their father raising his tone, Night Light walking past his wife to approach Shining Armor. âVelvet, walk Twilight home. Weâll meet you there.â
Twilight felt her voice dying in her throat as Night Light walked another direction with Shining Armor following him. What was Shiningâs problem? Dad was trying to teach her the importance of having a family.
As Twilight thought back to it, it was as clear as day what Shining Armor was thinking. That deviant brother of hers was sympathizing with them! That was when Prince Bolero had just started his foalsitting sessions with her, did he like him then?
Well, if anything was clear to her parents, it was that Twilight had taken a liking to Prince Bolero. Sure, she didnât really feel those fuzzy butterflies that she was supposed to feel, but her parents said she had a crush on Prince Bolero, so it must be true! Right?
Back when she was still a student at Celestiaâs School for Gifted Unicorns, and old enough to not need a foalsitter anymore, Twilight would sit at the dinner table with her family and talk about how her day went. While friendship wasnât her strong suit at the time, she always brought up her classmate Flashy Dazzle, a mare with a rose pink pelt and a long dark brown mane. Those dark green eyes paired with her dark red glasses were...Twilight shook her head, it didnât matter how they looked. Her parents would interrupt her explaining what Flashy and her studied together, and prompt her to ask out Prince Bolero. The first time they did this, Twilight vividly remembered her brother spitting his drink.
âHoney, wouldnât you just love living in a castle as a Princess with such a sweet stallion?â Velvet smiled at Twilight, and Twilight pictured an invisible pony yanking each side of her lips to create such a forced smile like that.
âI mean, Iâd prefer becoming a Princess because of my magic,â Twilight replied, her motherâs smile disappearing as she spoke. âAnd then the ma-I mean stallion could live in my castle!â
Twilight shook her head, she only slipped on her words that night because itâd be cool to have mares live in her castle. As friends! And in a way, with five mares as her dearest friends, she got exactly what she hoped for. Their friendship meant more to her than any stallion could. Twilight froze up.
But that doesnât mean Iâd date a mare!
âWoo! Weâre here!â Rainbow Dash shouted over Twilightâs cluttered thoughts, zooming past the other ponies as they started to get out of their seats. Half of the ponies glared in the pegasusâ direction, while the other half grinned from ear to ear as they whispered about getting to see Rainbow Dash. As the rest of the Elements of Harmony got up, the ponies talked even more, Nightmare Moonâs name slipping into their conversations as Twilight got up and teleported out of the train before a single soul could speak to her. Landing in front of several members of the Royal Guard, Twilight dusted herself off before she got on her four hooves and spoke to him
âIâm here to see my brother, Shining Armor,â Twilight said. âItâs urgent.â
âWe know,â one of the Royal Guard spoke, and those two words sent a sharp jolt throughout Twilightâs body. âHoof us over your suitcase, Twilight Sparkle.â
âWhy do you need my-hey!â Twilight shrieked as one of the unicorn guards tugged her suitcase towards them with their magic. As five of them began to open her suitcase, Twilight lunged. âGive that back!â
âHey!â
Just as one of the Royal Guard members jumped in between Twilight and the other guards, the group of guards froze and looked over their shoulders, spotting Shining Armor in his full golden armor as he galloped towards them. The members of the Royal Guard jumped back many hoofsteps away from the opened suitcase, and Shining Armor rushed to Twilightâs side as he glared at his subordinates.
âWhat is the meaning of this?â Shining spat, his eyes moving left to right over the wide-eyed guards. âSomepony better tell me!â
âCaptain, you said that your sister might be a threat,â one of the Royal Guard ponies spoke up. âWe were going to check her suitcase for weapons and neutralize her.â
âAre you all seriously that...sheâs my sister,â Shining facepalmed. âI just needed you guys to talk her down, not whatever shit you were trying to pull just now.â
âOh,â the guards blushed and averted their gazes from their captain and his sister. âOur apologies, Shining Armor. And Twilight Sparkle.â
âOoooooh, I get it now,â Twilightâs eyes widened as a small smile appeared on her face, glancing up at her brother. âThis is part of the prank, right?â
âWhat prank?â Shining frowned.
âThat youâre getting married to a stallion!â Twilight laughed, not looking at the guards as half their jaws nearly dropped to the ground. âOkay, showâs over guys. You can get back to whatever you do, and Shiny can tell me who heâs actually getting married to. It is royalty at least, right? Oh, is it Luna? No wonder youâd go to this extent to pull a prank like this, the only pony that our parents would want you married to less is a stallion-â
âTwilight, please stop talking for five seconds,â Shining snapped before glancing at his guards. âSheâs just horsing around, get back to work.â
Any possible protest that the guardsâ had died in their throats as they looked away from Twilight and left in different directions away from the two unicorns. Twilight frowned as her heart started racing again, the brother that sheâd known her whole life...she had to be wrong about this. It couldnât be that-
âThis is a prank, right?â Twilightâs ears flattened as her lip quivered. âYou wouldnât really do this to Mom...or Dad...or me? Right?â
âTwilight, for fuckâs sake,â Shining glared at her. âItâs not doing anything to anypony. This marriage is not only to somepony Iâm able to love, but a pony I do love.â
âHow could you do this?!â Twilight cried out, causing her brother to take two steps back. âThatâs a load of horse shit and you know it! Thereâs so many mares out there thatâd love to have you, and you gave up! And letâs say in some wild hypothetical that you actually are happy, does that automatically make this right? Our parents told us this was wrong, and youâll be embarrassing us in front of all of Equestria!â
âTwilight,â Shining took a deep breath before he spoke. âJust because our parents tell us something is wrong doesnât mean it is wrong.â
âOh, so because youâre some hotshot captain, you think you know more than our parents. The ponies whoâve been alive longer than us!â Twilight scoffed. âEven though Iâve learned so much throughout my life, I still donât assume Iâm smarter than our parents!â
âTwilight, you are smarter than our parents though, youâre smarter than me,â Shining pointed out. âYouâre Celestiaâs student, have you forgotten that?â
âThat doesnât matter! Weâre supposed to marry mares!â Twilight blurted out.
Shining shut up, staring at Twilight as she turned red in the face.
âI m-mean, youâre supposed to marry a mare and Iâm supposed to marry a stallion!â Twilight corrected herself, feeling her blood boil as she snapped. âWhere the fuck is Prince Bolero?!â
âHeâs in the castle,â Shining sighed. âBut if you so much as raise your voice at him, my guards will escort you on a one-way train ride back to Ponyville. Got it?â
âWhatever, I know how to open his eyes without yelling,â Twilight huffed, walking past Shining Armor as she made her way towards the castle. As Twilight left, Shining Armor looked ahead and saw five mares gawking at the display.
âI take it youâre Twilightâs friends?â Shining gulped. âI donât have to deal with five more of you giving me that talk, am I?â
âSugarcube, of course not!â Applejack trotted over to the stallion and wrapped her forelegs around him in a hug. âAhâm so sorry about that, she didnât even ask how you were, let alone congratulate you!â
âCongratulations by the way,â Rarity said as she stood by Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie rushing over to join them.
âI donât care who fucks who, Iâm just excited to do a Sonic Rainboom,â Dash grinned, before her smile faltered. âI still get to do that, right?â
âYes, you do,â Shining smiled for the first time since Twilight arrived, and even gave a small chuckle as the mare pumped a hoof in the air.
âAwesome!â Dash shouted.
âC-Congratulations,â Fluttershy smiled. âBut you still want all of us at your wedding? After what we just watched?â
âWell, besides Prince Bolero, Twily is the most important pony in my life,â Shining explained. âPart of the reason I told her about the wedding through an invitation was because I knew she needed time to process it. Celestia, who knows what disaster she wouldâve caused if she found out just now and not earlier.â
âBut Shining Armor,â Applejack frowned. âAh overheard what yâall were saying about your parents, how could she not even bat an eye about the turmoil you mustâve gone through growing up with those kind of folk, knowing who you are now?â
âApplejack, you have to understand that they told us it was a choice for years,â Shining told her. âAnd with Twilight being a sheltered bookworm until recently, how was she supposed to know otherwise? I...I hoped she wouldâve accepted it enough to be my Best Mare, but I should probably ask Celestia or Luna instead.â
âDarling, is there anything we can do?â Rarity placed a hoof on his shoulder.
Shining Armor felt his heart being tugged towards the castle, remembering the first day that Prince Bolero came to foalsit his younger sister. The way he laughed and allowed his love to flow from him to the ponies around him, the way his soothing voice calmed Twilight and did the opposite to Shining Armor, sending his heart into overdrive and bringing heat to his face as he stammered whenever Prince Bolero so much as looked at him...Shining Armor couldnât understand why his parents reacted the way they did when he poured his heart out about Prince Bolero, but Twilightâs reaction?
âNo, nothing besides what Celestia already asked of you in the letter,â Shining sighed, blinking back the tears in his eyes as he walked towards the castle...
Twilightâs slow walk had turned into a full-on gallop as she slammed the doors open and stopped just several hoofsteps away from Prince Bolero. The pink alicorn, taller than both Twilight and Shining, had his mane of violet, rose, and gold colors short enough to stop just below his muzzle. Twilight felt her blood boil as the prince grinned at her! She opened her mouth, only to remember Shiningâs words. Taking a deep breath, Twilight channeled all her emotions in the look she gave towards her former foalsitter.
âWhat did you do to my brother?â Twilight growled.
âWell, a lot of stuff, but thatâs not for me to get into detail about, especially not with his sister,â Bolero rolled his eyes as he chuckled at Twilight. Twilight growled, how could he possibly be soâŚ
Wait.
âYou must be a changeling!â Twilight gasped. âYou and Shining Armor! Why else would the two of you be trying to piss me off? This is just some plot to turn Celestiaâs student against her own family and friends!â
âOuch,â Bolero frowned. âAll these years, and you think Iâm trying to turn you against your brother? I suppose thereâs one way of proving that Iâm the real prince, but...oh aunt Celestia, I canât believe Iâm singing this song again.â
Prince Bolero sighed, before dancing in place and singing.
âSunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!â Prince Bolero concluded the song by facepalming himself with his hoof, the chuckles of the guards echoing throughout the room. âOh goodness me, the guards will never let me live that down. Do you believe me now, Twilight?â
âBut I d-donât get it,â Twilight was shaking now as she stared at the stallion she thought she knew. âIf youâre the Prince of Love, why couldnât you just marry a mare?â
âTwilight, as the Prince of Love, yes, Iâve pursued both mares and stallions in the past. But the pony that I want to marry is your brother, and if he wants that to, then why are you so upset?â Prince Bolero asked.
âBecause why does he get to love whoever he wants, but I canât?!â Twilight snapped, causing the guards to walk closer to the two ponies.
âTwilight?â Any smirking or chuckling was gone now, Prince Boleroâs eyes widened as he reached a hoof out to the mare. âWhat do you mean by that?â
âI...IâŚâ Twilight felt her face getting hot, every coherent thought wiped into nothing as tears rolled down her face. Images of Flashy Dazzle repeated like a vicious cycle, refusing to free her from the joy and shame and joy and shame and joy and shameâŚ
Twilight sobbed as she turned around and bolted out of the castle.
This feels a little fast paced but I'm very excited to see it continue.
That's interesting premise and I will certainly look forward to reading further chapters. đ I have to agree with Stormwing Gale in that a pacing is a little fast and you could give various scenes a bit more screen-time, so to speak. Then again, it might be just a matter of personal preference. đ
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Frankly, I chalk up the downvotes to just how politicized and weaponized the topic has become; especially in recent years when more and more series are getting into the heavy-handed virtue signalling and lecturing the fans about how bad and evil they are for liking what they like. Take the recent defeminization of women in media, where female characters are made to look big and burly to the point they're indistinguishable from the men they're presented as being superior to. We've been told that feminine forms are harmful to real women. We've even been told that slightly skimpy clothing promotes sexual violence against women.
Take for example the ongoing border crisis, and the open border advocates saying anyone who wants to come here should be allowed to do so freely. If this message were applied in an MLP story, we'd be seeing the changeling invasion presented from the perspective of the changelings being a victim species and Celestia and the other ponies being evil for trying to resist their efforts of taking over Canterlot.
Or worse we'd be seeing stories about tens of thousands of zebras coming into Equestria, making demands about how they want to be treated and respected without contributing anything, and lecturing the ponies every five minutes about how the current generation carries the blood guilt of their ancestors from over a thousand years ago and owe them reparations for life as payback. All presented from the perspective of Equestria being a hostile nation where Celestia is a specist warlord simply because her country is prosperous while theirs isn't.
I can't speak for anyone else, but frankly I'm so sick and tired of hearing the same hate-promoting messages spewed over and over again, from more and more series that used to be enjoyable. The stuff we read and watch are supposed to be for entertainment, not getting told about how we're evil incarnate even if we do embrace and accept the message we're being presented with. I don't want to spend the time necessary to read through a story that exists solely to deliver a particular political message, or where the author will interrupt the flow of the story to have a character go into lecture mode about a particular topic. And especially not when the political message they want to deliver doesn't even exist in the source material they're using as the inspiration for their story.
Homophobic gay Twi is the funniest character ever invented. She's so unaware it's almost impressive
And then she goes aware for a second and almost kills me with the feels. Congrats.
Aw, poor little Twily...
At least we know Bolero's not Chrysalis though
Surprised at the direction this took. I had assumed Twilight herself didn't have these feelings, and only just felt the same as her parents. However this adds to the drama, a nice addition to the story nonetheless. Also I highly doubt their parents would be allowed to the wedding, but I could be wrong.
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Amazing. Such a wall of text and none of it speaks of story itself. Is Charlie a spam bot by any chance? Because this feels like spam.
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Yeah, that's contest deadlines for ya. I'll admit, pacing isn't usually my friend when it comes to writing stories, but having a deadline to finish it all by doesn't help either đ I'll try to make the pacing more smooth in the next chapters, glad y'all still enjoyed the story!
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Yeah, sometimes I found myself laughing at the absurdity of what comes out her mouth, and other times I just feel sorry for her. This take of Twilight is very interesting to write though, for sure.
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Well if you want something more concise and more related to the story directly then I can do that.
Reading the summary of this story, the part that's supposed to drag the reader in and hold their interest long enough to get them reading the full work, I'm informed from the very beginning this is going to come off as being a lecture piece, and the author is going to be informing the readers how the holding of certain personal, particular ideologies is wrong.
If that's the vibe I'm getting just from the summary itself, why would I want to invest the time to read it through and see for myself if this is actually how the story will be proceeding?
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Do you have a list of texts like these that you just copy and paste whenever you find specific keywords? Because they both feel like one of those generic sales reach outs that one could find in their inbox. đ
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In a previous life I wrote the programming and coding that went into making the computer programs that write those generic sales reach outs. I'm a very dull, uninteresting person outside of fantasy writing. I'm like Maud Pie but less exciting than her.
Long story short, this story earned a downvote from me not because of its contents, but because the summary rubbed me the wrong way and made me lose all interest. It's like the mental equivalent of nails on a chalkboard for me.
So Twilight is repressing feelings because sheâs been taught they are âwrongâ and is taking it out on her brother. Likely because she doesnât have the courage to act out against her parents, even if itâs really her choice. The pacing is a bit all over the place, it would have worked better if it involved her trying to find Bolero as he works on preparing the wedding. Canterlot Castle is a pretty big place, it wouldnât be too crazy that she needed to search for them⌠while wading through the wedding preparations.
Iâm glad Shining had the courage to choose his own happiness over what his parents wanted. But Iâm willing to bet they will try something before this story is over. I can definitely tell Twilight is the tip of the ice berg when it comes to family drama. Especially when old wounds between shining and his father is pulled upâŚ
Poor, poor Twilight, hopefully she comes to terms with her own repressed gay in time for the wedding.
Age doesn't always mean wisdom, especially when you teach hate, fear, and suppression.
I'm not convinced they don't have magical gay/lesbian spawns to solve that.
aww, bless Fluttershy so much for trying!
very wise of Applejack here. it's hard to logic someone out of something they didn't logic themselves into.
hey, this isn't an F/F contest! (not that i don't appreciate this bit lol)
yes, and i'm sure they're roommates as well, Twilight
oof! makes sense it wouldn't be Twilight just deciding to be homophobic by herself. this has to be taught, which means Shining has more than his sister to contend with.
this does track with how homophobia can take root in a place that's otherwise as nice and utopic as Equestria. pity and disapproval is less frightening to face than disgust and hate, but lets those that have it convince themselves they're being understanding and compassionate instead of awful. you did a great job here with this.
isn't it weird how many straight parents think it's fine and normal to ship their prepubescent children? like wow, this is a really weird thing to do! he's her babysitter!
i am loving this! ah, self-denial.
haha, had a feeling it was going to be a misunderstanding like this!
oop
aww, that is a lot of hoping on Shining's part. but then again, it fits in with how oblivious the canon Shining acted.
the same line but now with a very different context. very fun, that
and the irony here is great!
oof, now you are really making me feel for Twilight. i could definitely see a version of myself in her place here, sadly.