Intermission (IV)
Selected Passages from
Letter to Princess Celestia
Excerpts From HRH Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Personal Memoirs Part 4
5/8/RY1006
Dear Princess Celestia,
Funny story!
So you know how I thought that my friends hated me? Well, apparently that's because my chancellor has been running interference between me and them in an attempt to isolate me, control me, and make it seem like she was the only pony I could trust!
Isn’t that hilarious?
All this time I thought my friends were deliberately ignoring me when in fact it was just a simple misunderstanding/gross betrayal of personal confidence! Silly me!
Aaaaaaaanyway, just wanted to keep you up to date on the latest hilarious Canterlot gossip! I know you probably have ghostly things to get back to so I'll let you go!
Talk to you later!
Twilight
Oh…wait…hang on a second…
No, sorry, I was wrong.
That’s not funny.
That’s not funny at all.
That’s mind-bendingly infuriating.
I apologize if any of this is illegible but I’m still shaking from the conversation I just had with soon to be Ex-Chancellor Harrier. After the run in I had with Rarity last week, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was some kind of mix-up between my friends and my mail staff. But every time I went down there to check on the mail situation myself, the mail room staff was all mysteriously on break at the exact same time, doors locked and shades drawn. As if somepony sent them away before I could get there. After about a week of failed attempts to pin down the mail room workers, I decided to send some armed thugs down there unexpected to shake things up a little.
Well…Flash Sentry isn't exactly "armed" or "thuggish" but he was the best I could do on such short notice.
His report did nothing to ease my mind. He said that pretty much all of his questions were met with stony silence from the mail staff and when he asked if anything had come through from Ponyville recently, he said they got really agitated and hustled him out the door before he could say anything else.
That’s strange enough but stranger still was the fact that Harrier apparently confronted him later in his shift and apparently got really upset with him. She told him to stop snooping around the mail room, stop asking about Ponyville and stay away from me unless he wanted to get reassigned to the frostiest corner of the Crystal Empire.
Mistake #1
I think she forgot that nopony orders my guards around and absolutely nopony threatens my friends.
So, earlier this afternoon, Harrier found herself summoned to the throne room in front of the full court and all my guards to "clarify" a few things. I was curious as to why my people were being hustled out of my mail room and why she thought she felt it necessary to threaten a member of my personal guard for doing his job.
I was rather imperious if I do say so myself and it had the effect of completely unbalancing my usually collected Chancellor. She feigned innocence for a while, denying Flash’s stories and claiming she had no idea why Rarity would think I was upset with her…which is odd because I didn’t recall mentioning my confrontation with Rarity in the park to her at all. As good as her lies were, they were not designed to withstand direct scrutiny and after a few minutes of poking, prodding and third rate courtroom theatrics, she finally caved and admitted the truth.
She admitted that she had “screened” my company for my own good. She claimed that it was in my best interest, and the best interest of Equestria, that be more “selective” in my choice of company and counsel. She said that the first few years of my rule were the most formative and that it was important that I surround myself with the “right sort” of ponies and take advice from a select few (meaning her and her alone). She insisted that my friends had proven a bad influence in my political life (read: they had dared to give me advice that contradicted her own) and that it would be improper to associate with them too closely in the future.
Mistake #2
After that, we had a calm and reasonable discussion about her future in my employ in which the phrase "go to hell" was tossed around more than usual.
She asserted that she had been the royal councilor for years before I had even come to court and therefore knew how to best run a royal household.
I objected, citing evidence suggesting that she was, in fact, a two faced hagraven who had no business telling anypony how to do anything.
She suggested I must be feeling tired and that a long stint in the castle tower would do me some good while she took over some of my more “stressful” duties.
I politely disagreed and suggested that perform an act that would have been both extremely painful and physically impossible.
She “forbade” me from seeing my friends again and insisted that I retire to my room before I say something that I might regret.
I suggested that she take an indefinite vacation in the fieriest corner of Tartarus and that there was nothing she could do to prevent me from leaving if I wanted to.
Then she called the guards to “escort me back to my room" and prevent me from leaving the castle.
This proved to be her biggest and final mistake as High Chancellor of Equestria.
I don’t know how she thought things were going to shake out but judging by the look on her face as she sailed off the second story balcony and into the garden pool, I don’t think this was quite what she was expecting.
I mean come on; did she really think the guards were going to take her side over mine?
Really?
Does she not know who I am?!
I’m Shining Armor’s baby sister for crying out loud!
I remember playing soldier with half of the captains when they were still cadets! I did my homework in the guard’s barracks every day after school until Shining Armor got off duty! These are the guards my brother hoofpicked to protect me on my coronation day! And she thought that they would just jump at the chance to stab me in the back?!
Oh wait, no, the two princelings Harrier promoted to the royal guards before I took over tried to stop me. Yeah, the Nepotism Twins did great against the dozens of career military bodyguards who came down on them like a hailstorm. I think one of Harrier’s toadies actually managed to ruffle a younger officer’s helmet plume before he was bucked twenty feet across the throne room, out the window and into the pool.
In hindsight, it probably wasn’t strictly necessary to physically eject them from the castle but it was certainly satisfying watching her go and even more satisfying knowing that the garden pool recently bloomed a rather foul smelling culture of algae. It sounds horrible, I know, but I can’t bring myself to care too much about a pony that has systematically made the last year of my life absolutely miserable.
I feel so…used, betrayed and so bloody stupid! If I never ran into Rarity in the park I would have never-
Rarity!
I need to get to Ponyville as soon as possible. I just hope there’s still time to set things right.
Twilight
5/9/RY1006
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m writing you from rather cramped little bedroom at the Ponyville Inn. Seeing as I’ve been refused entry at all of my friend’s homes and half the town thinks I’m a conceited brat, this is the best that I can do for the time being until I can make amends.
So as you might expect, my attempts at reconciliation with my friends are going over like lead balloons since Harrier did her best to make sure my friends wouldn’t want to contact me, much less try to. Apparently her little plan to keep my friends from influencing me included sending snotty, stuck up letters in reply to all the birthday, party, and lunch invitations my friends sent to the castle. I’m not inclined to dignify Harrier’s vile, poisonous filth by repeating it here but needless to say I was treated to the cliff notes of some rather nasty letters Harrier sent out in my name while I was being driven off Applejack’s ranch by her grandmother and I can't say I really blame them for being less than pleased to see me.
My attempts at reaching Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie went little better and ended in wet, disastrous failure both times as I was subsequently rained on and hit in the face with what smelled like cheesecake that had been sitting on a counter for a week (in that order, no less, so I couldn’t even wash the stink off until I got back to the hotel.)
I can’t even begin to tell you how absolutely awful I feel right now but the worst part by far is knowing that I have no one to blame for this but myself. Well…I did have a backstabbing power hungry second in command that didn’t exactly help. But the fact of the matter is that I gave Harrier all the power she needed to run roughshod over me and play me for a fool. I put Harrier in a perfect position to ruin my life and sat back and watched it happen like an idiot.
The only hope I have left is that Rarity will give me a chance to explain myself when she gets back from her runway tour tomorrow. If she doesn’t then…I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t exactly stick around in a town that thinks I’ve gotten too big for my britches because of the way “I” treated my friends but I’m worried that if I go back to Canterlot, I’m never going to get another chance to apologize. I’m worried that they’re not even going to let me back in town next time; Ponyville Ponies protect their own and Harrier made it look like I had just snubbed four of Ponyville's favorite daughters. Princess or no, I'm not going to be welcome back here until I settle things with my friends.
I have to convince Rarity to convince the others to let me explain myself. If they still don’t want to speak to me after that I’ll be fine I’ll respect their decision. But they deserve to know the truth;I owe them that much at least.
Twilight.
(Personal Note: Publically eviscerate Harrier when I get back to Canterlot.)
5/10/RY1006 10:45 AM
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m sorry but I have to make this short; I’ll write more when I can but I wouldn’t expect to hear from me for a few days…I have a lot of catching up to do.
Sorry, let me back up. After a thoroughly unpleasant night sleeping on the lumpiest mattress ever created, I was woken up at six in the morning by a thunderous pounding on my door. Before I could even get up to murder whoever had disturbed my uneasy slumber, the door blasted off its hinges and a frazzled looking Sunset Shimmer entered followed by an equally harried looking Flash Sentry. Apparently, they had been out all night along with half the guards looking for me since I disappeared from the castle after Harrier’s arrest. The guards were in full panic mode; Harrier was arrested after I "disappeared" and the whole castle was trying to find me before the press got wind that their princess had gone missing.
In hindsight, I probably should have told somepony that I was going to Ponyville before I left the castle.
Oops.
I filled them in as we made our way downtown, walking fast as I recounted my less than successful attempts at reconciliation. I cannot remember a time when I approached the Carousel Boutique with more dread and as I caught a glance of familiar purple mane inside the bustling shop I felt a wave of anxious nausea wash over me as I realized that this was it; if I couldn’t get Rarity to listen to me then there was a chance I would never right this mistake or see my friends again. My head swam and Flash guided me into a thicket on the side of Rarity’s store before I passed out in the street. I knelt there for a moment, took three deep breaths, and then got back on my hooves and walked through the door before I could psyche myself out any more than I already had.
The bell jingled as we entered the shop and Rarity turned to welcome her new customers only to stop when she saw me in the doorway. She didn’t look entirely happy to see me but she didn’t slam the door in my face like Applejack did or pretend not to be home like Rainbow Dash did. We just stared at each other as her customers nervously milled about in the sudden silence.
Rarity opened her mouth to say something and I quickly cut her off and started babbling before she could say anything or tell me to leave. I told her that the letters weren’t from me and that I didn’t know what they said but they certainly hadn't been from me and Harrier-
That got her attention.
She didn’t look like she wanted to listen to me at first but the second I dropped Harrier’s name, I saw her perk up. She held up a hoof to stop me, glanced over at Sunset and Flash who nodded in answer to her questioning gaze and then looked back at me with dawning realization.
“Of course,” she said.
And before I could say anything else, Rarity slammed into me with more strength than I thought she was capable of. I thought she was attacking me for a second until wrapped her arms around me, crying and mumbling apologies into my mane. I was confused for a brief second until I realized what was happening.
She believed me.
Rarity believed me.
I hadn’t lost her.
I still had at least one Ponyville friend left.
That realization set off some kind of weird chemical reaction inside of me. I don’t really know what happened after that; the anxiety that had been slowly winding its way around my stomach for months suddenly let go, snapping like a rubber band and releasing a torrent of built up stress. I came unglued and a sigh of relief quickly turned into a symphony of sobs as I realized that I still had a chance to make up with my friends.
I still have a chance!
It’s not over yet; Rarity said she’d go with me to help me talk to the others as soon as she could close up shop. She reasons that if we can get the others together in one spot and start talking before they can get away from us, then we have a chance to tell them the truth.
I just hope it’s enough.
I have to go now. Rarity says we need to catch Rainbow Dash before she heads off to training. I’ll write more when I can.
Twilight
5/10/RY1006 6:35 PM
Dear Princess Celestia,
Mission accomplished.
With Rarity’s help I managed to track down all my friends. It wasn’t easy to get a hold of them; Sunset actually ended up breaking into Applejack’s barn and dragging her out kicking and screaming while Flash lured Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to Sweet Apple Acres with the promise of free apple cider. They weren’t exactly happy to see me again but Rarity managed to convince them to hear me out and, after another long winded and rambling apology backed up by Rarity, Flash, and Sunset, we found ourselves tangled in a wet, snotty apology group hug.
We’re having a party of course; Pinkie Pie has never been one to let good news go uncelebrated. Applejack cleared out her third and newest barn and Rainbow Dash and Rarity decorated everything while I helped Pinkie raid the Sugarcube Corner. It took three wagons to get everything over to Sweet Apple Acres and by the time we got there, the party was in full swing. Cake and dancing and group hugs all around; my friends were all together again.
Happy ending...right?
And yet somehow there’s something off about all of this.
Not that I’m unhappy with how things turned out; far from it! I’m thrilled that my friends and I are back together after so much time apart…or at least I should be.
As happy as I am to be back with my friends…I still felt a bit uneasy. And I could tell that they felt it too. We’re all smiling a little too broadly and laughing a little too loudly at personal jokes that are two years old at this point. We keep talking and talking and talking as if we’re afraid that a moment of silence will creep up on us like a thief and steal the little peace we've made for ourselves. There is a mean, desperate edge to the festivities that I can’t say I like.
It doesn’t feel like the parties we used to have.
I know they’re still upset with me; our time apart was partly my fault after all…but I can’t stop thinking...
Why did they believe Harrier’s letters so easily?
I don’t really know what’s more disheartening; that Harrier made me out to be an arrogant little brat…or that my friends so readily believed her. I thought our friendship was strong enough to weather whatever was thrown our way but…are a couple of letters really all it takes to turn us against each other?
I know Harrier forged my signature and sent them on my personal stationary but I don’t understand how they could have thought I would ever say such awful things to them? I’m sure they probably tried to write me to find out what was going on and Harrier probably stopped them but…they should have just stopped by! They should have known something fishy was up so why didn’t they just come up and visit me or yell at me?! Applejack should have been beating down my doors for half of the things Harrier said to them in my name. Why wouldn’t they just be comfortable speaking to me like they used to?!
Unless…no, I made it clear to them that I didn’t want them to treat me any differently after my coronation. They didn’t feel intimidated by me, did they? They didn’t think that I would let my position go to my head so quickly, did they?
Do they still feel this way?
I don’t know…this doesn’t feel like something that can be fixed with a group hug and a piece of cake. Things are still a little awkward between us since we haven’t properly talked to each other in nearly a year. I feel like there’s a lot we need to talk about; a lot has changed between us but we’re all trying to act like nothing has. Like we’re all still the same ponies we were a year ago.
But we’re not…and we need to realize that.
I think we need to cancel this party; it’s high time we were real with each other for a change.
Twilight
5/13/RY1006
Dear Princess Celestia,
Back in Canterlot after a long weekend and Ponyville feels like worlds away as I am once again swamped by the business of rule only this time without a chancellor to help me out. This weekend was emotionally exhausting for a number of reasons, not the least of which was a day and a half long talk I had with my Ponyville friends.
I told them after I wrote you last that we all needed to have a talk and to my surprise they all agreed with me. Sunset and Flash made themselves scarce as we packed up what was left of the party food, hiked up to Fluttershy’s tree, sat down on a blanket and just talked for what felt like the first time in years.
We kept it light at first; we talked about our lives, what we’ve been doing since we last saw each other, how our jobs are going, the latest Ponyville gossip. And then, when we ran out of fun stuff to talk about, we started digging deeper into the topics nopony wanted to talk about. Hard stuff like where we thought our friendship was going and how they really felt about being friends with “royalty” and why they thought that Harrier’s letters came from me.
It was not pretty, not by any stretch of the imagination and honestly I’m still squirming from some of the things that were said. But it felt good to just get everything out in the open and really hash out the problems in our friendship nopony really wanted to bring up. Once we really dragged our personal demons and emotional baggage out of the dark, they didn’t seem so intimidating.
And by the time my friends saw me off to the train station; I really think we made some progress. Things aren’t the way they used to be but…they’re good. And I have every confidence that they’re going to get better. I don’t think it’s going to be easy being friends with them for a while; we are out of practice after all. But I think this is something we can definitely work past.
Work being the operative word.
Not even Discord managed to drive a wedge between us for as long as Harrier did but even she's not completely to blame for us falling apart. It was so easy to make “friends forever” promises on my coronation day; back before we all had so many important things to do. I guess we thought it would just come so easily to us; that our friendship was immune to things like time and distance. But I think we’re all starting to see that if you want to remain part of somepony’s life, you really have to make a conscious effort.
And it’s not always going to be as easy as hopping over to the Sugarcube Corner for lunch. It’s about making a serious commitment to each other and struggling to build our lives around the relationships we made. We really have to be honest with each other and it’s going to take a lot of time, energy, and emotional investment to make our friendship work now.
But somehow…I think we’re up to the challenge. I think the fact that the five of us got together and talked it out is a sign that we’re all in it for the long haul and we’re ready to do what we have to do to stay part of each other’s lives. .
Now I’m back in Canterlot with a whole mess of problems, not the least of which is the dawning realization that I’ve been less of a princess and more of a sock puppet while my friends have been doing amazing things with their own lives. Listening to how much my friends have accomplished for themselves since I’ve last seen them really makes me feel inadequate by comparison.
I mean...Rarity’s design studio takes up most of her house now! She hired assistants and started showing her lines at Manehatten Fashion week! Rainbow Dash is flying two shows a week and selling out stadiums from here to Trotsdale! Pinkie Pie has taken over the Sugarcube Corner after the Cakes decided to open another franchise in Canterlot and she’s been dating Applejack’s cousin Braeburn for the past six months!
Don’t even get me started on Applejack! Sweet Apple Acres is more than double its original size after the Apples practically muscled their way into the Everfree Forest! They’re selling their stuff in Trottingham and Fillydelphia and every town in between!
So of course I felt like an idiot when it came time for me to catch them up on my exciting career in politics and I realized that I had done nothing of any significance since they last saw me. I know that becoming a princess and ruling a country before thirty is nothing to sneeze at but I don’t really feel like I’ve done much besides blindly signing away Equestria’s future to my High Chancellor.
Stars…nearly two years of theoretically complete authority and nothing to show for it. Not a new library, not a new law, not the animal charity I promised to set up in Fluttershy’s name.
Nothing.
Seeing my friends and how well they’ve done for themselves made me realize how much more I could should have done with my position. I should have been smarter about Harrier; I should have stepped up to the plate a little more and taken charge even if I felt like I was in over my head. Equestria is getting along just fine but...is that enough?
Is “just fine” really the best I can do for Equestria?
I’m sitting on top of this huge mess with Harrier with a parliament in rebellion and a cabinet in shambles and all I can think is…no.
I’m not doing the best job I can do.
I can do so much better.
I will do so much better.
Seeing my friends again really lit a fire under me. I feel energized for the first time in months! I feel like I can finally take off the training wheels and become the leader I’m supposed to be!
But first…I have accounts to settle with my former chancellor.
Twilight
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I think that one of the first things that Twilight needs to do is some redecorating in the gardens.
It really needs two or three new statues.
I think Twilight and Flash need a more professional relationship. I get that a Princess is in need a of a few close friends/confidantes, aside from other friends she has, but he seems like he could become a liability at times. It's nice to see that Twilight finally realizes she was being played, but unfortunately, rationally speaking, everypony is probably going to think she fairly gullible now.
I kind of disagree with you on Twilight's friends. Granted I may have my timescale wrong relevant to this story, but I still think her friends really should have noticed that something was up. It's not like they were friends for just a few weeks or something. You'd think dash or pinkie might have tried sneaking into the castle at some point. You make them seem a little stupid in that regard, but then it's a little hard to convey stretches of time in stories. I get that you can lose friends, but the mane six aren't just any friends. They've had to deal with NMM and Discord and a half-dozen other potentially life threatening occasions in canon at least. It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to snub her and the way they just listen to Rarity and life gets better instantly seems bizarre. I can imagine Dash having heated emotions and Applejack being stubborn, but the rest don't make a lot of sense. Some kinds of friendship are long term and don't require as much maintenance. You might lose intimacy/closeness, but they're not just going to up and quit being your friend.
Haha, I love Harrier's grilling, and I loved how instead of going 'I'm the Princess' she went 'Shining Armor's baby sister!' for the reason. I loved the public note to eviscerate Harrier.
'Made our way downtown, walking fast'. You didn't. You didn't...
… you did.
Aww, they made up! Yes! Happy times! I love the feeling you imbue in your story, even through letters. Well, mostly made up. Times heals all wounds, but it can leave some pretty nasty scars.
Oh yeah! Twilight's finally gonna take this thing by the reigns and become the Dusk Princess, 'the greatest princess and indeed greatest pony that the Kingdom of Harmonia has ever known. '
....
Is it just me?
I do love how Harrier and her two little bitch-boy wannabe soldiers were handled
It's not too much of a stretch for me to believe that her friends believed her so easily, if we can recall Canterlot Wedding.
Kinda want to see how Spike's "friends" react when he gets yelled at by the Princess of Equestria.
I was reading the paragraph about who was doing what to prepare for the party, and thought,
What about Fluttershy?
. . .
Oh, right.
3322006 EVERY.
CHAPTER.
MAN.
Well, that was an awesome Chapter, also Harrier is about to go down!
3320947
Twilight's friendship with Flash comes from a number of factors
1) He was a member of her brother's guard and is effectively the only remaining link she has to him outside her parents and Spike.
2) He's proven to put his job (and life) on the line for her happiness (Harrier nearly killed him for sneaking Twilight out of the castle to see an airshow).
3) He's dating Twilight's other new friend and is partially responsible for Sunset making up with her.
4) He crane kicked one of Harrier's toadies in the face when they tried to stop Twilight from leaving
So in that way, she has a number of very good reasons to want Flash to stick close to her. As for the gullibility thing, that's going to be a problem in the next chapter and Twilight's going to have to figure out how to come down on Harrier while still saving face.
3321007 Not just you
I actually had pandora on around this read and that song came on
3324305
Ok. I still think there are situations where his rather... direct action could cause problems. Diplomatic incidents, anyone?
Harrier. Harrier. I ... have a question for you....
...
Do you like, Mmm....Bananas...?