Mentors and Mysteries and the Malice of Dreaming
Twilight stared at herself in her locker’s mirror and straightened her tie. She flattened her fringe with one hand in an attempt to tame the flyaways, but they simply sprang back up as soon as she let go. Darn it.
The hallway was deserted—a stark contrast to what Twilight had to navigate during the day. Since clubs didn’t start until the club fair next week, there wasn’t any reason for students to stay past the final bell. And while she’d hoped to say goodbye to Sunset before the end of the day, by the time Twilight had managed to make it back to her locker from the English classroom Sunset was already gone. Dragged off by Pinkie, probably, she reassured herself.
Satisfied with her clothes and conceding defeat on her hair, Twilight gathered her belongings into her backpack and closed up her locker. She then started walking down the hall on a route she knew like the back of her hand.
Head down the hall to the front foyer. Take a left into the staff wing, and a right into the main office. Wave at Mrs Mayor. Head straight into the waiting room—make sure to close the door behind you—and hang up your coat and bag on the coat hooks.
Since she didn’t have a coat, Twilight only had her backpack to hang up. The waiting room for the principal’s office was small, with only two chairs against the wall and some space to hang belongings. It had two doors facing each other on opposite walls—the one that led to the main office that Twilight had entered from, and the other that led to the principal’s office.
The principal’s door had no windows or decorations, just a nameplate that read ‘Principal Celestia, MEd, MBA’. It wasn’t any different than other doors around the school, but for some reason Twilight always thought it felt clinical and cold.
Standing in front of that door, Twilight took a deep breath and finished reciting her steps.
Finally, knock twice on Celestia’s door and wait.
She knocked, and waited.
Then the door opened to reveal Celestia, looking completely professional and put-together as she always did. She appeared the same as she had that morning, except without the stress from Sunset wrinkling her brow and a small smile on her face. “Hello Twilight,” she said warmly.
“Hi,” Twilight said, trying not to squeak. The tension from the day seemed to lift off of her shoulders almost instantly. She could see Celestia’s office through the doorway, the same as ever—a plush red rug in front of her stately antique desk, a set of bookshelves along the right wall filled with books in tidy rows, some filing cabinets on the left side with decorative knick-knacks sitting on top of them, and Twilight’s favourite part: two honest-to-goodness suits of armour, one beside each curtain framing the massive window on the back wall.
“How was your first day back at school?” Celestia moved to the side to allow Twilight to enter, and motioned to the second chair beside her desk. “Oh, and feel free to help yourself to one of those if you like.” She pointed to a plate on her desk holding an arrangement of baked goods.
Cherry-chocolate cupcakes, Twilight realized. She opened her mouth to relay Pinkie’s apology, only for Celestia to cut her off.
“Miss Pie stopped by just a few moments ago to drop them off before she skipped out on detention. She mentioned that she’d asked you to apologize on her behalf, but decided to save you the trouble instead.” She winked, and added, “And I do appreciate a good bribe, you know. Especially when it comes to sweets.”
Twilight sighed, relieved. “Oh, thank goodness. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to her, um, just deciding to skip.” She sat down on the chair—her chair, she thought, with a tiny flicker of pride—and scooted up close enough to the desk that she could lean her elbows on it.
“Everyone skips detention at some point, Twilight,” Celestia said, still smiling. She sat down beside Twilight on her desk chair and picked up one of the cupcakes.
“Not me,” Twilight declared. “I’ve never even gotten detention.” She paused, then processed what Celestia had said. “Wait. Even you?”
“Even me,” Celestia confirmed. She peeled the wrapper off of the cupcake and took a small bite. A few crumbs scattered down on her desk as she did. “Whoops.”
Giggling, Twilight picked up her own cupcake and started to recount her day. Celestia was a good listener, nodding along and interjecting comments at appropriate points. She smiled when Twilight mentioned passing notes with Sunset, raised an eyebrow at the ‘cool math games’, and praised Twilight for helping Rainbow and Applejack with their assignments.
And then Twilight got to lunch.
“...So, since Sunset invited me, we sat together. Shining packed me a sandwich, of course,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I tried to tell him I could just buy a hot lunch, but he insisted he pack my lunch for the first day.”
“That sounds like your brother,” Celestia said. She’d finished her cupcake and had turned her full attention to Twilight, leaning back comfortably in her chair.
“Yeah. I waited for Sunset to get her lunch, and then we sat at the table in the corner I normally eat at. And then...” She trailed off. “Um. This is where things get a little weird.”
The smile faded from Celestia’s face. “Weird?”
“Well, I asked Sunset why she got expelled—I kind of figured that out from when she back-talked you during first period—and she started telling me about this book. This, um.” Twilight swallowed hard and said weakly, “This magic book.”
At the word ‘magic’ Celestia’s entire demeanour changed. One moment she was familiar and casual and the mentor that Twilight loved, but the next moment the walls went up and she became impossible to read at all. Her smile was gone, and her body language shifted into something almost threatening.
“What?” Celestia asked darkly. “Magic?”
“It’s not real, obviously,” Twilight tried to clarify. Was it just her, or had the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees? “But she was so insistent! She even went so far to set up this, um, this trick, where when I wrote in the book it somehow made these words appear, and I really don’t know how she managed to do that but—”
Twilight’s ramblings were cut short by Celestia abruptly pushing herself to her feet.
“You wrote in it? What did you write?” She towered over Twilight as she spoke, pinning her to the chair with her icy-cold glare.
“I-I just introduced myself—”
“And what did the trick say?”
“It just said it was nice to meet me. Or um,” Twilight tried to remember the exact wording and corrected, “it said ‘nice to finally meet me’. Which is strange, right?”
Celestia's eyes widened, and she nodded almost imperceptibly, dipping her head only a few millimetres. “Very strange. It’s a very strange trick that Sunset Shimmer set up.” Her face twisted. “Cruel, almost,” she added, though for some reason Twilight felt it wasn’t aimed at her.
“I don’t think she meant to hurt me,” Twilight said quietly. “I... I panicked when that happened. And yelled at her. And then everyone started looking at me, and I had an attack, and...”
Finally, Celestia’s expression started to show some cracks. She took a deep breath and held it, then exhaled in a long, controlled breath. “Were you alright?” she asked. Her tone was gentle once again.
Twilight let out a breath of her own. “Yeah. Sunset helped me. She got me out of the cafeteria and sat with me until I calmed down.” Feeling guilty, she balled her hands into the pleats of her skirt and managed, “She’s really, really nice, Celestia. Please don’t get mad at her. I really wanted— I thought that—”
Hot tears bloomed at the corners of Twilight’s eyes. Oh no. She pulled her glasses off and blinked rapidly to try to clear them up.
“I want to be her friend,” Twilight choked out. The tears were coming now, despite her attempts to hold them back. “She’s the first person to look at me and not see something wrong.”
Wordlessly, Celestia sat back down and passed Twilight the tissue box from her desk. An uncomfortable silence enveloped them, broken only by Twilight’s sniffles and the rustle of tissue.
“I’m sorry you felt that you couldn’t tell me this,” Celestia finally said. “And I’m sorry for how I acted just now. Magic is...” She let out another steady exhale. “Well, it’s a sort of deception best reserved for performances, if that. Trickery and nonsense and delusions. Nothing good can come out of associating with someone who actually believes in it. You know this.”
Twilight blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “I know.”
“But.” At that, Celestia leaned over and pulled Twilight into a tight hug, ignoring her protests about getting snot on their clothes. “I also trust your judgement. And it makes your auntie so happy to know that you’re finally putting yourself out there and making friends.”
“I wouldn’t make it plural yet,” Twilight corrected weakly. She sniffled and wrapped her arms around Celestia to return the hug.
“Perhaps not,” Celestia admitted. “But every journey starts with a single step.”
“Even if I never take another step after that?”
“Even then.”
“And... even if that first step was because of something you hate?”
Silence took over for a brief moment, until Celestia said in a quiet voice, “Even if it’s because of that. You are your own person, Twilight.” She let go of Twilight and pulled back, placing her hands on her shoulders instead. “There’s no manual on how to be a mentor, or an aunt—I’m still learning. And I have to recognize when to give you room to make decisions on your own.”
Twilight nodded. Celestia was a little blurry, what with her lack of glasses and the tears obscuring her vision, but even then Twilight could see the pride on her face.
“How does that saying go, again?” A teasing grin joined the pride as Celestia said, “Something like, ‘take chances, make mistakes, and get messy’?”
Oh my god. Twilight couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that escaped her. “Did you just quote Ms Frizzle at me?”
“With how often you made me put that show on for you, I think it’s my right to, really.”
“I was like, eight!”
“And I’ve sat through each episode probably eighty times,” Celestia joked.
“Ugh.” Touché. Twilight gave her eyes a final wipe before returning her glasses to her face. She felt a little better, though it was always hard for her to relax after facing the other side of Celestia. “Um. So you won’t get mad if I try to make friends with Sunset?”
Celestia shook her head. “I promise that I won’t. Although,” she added, smiling in a sort of pained way, “perhaps you could keep the magic to a minimum.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
“And don’t write anything else in that book.” The ice was back, though not as blatant as before. It hid between Celestia’s words, biting at her consonants and the breaths she took between. “Promise me, Twilight.”
Twilight ducked her head in agreement, a bit of nervousness worming its way into her stomach. “I promise.”
We both made a promise in the end, Twilight realized a bit later as she went over the readings for her English class. She glanced over at Celestia, who was too focused on her paperwork to notice that Twilight had stopped reading.
But... for some reason, I don’t know if these are ones we’ll keep.
While Twilight normally stayed in Celestia’s office until six, Shining Armor texted her at a half-past five to ask if she wanted an early ride.
“He’s got a date with Cadance,” Twilight explained, gathering her things. “And since he’s leaving the barber’s now, he'll pass by the school in a few minutes. I figure it’s easier than making him go out twice, right?”
“Of course.” Celestia put her pen down and rose from her chair to see Twilight off. “Say hello to both of them for me, won’t you?”
“I will.” They exchanged one last quick hug before Twilight waved goodbye and exited the office, making sure to close the door on her way out.
That went... well. She paused, notebook and pencil case still gathered in her arms. I mean, as well as anything involving both ‘Celestia’ and ‘magic’ could have gone.
Her bag was still hanging on the hook where she’d left it. Twilight grabbed it and started to pack her things away. But as she zipped everything up and moved to sling her backpack over her shoulder, a thunderous crash echoed throughout the room that caused her to flinch and drop her bag on top of her foot.
What the hell was that?!
Then, a second thought: Did that come from Celestia’s office? She nudged open the door to the main office with shaking hands to check for anything out of the ordinary, but could only see an unfazed Mrs Mayor typing away on her computer. The noise clearly hadn’t come from there.
Okaaaay. Okay okay okay. Twilight pulled the door closed and took a few big breaths. First things first—check on Celestia.
She tiptoed across the room and raised her hand to knock on the door, only to pause. It was faint, but she could hear someone talking on the other side.
Celestia? Twilight listened to the speech pattern: Celestia would say something, then there would be silence, and she would start talking again. Oh. She’s on the phone. And I probably shouldn’t interrupt her.
Then Twilight remembered the crash she’d heard. She swallowed nervously and wrapped her hand around the doorknob. On the other hand...
Just a peek, she reasoned with herself. I’m not going to eavesdrop. It’s not spying. I’m just making sure she’s okay. Before she lost her nerve, Twilight took a deep breath and pulled the door open an inch.
As soon as she peeped in she identified the source of the crash—one of the suits of armour had toppled over and lay scattered on the ground. Celestia was still in her chair, but she’d spun it around to face out the window which meant she hadn’t noticed Twilight crack open the door.
“Stay out of this,” Celestia barked. Twilight couldn’t see her face, but she knew by the sound of it that Celestia was pissed. “This is your final warning.”
A pause. The person on the other end seemed to say something that upset Celestia, because she suddenly kicked one of the pieces of armour on the floor. It skittered across the floor and into the wall with a metallic clang.
“Upset? Of course I’m upset!” Another pause. “No, don’t you dare.”
Nervous, Twilight tried to back away from the door. This was obviously a conversation she wasn’t meant to hear. But before she could, Celestia kicked another piece of armour and spat, “You think I don’t know the meaning of my own name? Of my niece’s name? How little do you think of me?”
She means me, Twilight realized.
“Fine. Mock me all you want. But know that I will do anything within my power to keep you away from her—even if it costs me everything.”
Celestia turned her chair to the side slightly and Twilight caught sight of the scattered armour’s helmet sitting in her lap. The evening sun from the window reflected off the metal surface and onto Celestia’s desk, patches of light dancing with every subtle movement.
Then Twilight followed one of the gleaming lights to where Celestia’s cellphone sat on her desk charging, and her stomach dropped.
What?
She quickly pushed the door closed and blinked. That’s... what?
Mind racing, Twilight picked up her bag and tried to ignore the wave of nausea that’d just swept through her. Earbuds, she rationalized. She was using wireless earbuds. The phone was face down, so there’s no way for me to know if it was on or not.
Even though she knew Celestia still used wired earbuds with the clunky adapter. Even though she knew Celestia’s phone was charging because it had died not even half an hour earlier. Even though she hadn’t seen any earbuds on Celestia’s desk or on her person at any point that day.
Wireless earbuds, Twilight repeated to herself as she headed to the front of the school. It has to be that, because otherwise...
She didn’t want to entertain the thought. That scenario was supposed to have two constants: that you needed two people to hold a conversation, and that there was only one person in the room. Ergo, a phone had to be involved.
Right?
Shining’s car was idling by the front steps when Twilight exited through the school's main doors. Still a bit uneasy, she pushed what she’d witnessed to the back of her mind and headed down the stairs.
“Hey,” she greeted, getting in the passenger side.
“What’s up, Twily?” Shining waited for her to fasten her seatbelt before taking the car out of park. “First day went okay?”
Twilight glanced over to him, then did a double take. “Uh. Whoa. Better than your hair, at least.”
Shining wrinkled his brow with concern. He kept his eyes on the road as they turned out of the parking lot, but Twilight could tell he was shooting himself glances in the rearview mirror. “Is it that bad?”
“I mean...” She squinted at his hair and tried to find something nice to say. It didn’t look like he’d gotten it cut that short, thankfully, but the top of it was pushed back and flipped to the side in a style that Twilight recognized from some of the boys in her grade. She settled on, “It’s salvageable.”
He groaned. “I knew it. As soon as they pulled out the mousse I started having second thoughts.”
“It’s not as bad as the man-bun though.”
“We don’t talk about that.”
Giggling, Twilight leaned back and turned her head to look out the window. They didn’t live that far from the school, thankfully. Some 80s rock station blared faintly in the background as they drove, Shining tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the music.
Twilight enjoyed the absence of conversation. They didn’t need to fill the silence.
Their car turned into their driveway just as the street lights flickered on, the setting sun tinging the road a warm orange. The maple tree on the lawn was just starting to turn red—a sign that autumn was on its way.
“Mom’s out playing tennis and Dad’s working late,” Shining explained when they got out of the car. “And Cadance is coming over at six-ish. I’m gonna start on dinner—you got a preference?”
“Not really,” Twilight said. She thumbed her code on the keypad to unlock the door and held it open for Shining as she entered.
“Pasta it is, then.”
Twilight snorted. “You know, she’s going to eventually catch on to the fact that the only thing you can cook is pasta.” She held up a finger as Shining tried to protest and added, “Anything you make from frozen doesn’t count.”
“You could help me, you know,” he grumbled.
“But it’s your date.”
“It’s your dinner too.”
“And I know how to use the microwave,” Twilight said, kicking off her shoes and heading up the stairs to her room. She turned back around to give Shining a little wave and teased, “Have fun impressing Cadance.”
He gave her a dainty wave back. “That’s the plan!”
Twilight’s room was at the end of the hall on the second floor. She closed the door after she entered, which helped block out some of the sounds from the kitchen, but she could still hear the clanks of pots and pans through the vents. Oh well.
She dropped her bag by her desk and crossed the room to flop down on her bed. Somehow just being in her room hit like a truck—the day had been exhausting. Sighing, Twilight rolled onto her side and checked her phone. 5:44. Cadance will be here in a bit. She locked the screen and dropped it onto the carpet with a dull thud. Ugh. I just want to go to bed.
Twilight frowned at herself for even thinking that, then reached for her bedside table and grabbed a day planner with a pencil in the coil spine. Flipping onto her back, she thumbed through the pages until she hit an empty one.
Last one was... this morning. She flipped a few pages back. Hm. It’s been a week straight now. But I can’t take a melatonin this early. Not that it helps.
Muffled music started to float up through the vents. Twilight recognized it as Shining’s cooking playlist—calmer, slower songs that he called ‘lo-fi’.
Screw it, she thought. The journal dropped to the floor to join her phone. It’s just a nap. Cadance will wake me up with the doorbell anyway. And I probably won’t even fall asleep.
So Twilight closed her eyes.
Celestia was dead.
She lay face-down, battered and beaten and completely still.
Twilight just stared. She was supposed to feel something for her mentor, wasn’t she? But she felt nothing but loathing. Anger. Disgust. That woman was nothing but a thorn in her side. An obstacle stopping her from fulfilling her destined purpose.
Blood as black as tar oozed from underneath Celestia’s body, seeping around Twilight’s ankles. It pooled higher and higher until Celestia was no longer visible and all that remained was Twilight, knee deep in a metallic and bloody sea.
Then the scene shifted.
The sea was gone, replaced by an empty room of blank white walls. It was startlingly bright, so much so that Twilight almost felt the urge to shield her eyes. Instead, just like every time before, she looked down.
This time Sunset lay sprawled across the floor. She faced away from Twilight, her hair dangling over her shoulders in such a way as to expose her naked back. Twilight felt objects appear in each of her hands—an open book in her left, and a feathered pen in her right—just as Sunset’s body shook with a strangled sob.
A different emotion gripped her as she stared down at Sunset. Pity.
“It could have been me,” Twilight said, in a voice that didn’t feel like her own. “It was always supposed to be me.”
She lowered the pen to the book and wrote.
And as she did, the same words tore open the blank canvas of Sunset’s skin, carving every letter on her back deep enough to make her scream in agony—
—and then Twilight felt herself choking on vomit, and she threw herself out of bed and across the hall just fast enough to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
The music downstairs paused. “You okay, Twily?” Shining called up the stairs, a hint of worry in his voice.
Shivering, Twilight wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m fine!” she lied. “Saw, uh, a spider.”
“Raid’s under the sink,” he said, not pushing it further. The music started back up. Twilight spat out another mouthful of bile and gripped the toilet bowl hard enough to turn her knuckles white.
Fuck. That was a new one.
She tried to think back through her nightmare from the start. Celestia was expected; she was used to that. The blood sea was only a few months old, but it had definitely lost its shock value. The empty room, though, was a toss up. Sometimes Mom and Dad. Sometimes Shining. Her stomach churned. Sometimes Celestia again.
But they’d never been alive. It was always bodies and blood and silence. Never torture.
The sound of Sunset screaming echoed in her ears again, and Twilight dry-heaved. Nothing came up. Fuck fuck fuck.
“It’s the book,” she said out loud. Her voice was croaky and her mouth tasted like acid. “That’s all.” My brain’s just spooked from what happened at lunch and somehow used that in an even worse nightmare than usual. She took a deep breath and pushed herself to her feet. “It’s the book.”
The doorbell rang—Cadance had arrived. Twilight flushed the toilet and washed her hands, forcing herself to take slow, even breaths. It took just a swig of mouthwash and a minute to fill out her dream journal for Twilight to feel her terror fade and her tiredness return. Her head felt foggy, like it was filled with cotton, and her bed was just as tempting as it had been twenty minutes ago.
No. Not yet.
She closed the journal and headed downstairs instead. The nightmares would return later—they always did—but the smell of spaghetti and garlic bread was much more inviting to Twilight’s empty stomach than vivid dreams and vomit.
as always, thanks so much for reading. hope you're enjoying the story 
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Woah this chapter is awesome, Twilight having sick nightmares for awhile is super intriguing and I wonder what it means for the future. Excited for the next chapter!
11385597
im glad you liked it! thanks so much for commenting, i hope you look forward to what's coming next
Interesting. Read the initial version of this a while back and, while I remember enjoying it, I also remember the pacing being far too fast - there was barely time to get accustomed to how things were before getting shoved face-first into the ninth circle of crazy.
This seems a bit more of a slow burn, focusing on the buildup and, in my opinion, all the better for it. Hoping it continues like this for a bit - focusing on the development of characters and bonds while keeping enough mystery that the payoff has impact. Definitely going to be watching this one.
11387732
omg thanks for sticking with me so long haha, im definitely much happier with how the rewrite has turned out and i hope that you enjoy it as well!
Jeez Luna, calm the heck down she's your family too!
11393598
haha, i wonder…
thanks for commenting!
11404662
ah, the “on her person” is actually correct! it’s not the most common phrase ill admit though haha. and yeah, no spike - hard to justify a talking dog when twilight’s so anti-magic xd
thanks again for the comment!
11404715
Fancy English sounds like nonsense if you aren't use to it.
11430158
ikr. why is this language so weird!!!
11430976
As an English speaker myself I've come to the conclusion that the English language is best treated like Pinkie Pie
Magic Schoolbus was one of my favorite shows back in the day. Had a kiddie crush on Dorothy Anne and Phoebe.
Celestia clearly has a chip on her shoulder where Magic is concerned. Argument seals the deal. I've got some ideas but don't want to put them here as I hate getting comment section spoilers.
good gravy reoccurring nightmares that can be bad enough to cause indigestion...poor Twilight (not pity, just oofs)
--well, that hit me like a stack of bricks.
The mystery with Celestia's anti-magic beliefs and Twilight's reoccuring nightmares have really sucked me into this story. It seems there's always more than one thing added with each new chapter.
My goodness! Every new chapter is like uncovering a different gleaming treasure, but then also finding another map that leads you along another incredible path to even greater bounties! I'll keep this one slightly brief because I cannot wait to get to the next chapter, but don't discount my succinctness for lack of appreciation!
When I was going to school, I always had a friend whose mother was a teacher, and I imagine what Twilight does is what she would experience every day after school. Not going on the bus, or getting picked up, but staying a couple of hours after while their mother graded papers and planned lessons. It's a nice thought to think about with Twilight and Celestia having something similar! Only barely related to this, I must again reiterate how much of a portal this work is, because in my mind and in my heart, I kept feeling the same things I did when I was in school and that is absolutely amazing. Also worth praising was that the dialogue between Shining and Twilight is truly something top-notch, it reminded me of the talks me and my brother had (and the Lofi he'd listen to, very oddly enough)!
Now a big tone change happened in this chapter, and it introduced so many cool things that I've every confidence you'll follow up on and pay off: The existence of magic, Twilight's nightmares, Shining Armor's haircuts. The scene with Celestia yelling at someone unknown and impossible really caught me off guard and shifted the tone with great finesse, it also ignited my curiosity, as did the harrowing description of the reoccurring nightmare Twilight experienced. Your work continues to amaze and impress!!
Edit: I wonder how Celestia feels about Trixie, or Twilight meeting or befriending Trixie, knowing how often and obnoxiously they perform magic.
11564633
ooh, i actually didnt think about trixie for this fic! probably in this au, if things played out similar to canon it might have been interesting to explore xd but yes, id definitely say this is probably the turning point of the tone of everything. one of my prereaders enjoyed the first "act" more because of this high school-esque setting, while another preferred the drama and plot, so im curious to see how you'll think of everything that's coming up ^^
thanks again for the comment, and for reading!
…wait hold up, did you just–
…yeah, that.
11573447
i had a legal obligation to make twi a magic school bus kid haha
hoo boy she knows something doesn’t she
this is a neat and interesting mirror to pony twi imo. seems the celestia in this world is just as interested as the celestia in the other world in getting twilight to go out and touch some gd grass lol
though the added wrinkle of social anxiety certainly makes that prospect a lot more harrowing for the both of them, i’m sure
w o w
i really wanna know what celestia’s beef is with magic. it’s clearly enough that twilight knows about it. though with a mind like twilight’s i don’t expect the “trickery and deception” charade to last very long.
i’m a huge fan of this promises line, and the consonants line too. very poetic. you have a deft pen hand.
i feel called out
reported ur fic
for being a callout post
you’re very good at layering each chapter with surprises. i feel like we learn so much with each one, and yet everything i learn only leaves me with more questions. what’s celestia’s deal? why is she so afraid of magic? to the point of even making the prospect of mentioning it terrifying to twilight? who the hecc is she talking with? via her so-loathed magic, no less.
twilight’s dream journal implies a routine with nightmares. i wonder if celestia knows about it?
11590666
no matter the universe and no matter horse or human, all versions of twilight sparkle are obligated to touch some grass lmao
im glad u like the more “poetic” lines! sometimes i wonder if somethings too abstract, so it’s nice to know what lands well compared to what doesnt ^^ and yea, this chapter is abt where all the layers of plot start getting thrown on a plate like a pancake stack, i hope u enjoy! (and also enjoy that the fic seems to b the swan song callout post of the day hahaha)
11590708
all this comment does is make me imagine an Everything Everywhere All At Once AU starring Twilight lmao
Well, the dream was unexpected.
11599868
it’s a real “jumpscare” for sure haha, or at least the first major tonal shift i think
Wellokaythen. That was unexpected. Not unwelcome, but certainly unexpected.
11642435
if you’ll allow me to quote ms frizzle at you as well, “seatbelts, everyone!”
WHAT
Oh, poor Twilight :(
Oh wow.
Celestia knows what's going on, obviously, and does not like it. Some impressively dark stuff with Twilight's nightmares, too!
I'm really enjoying these first three chapters! The prose is very nice and has a good flow to it. It also really brings me into the scenes and Twilight's head. I'm captured by what's going on and find myself with questions I can't wait to see answered in later chapters. I'm glad I'm now getting back into reading stories and continuing this one. Looking forward to reading the rest!
Also I really like the chapter artwork
11843436
thank u so much! im so happy ur enjoying the story, and the art ^^
shinings hair is as bad as my mental stability rn fr
anyways
Not something I suffer from much now but aaaaaaaa why do you keep depicting my anxietism
Photo what does she knooow
...
Oh, well. The plot rapidly thickened.
11875962
id say fasten your seatbelt, but idk if that’d be of any help all things considered