Generational Differences Part 3: Governments, Families, and Fillyhood Albums
After the routine morning tasks were done, the eleven ponies once again piled into the room to start their discussion. They had dedicated the whole week to gathering here, this marking their third day. Now what are the ponies discussing today?
“What’s the governing system like in your time?” Twilight asked the new generation. “Considering that the alicorns of our time are gone and the tribes were divided, I’m curious on how each tribe governed their people.”
Sunny was the first to answer. “Well we didn’t really have any ‘rulers’ per se, it was more of just a community of earth ponies living together.”
“We have an awesome sheriff to keep order though,” Hitch added with a smirk.
“Unhealthy power dynamic,” Izzy whispered playfully to him, causing his ears to flop back.
“Ahem,” Hitch cleared his throat, “but besides that no one really ruled over Maretime Bay. The closest thing we had to some sort of ‘leader’ was Phyllis Cloverleaf, owner of Canterlogic.”
“What’s Canterlogic?” Rainbow asked.
“It’s a company that created products to keep earth ponies safe from the other tribes,” Sunny explained, “not that we’ll be needing it anymore.”
“Phyllis was usually the one to give speeches to the masses, so I guess she could be considered a leader,” Hitch shrugged.
“So there wasn’t really any government structure set in place for the earth ponies?” Twilight noted down, looking at the two.
“Uh huh,” Sunny and Hitch hummed, nodding their heads.
“Interesting, interesting…” Twilight tapped her chin, turning her attention to Zipp and Pipp. “So how about you two? I recall you two saying you're royalty.”
“Yup!” Pipp cheerfully answered, “we’re the daughters of Queen Haven, the ruler of the pegasai!”
“Pretty much what she said,” Zipp shrugged.
“So the pegasi have something similar to our current governing system,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she jotted that down.
“What’s it like being royalty?” Rarity asked, her eyes beaming with curiosity.
“It’s super tiring,” Zipp groaned, earning her a smack for her sister.
“You’re just not sociable,” Pipp rolled her eyes.
“And you’re a little too sociable,” Zipp shot back.
“That’s because I want to be connected to our people! It’s anything a good leader would do,” Pipp defended herself.
“Yeah whatever you say shorty,” Zipp didn’t feel like arguing about this for like the five-hundreth time. Pipp looked like she wanted to retort, but just “hmped” and looked away from her sister.
“Y’all sure think differently about bein’ royalty,” Applejack chuckled.
“Just some sisterly banter, I’m sure,” Rarity giggled, “I’m sure you know how it is Applejack.”
“Same goes for you,” Applejack smirked.
“I poke fun at her often, but she knows I still love her,” Zipp smirked slyly, causing Pipp’s face to slightly flush.
“Yes, I do know that,” she whispered.
“Awww,” the other ponies cooed, causing the pegasus’ face to redden even more.
“Sibling dynamics sure are interesting,” Twilight grinned.
“Indeed,” Rarity agreed.
“Can we just move onto the unicorns?” Pipp pleaded, looking at her group's resident unicorn.
“Okie dokie!” Izzy nodded her head happily. “The unicorns didn’t really do much so there wasn’t a need for any rulers or government,” Izzy tapped her chin, “but I guess there was Alphabittle. We did have a bunch of superstitions though.”
“So if there was no ruler or government, what was your village like?” Twilight asked, a tad bit confused.
“Boring!” Izzy answered truthfully. “Ever since magic disappeared, the unicorns just kind of trudged around sadly. It was a depressing place,” Izzy frowned.
“I second that one,” Hitch nodded.
“Mhm,” Zipp added on. A silence struck the room.
“You mentioned superstitions,” Twilight said after the brief silence, “if you don’t mind, would you tell us some of them?”
“Well there were certain words that we were forbidden to say such as ‘magic, wing, feather, and mayonnaise,’” Izzy listed off, “and if you do say them, you have to do some ritual to ward off the jinxies.”
“What are jinxies?” Fluttershy tilted her head.
“Bad luck,” Izzy answered.
“Those unicorns sound kind of crazy,” Rainbow snickered, “no offense.”
“None taken! They were a little cuckoo,” Izzy circled her hooves next to her head.
“Sure sounds like it,” Rarity says, half-smiling.
“So the unicorns just let the days go by, not doing anything?” Twilight tried to piece together what she was told.
“Yup!” Izzy confirmed.
“Well this sure was informative,” Twilight finished up her notes.
“How about you guys? What’s the government like here?” Sunny asked.
“Before Twilight became the ruler of Equestria the two sisters, Celestia and Luna, ruled over the realm,” Rarity explained.
“There was a diarchy, as well as other smaller branches of government to help them,” Twilight added.
“In town we have a mayor,” Fluttershy mentioned.
“And there are royals and other important ponies that have a say in certain matters,” Rarity finished.
“Sounds complicated,” Hitch said.
“Although it can be at times, it helps keep order and the powers in check,” Twilight smiled. “But now instead of a diarchy we have a monarchy. I don’t rule by myself though,” Twilight looked at her friends.
“We’ve always got your back, sugarcube,” Applejack grinned.
“And we’ve got your front too!” Pinkie appeared in front of the purple alicorn.
“Thanks girls,” Twilight said.
“So about Celestia and Luna, what made them so special to be the rulers of all of Equestria?” Zipp inquired.
“Well they were here for thousands of years,” Twilight started to explain. “They also raised the sun and moon, and defended the realm from threats.”
“They did what now?” and “How old are they?” came out simultaneously from Sunny and Hitch.
“Don’t you know it's rude to ask how old a lady is?” Rarity poked fun at Hitch.
“Sorry, but thousands of years? Isn’t that, like, physically impossible?” Hitch said in disbelief.
“For a normal pony it is,” Twilight nodded, “but it seems that alicorns have longer lifespans than normal ponies,” Twilight explained.
“Wait does that mean...” Sunny’s voice trailed off, a grim realization washing over her.
“Yes Sunny, it means that there will come a day when you have to watch your loved ones move on,” Twilight’s expression darkened. “I remember when I first realized this, it wasn’t pretty,” Twilight sighed, the other Elements nodding. “I didn’t want to believe it was true but I’ve learned to live with that thought. I try my best to make memories that will last my whole lifetime, even if they are not here with me to do so.” Twilight walked over to the young alicorn, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Just remember to enjoy their company while you still can,” Twilight finished with a weak smile.
With the shocking news fully settling in, the New Generations huddled around Sunny, giving hugs and words of comfort, accompanied by sniffles. Although they were all still young, they couldn't bear the thought of Sunny’s suffering after their times came. It weighed heavily in both their hearts and minds. Twilight and the Elements looked at the five with smiles, knowing that they too had been through this. All they could do now is offer their sympathy and comfort.
The sun was directly above Equestria, signifying it was already noon. After recomposing themselves during a short break, they decided to continue on with their conversation.
“So where’d we leave off?” Twilight started.
“We were talking about Celestia and Luna I believe,” Zipp answered.
“Ah yes,” Twilight coughed, her mind still lingering on the previous topic. “If I recall correctly, Sunny asked about them controlling the sun and moon.”
“Oh yeah!” Sunny half-laughed, “I guess we got a little caught up that we never addressed that.”
“Essentially, Celestia raised the sun and Luna raised the moon during their rule,” Twilight explained. “They are revered as deities by many and are even worshiped by some ponies.”
“You’re telling me they have the ability to raise the sun and moon just like that?” Sunny was shocked to say the least.
“Although they still have the ability to do so, they entrusted me to take over that for them,” Twilight said with a sigh, “I’m still not used to it however.”
“But that’s so awesome,” Izzy said, smiling. “Maybe one day Sunny could do that!”
Then it struck Twilight. “No one is raising the sun or moon for you, correct?” The New Generation nodded. “So that leads to my question: how is there a day/night cycle?”
“Huh, I didn't think of that,” Applejack rubbed her chin.
“I guess it’s just automatic now?” Hitch offered.
“Maybe it had something to do with magic disappearing?” Rarity added in.
“I guess that would be the only reasonable explanation,” Twilight sighed, frustrated with not having a concrete answer. “Guess time really does change things.”
“Truly,” Hitch nodded.
“So, any other questions about our governing?” Twilight asked.
“What about the Crystal Empire? Are they ruled by Celestia and Luna too?” Izzy’s curiosity of the Crystal Empire never ceased.
“Good question,” Twilight nodded her head at the unicorn. “To answer it, the Crystal Empire is not ruled by them but rather by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.”
“They sound fun!” Izzy nodded her head happily.
“Of course they are!” Twilight confirmed. “Cadence and Shiny are married, making Cadence my sister-in-law!”
“So that means Shining Armor is your brother?” Hitch concluded.
“Indeed he is,” Twilight nodded.
“So you’re basically double royalty!” Pipp said.
Twilight giggled. “In a sense.”
“That’s so cool!” Sunny complimented.
Rarity nodded. “I never thought about it like that.”
“They also have an adorable foal who I have the honor of being an aunt of,” Twilight decided to brag a bit, taking out a picture of Flurry Heart.
“Awwwww!” The New Generation cooed as they gathered around the picture.
“She’s soooo cute!” Pipp grinned from ear to ear.
“Look at her little wings and horn,” Sunny pointed at them.
“A baby alicorn?! ADORABLE!” Izzy yelled.
As the girls fawned over the picture, Hitch spoke to Twilight. “That reminds me, is Spike your adopted son or something? He seems awfully young and you yourself don’t seem too old.”
“I like to think of him as my son,” Twilight pondered, “I mean I did raise him since he was a baby.”
“Wait, if you raised him when he was a baby, I’m assuming that means you have had him since you were a foal?” Hitch asked.
Twilight nodded. “He’s been with me ever since my entrance exam into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Wow… I can’t imagine taking care of any creature when I was that young,” Hitch smiled. “It must’ve been quite the challenge.”
“It wasn’t so bad, I had my family and Celestia to help me along the way. Even so, there were some screw ups,” Twilight waved her hoof around, giggling.
“What are y’all chatting about?” Applejack noticed the giggling alicorn over the cooing of New Generation.
“Just talking about Twilight’s childhood a bit,” Hitch answered.
“Twilight was adorable as a foal,” Fluttershy mentioned quietly.
“Wait, how do you know what I looked like?” Twilight looked at the pegasus funnily.
“Your parents may have shown me your fillyhood album…” Fluttershy confessed. Twilight’s face twisted with both shock and horror. “And they may still be here in the castle.” That was the icing on the cake.
“Noooooo!!!” The purple alicorn yelled out, garnering the attention of everyone in the room.
“What’s Twilight yelling about?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh she was just yelling about how excited she was to show us her fillyhood album,” Hitch smirked.
“No! Why would you say that,” Twilight hissed.
“Oh her fillyhood album? That sounds fun!” Pinkie bounced over.
“A tiny Twilight! That sounds adorable,” Pipp said.
“I sure would like to see this too,” Rarity pranced towards the mare. All eyes were on Twilight, pressuring her into bringing it out. She knows what was in those albums, and boy were they embarrassing. Giving in, she left for a brief moment and returned with the album.
“Fine,” Twilight agreed unwillingly, “no laughing and no telling ANYONE about this. Pinkie promise!”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” the Elements all said in unison, performing the whole ritual.
“That looked fun,” Izzy whispered to Zipp.
“It was interesting,” Zipp said slowly.
“I thought it was adorable,” Pipp threw in her two cents.
“Let's get started, shall we?” Twilight opened the album to the first page. The first page was rather tame, being home to pictures of Twilight as a foal. In one picture she was wrapped in a bundle of blankets. Another depicted her during bath time, splishing and splashing the water. The last picture on the page was her yawning while being cradled by Shining Armor. Twilight’s cheeks flushed a bit as everypony looked at the picture
“Twilight you were absolutely adorable darling,” Rarity commented.
“I especially like the bath time one,” Rainbow snickered.
“Well ain’t Shining Armor just the dandiest,” Applejack smiled.
“So cute!” Was all Pipp could say, her cheeks sore from smiling so much.
“Look at her little horn!” Izzy pointed out.
“Yes yes I know I was an adorable foal,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I heard it all the time from my parents.”
“Turn the page!” Pinkie hopped in excitement. “I can’t wait to see you as a child!” Following Pinkie’s suggestion, Twilight turned the page. That’s when she remembered why she didn’t want to show them the album.
Right in the center of one of the pages was another bath picture. That’s when it hit her. Every single page had a bath picture, from when she was a baby to the present. Every visit to her parents, they somehow snapped a picture of her taking a bubble bath, regardless of her consent or not. She really needed to talk to her parents about this.
“Uhhh m-maybe we could stop here! I-It sure is getting late,” Twilight stuttered out embarrassingly.
“Nuh-uh! This is just getting better and better,” Rainbow stumbled out, holding in her laughter. Besides the bathing picture, there were pictures of her covered in cake, being noogied by Shining Armor, and of her holding what seemed to be a test. She had a look of fear on her face for some odd reason.
“Dear, why are you covered in cake here?” Rarity raised an eyebrow at the purple mare.
“Well I may or may not have exploded my birthday cake in excitement,” Twilight said quietly.
“That’s golden,” Rainbow was rolling on the floor, laughing.
“Hey!” Twilight smacked her pegasus friend, “I was still having magical surges, can you blame me?”
“Don’t worry bout’ her Twi,” Applejack smiled. “I think it's just plain adorable, regardless of what happened.”
“Uh huh!” Pipp and Izzy nodded their heads.
“You and your brother seem close,” Hitch noticed.
“Oh we are,” Twilight nodded to Hitch. “He’s my BBBFF!”
“Your what now?” Hitch looked baffled
“My big brother best friend forever, duh,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Why does no one know what that means?”
“Yeah, like anyone would know what that means,” Zipp laughed.
“And why do you look so scared here?” Fluttershy pointed at the test picture..
“Oh that brings back memories,” Twilight sighed. “I thought I was going to have to repeat magical kindergarten because I got an A- on that test. Most horrifying moment in my life.”
“How about when you faced off with Nightmare Night? Or Discord? Or Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tierk?” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow.
Twilight pondered it for a second, then shook her head. “Nope, still not as scary as that test grade.”
“Wow…” Hitch sat there in disbelief.
“Anyways…” Twilight awkwardly smiled. “How about we stop here?”
“Nope!” Everypony said in unison as Rainbow flipped the page. The next page was some more childhood years.
There was, of course, her bath picture once again. Everypony seemed to just glaze over it and looked at the other four pictures on the page. A picture of Twilight pointing at her cutie mark with a large grin, a picture in front of Celestia’s school, a picture of a sleeping Twilight curled around a baby Spike, a picture of Twilight playing with Cadence in a park, and a picture of her in glasses.
“This page is a little more tame than the others,” Rainbow frowned.
“I think it's very endearing,” Fluttershy smiled as she examined the pictures.
“I love your silly grin here,” Sunny giggled, pointing at the cutie mark picture.
“That’s when I got my cutie mark,” Twilight smiled, placing her hoof on the picture. “It was a very special day for all of us.” Twilight looked at her friends, all of them nodding and smiling. “That’s a story for another time though.”
“Awwww,” Izzy and Pipp complained.
“Sorry but it would take too long to explain everything,” Twilight let out a small laugh.
“Yeah there’s no way I could explain how awesome I am that fast,” Rainbow smirked.
“Is that baby Spike?!” Fluttershy said in a louder voice than usual, attracting everyone’s attention. “Baby dragons are sooooo cute. I really wanted to bring all of them home when we helped Ember hatch the eggs.”
“This page sure brings back memories,” Twilight started remisciening. “This was the day after he hatched. Raising Spike was hard, especially since I was just a foal, but it was worth it,” Twilight sighed, a content look on her face. “He was so adorable.”
“I just want to pinch his cute, little cheeks,” Fluttershy cooed.
“Who’s this pink alicorn here?” Sunny asked.
“That’s Cadence! She used to babysit me,” Twilight replied.
“Cadence, as in the ruler of the Crystal Empire? Who is married to your big brother? She was your babysitter?” A surprised Hitch listed off.
“Exactly! I couldn’t believe it either when I first learned they were getting married,” Twilight smiled. “She’s the best!”
“Huh, what an odd coincidence that must’ve been,” Zipp smirked, earning a nod from Twilight.
“I didn’t know you wore glasses dear,” Rarity pointed at the last picture. “You look adorable!”
“I don’t wear them anymore,” Twilight shuddered, “not after the ‘incident’.”
“What happened Twi?”Applejack cocked an eyebrow.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Twilight mumbled.
“Oookay,” Rainbow said.
“Let's move onto the next page I guess,” Hitch shrugged.
The next page was her pubescent years, aka the awkward years. The classic bath picture, once again, which was a little odd to see this time around. There were three more pictures. There was a picture of Twilight next to her brother who was in his guard uniform, a picture of her dressed up, standing awkwardly next to an orange pegasus, and a picture of her eating cake with Princess Celestia.
“Your brother’s quite handsome,” Pipp said casually.
“Sorry Pipp but you know he’s married, right?” Twilight giggled.
“I know I know,” Pipp winked. “Doesn’t mean you can’t compliment him.” Zipp rolled her eyes at her sister.
“I do agree with Pipp,” Rarity nodded.
“Can we just move on from this one,” Twilight groaned.
“Just teasing dear,” Rarity smirked.
“Who’s this pegasus next to you? And why are you all dressed up?” Sunny tilted her head.
“I have to hear the story behind this one,” Rainbow laughed.
“Just when I thought I tucked this memory away,” Twilight sighed, mentally preparing herself.
“At the School of Magic, Celestia hosted this dance every year for the students. I usually didn’t go but after Cadence, Shining, and my parents nagged me for days I hesitantly went. Back then I thought you needed a date to go to something like this, so I decided to find one.”
“But isn’t this a school for unicorns? Why is your date a pegasus?” Rarity asked, especially interested in this story.
“Well your date didn’t have to be from the school, they just needed to fill out a form if they weren’t,” Twilight explained.
“So where’d you meet…” Rainbow’s voice trailed off, not knowing what to call the orange pegasus.
“It’s Flash Sentry,” Twilight finished her sentence. “You girls have met him before. He works for my brother.”
“I knew he looked familiar,” Rainbow rubbed her chin.
“Didn’t you meet him when you went through the magical mirror?” Pinkie chirped.
“Indeed I did,” Twilight nodded, “It was kind of odd but I knew they were two separate people.”
“How was he here?” Applejack inquired. “I’m assumin’ he was a gentlecolt?”
“Indeed he was,” Twilight giggled. “If he wasn’t I dont think Shiny would’ve even let him near me. You know how big brothers are.”
“Why do you look so awkward then?” Hitch pointed at the Twilight in the picture.
“I didn’t know how to deal with colts and I didn’t have many friends either, so it was kind of new to me,” Twilight recalled. “Don’t get me wrong though, it was a fun night, albeit a little tiring. Flash followed my pace which I am grateful for.”
“You two didn’t start dating, did you?” Fluttershy asked.
“O-Of course not! It was only for the dance, plus I wasn’t really thinking of that at the time…” Twilight stammered out, her face flushing.
“Of course you weren’t dear,” Rarity winked, “all you thought of back then was books and knowledge.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Applejack nodded.
“I guess you’re right,” Twilight slowly said. “That pretty much sums up that picture.”
“Is that Celestia?” Sunny pointed at the alabaster alicorn, causing Twilight to nod. “Does she usually eat that much cake?”
The picture in question was Twilight and Celestia eating cake together, but Celestia was eating cake straight from the source while Twilight enjoyed a smaller slice.
“That’s her usual amount,” Twilight gave a funny smile. “Now that I think about it, the amount of cake she eats is abysmal. Next time I see her I’ll have to ask how she never gained weight.”
“Probably the same reason you don’t gain much weight either,” Pinkie assumed.
“I feel like I’ve been looking a little pudgy lately though,” Twilight frowned, pinching her stomach.
“You look fine to me,” Hitch eyed the alicorn unknowingly.
Twilight covered herself with her hooves and wings. “What are you looking at?!”
“Are you flirting with another princess now?” Zipp said.
“No!” Hitch replied hastily. “Wait, who was the first princess?”
“It was obviously Pipp, silly!” Izzy pointed to the pegasus in question. Pipp just sat there with a sly smirk.
“What did I do to deserve this teasing…” Hitch sighed, giving up on trying to defend himself.
“Nothing at all,” Sunny giggled, the other girls laughing as well.
“Can we just move onto the last page?” Hitch pleaded.
“Fine, fine,” Twilight tried to suppress her smile, flipping the page. The last page had a lot more pictures than the last. Totaling to eight smaller photos, the left side was before she became an alicorn while the right side was after. The photos were shot to be almost exactly the same except some small details. Those being Twilight's wings and her overall size, and Cadence being next to Shining Armor with Flurry Heart. They were just normal family pictures.
“Wow, this page is boring,” Rainbow coughed, earning her a punch on the shoulder from Applejack.
“What a wonderful family you have,” Sunny smiled. “I’m assuming this is Cadence and Shining’s child?” She asked, pointing at Flurry Heart
“You are correct!” Twilight beamed. “Isn’t my niece just adorable!”
“Is she an alicorn?” Hitch examined closely.
“She’s the first natural born alicorn,” Twilight proudly stated.
“Maybe you could have an alicorn baby too,” Rainbow snickered. “That is if you can get with someone first.”
“Rainbow! Not necessary,” Twilight glared at the rainbow pegasus.
“Hey, just poking fun,” Rainbow shrugged innocently, causing Twilight to roll her eyes.
“Hey wait a minute… Where’s the bath picture on this page?” Hitch asked, causing Twilight to flush and hide her face.
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” Zipp snickered, high-hoofing Rainbow.
“I was just pointing out a trend!” Hitch retaliated.
“Sure you were bud,” Zipp said.
“I’ll never hear the end of this, will I?” Hitch frowned. The girls all shook their heads, laughing and joking the rest of the night away. As everything died down, the ponies all returned to their respective resting places. By the time they finished it was already midnight! Today was productive and fun, but there was still much to be talked about.
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may i suggest the chapter focus on their family members?
11020583
If you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean? Like one of the chapters focusing on the family members of each pony and like meeting them? Or just the pony explaining their family and such.
11020586
the first option if that's ok.
if not, go with the second option
11020597
i also hope i didn't offend you 🥴
Hitch abuse is lovely :D
Awww, adorable Twilight!
11020597
I can for sure do the first one. Maybe I’ll make them all separate parts and split them into something called “Meeting The Family Part #”
11020605
Don’t worry, it takes a lot to offended me
11020795
I like poking fun at him, it’s fun!
11020862
I always loves stories about foal Twilight so why not do it here? Twilight is my favorite pony!
11020920
Heh, you write her well
11020927
Thank you!!!
11021068
No problem!
11020586
but Sunny is different, so maybe she wont have to live that fate