Errands.
For copyright/disclaimer information, see Chapter One.
Version 1.0
Published 10/19/12
Chapter Three: Errands.
Twilight trotted down the main thoroughfare of Ponyville with a bright smile on her face and a checklist and quill within her telekinesis.
“Everything's going to be fine. With this spell, you can resume your life like nothing happened and try to sort things out in the privacy of your own tree home.”
Twilight waved at several passing ponies who returned the greeting. They ignored her ramblings. It was just Twilight being Twilight after all. As long as she didn't forcibly mind control them or kill them as part of some gambit to use their blood to fuel a Dark Magic ritual to overthrow Celestia and Luna, they were content to let her do as she pleased. They were also desensitized due to the many catastrophes that had befallen their beloved town.
“The first step toward returning to normalcy is getting this checklist done.”
She glanced around for a moment before finding a nearby bench to sit on.
“Perfect.”
With that, Twilight sat down and began looking over her checklist.
“Let's see: Wake up, check. Get out of bed, check. Go to the bathroom, check.”
Twilight frowned and glanced down the list.
“Thirty-two!” she glanced around to see if anypony had heard her, “Thirty-two checkmarks just to go from waking up to leaving my room! I don't have time for this anymor—” Twilight gasped, “No! Checklists are a vital part of normalcy! Without them, where would I be?”
'A lot more sane, less obsessive, you wouldn't get that little eyelid twitch when you get stressed.'
Twilight's frown intensified.
“Maybe I don't need a checklist.”
'Besides, you've got bigger things to worry about. Like how you're going to bring abo—no! Just stop that line of thinking right now. You can't go all crazy right here,' Twilight looked around at the many citizens of Ponyville mulling about, 'especially with all these ponies around. Save it for when you're alone with Spike.'
Twilight quickly looked over the no-longer-necessary checklist to see what she needed to do.
“Go grocery shopping, buy some new quills, and pick up my new telescope from Open Cluster. This shouldn't be too hard.”
'Why do you say things like that? Now it'll be painfully difficult.'
**********
Surprisingly, as if trying to make amends for all the hassle it put her through, fate allowed things to go off rather well. Twilight had arrived at the local store without any fuss or stress and, after getting all things she needed, began making her way toward the checkout when she heard two ponies gossiping in the nearby magazine section. Normally, she wouldn't pay any attention, but what they were saying caught her ears.
“Did you see her wings?”
“I know! I can't, like, believe it! It's, like, the most shocking thing that I've ever, like, seen.”
A horrible feeling began to fill Twilight.
'No, no, no, Twilight. Ignore them. Your Wing-be-gone spell is still working. They're just talking about somepony else.'
“To think that somepony that close to the Princess would have a secret like that. It's a scandal that'll rock Canterlot!”
Twilight looked in the direction of the two gossiping mares. One was a yellow pegasus while the other was a blue unicorn.
'Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.'
She couldn't help but notice they were looking in her direction.
“Can you, like, believe that she thought she'd, like, be able to, like, hide it?”
Twilight began to sweat.
'T-They're not t-talking about you. T-This spell's foal proof. Not even the Royal Guard could break it.'
“I know. You would think she would realize that we—” the unicorn gestured to her horn, “can see through that kind of passive magic like a fish sees through water.”
In full panic mode, Twilight jumped down the bread aisle in order to hear their conversation better and be less obvious that she was eavesdropping.
'Spike was right! You should have tested it first! The perception filter must have been set too low. Or maybe you forgot to clear the parenthesis properly and the three should have been a negative three. Or maybe some strange alicorn magic is interfering with it.'
“It's, like, only a matter of time before she's, like, outed before everypony.”
Twilight's mane was becoming increasingly disheveled.
'S-S-Stay cal-calm. Don't p-panic Y-Y-You j-just need to k-keep y-y-y-your mind clear. Everything will be alright. You'll see.'
“The Princess is going to be so disappointed in her. She might even reassign her to Los Pegasus or Fillydephia.”
Twilight began to stroke her tail gently, trying to maintain some level of composure.
**********
Bon Bon and Lyra were enjoying a nice afternoon grocery shopping. Bon Bon had their grocery bags draped over her back. Lyra meanwhile, held their grocery list with her telekinesis.
“What's next, Lyra?”
“I dunno. Lemme see.” Lyra looked over the list, “We need bread.”
“Alright, that would be aisle three.”
As the two turned the corner and began to head down the bread aisle, Bon Bon stopped.
“Uh-oh.”
Lyra glanced up from the list.
“Wha—oh.”
She too noticed the purple unicorn gently stroking her tail at the end of the aisle.
“Maybe we can just get our bread and igno—”
“No, Bon Bon! Remember what she did last time she was in a state like this? What she did to your voice?!”
Bon Bon shuddered at the memory.
“You're right. We can get our bread later. Let's get out of here.”
With that, the two bid a hasty retreat.
**********
“I mean, c'mon! Hiding gray wings under a blue illusion spell, what was she thinking?”
Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion.
'What.'
“Like, please. A blue illusion spell? How, like, desperate is the Princess's secretary, like, anyway?”
Twilight stopped stroking her tail and quickly straightened her mane.
'Like I said, everything will be alright. Now, purge this whole experience from your mind and never think about it again.'
She grabbed her groceries and made her way through checkout.
'At least Quills and Sofas won't be as stressful.'
**********
Twilight and Mr. Davenport, the Quills and Sofas owner, were having a calm, friendly conversation at the checkout counter of the store.
“What do you mean the price went up eight bits?!”
“Please calm down, Miss Sparkle.”
“This is the calmest I've been all day!”
'If only that were an exaggeration.'
“I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle, but with the Crystal Empire's sudden appearance, demand for quills has skyrocketed.”
'After everything I did for them, the Crystal Ponies betray me in the most hurtful way possible.'
“Come on, Mr. Davenport! I'm your most loyal customer.”
“My most loyal quill costumer. You've never bought a sofa.”
“I don't need a sofa. I need quills.”
Mr. Davenport sighed.
“I can give you a fifteen percent discount, but that's it.”
“Fine!”
“And there's a limit of ten quills per customer.”
“What!”
**********
Twilight was exhausted. Her back laden with groceries and ten quills, she made her way to the home of Open Cluster, a local telescope maker.
'Open's always been a calm pony, if a bit mopey. At least there shouldn't be any trouble. Just go in, get the telescope, and get out.'
Twilight arrived and rang the doorbell.
“Just one moment.”
A few seconds later, a red and black unicorn mare answered the door, packing tape held in her telekinesis.
“Oh, Miss Sparkle. I take it you here for your telescope.”
“Yup.”
“Well come in and I'll get it. Sorry about the mess.”
Twilight walked in. She noticed boxes and other packaging materials strewn around the house.
“What's going on? I knew you had a successful business but...”
Open Cluster gave a morose look.
“I'm moving, Miss Sparkle.”
“What?!”
'Can something just be easy for once?'
“Ponyville's just not for me, I guess.”
“But, but, but...”
“We can still keep in touch. You are my best customer, after all.”
'I'm your only customer—well only in person customer anyway.'
“You just can't move! You're one of the best telescope makers in the area. I can't go back to those shoddy mass produced telescopes!”
'She's like a salt dealer but with telescopes!'
“I'll still make telescopes—I mean, it is my special talent, after all—you'll just have to pay a little more for shipping.”
Open Cluster retrieved Twilight's telescope.
“I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle, but I've made up my mind. I'll send you some contact information when I get settled into my new home.”
Twilight sighed before hugging Open Cluster.
“Thanks for the telescopes.”
“You're welcome.”
If only Twilight knew how much that hug meant to Open Cluster.
**********
Twilight drearily made her way to her library home.
Before stepping inside, she opened her mailbox and retrieved the mail. She began sorting through it.
“Bill; junk; junk; hey, Arcane Magic Quarterly's arrived; coupon book; junk; bill. What's this?”
Twilight stared at important looking yellow envelope.
Spike emerged from the kitchen wearing a pink apron, and holding a spatula.
“Hey Twilight, you're back! Dinner's almost ready.”
Like Twilight, Spike's attention was drawn to the envelope held within her telekinesis.
“What's with the envelope?”
“I don't know, Spike, but it looks important.”
Twilight looked at the return address.
'1200 Unity Boulevard? That's,' a feeling of dread rapidly fell upon her, 'That's the Equestrian Capitol Building!'
Maybe it was her twitching ear or the few strands of mane that were now out of place, but Spike could tell something wasn't right.
“Twilight, whatever it is, you just have to keep a level head about it.”
Twilight viciously tore the envelope open and removed the letter inside.
“I-It's probably n-nothing, Spike. J-Just the census or something.”
'Yeah, the once-a-decade census that happened last year.'
She read the letter.
'Why me.'
Spike dropped the spatula and rushed over to her as she fell to the floor unconscious, a burst of purple fire reverting her back to her alicorn state as she did. After making sure she wasn't injured, he looked at the letter.
Dear Miss Sparkle,
You have been subpoenaed to appear before Parliament’s Oversight and Reform Committee to testify as part of the Committee's ongoing Investigation Into the Changeling Invasion and Its Aftermath. You will be expected to answer questions raised by Committee members relating to the following: the events that transpired on the 21st of April; your knowledge of the Changelings; Their Majesties, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna; Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor; and the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
Please arrive at the Capitol no later than 1:00 PM Canterlot Time on Tuesday, August 5th in order for you to be properly sworn in. We apologize in advance for any inconveniences this may cause. Failure to testify may result in charges of Contempt of Parliament being levied against you.
Sincerely,
Powdered Wig,
Clerk of Parliament and Chief Executive.
Spike glanced back and forth between the unconscious alicorn and the letter before he sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Looks like that implosion's gonna happen sooner than I thought.”
End of Chapter Three.
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Author's Notes: What's this? Could it be something to build up to? Like a climax? You all will be happy to know that I've got a rough idea of how things are going to work out (thank you boring college classes).
Currently, the story has a projected length of 15,000-20,000 words with eleven chapters.This is only an estimate and may change for better or worse.Never mind, going for 50,000 and sixteen chapters.Poor Open Cluster. I'm gonna have to give her a happy ending one of these days.
Probably the most common criticisms have been people being confused by Twilight's thoughts. I decided to attempt to address those by placing her thoughts in
apostrophessingle quotation marks. Hopefully that will clear up any confusion.This FIRST gets the obligatory review. maybe only of the chapter, but i don't let them go to waste.
What?
Anyway, on to more serious business...
This chapter felt a good deal more professional, especially the way you handled her... slipping. A well-written insane-perspective is always fun, and this is not disappointing in the least.
Also, I hope to the sorrel hells you do something more with Open Cluster
If this is just a cameo, then in my opinion you need to delete it. All you really needed was the reference, and no scene. It just felt like a kick in the face.... If, on the other hoof, you are actually going somewhere with Open in this story, then I might feel inclined to not hunt you down with a rusty spoon
You... I... Are you an insider of DHX? Because you can't know what Twilight has done for the Crystalponies just yet... Are you a spy!?
still reading
Well, this can't end horribly!
“Your welcome."
>Your
Hm... Skimming over the season 3 crystal poni plot, or referring to saving Cadence...
Poor Twilight. ... She needs a hug. ...and tea. Lots of tea. And English Muffins!
I'm really enjoying this. I don't care how long this is so long as it maintains this quality.
By the way: that's not how you spell subpoena.
Tsk. A blue perception spell to hide gray wings . . . unless, of course, she wasn't the topic of discussion.
1467211 I really hope she wasn't because if she was, that was entirely pointlessly cruel of the author to do that. Even nevermind the plot hole that if unicorns could see through the spell, so should she.
But honestly, I think it was probably Cadance trying to hide some sort of wing discoloration.
Poor Twily. She has got to know that no one will let her appear before congress with Any kind of illusion spell on her. If nothing else they would be terrified she is a changeling.
Who else will be there? Celestia, Luna, Shining, her parental units ... EVERYONE!
Bed time. Any additional grammar/spelling errors won't be fixed until late tomorrow afternoon.
Will that thing about hugging Open Cluster be relevant later on? Otherwise it's kind of disorienting how it's pointed out like that. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_unsuresweetie_flip.png
15000-20000? I WANT MORE THAN THAT!
This may be a parody, but it's quite good.
oh dear i for see a shit-storm on the horizon.
Oh dear.
More please.
Please, do continue.
1467303 It's a refference to another story of his,stereotypical
1467240
As Twilight pointed out, she might have had the filter tuned too low. Unicorns being users of more manipulative magics (earth ponies being more attuned to the land, and pegasi to the winds), you could easily see a unicorn with, say, a university education in magic being able to see through a low-power glamour.
1467159 Don't tell people that! Then all people will think about is the story length!
I wonder how fast it will take for word to spread about Twilight starting to go crazy... again.
1467209
"DEATH TO THE FALSE MUFFINS!"
This is brilliant stuff, as always. Keep it up, and accept some yays!
It just hit me: why would anypony be bothered by her having wings? Rarity had wings in front of everypony, not to mention they were also flutterpony wings. Twilight has normal wings. And she also made it clear she knows a spell that gives ponies wings. So... what's the big deal?
1467900
That's kinda true... she's not the element of Honesty, if anyone questioned she can say she was experimenting with spellcraft and liked the results. >.>
1467900
That's exactly why people would overreact - Rarity had Flutterpony wings, which were obviously fake and had been added on, making her just Rarity with Flutterpony wings.
Twilight, on the other hand, is now an Alicorn. Unicorn horn, Pegasus wings.
Imagine seeing a guy with a rainbow-colored afro wig. You'd be like, "Whoa, that's a neat wig." That's the reaction to Flutterpony-winged Rarity. Now imagine you're walking down the street and see a guy with a legitimate afro. You think, "Wow. That man is awesome - he has a legit afro!" That's the reaction to Twilight Sparkle as an alicorn.
Lets see... Twilight using a spell she modified from the changlings... going to canterlot to talk about the changlelings.... I HAVE A BAD felling about this... well not bad more like a twilights gonnna get disspelled feeling.
THAT INCREDIBLE, AMAZING VOICE
Fortunately, the implosion is going to happen within easy teleporting distance of the Royal Library.
Twilight, if it all goes to Tartarus, go to the library and remember that Book are our Friends. Remember that book about the Royal Knights you used to love before you came to Ponyville? The one in the far far FAR back corner of the library where not even Celestia could find you?
Twilight had better drag OC kicking and screaming back to Ponyville and give her all the hugs. Ever. Of all time.
Especialy since she'll know how OC feels.
“I mean, c'mon! Hiding gray wings under a blue illusion spell, what was she thinking?”
I read that in a valley girl voice and started laughing.
lol,more please?
Poor Twilight. Either test positive for changeling magic or overthrow the government through your very existence.
Incidentally, how much time from the current point in the story to the fifth?
1467799
"Neigh, the pretenders may live, so long as they know their place."
1468625
"BUTTER FOR THE BUTTER GOD! WRAPPERS FOR THE WRAPPER CUSHION!"
inb4 the swearing in includes an illusion-dispeller.
I am loving this story SO HARD right now! I... Really don't have anything constructive to say so...
next chapter an implosion will occur I call it
cant wait for the next
Really amusing stuff so far.
Love the OTT Twilight Worrywart. 
1468520
I do believe the 'valley girl' voice was intended due to the speech patterns they bore. "like, totally." *snicker*
1467799 :C ALL HAIL THE NEW ENGLISH-MUFFIN REPUBLIC~!
Just a normal day for Twilight.
How much that hug had meant to Open Cluster...was it because of the beautiful friendshipping?
Or because she could feel the wings on Twilights back when they hugged?
Or both!?
This is gonna end like Celestia Hates Tea, isn't it?
Looks really interesting.
1467900
explanation, engage!
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1463_1320763870412897.png
the big deal is that, as others have pointed out, Rarity still wasn't an alicorn. she just had some fake, artificial wings.
Twilacorn, on the other hand, is now among a very small elite, royal, and extremely powerful race of demi-gods who (based upon what we've seen) always occupy seats of extreme power and influence over the land. Twilight is justifiably worried about the political and social ramifications of the sudden appearance of another one of these beings, as it's not exactly a common thing. also, she's worried about what it means for her future, that she might have to drop everything and everyone in her life and go be a Princess (and of course, Alicorns are apparently quite long lived. somewhere in the back of Twilight's mind, she might be worrying that she'll outlive her friends. i know that'd be my first thought in this situation).
Twilight is entirely right to freak the fuck out. it's simply that she's freaking out in the wrong way. instead of hiding her wings and essentially waiting for them to be discovered at the worst possible time, she should have contacted Princess Celestia immediately and got it all worked out before things spiral out of control.
of course if she did that, we wouldn't have a hilarious story about Twilacorn freaking the fuck out, so i'm quite glad that she is panic-prone.
I'm getting a serious McCarthy vibe from the changeling hearings. Anybody else?
MOAR!
That ending.....
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/300/252/d88.jpg
awaits next chapter.