Twenty-seven months since the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited,” Twilight grinned, only half-heartedly stifling her laughter. “Especially over something this mundane.”
“Mundane?” Luna howled incredulously. “It has been nearly thirteen hundred years since I have been to the ocean. This is hardly ‘mundane’! At least not to me.” She stuck her head out of the window of the carriage the two rode in, staring ahead and bouncing with anticipation.
“Oh, settle down, you’re acting like a foal!” Twilight scolded, pulling Luna back into the carriage by a yank on her wings. “Besides we’re almost...” she began, only to trail off as the carriage came to a halt. “Correction: we’re here.”
Luna gave her an excited grin and lept from the carriage, galloping up and over the nearest dune. Twilight shook her head and laughed before slipping out of the carriage herself, making sure to thank the guards pulling it on her way. She followed a path around the dune and was greeted by a pristine shoreline and the sight of Luna trotting over to a an umbrella providing shade to a pair of ponies laying on a large blanket.
Approaching the blanket herself she called out a greeting to her friends. “Hi, Rarity! Fluttershy!”
“Twilight! I’m glad you two finally showed up,” Rarity squealed, gently setting her book and stylish sun hat aside. “This place is amazing, I can’t believe that I’ve never heard of it!”
“It is protected to ensure it remains clean and unspoiled. Trespassing here is an offense against the crown,” Luna replied proudly. “Buuuut seeing as Twilight and I are the crown, we are allowed to bend the rules, so long as we clean up after ourselves.”
She glanced down to the water where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were all wrestling in the waves. “I am just happy to see that everypony is having fun.”
“Oh, yes, without a doubt,” Rarity giggled, before sinking into a frown. “Where’s Spike? I figured that he’d be coming with you.”
“He stayed behind with Cadance, Mom and Dad. He’s supposed to send me a letter if something happens that I need to be there for,” Twilight explained, sitting down on the blanket next to her.
“Well, that was sweet of him.”
“Sort of. He actually hates the beach; the sand gets under his scales and it’s almost impossible to get back out. He’s usually itchy for days afterwards,” Twilight snickered.
“Ah. Yes I can understand that. It’s too bad though,” Rarity giggled sympathetically. “This may be about the only place in the world where I am comfortable being covered in earth. Well, aside from the spa, of course.”
“Of course,” Twilight chuckled. She turned to Fluttershy’s napping form and gently poked her with a hoof. “You seem to be enjoying yourself too.”
Fluttershy let out a content sigh and rolled onto her side, snuggling deeper into the blanket. “Mmmm... nice...”
“Now she has the right idea,” Luna stated as if asserting a well-known fact. She sauntered a few steps away from the umbrella, spread out a blanket of her own, and flopped down in the sunlight, stretching languidly.
“Thirteen centuries since you’ve been to a beach, and you’re not even going to go in the water?” Twilight asked teasingly.
“I have found sunning oneself in the warm ocean air to be one of the most relaxing things I have ever done, and thus it is and always has been my favorite part of coming to the ocean,” Luna said with a curt nod.
“That’s a rather odd thing for the Princess of the Night to say,” Rarity sniggered.
“Perhaps, but if anypony were to criticize me for it, all I would say to them is to try it for themselves, and only then may they tell me I’m wrong,” Luna retorted haughtily before laughing at herself. “Of course if they did, they would most certainly be lying.”
“I can’t argue against that. As for you, Twilight, Fancy Pants has told me that things have been a bit rough for you up at the castle,” Rarity stated, a smug smirk crossing her face at the thought of tantalizing gossip.
“Yeah, Luna can tell you all about that,” Twilight snorted, causing Rarity to turn back to the older Princess.
“I have been reworking which one of us performs which duty required of us. I have been assigning Twilight to duties that she is not yet proficient in, while taking those she has an understanding of for myself,” Luna said with an affirmative nod. “It is important that Twilight be able to perform all royal duties, instead of just the ones she’s good at, so I have been removing her from her comfort zone, so to speak. She’s been attending almost entirely to military matters lately, being tutored by some of the world’s best military minds and sitting in on all military events. Meanwhile I’ve taken over civic, diplomatic, and budgetary matters, except for the pet projects Twilight has started.
“I wish I could cancel court for her since that tends to be the biggest time sink, but everypony likes her too much; it would not be fair to the common ponies who would be unable to see her otherwise.”
“Hmm. That makes sense,” Rarity muttered.
“It makes sense, but it doesn’t make things any easier,” Twilight grumbled.
“Don’t fret, Twilight. I will not let you make any serious mistakes, and should something occur that requires military action, I will step in for you,” Luna replied encouragingly.
“I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job, Luna, but wouldn’t it be better to let Minister Ironside handle that?” Rarity asked concernedly.
“I happen to be an effective unit leader and an exceptional duelist,” Luna retorted defensively. “I have simply not had a reason to show such skills off lately, and for that I am thankful.”
“So you’re a dancing dueling diplomat?” Rarity asked, snorting with laughter.
Luna stared at her quizzically for a moment. “Yes... Yes I suppose I am,” she giggled softly. “There was a time when the nobility judged somepony based on their aptitude in those three skills rather than any more relevant abilities. Of course nowadays they judge other ponies based on their wealth and ancestry. I can’t say that’s an improvement. But enough of this; I came here for enjoyment, not to speak of politics! Where is the cooling chest?”
“Uhhh, you mean the ‘cooler’?” Twilight asked bewilderedly.
“Yes! I want a drink and if I know Rainbow Dash, she would never come to a place like this without bringing some,” Luna stated, standing up and emphasizing her point with a stomp of her hoof.
“You do know Rainbow Dash,” Rarity smirked. She pointed to a spot several yards away. “It’s right there. She and Pinkie Pie half-buried it in the sand for some reason.”
Luna gave Rarity an appreciative grunt and took a step towards it before stopping and turning back to her. “Would you like anything while I’m there? How about yourself, Twilight?”
“Yeah, but I think I’ll come with you. I don’t really know what I want,” Twilight mused, standing up and starting to walk towards the cooler. She only made it three steps before a voice from the water stopped her.
“Wait, Twilight! I gotta ask you something.” Twilight turned and saw Pinkie bouncing towards her.
She turned to Luna and smiled. “I’ll catch up.” She trotted down to meet Pinkie and greeted her with a hug. “Oh, you’re soaked... Anyway, what’s up?”
“Nothing!” Pinkie grinned. “I just didn’t want you to get too close.”
“Too close to—”
An ear-shattering blast shook the ground and Twilight wheeled around towards it source to see Luna standing motionless by the cooler, covered horn to hoof in pink glitter.
“That.”
“Pinkie!”
“Oop! Gotta go!” At that, Pinkie took off towards the water with Luna barreling after her with the fury of a freight train.
Twilight shook her head and continued on to the cooler. She inspected its contents, which were somehow glitter-free, extracted a bottle of water and returned to the blanket, nestling down next to Rarity.
“How Fluttershy slept through that racket, I’ll never know,” Rarity muttered.
“I didn’t. I’m just too comfortable to move,” the pegasus murmured.
“I don’t blame you,” Twilight said with a content sigh before turning to Rarity. “So, anything particularly interesting happen around Ponyville lately?”
“Yes. Well, no. Just something I’ve noticed recently,” Rarity whispered, motioning for Twilight to come closer. “Look at Rainbow Dash for a moment.”
“Okay...”
“Notice anything about her? Anything different? Anything odd?” Rarity asked, pointing towards her.
“Not really,” Twilight muttered, slightly confused.
“How she’s a little wider around the middle than she used to be? Like she’s gained some weight?” Rarity asked, her voice rising a bit. “It’s very, very slight. Most ponies would never notice it. Heck, the only reason I do is because I’ve memorized all of our measurements.”
“Ooohhh... I think I see what you mean,” Twilight muttered, squinting at the pegasus for a better look. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at though, ponies gain and lose weight all the time.”
“Yes, but Rainbow Dash is a professional athlete, and a highly active mare. Keeping that in mind. Why do you think she’d be putting on any weight?” Rarity squealed excitedly.
“I don’t know; you tell m—” Twilight stopped speaking as the meaning of Rarity’s words hit her. “You don’t think? No!”
“She’s a married mare, Twilight. Even if she and Macintosh weren’t trying, it’s quite possible,” Rarity replied with a mischievous grin.
“Do you think she knows?”
“I doubt it. To be honest, there’s many reasons to think I’m wrong,” Rarity breathed. “But I have a hunch that I’m not. A strong hunch.”
“What do you have a ‘Rarity Sense’ or some—” She ceased speaking again as a trail of smoke descended from the sky.
Everypony stopped. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash; even Pinkie and Luna halted their playful attempts to drown each other to stare at the smoke as it began to form into a scroll in front of Twilight.
But she was gone before it hit the ground.
Twilight appeared in the central square of the Crystal City and launched herself into the air, flying higher and higher. Gazing around, she spotted the City’s medical clinic and charged her magic again, teleporting to the building’s doors and barging in.
A crystal pony in the lobby galloped up to her, speaking quickly. “Second floor, right at the top of the stairs, third door on the left!”
“Thank you!” Twilight gasped, immediately making for the nearest staircase. With a hard flap of her wings, she threw herself up to the top, landing on the wall and pushing off so that she rocketed through the door and into the hallway. She galloped down to the third door and stopped, gently pushing it open.
She stepped into the room and her eyes were immediately drawn to the hospital bed, where Princess Cadance lay. She glanced from the alicorn, to her parents, to her brother, and then to Spike. “Am-am I too late?”
“By about five minutes,” Spike muttered. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I told you that the scroll would take a while to get to you once I sent it.”
“I know, Spike. It’s okay,” She breathed, her legs mindlessly carrying her forward. Her pulse quickened and her breathing became shallow as she found herself unable to take her eyes off of the small bundle of cloth in her brother’s hooves.
He turned to her, an expression of pure disbelief, pure joy in his eyes. “Twiley... It- it’s a colt.”
“A c-colt? It’s a colt?” she stammered, her entire body shuddering. “Oh my gosh...” She stopped next to him and glanced into the blanket. “He looks like dad... Does he have wings?”
“No, just a horn. He has his mother’s eyes though,” Shining Armor whispered.
“He opened his eyes? Already?” Twilight gasped.
“Yes he did,” Cadance said with an exhausted sigh. “We named him Dusk Shine; after his Aunt.”
“You named him Dusk Shine...” Twilight murmured, her mind overloaded with a whirlwind of emotions.
Cadance giggled at her softly. “So, would you like to hold him?”
Twilight glanced at her excitedly and nodded vigorously, sitting down on her haunches and holding her front hooves out. Shining smiled at her and gently shifted the foal’s weight into her chest.
Twilight tried to speak; tried to say something, anything to express how she felt, but she couldn’t. Her entire being was just too preoccupied, staring happily at the newest member of her family.
D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
I'd forgotten that and were an item in here. Ah well! Twilight, yer an aunt!
Luna on the beach, awesome!
Does she get darker when she tans or lighter?
Ah, new life, always so precious!
Dusk Shine, really?
awww how cute. just a couple things i'm rusty on okay so I know that RD got married to big Mac, and twilight is with Luna who are the other mane 6 married too?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!
Auntie Twi!
Nicely done!
4207866
I forgot that too! I need to re-read this whole thing, it's delicious end to end.
4207871
Seriously. Dusk Shine? Almost too meta, but adorable enough to let it pass. At this point I want more Cry for Eternity so bad, it could've been a filly named Nyx and I wouldn't have minded.
So, the scene at the beach with the glitter-trapped cooler is the one you were talking about, right? I mean, that's what makes sense. Couldn't possibly be anything else.
Love seeing this story updated!
How many heart can one person have?
4207866
Can you just picture a sized baby coming out of sized hips though?
4207972 Well, I wouldn't mind Nyx being the daugher of Luna and Twilight in the future. And if someone asks how: Magic! Two all powerful alicorns should manage that.
4208063
"Dash, they're talkin' bout you. Why're you laughing?"
"Oh... shit."
Poor, poor girl. I do wonder if she does know - morning sickness can't be /that/ easy to miss.
4207871
Probably lighter: UV causes bleaching, tanning only occurs because skin reacts by producing more pigment.
Yep, this is a d'awww chapter
Oh, there are some missing quote marks and a line saying who said what at the part where Luna is discussing military matters.
4207871
4207972
Tough crowd... Well if using the name Dusk Shine is the biggest complaint with the chapter so far, then I'm not too concerned.
4207982
The whole thing; starting at the beach and ending up with Twilight meeting her nephew.
4208063
4208387
Technically that's all gramattically correct.
Hmmm. Interesting choice of name there......
I think the name Dusk Shine works here since its named after Twilight. And this chapter came with a free coupon for a ten pound bag of D'aaw
Love it !!!b
4208449 Similarly, "gramattically" is not a grammatical error.
4208449
My biggest complaint...
The hell is this? A grammatical error, you should be ashamed. Keep writing or this will be my final memory of you.
Unicorn colt...
Dusk Shine...
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg
We, Twilight, hair trigger much? I guess that's a good reason, though.
4208126 Not everyone gets morning sickness, and there's no guarantee a pony would.
Pleasant as what Fluttershy is doing may be, she's going to be a mess of sunburn at the end of the day.
Do yourself a favor and never, ever fall to the temptation to fall asleep during a sunny day on the beach.
4209692
Second degree burns from 2 hours in the shade, in the pool, with water resistant sunblock.
Fiji was mean to me.
4209974 you must have really fair skin. i usually only get sunburns that bad from riding my motorcycle all day under the hot Iowa sun.
Daaawwwwww! This chapter was adorable! Nice work asylum, as usual.
I also, look forward to the next chapter.
~ Super-Brony12
4210137
Well, it was near the equator, and I do live in Seattle. Probably hurt that I had been out in the sun the two days prior. That said, I am very pale.
An excellent chapter. I did notice one area with an grammatical error though:
Looks like you accidently double-tapped the spacebar. Specifically, between "have" and "ever".
1st of seven concept scenes? Oh boy, this story is going to be looooooong. Not that I mind, as long as it gets finished.
Anyways, cute chapter. Dusk Shine is kind of a uncreative name, plus it is weird due to what it means to the fandom, but whatatever. I would have named it "Dusk" with a different second name to keep the significance in relation to Twilight but not have it be word like "Dusk Shine."
4207877
Applejack has a coltfriend named Rockhammer, Pinkie isn't seeing anyone as far as we know, and I'm not sure about Rarity or Fluttershy
This was rather weak. I mean, really, a Beach episode?
4210980 yup, your skin wasn't used to the sun.
i have the same problem this time of year; my arms burn so easily after being under jackets and long sleeve shirts.
4211356
Did you even read the chapter? Is it suddenly bad because it has a beach on it? Because we just got informed of 2 important plot developments, and I don't see why it should matter the scenery.
4209692
Pony bodies are covered in fur, so it should not be an issue. On the other hand, they also blush, so who knows?
Freaking ponies man.
4211852
Alright, I'll be more concise.
This chapter was weak. For the most part the dialogue and actions felt pretty jilted and at times skirted OOC behavior. The two major plot developments just plain didn't fit. Rainbow's pregnancy reveal felt like a forced scene, and the birth at the end came out of nowhere and seemed like it was glued on and glittered to cover up the seam.
The setting was entirely unnecessary and I feel that it was wasted on these two reveal, especially considering neither reveal fit this "episode type." This episode should have have been about sea ponies or pirates or squid or whatnot, but we get....foals? There was a total disconnet for me when you started talking about Rainbow that way, and then you had to leave it entirely for Cadance.
It was just...two separate things entirely were going on, and both were radically incomplete. Not your best chapter, Asylum.
4207871
Shh, let him have his references. Where would the internet be without them, after all?
I mean besides a better place.
4212695
Rarity gossiping, a forced scene? and there have been 9 months since the last chapter and this one, thus making the birthing scene come "out of nowhere" because there have been no episodes on that space of time. Not that it should surprise anyone too much when a married couple has a baby.
And, really, one of your complains about the episode is that it isnt full of "beach episode" cliches? How can that even be a complain? Personally, reusing ideas I have seen everywhere else over and over just doesnt cut it. I want the things I read to be different from what I have already seen on other works, not a copy&paste whit diferent names.
4213239
How "likely" a scene is is not just defined by how likely a scene would be in reality. It is a combination of those two, plus setting, characters, prior events, and the big one, narrative causality. All of these were used, but were used as if they were written for different chapters. An episode about maternity, one about Luna enjoying a lost thrill, one about ponies relaxing on a beach. Two of these could have melded, but the first is quite the oddball.
In the cases I pointed out before, it's not so much a problem that they happened, it's that they happened without regard to other plot events. The the setting was almost entirely ignored for this chapter, and eventually defied entirely when Twilight teleports to the Empire. The discussion of foals was all well and good, but why was it happening at a beach, of all places?
You'd expect an episode in a hospital to be about hospital stuff. You'd expect an episode in haunted house to be about haunted house stuff. Here we have an episode at a beach being primarily about...maternity?
As for "beach episode," the chapter does try a few of the tropes on for size, but abandons them before it can get a fit. This is good and bad. It's good because beach episodes are bleh. Personal opinion, sue me. It's bad because of the aforementioned reasons. The setting is a tool, and one not to be handled lightly. I came in expecting an episode written well, but happened to be a topic I dislike, but I ended up with a badly written episode that incompletely covered several things in which I am interested.
Man, you really got me for a second there.
4213343
I don't use tropes. Writing a story by revolving the plots around established "accepted" themes for the sake of acceptance is a rather amateurish thing to do.
4209264 4211169
Fixed
4217147
You use tropes, you just don't use TVTropes. As for such a thing being "amateurish"...I entirely agree. People who specifically revolve stories around stuff they read on TVTropes need to be banned from writing anything. (Unless of course it turns out freaking awesome, but I've only seen, like, one author TOTAL accomplish that, out of over twenty.) It's like basing a research paper on Wikipedia or using stock memes and pop culture references for jokes.
4217811
Okay, I don't use tropes intentionally
Daww.
I made a little squeeing sound!
BABIES!!!
When is Twilight getting her own!?
I think this is suppoed to be
charged up to her
And we have the newest member of the Sparkle family. I rather wish it were a filly rather than a colt, but I guess that's fine. But, you need to tone the sugar overload down; I nearly had a heart attack.
I guess you could call his birth...Dusks Dawn
4213343 This is a slice of life story, and life doesn't have the courtesy of splitting things up into convenient episodes. Sometimes things just happen all at once.