Chapter 5 - Karma
- Chapter 5 -
"Karma"
or
"Lady Luck is a Crafty Mare"
<><><><><>
Diamond Tiara was stumped. A problem had presented itself, and for once, she had neither the knowledge or resources normally so readily available to her (or her father, for that matter) to figure out the answer. For the past few days, somepony had been on her mind. Now, normally this wouldn't be so problematic, were it not for whom her mind had been focusing on; the colt that had so thoroughly wrecked her social standing, or as some might say, whatever illusions she had about one. Yes, for the past few days, all thoughts were focused singularly on Pipsqueak.
All Diamond Dazzle Tiara could think of was that hick prince and how she could possibly get back at him... but how? He was royalty; he was practically untouchable for most ponies. Of course, her ego had kicked in at some point during the thought process, and rather than cease this self-destructive train of thought like any sane pony, she reasoned that she was most certainly not "most ponies", and would definitely find a way to get back at Pipsqueak, get back her friend, and if those Cutie Mark Lame-Os got involved, well... it would be their own darn fault for getting caught in the crossfire.
Yet the more she thought about her revenge on Pipsqueak, the more she thought about Pipsqueak himself. Why did he feel the need to poke holes into her plans? What was wrong with wanting to play nice with a Prince, huh? What was wrong with a popular pony socializing with other popular ponies? She WAS popular... right? She was rich, or at least from a rich family; and ponies liked rich ponies, after all. They would do whatever they asked, and why would somepony do what somepony else like her asked if they didn't like them? It made no sense, none at all!
Yet, try as she might, she couldn't reach a conclusion, not because she was just that dense; no, truth be told, she could actually be a very bright filly at times, but she could not reach a conclusion, because during her ruminating, she failed to notice that she had been walking right into a rather gaudily decorated purple chariot. At first, she had been confused, then she had been livid. Who would DARE park a chariot in HER way?! She was outraged, then she was surprised, and then fearful, for she had then decided to gaze upon the passenger of the aforementioned chariot, one Princess Luna. However, before she could speak, the filly backpedaled and very nearly tore the school gates off of their hinges as she ran from the Princess, a half-remembered bad dream involving a certain Mare in the Moon and her cutie mark being chomped off by her surging to the forefront. If one was to listen to the frightened filly as she galloped into the school faster than Filli-Second on a sugar rush, one might have heard her exclaim something along the lines of "Don't eat me, I'm high in cholesterol".
Luna was not having a good day. As cathartic as it had been to scare the little pink snake that had been giving Pipsqueak trouble, it was no way for a Princess of Equestria, let alone a mother, to act. She was supposed to be above such pettiness, and yet she'd sunk down to the level of the same petulant child she'd frightened. She was disgusted with herself, and although her sister was far more composed, Luna had no doubt in her mind that Celestia was disappointed with her, if the general silence at breakfast was of any indication. Apparently Pip had picked up on the tension, and though Pip had been worried for her, and said as much during the chariot ride to Ponyville, she had assured him that she was quite fine, and although it had placated the young colt, it did nothing to reassure Luna herself.
Nonetheless, there was really only one course of action she could take at this point; she had to make amends. But how? It wouldn't be as simple as apologizing to the brat or her father, doing so would effectively be admitting that she was the cause of the filly's nightmare, and would likely destroy what credibility and respect as a ruler of Equestria she'd managed to regain following her banishment over one thousand years ago. Still... her sister Celestia was always one to give other ponies the benefit of the doubt, and surprisingly enough, it's worked out for her quite well. Mostly. Either way, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Apologize, and hope the worst case scenario doesn't come to pass; sounds simple enough on paper, at least. Yet her inner pessimist seemed to know just what to say to keep her from going through with such an act.
Even then, she had gotten her chance to apologize when Diamond Tiara herself had bumped into her chariot... but all that occurred was what felt the longest, most uncomfortable silence as the two maintained eye contact for what felt like an eternity. She was about to speak when she was met with an eardrum-shattering shriek just before the shell-shocked filly had bolted in the direction of the schoolhouse... and right through the gate to the schoolhouse. Goodness, she'd be feeling that once the adrenaline wore out. Of course, Luna was too distracted with herself to really feel any sorrow for the filly; she was much too preoccupied with her own issue. She had the perfect chance to finally apologize, and it fell right between her hooves, like so many grains of sand... but why?
Simply put, she was afraid, as much as she loathed to admit it. She was afraid to own up to a mistake she had made, no matter how she tried to justify her own actions in her own mind. She was afraid of the social repercussions that her actions would bring about. She was afraid of what Pip would think of her, and what would happen to the poor colt if her foalish actions ever came under public scrutiny. She had messed up BIG TIME, and there was no way in Tartarus that she could blame her utterly monumental lapse in judgment on outside forces. She considered turning to Celestia for guidance, but considering Celestia's ever-enigmatic nature and hooves-off approach to practically everything she did, she suspected that she would tell her to figure it out on her own... which would be a decision that would eventually blow up in both of their faces. Really, it was bad enough that Princess Amore had been like that, and such an approach had resulted in the rise of the tyrannical King Sombra! Still... her sister, despite her vast intellect and incredible wisdom, continued to perpetuate such a cycle! It was a conundrum of the utmost complexity to a mare of action such as herself, and possibly Twilight Sparkle, or even Mi Amore Cadenza. Then it hit her; if she could not rely upon the assistance of Celestia, perhaps her own Faithful Student would suffice...
"C'mon, Twilight, you're probably just overthinking things." said Spike as he reassuringly patted Twilight's shoulder. "So Shining Armor and Cadance are coming here. Aside from a little bit of sprucing up around the place, what is there to really worry about?"
Twilight, whose poor mane was showing the signs of stress-induced frizzing looked at Spike as though she was about ready to cry. She picked up the young drake with both of her hooves, her eyes crazed and her ears twitching madly; she hadn't been this stressed since she thought she was confined to a weekly friendship report schedule a few years back.
"That's just the thing, Spike, there is something to worry about!" she said, her hooves trembling, along with the hapless young dragon in her grip. "Shiny hardly ever writes me himself; Cadance is always the one sending me letters for anything social! It could be big! Bigger than Sombra, or even Tirek!"
"I g-g-g-get y-y-our poi-i-int Twili-i-i-i-ght, but--" Spike grunted as he freed himself from the neurotic mess of a mare's grip, dusting himself off before he continued. "But really, his letter could be nothing to worry about at all!"
Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation at Spike's optimism; it was fine and dandy for the most part, but if her experiences taught her anything, she just couldn't not worry about it; there was always something that could go wrong.
"If that's the case, then what do you make of the letter itself, huh?" she asked, practically shoving the piece of parchment in his face.
Sputtering, Spike pulled his forehead away from Twilight's hoof, pulling off the letter that had inexplicably stuck itself to his forehead, squinting as he read through his adoptive brother's hoofwriting.
Dear Twilight
I'm writing this letter to inform you of confidential matters that both Cadance and I wish to discuss with you. Both Cadance and myself ask that you do not tell Princess Celestia or Princess Luna of the contents of this letter unless otherwise notified by Cadance or myself. We have already shared the information with Mom and Dad, but Cadance implored the both of them to keep things quiet until we can meet with you and Spike in Ponyville. Now, I know that you must be incredibly curious and no doubt want to get the bottom of things, but I have to ask you to be patient; both Mom and Dad swore not to tell via a Pinkie Promise, and we all know how binding such a promise is. By the time you and Spike receive this letter, both Cadance and I will have boarded the Crystal Express to Ponyville. As always, remember to take care of yourself, LSBFF.
Your BBBFF,
Shining Armor
Spike paused and re-read the letter before looking to an expectant Twilight; knowing her, she probably thought he would at least validate her concerns, but he wouldn't be much of an assistant if he smiled, nodded and agreed with every one of her occasionally ludicrous thought processes.
"While I can certainly see where you're coming from, Twilight... I doubt we're going to end up with another disaster on our hooves, like with that Changeling Queen, Chrysalis." he said finally. Unfortunately for the adolescent drake, his words had the opposite of the intended effect.
"Ohmygosh Spike, Chrysalis! I never even considered her! What if the Changelings discovered the Crystal Empire?! They'd be after the love energy the Crystal Heart provides like... like... ants at a picnic!" babbled Twilight, pacing around the council chamber of her castle, her frown deepening, her mane continuing to frizz up. Spike could only look on, groaning in exasperation at her antics.
"Twilight, calm down! Everything's fine; it's not like somepony will suddenly come crashing into the castle looking for y--"
Spike had unfortunately been cut off by the sound of somepony rather unceremoniously crashing into their castle, followed by a rather familiar mare's voice.
"Twilight Sparkle! I am in dire need of your assistance!" came the unmistakable voice of one Princess Luna from down one of the castle's many halls.
Spike could only grumble and grouse under his breath as Twilight shot him that irrepressibly smug expression of hers that she would wear whenever she'd been proven right in an argument. Knowing there was no stopping this ball now that it was rolling, the young purple dragon trailed behind Twilight, shuffling the whole way.
Pipsqueak couldn't help but squirm in his seat. He'd felt nervous plenty of times whenever he'd get asked to answer a problem in front of the whole class, but this was a whole new kind of nervous. He wasn't quite sure if it was a delayed reaction of some kind to his newfound princeliness, but his classmates, save for a small hoof-full of fillies, seemed to hang on every word he'd say, and found that he was the target for EVERYPONY when Miss Cheerilee announced that they would be pairing off with somepony. The looks directed his way when she'd said that were nothing short of unsettling... and then Miss Cheerilee had announced that she would, for the sake of fairness, be drawing names out of a hat, much to his relief, and the consternation of most of the class.
As Miss Cheerilee called out names and paired ponies up, Pip was left to his own thoughts.
'Cor blimey, now I know how Miz Twiligh' musta felt when me an' the other colts and fillies wanted in on th' Crusaders' Twiligh' Time... I feel loike a breezie in a den o' timberwolves 'r sumthin'...'
Pipsqueak was soon snapped out of his reverie when he'd heard Miss Cheerilee call his name. How long had he'd been spacing out for?
"--squeak and... oh my." said Cheerilee, pausing as her ears flattened against her head. "Pipsqueak, it... looks like you and Diamond Tiara will be paired up for today's project."
As Cheerilee flashed the most reassuring smile she could at the pair of them, both Diamond Tiara and Pipsqueak had been shocked into silence. The two of them looked at Cheerilee, then to one another, and back to Cheerilee once again. By the time Pip had found his voice again, Diamond Tiara looked like she was just about to faint from the shock, while Pipsqueak himself could only speak as loudly as a whisper, sounding as though all the moisture had left his mouth and throat as he struggled to rasp out a word; any word to sufficiently describe the utter shock he was feeling.
"... Wot?"
... Okay, that would have to do.
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....Celestia damn it Twilight. If you weren't such a Neurotic Mess you could likely figure out Cadence is PREGNANT you spazz.
Could it be? After all this time?!
IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!
It lives.
Holy shit necromancy
It's alive!!! And Cadence is maybe pregnant.
i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/010/334/U-WOT-M8.jpg
it liiiives!! more?
5923884
My feelings exactly, but alas we'll have to wait and see.
Also, Pip's reaction? Perfect.
I agree, Cadance is most likely with foal... but why would they keep that from Tia and Luna?
Looks like someone gave the fic a senzu bean...
5923989 That, or they're considering having foals of there own.
Wonderful! I love how you also fit this into season 4+ canon, by the way.
Also, Shiny really should know better than to send his sister a vague letter like that. Down that path lies transfiguration into a cactus.
I SHIP DIAMOND TIARA AND PIPSQUEAK!
If this story takes place post "Keep Calm and Flutter On" - I can't remember if it does or not - then Discord danced in that hat, I just know it.
Hmm...now there's an interesting idea. Discord as Celestia's agent of Chance, using seemingly random occurrences to guide events so that things that wouldn't normally happen but are for the good of all do.
Either way, please tell me I'm misinterpreting and Diamond Tiara hasn't fallen for Pip!
5924562
That could be one reason.
The other is that she is unsure what to think, after all she could very well be seeing Pip as a means to improve her own social standing at the moment. So what if Pip is a Prince now?
She is going to become friends with him, and maybe educate him on what high society really does. But I could be wrong. But yes, their is the possibility of something not related to a crush, but social rising?
eek!
Good to know this story isn't dead. And such an intriguing chapter, too...
5924918 Ditto, on both points. I'm especially curious to see what happens between Pip and Diamond.
5924027 SENZU BEAN!
5925698 Never gets old.
I know this had a year between the last update. But a few things:
Discord's still technically a statue, thus Keep Calm Flutter on didn't happen. Thus no Magic Mystery Cure, Thus no Twilight Time, Thus Twilight wouldn't know about Tirek. And she would of had that tacky crystal castle, rather than being a faithful student in her library house.. This chapter is at least one and a half seasons ahead of the previous ones.
Still a good fic, but thematically, and temporaly out of order In this chapter.
ok first good to see this alive
second I want to know what happens next
Welcome back from your year of death. Also this story just got 20% cooler.
I say Cadence is pregnant and doesnt want anyone outside family know for a while... :D
5926047 Hm. Fair point. I could easily edit things so that it's much more season 3 + 4 compliant. I'm not entirely sure I'd want to put Discord into an antagonistic role, no matter how minor. Maybe as a minor annoyance, but still.
5927488
Discord really wasn't that antagonistic in S4. When it came around (ignoring the Plunderseeds, and Tirek) to it, more often than not he was there to troll ponies to test friendship / hanging out in Fluttershy's house (in every opening song in S4 -5 (well S5 so far). So a "Keep Calm Flutter On" episode later on, if you wanted it would easily be doable. Then just have that episode happen in the background (where he's antagonistic), and show him when he gets reformed.
Or since this is your story, have him be much more open to the "friendship is magic" thing / learned his lesson since last time. Skipping that episode altogether. Up to you at that point. Or even just have it all happen in the background. Give a throw away line here and there. (Like Celestia saying something like, "I think the current bearers will be the ones to reform Discord. I'm sending him to Ponyville this morning." (Few filler lines.) A chapter or three later ... that episode is over.)
At least those are some of my ideas where Discord's involved. Honestly I think he can be rather fun. But it all depends on one big question.
When does this fic start? Season wise. Early - mid S2 (not to long after Luna met Pip) then you have a ways before Dissy pops up in the show. Early - mid S3, close, but not to close (you have as much pre-Discord = supporting cast wiggle room as you want.). All that'd be off in the chapter would be the mentioning of Twilight Time, and Tirek (S4 events).
meh chapter. lets see it pick up next time.
5924562 and 5924658
My though(s) is that she has TWO reasons. On one wing, Pip is a prince, and thus has a large influence on others. On the other, she is terrified of his mother and perhaps doing something to piss her off. She is in such a state of shock because she does not know what to think or how to act, because while this SHOULD be a good thing for her, the back of her mind is picking away at all lf the BAD things that could happen to her due to the project.
Just my speculation, though. Wrotten from tablet, so I did not write as much as I normally would. Hope I was clear enough.
One thing that pisses me off about twilight she freaks out for no reason
Happy to see that this is alive again.
Probably the most amusing part of this whole chapter was actually how all of us readers immediately assumed Cadance is pregnant (myself included).
So to break the trend, I'll propose the theory that maybe Shining and Cadance are rather coming to discuss Luna's own new bundle of joy, and whatever misgivings they might have about that (as we know that has caused a stir of mixed emotions already). It would be more pertinent to the story's main plotline than an announcement that Cadance is with foal, which, as interesting as that would be, feels like it'd only derail the plot with an unrelated secondary plotline and make it all feel disjointed...but then again, I also don't know what our writer has planned for the future exactly, so it's possible he's got something in mind that'll make it all tie together that I haven't thought of.
Guess we'll see. Hopefully before another year has passed, but we'll see about that too.
cadence is totally preggers
also the irony in this chapter is awesome
I could only think of this.
No surprise to whom Luna would go to for advice. Who to ask about a social problem than the Princess of Friendship... who, ironically, is worse at social interaction than most of the ponies she's helping.
5927686 oh, that gives me an IDEA...
What if that became Discord's general job? He got bored, so Celestia and Luna have him teach the bearers various lessons via minor trials... and discord being discord, he breaks out the classics.
Count of Monte'Cristo anyone?
A tale of revenge, yes... but also carrying the the lesson that love (and/or friendship) is more powerful than such.
Alternatively, it can be a lesson in judging somone's character, and who to be close friends with and who not to. If Edmund had known Mondego well enough to even have a thought that the noble might throw him under a bus to save his own skin and/or profit out of the act... Well, you get the picture.
Sorry if this is a bit off in left field, but I had to get it out. Must be that SFM I found...
...
There, now that I got that out of my system, I can't wait to see how this little shenanigan derails. It's an interesting subplot you're throwing in with the recentlyweds and their private plans...
Next chapter plz
i love the story seeing them as mother and son so cute
Diamond and Pip, sittin in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G
This story has Inspired me to dip my horn into the luna-pip-adoption fic pool, but with a twist of doing something no-pony seems to have done before, Luna already having a kid, that kid being myself (obviously). It's currently awaiting approval but when it gets approved you should check it out, its called (or will be called) Pip's big brother
7266586
All aboard the Blueblood hate train. I love this train
This is just the most adorable story ever! I hope you plan to continue one day as I would love to read more!
8968032
shame this one is dead :<
Why couldn't you have at least given the story an ending...
9010166
Even though this is two years late, his most recent blog described his plans for this story and why he couldn't continue right now.