10) Just Twilight
Twilight Sparkle did not feel particularly well.
It wasn't to say that she didn't appreciate a chance to prove herself. Here she was, part of the royalty, learning things she never even hoped she would, sitting right in the middle of an important meeting with Princess Celestia, stuck discussing the measures of precaution they should install, by Tartarus--- at the borders of their couches, uh kingdoms... with the representatives of flying tables... from... what?
Twilight Sparkle nearly fell asleep, and it was only by sheer luck that not even Princess Celestia noticed.
She snuck a peek at the big clock to their right, and was mortified to realize that the two hour conversation they were planning on approximately having lasted in fact only twenty minutes. So far. Did that clock hand just move backwards?
If there was ever a time she would go insane, she figured, it would be during this meeting.
Again, Twilight Sparkle reminded herself that this was a precious opportunity to learn. And it was! She just didn't expect it to come in a such a... non-exciting form. The old pegasus across the table held on to the topic of the ways and means of checking if anymore ponies are bringing in parasprites across the border, because apparently having a few as pets was a new fad. It was a problem to be sure but the young Princess couldn't wrap her head around the fact that this pony had not only found but even expressed all the ways to vocalize such an issue in a fifteen-minute monologue. Clearly, she bitterly realized, her own vocabulary, or at least the use of it, could use more practice.
When Princess Celestia's voice rang across the table, she welcomed it as much as she would any miracle. "All shall be arranged in due time. But right now, I think we'll all have a well deserved break. We've come quite far, don't you agree? Surely you haven't visited from afar without planning on a small tour around Canterlot?"
The elderly pony's mouth opened and closed in surprised silence, and he seemed to be burning with the desire to speak for a whole while lot, yet his younger companion, an Earth pony, nodded fervently in Celestia's direction before he remembered to squeak out an agreement, and gently but firmly prompted the elder away from the table. The meeting was to be continued in the evening during dinner.
The moment the Princesses separated from the two, and the door behind them closed, Celestia let out a breath that sounded as if it came from a living mountain, and her eyes fell. For a second, Twilight believed she was sick.
"I do not feel well." Celestia confirmed her belief, and the Alicorn gasped in alarm.
"Princess Celestia! Do you need to-"
"I just need some fresh air and possibly a lemonade."
One walk across the balcony and two pitchers of refreshing drinks later, Celestia was able to grace Twilight with her usual, calm and smiling self.
"Thank you, my student."
"Are you alright, Princess? I don't think I've ever seen you like this before."
Celestia opened and closed her mouth, quiet for a mere moment before replying: "It's truly nothing serious. There are simply days when one feels... a bit overwhelmed."
Twilight said nothing. She found it hard to believe Celestia could be overwhelmed by sheer boredom, yet the look on her face, and the unusual silence said exactly that. Though she suspected there might be something more at hoof, she decided it was best not to pry.
"It is nothing." Twilight heard her say, and looked up - only to find an expression just as worried as her own. "Surely you're beginning to understand to difficulties of being in a position of royalty. For all the glitz and glam it encompasses, it can be quite stressful." She paused. "Which is admittedly what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm more concerned about how my favorite student is handling all of these obligations. "
Twilight bit the inside of her cheek. To tell the pony who has for the majority of her life not only been a mentor but felt like a second mother to her, that she suffered an astounding case of not being engrossed with a topic that was one day to be her obligation, was out of the question. The young Princess decided again, it would be for the best not to add to the stress.
"It is nothing." She echoed Celestia's exact reply, without truly noticing she did, and for a moment again, all was quiet.
"Very well, then. Make sure you rest before evening."
Twilight figured that the older Princess had a very good guess as to what Twilight had on her mind, and was appreciative of her nto mentioning it. There would be an opportunity to discuss such matters some other time, and perhaps, in a lighter mood. She could tell there was more on Celestia's mind just as she was sure the Princess could notice there was more on her own.
So instead of trying to put on a needlessly brave face, she decided to return to her room and relax until evening, let her mind wander and perhaps have some good old fashioned fun. The Spirit was sure to pop up sometime soon anyway, and she figured if there was ever a time to enjoy his chaotic nature, it was right now.
Her chambers were empty on her arrival which, granted, stung a bit. Though their former conversation about a surprise party was but a banter, she had kind of hoped there would be something there to replace it. As she stood in the quiet room, with nothing but the sound of a clock-ticking and birds in the distance breaking the silence, she had realized nothing would happen, and allowed herself a saddened smile.
"Oh well. It's not like we actually discussed him waiting here for m-"
"SURPRISE!"
Confetti confettied and the next thing she knew, all Twilight Sparkle could see were balloons. Streamers wrapped like snakes around her body, confetti filled her ears so much she could hear their shuffling sounds, the bouncing of the balloons seemed to echo endlessly around the room, and the noise of something akin to royal horns filled her ears and when her vision finally cleared, all the 'surprise' junk that covered both her and the room slithered back into Discord's paw, and turned into a...
"... Newspaper?"
"I told you I'd have a surprise, didn't I?"
"Uh, thanks, I suppose." Twilight said grinning, not understanding but fully appreciating the Spirit's weird ways, her heart somewhat fluttered by the gesture... whatever the meaning behind those newspaper.
"It's a really special edition, for a really special pony." The Spirit continued, grinning... and grinning and grinning, a grin so wide Twilight started having difficulties believing it was Discord before her. It was the kind of smile the likes of Pinkie Pie had whenever she had something exceedingly exciting to tell to someone but had to wait for five more minutes before she could.
"Discord, are you... alright?"
"Read it. Readit, readit, readit." He encouraged with a bit too much vigor through the toothy grin. At this point, the young princess grew concerned. For an excellent reason as well, for as she slowly rolled open the newspaper, it revealed two concerning things.
It revealed that this print specifically had literally every and any picture of its original content replaced with some sort of image of hers - images of all kinds, some of which she couldn't place. Photos of herself she knew and recognized, but also photographs unknown or never taken with her knowledge, also pieces of art of various styles depicting her, also what seemed to be childrens' drawings, also actual, moving, breathing images.
As if not already horror-struck with this revelation, wondering what in the world happened that somepony decided to dedicate an entire issue to her, the true meaning of it all was revealed when Twilight Sparkle finally noticed the front page... and the rest of the text. All of the text. Every single typed letter that had been there before, whatever might it have said, had been replaced with a single phrase, a phrase that stared at her in giant, black, bold lettering from the front page, right above a flattering picture of her. A certain three-word phrase she had never expected to read or hear from the Spirit of Chaos, and that might as wall have been yelling back at her, ringing in her ears as if said by all the ponies and creatures in the world.
Silence. The sounds of birds and clocks were disturbed. There were noises from outside. Twilight's eyes, as if instinctively, darted over to the window and there was a rain- no, not rain. Something fell, once, in masses, all over Canterlot. The Princess rushed over to the window. The guards at the entrance curiously nudged and opened the special editions of Canterlot Daily that, Twilight assumed with a clench that grasped at her entire soul, was the same one she looked at a moment ago. The ones with nothing but her face, and those three words.
She turned to the Spirit. He seemed happy but not in the way she liked.
"Discord, what have you done?"
"They made a bad issue on you, so I made a GOOD issue on you! Perfect issue, if I do say so myself!"
Before he could say another word, as panic rose in her chest, Twilight transported herself right in the very heart of the Canterlot, and in front of the the den which spawned the catastrophe - the Canterlot Daily Building.
As she marched inside, she paid no attention to her surroundings, which in hindsight wasn't her best impulsive idea, because then she would notice ponies slowly waking up and raising from there place on the floor where they seemed to have fallen. There was no pony to be seen and for a little while, Twilight Sparkle stood there trying to think, which seemed impossible as her mind felt as if it was imploding, before finally, a trembling Earth mare peeked from behind the counter, alarmed and confused. Twilight marched up to her.
"What in Tartarus is going on?" She asked the young mare, patience all but gone a she slapped the copy of 'Twilight Daily' on the desk. The mare gaped, stuttered, and said:
"This is not ours."
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, it-it clearly is but, but--" She trailed off for a moment, "we had no part in--," she turned to another mare that had appeared around the corner and ran up to them, a tall Pegasus , "Turning, what time is it? How long--"
"Four minutes. Whoever did this, they were in and out in less than four minutes. Who knows what they did if they could do so much in so little time." The Pegasus seemed to be more aware of the trouble, and more firm in the face of it. She flapped her wings impatiently, then briskly said: "Make sure there is no further damage. See if anypony needs med attention. Check if the press is still going, contact them and stop EVERYTHING before we figure this out."
As the younger mare trotted off, Turning looked over to Twilight and, as if only then realizing the Royalty was before her, bowed her head. Unlike most other of her subjects, however, this one left little room for pleasantries, much to the Princess' relief.
"Your Highness. Please forgive us this mess. There has been an intruder."
Twilight was quiet.
"All the today's issues were not only stolen and scattered but changed, as you noticed..." She trailed off, cleared her throat. "Please stay here for your own safety, Princess. There are lots of weird folks out there, and whoever did this is clearly not only powerful but very deranged."
Yeah, I'm starting to think he might be.
"You mentioned five minutes? How do you-"
"It's how long we were out."
"'Out'? As in-"
"Unconscious. I don't know - or remember, more accurately - how it happened but we managed to get the last known time before it started."
Questions span and turned in Twilight's head, possible answers practically falling over each other in her attempt to make sense of any of this, when in charged a force of ponies, armored to the bone and armed to the teeth. The Canterlot force surrounded them.
"Your highness?" One of them called, confused.
"Present." Twilight deadpanned, any and all sign of her royal behavior gone.
"What are you doing here? You are supposed to be somewhere in a safe-"
"She was here when we woke up." A voice threw in, and a bunch of ponies that have thus far only been coming to, and listening in to the conversations, suddenly intervened.
"She was right here just... standing."
"Just looking at it all."
"She didn't do anything to help?"
Twilight's heart sank. She could feel the doubt falling over everypony in the room. Turning stepped beck, her own wings suddenly spread in alarm.
"N-No, you got it all wrong! I came here to-"
"Your highness, for your own and everypony else's safety, you need to come with us."
"... You have got to be kidding me."
"Your highness, we implore you. It is but a procedure, we assure you everything will be alright."
There was a certain sincerity in the guard pony's voice but something else as well - these ponies were now afraid. Not wanting to do anything else to give them a reason to think she might harm anypony, Twilight calmed down. "Alright. It's alright. I'm coming with you."
Of course everything would be alright, she realized as she turned to leave the building of Canterlot Daily with as much dignity as she could with all the ponies around her. After all, she started realizing, she was a Princess, not just a random weirdo, bursting into this place for nothing! Soon, this would would be over and everything would be allri-
Discord appeared with a flash, and with his coming, again fell every single pony in the room, sleeping soundly.
"Are you freakin' kidding me."
"Why, I can't let them take you away!" The Spirit merrily said. She noticed with some disdain his pupils were heart shaped.
"Discord, what in the world is going on with you?! What the Hay made you think this was in any way, shape or form a good idea?!"
"... What exactly are you referring to?" He asked with sincere innocence, nothing but affection in his heart-stricken eyes.
As she did many times before, Twilight groaned, and groaning would be all she would keep doing next to ignorant , enchanted, love-struck Spirit if in didn't come Cadance of all ponies, and produced just about guiltiest of expressions that was the last piece of the puzzle in the by now huge scheme Twilight had laid out in her head and everything suddenly sat in its place.
"... YOU! It was all you! Cadance, wh-"
"Discord, sleep." Cadance commanded.
And with a single spell, he curled up, mumbling out Twilight's name as he did, right there on the floor.
Twilight gaped. And gaped. And gaped. The room was silent, nothing but the sound of breathing and snoring all around them.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Twilight." Cadance started. "It had gone... completely out of control. I think I didn't take the fact he was very, very... very powerful into account, and more importantly, that he would put it to use." She sighed. "I'm sorry you had to find out about his feelings in such a way but if it's any consolation," she smiled weakly, "no pony I know had ever went to such length to prove their love." She sighed, adding teasingly: "At least we can take consolation in the fact he didn't let anypony know he was behind it."
"How-- why-- when--" Then the most horrifying fact settled in. "Wait, you KNEW?!"
"He accidentally made it-- wait." Cadance frowned. "You knew before I did?"
"We-" Twilight stopped. And blushed.
"... Oh." Cadance said. Her eyes, much to Twilight's horror, rounded in realization. "Oh."
"Oh, NO!" Twilight squeaked and her wings flew forward to hide her blushing face. Cadance couldn't help an incredulous smile.
"Twilight, you--"
"I never wanted anypony to find out this way! Well, admittedly, at all," she blurted out, "but it's just so weird and I'm still getting used to it myself and there are so many things I simply don't know and being a Princess is just not a plus I expected to have in life at this point Cadance," she rambled on, her blush even more evident as she started pacing back and forth, "and with so many pluses, who am I to complain about the fact that not only am I a Princess but also happily partnered with somepony for once in my life?! How can I possibly complain, when I'm literally the prime example of the happiest pony in the world!?"
When she finally ended her speech, Cadance was for once left at a loss for words... oddly enough.
"Twilight... you do realize you can tell me anything, right?"
"Not even my friends know, Cadance. My best friends." Twilight sighed. "They just-- they wouldn't understand because... well, because even I don't understand." She was quiet.
Cadance cleared her throat. "Well... I don't want to put myself on a pedestal here Twilight but... you and I, we go a bit more back, don't you think? You should know at this point that you can talk to me about anything. In addition to that, I don't know if you noticed but... I'm kind of the Princess of Love." She teased, and Twilight finally let out a small chuckle.
"... Maybe I should have taken that into account." Twilight smiled meekly.
"Looks like we both made some mistakes." Cadance smiled back, and the two shared a sisterly hug. "Also, being a Princess... was never a breeze. I think you should let Celestia know it's not a fun studying project for you. Being a Princess is a job, as incredible as that might seem."
"I've learned that one the hard way."
Cadance smiled. "We all did, little sis." She sighed. "Now, you stay here and get, uh, arrested properly with this guy - I'm sure you can come up with an excuse with him by your side, and, well, I'm not sure what I would be able to say that's not... compromising," she gave a guilty smile,"you know this secret will stay with me. And if you would accept it... I'll be waiting on a letter, or a visit from you. I feel like we have a lot to talk about considering your, uh... 'happy partnership', as you put it." She grinned.
"We-" Twilight thought back to the day, shook her head and chuckled, "yeah, we definitely do."
"Good." Cadance nuzzled her gently. "Until next time, sis."
And then she was gone.
And everypony woke up.
And Twilight sighed. With a relieved smile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The door opened, and Shining Armour came up to Twilight, grinning at her from the other side of the bars.
"Getting in trouble again?"
"You know it. April 1st is faraway, yet for me, everyday seems to be one."
"I figured she might like it if I turned her day into a Hearts and Hooves occasion! But she didn't appreciate it much being possibly stalked, looked at from afar and publicly romanced." He made a face. "And they say romance is dead."
"I wonder why." Shining shook his head before addressing Twilight again. "Well, don't worry too much about it. Celestia's advisors were able to largely clean up the mess he made, and aside from us few, no one is any wiser about who the culprit is. Cadance was particularly passionate about helping out, too. Canterlot Daily is a bit sore about it, so you can be sure they'll use this for publicity. Like they do everything."
"Well I'm trying, thank you for noticing!"
He rolled his eyes. "Off you go."
The two left Canterlot both in infamy and fame. They didn't know it yet but Twilgiht and her mysterious fan would be dragged through the news for weeks. Theories would spawn and disappear the day after, and Canterlot Daily would be earning more than enough to cover for whatever mental cost they had to endure, patiently waiting for whatever chaos might come next but eventually, there would come another things to put their focus on, and their little adventure nearly forgotten.
In the light of the day's events, Celestia let Twilight go home, leaving her Royal obligations for some other time, while Twilight left her with a promise of a letter. When the elder Princess saw Discord, she had little to say to him - it would appear she had gotten so used to this sort of thing, that she could do little but to shake his head at him, while he could only playfully shrug his shoulders, as if apologizing about the 'trick'.
The young princess and the Spirit went on their way, soaring through the evening sky, the orange sunset slowly turning into a purple night. She rested on his back, far too tired to fly herself but enjoying the flight, the sight and the company.
"So." She tried to start, only to be completely sidetracked by the instant reply:
"Ah yes! The banana mystery."
"... I'm sorry?"
"When we flew past here this morning, a banana fell on your head. Don't you remember?"
"Oh." Twilight did remember. "My, this day was odd. But hey, don't you distract me!"
"Aw, shucks. You can't blame a fellow for trying."
"You do realize you will have to tell me the whole story?"
"I'm pretty certain there is very little to actually tell."
"Really now?" Twilight sounded annoyed, "after all that we've been through today, you just won't tell me how-"
"I mean, the newspaper had a pretty big bold lettering on it."
Just as much as she couldn't see his embarrassed smile from where she sat on his back, he couldn't see her own.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- RealBarenziah · 39k words · 345 12 · 5.2k views
- AdmiralSassMcAwesome · 3.6k words · 293 15 · 11k views
- The Princess Rarity · 2.7k words · 518 14 · 10k views
- SirTreeofarbor · 15k words · 160 7 · 5.6k views
- Ckat_Myla · 99k words · 456 20 · 10k views
- LickleSoxy · 3.1k words · 221 4 · 5.7k views
- MLP Fangirl · 33k words · 264 19 · 9.8k views
- Bluegrass Brooke · 29k words · 336 17 · 7.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.237 seconds
Total duration
877 users online
640,177 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well that was an interesting way to have your relationship revealed. Good thing Discord didn't decide to start a literature club...
Happy New (ish) Year!
10039545
Glad you caught the reference. :D
So... which "three word phrase" did he put into the newspaper? Is it "I love you" or something?
10039868
I honestly thought that was more than clear. Now I'm just sad it isn't.
10039972
I think it just have been used so much in writing that the three word is something else in a twist ending so its hard to go with the obvious.
Awwwww
10040281
I'll take that as 'I like it'. :)
10040204
Oh, considering I'm trying to keep this as close as possibly faithful to the show, I wouldn't exactly expect any THAT interesting twists, hahaha
While I can't blame Cadence for not anticipating this specific outcome, she really should have known better than to assume that would work normally with Discord. Oh well, at least their relationship is out in the open, although I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get to see Celestia's reaction.
10042902
It is not. Cadance is the first and the only one who knows.
The reaction of the rest of the pony folk remains yet to be seen, but as far as they are concerned, all they saw is Twilight's face and a bunch of hearts in a newspaper. Could've been done by anybody.
... Guess I didn't explain that very well in the story itself. It would have been a much bigger bummer and drama if the secret were out in the open to EVERYpony, at least as far as I can imagine it.
And my prediction mere moments ago was horribly wrong! This ended up way more interesting
Also awww
10043306
...What? That newspaper has Discord's fingerprints all over it. No one could mistake that for anyone but Discord, especially considering how quickly and thoroughly it happened.
10044357
I mean, if he touched every single one of them, they would!
Also, I'd find it strange ponies of all creatures would be willing or able to look for "fingerprints".
And if you meant that in a non-literal sense, I don't see why no one could mistake it.
Then again this is a fanfic about magical ponies, so... meh!
10044576
...Of course that was the figurative use. The literal use makes no sense in MLP so it can be dismissed without thought.
As for identifying him, who else is capable of that? What you described sounds like it's beyond the ability of the princesses (including Twilight) and far beyond what a normal pony could do so Discord is the only possible culprit. Furthermore, even if you want to argue that the princesses are viable suspects it's immediately obvious none of them would do that, so we're once again back to Discord. As I said before, that was very obviously Discord's doing even before you factor in anything about his behavior.
10044675
Considering the show threw logic of magic through the proverbial window a looong time ago, I can't really share your concerns, hahaha
Yep. Blame Cadence.
10057410
Oh totally. The Magic of Forgiveness is strong among ponies, however.
10057413
Kinda surprising there isn’t a Princess of Forgiveness. Unless Sunset counts.
10057414
Eh, give it a few decades, they'll make one.
10056221
You can't throw out logic because everything went to shit after Faust got the boot. That just makes your own work worse and undermines your development as a writer.
10057462
I am not - I am following the revamped logic of the show, apparently! Or my own, that being said... I mean, I AM writing a fanfic.
I'm starting to think you're overthinking this - I mean who's to say how magic works? For me, raising the Sun, time-travelling, physics-defying seems like a hard task but changing some text in newspaper and multiply it, in comparison? Not so much. A bit hard, but I can see it as something even Trixie could pull off.
I guess this is where the opinions in grasping some of the show concepts divide.
At the end, as I like to say, It's just a cartoon for kids, and this is no dayjob of mine. :D
10057896
Go read Sanderson's laws of magic:
https://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/
https://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-second-law/
https://www.brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-third-law-of-magic/
10058389
I fail to see why these should apply to anything but to the material the guy wrote himself.
EDIT: CLEARLY, so as to help with writing, but well... I think at this point you still don't realize I care about accuracy of MLP magic just about as much as its writers. Which says quite enough.
10058476
Well, if you want to be incompetent, I can't force you to change.
10059209
Call it what you will! Have a nice day!
I greatly enjoy this
Thank you for portraying their relationship in such a way that reflects on their personalities really well. I feel like if they were really in a relationship, this would be one of the ways that they'd interact with one another. Two awkward goofballs... It really is precious!
10081636
Thank you so much!
10083923
Thank you, it's honestly one of the more difficult parts of writing a story like this - I'm trying really hard to keep the characters as faithful to the original show as I possibly can, given that a story like this would never canonically happen. I always keep asking myself "is this something a character would do/say in the actual show", and though I might let it slide a few times for story's sake, I try to keep them in-character.
Sorry for the ramble! Have a lovely day! ^^
I love this story as much as Discord loves Twilight. It's wonderful. I can't come up with a complement not already said, nor any complaint. It's a beautifully written, absolutely delightful story, and a great sequel. The characters feel true to the show, and real in their own right. I can't wait for it to continue! :)
10218138
Oh goodness, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it well enough to leave such a nice comment. ^^
This chapter was great :DD i hope that you'll write new chapter soon :))
Alicorn
Is the story going to continue?
10932320
Eh, someday.
For real though, I'm not an active fan anymore. Might finish it when the inspiration strikes, but I got my hands full with original projects as it is!
10978048
Too bad, another story that will never continue... Are you not going to tag it as 'cancelled' or 'On Hiatus'?
welp... another dead story. :(
For a thousand years
I waited here for you,
Waited every night,
for I thought you were the
answer to my ship,
Days turned into years
and into approximately three years
Patience still remains
Don’t you see that there is
Longing in my eyes?
Fanfic won’t you cry for me?
I’m as lonely as I’ve ever been,
I am forced back into rereading,
Is there any way to fix a broken motivation?
Infinite desire
And endless jealousy
Bottled in my soul
Has erupted as I’m
Writing this parody
(This parody just popped into my mind…
)
I hope this gets continued eventually
I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH！！！！！