Twilight sighed, sitting at her computer. Quite the upgrade from her typewriter – Isn’t science fascinating? On the desktop was a word document. It had taken a long, long, LONG time, but she had finally very nearly done it. She had written almost completely the sequel to her book.
It had been an eventful while, however. She had become a princess, and gotten a castle. Of course, she had rebuilt her library as a real home after it had been destroyed. Besides – What sort of town didn’t have a library?!
After her book was released, it quickly hit the top book list. Twilight had to admit, it was most likely because she was a princess. Of course, it was well reviewed. And then, the trouble had begun. Comments on chat forums, slyly scattered in, asking for none other than the date of the release of the sequel.
Twilight had tried to end her book with a resounding… Well. ‘The End’. However, it seemed many ponies wanted a sequel – And wanted it their way. Suggestions were thrown out at random, from introducing their own villains, to making it all a reality inside an alternate reality inside a dream. Twilight shook her head, the mere thought of such a confusing plot line bewildering to her.
Sequels, in her eyes, were meant to tie up the plot holes in the first book. They continued where the first could not. She refused to let herself get roped into writing a sequel – Until she started seeing the fan fictions. Sweet Celestia. The Fan Fictions.
After seeing… THEM, Twilight decided enough was enough. If ponies went through all the trouble to type up their own versions of the story, continuations, and rather… MATURE add ons, then Twilight could certainly show them how to properly write her own characters.
Upon her official statement of her writing the next book, flame wars online began. It seemed as though half of Equestria wanted her to write a sequel, and the other half felt it would ruin the first. She was accosted by ponies in the street, either for the release date, or the expiration date. She suddenly had grown quite jealous of A.K Yearling and her hideaway far from civilization.
Still, she had kept at it. And now, it had all paid off. Her friends all supported her through the book, giving helpful tips. She smiled. Sighing softly, she began to type up more of the next paragraph when there came a knock at the door. “Huh?” She glanced at the clock. Almost noon. She supposed it would be a good time to take a break.
She trotted to the door, expecting one of her friends to have dropped by to check her progress. Instead, she was quite bewildered to see a mail pony with a bubble flank standing there, looking quite confused, yet determined. “Eeer… Mail came earlier today,” she said, a tad ashamed to not know the mare’s name.
“I’m Derpy! I’m Derpy Hooves! And I’m here to talk to you!” Twilight tilted her head softly. In the back of her head, she could almost hear the screaming of tens of thousands of people, and one repeated word – Fanservice. Why in Celestia’s name is the mail mare here? Has she even been in here before?... And why am I thinking about fanservice?
“Nice to meet you, uh… Derpy…”
“I heard you were writing a sequel.” Derpy’s eyes crossed as she flapped her wings lopsidedly. “Word gets to me slowly cause I’m not loved, apparently, because my voice is silly.”
“Sorry to… hear?”
Derpy sniffed. “But, in any case. You should stick to it, Twilight! Don’t let anypony tell you how to write your sequel, and don’t let absolutely anypony make you quit! You’re the best you you are, and only you can write something you love. If you drop the sequel, then that’s awesome, cause that’s what you want to do. If you finish it, then just make sure you do the very best you can! You have to, for the good of all writers out there! Don’t fall to clichés and cheap tricks! Stay true to your morals and your own ideals, for without them, then what are you? You’re simply a foal in the disguise of an author, copying the classical works of every generation and attempting to pass it off as your own design! Write your own way, Twilight Sparkle! Do it for you! Do it for your fans! Do it FOR EQUESTRIA!”
Twilight stared wide eyed at the mare. Why. Just… Why. What just happened? How on earth do I respond? I’m so confused... I just don’t know what went wrong!
“Um… Thanks?”
“Muffins!” Derpy giggled, until she gasped. “Oopsies! I left Dinky at the school again!” In a flash of confusion and ruffled feathers, Derpy was gone.
Twilight heard something strange. A small ‘ding!’ in her ear. She also heard the words ‘Fan service – Check!’. She shook her head, groaning. “I need to stop working so hard… Oh, but I’m so close! A few more hours of writing today can never hurt.” With a giddy giggle that most authors make when they get close to finishing their stories, Twilight fluttered over to her computer.
Twilight’s wings were well hated and loved. Her friends loved them, as they showed all they could do together – Even make a unicorn an alicorn. However, ponies around Equestria seemed to resent the fact that Twilight had ascended. Perhaps they felt slighted? Twilight didn’t get it. She had worked hard to get them, and to be the best Element of Magic and best FRIEND she could. So why was she hated so much? It’s not like having wings changed her personality. It just changed her life style.
She shook her head once again. “Gosh, why do I keep thinking about weird stuff today?” With a small smile, she brushed off the thoughts and began to type again. She wrote more and more, until Spike came in from the kitchen to give her some food. She ate, then continued to write. It was nearly 12 o’clock when the knock on the door came.
Twilight groaned as she heard the loud knock at her door. She was finally close to finishing the tale, and yet another interruption showed its face. Though, she supposed the library didn’t have any really set hours. She should probably fix that at some point. Like, seriously, what sort of night would it be if some homeless pony ran inside at 4 am?
But that was besides the point. Twilight stood, dusting herself off and glancing at the clock. 11:50. She supposed it wasn’t too late; at least, not for her. She trotted to the door as whomever was outside knocked again quite loudly. “Alright, hold your horses,” she punned unintentionally. “I’m right here!” Stifling a yawn from staying up, Twilight used her magic to open the door.
Outside in the quite sudden thunderstorm, dripping from the ominous rain, was a sinisterly evil looking white unicorn. His evil red eyes were bloodshot, making even the whites of his eyes red. He had an evil smirk on his face as he cackled, lightning striking behind him, silhouetting him against the rain. “This is the home of the Misses Twilight Sparkle,” he roared out evilly, his deep voice a force to be reckoned with.
Twilight watched him with wide, confused eyes. “Um… O...kay?... Yeah, this is… I’m Twilight. Hi.” She honestly had no idea how to react to this. How does one react to someone screaming at them, someone they had never met before who honestly looked like an albino drunkard wearing red contacts? Who was this pony?
The white unicorn laughed evilly as his horn began to glow a sinister red to match his sinister irises. Twilight suddenly felt a soft tickling sensation around her. Then the tickling felt burning, but only just enough for her to wince slightly. Honestly, she mostly felt like laughing. "What are you doing?!"
The unnamed unicorn cackled as thunder rolled overhead, booming in the storm. "The wicked deed is done! My mistress will be pleased..." He grinned. "Your heinous crime has been averted, Twilight Sparkle: I have cast a blocking spell on you, because my name is Writer's Block, and that is my special talent!" He laughed as lightning struck nearby.
Twilight stared at the villain blankly. What sort of name is Writer's Block? More importantly, what would the cutie mark for somepony whose special talent was writer's block even BE? Leaning to the side as far as she dared, she glanced at his flank. For a moment, it seemed bare; after a few moments, however, she managed to make out the image of a blank piece of paper. ... Really? She felt like laughing again.
"Ha ha," Writer's laughed. "You've become such a weak writer, you're even leaning to the side in your frailty!" Twilight rolled her eyes - was this guy for real? “And now, for my fear enducing escape!” He laughed again - just as evilly - as his horn glowed once more.
“Actually,” Twilight said pointedly, “it’s indu-”
BOOM!
Twilight flinched back as her door exploded.
Literally exploded. Into a million little burning hot pieces.
“WHAT THE-” her face smacked right into her bookshelf, books tumbling down around her. The little flaming pieces of wood became only a light smolder in minutes. Twilight looked up frantically, her horn already lit up in sheer anger and adrenaline. However, the explosion happy albino drunkard was nowhere to be seen.
In the shaky silence after the explosion, Twilight could swear she heard a little ding somewhere. “EVIL Antagonist - Check!” She was sure her ears were just ringing from the explosion.
Twilight growled, standing and looking at the hole in her wall. Her door had been blown completely to bits. Closing her eyes, she quickly gathered up the pieces of the door with her magic and reformed it, trying to keep her temper in check. She finished the door - with only a few missing pieces - and trotted back to her book. She just wanted to finish it. She was so close to being done this madness. She took a deep breath and sat, shutting her eyes. This book had been a bit more trouble than it was worth.
She stared at the page. If it had eyes, it would stare back (of course, as Pinkie Pie would point out, the paper had plenty of ‘I’s’). She blinked. The paper didn’t, fortunately. Quite unfortunately, Twilight found her mind blank of ideas. She struggled through the figurative canyon of words in her vocabulary, and found a quite literal lack of good words.
“... Do I have writers block now?...”
She thought for a minute longer.
“.... You have got to be kidding me.” *~*~*~
Twilight grumbled as she shifted her saddlebags onto her back. Three espressos, two shots of whiskey and an all nighter had proved worthless (and mildly exhausting). She simply could not write. She found herself void of any ideas when she sat at the computer. It was all that unicorns fault. It just had to be. Twilight growled lightly as she remembered him. That strange, awkward, just… completely random guy. How he made her blood boil.
“Er… Twi?” Twilight stopped growling just long enough to realize how awkward it must sound for a pony to growl. She turned to see Spike standing behind her with quite the confused face. “Are you still upset about the whole ‘blowing up the door’ thing? Cause, honestly, that kinda happens more than you’d think…”
Twilight sighed. “No, it’s not that. I’m angry that I can’t write! I was so close to being done this madness, but lately, everything’s been going a bit wild.” She smiled a tad bit ruefully. “I’m sure everything will be okay in the end, though. I’m just going to go to Canterlot and ask Princess Celestia to help me with this curse. I’m sure she knows some sort of cure.”
Spike nodded, smiling. “Don’t worry, Twi - I can hold down the fort here, no matter how many doors explode.” Both of them got a small laugh from the now inside joke. “Have fun at Canterlot.”
“Have fun ‘holding down the fort’,” she replied with a small smirk before heading out the door. She made her way down to the train station - she would fly, but she was still a little unsteady (especially in mountain winds.)
Spike shut the door, noting the cracks in it. They would have to buy a new door later. He began to walk to the kitchen - or, rather, to the freezer for some ice cold icecream lovin’ - when he stopped. “Wait, isn’t Celestia in the Griffon Kingdom?...”
MEANWHILE, IN THE GRIFFON KINGDOM
Celestia slammed her hoof down as she glared at the Griffon King. “You swore to us the boundaries would be kept clear of warfare! How can we keep peace with you if you continue to attack us?!”
The Griffon King was literally being held back by two of his guards. “How can I keep to my promises when you tricky unicorns keep putting up shields, as though you’re hiding secret bases from us!? How can we ever trust you!?”
The two threw insults and banter and slurs this way and that. A griffon guard and a pony guard sat aside from the conversation. “Is it always like this,” the pony asked, new on the job today.
“Yup.”
“Ah… Do they ever stop?”
“Nope. Really kinda silly, honestly - I’d say we’re a day away from signing that treaty, so long as nopony in Equestria messes up. These two just like showing off how big their crowns are.”
“Heh. Yeah, this’ll all be over soon.”
MEANWHILE, BACK IN PONYVILLE
Spike shrugged. “Eh, I can’t remember. I’m sure it’ll all work out fine - what could go wrong?”
Twilight stretched out her wings as she walked to the throne room. The trip from the trainstation to the castle had done her wings in. Still, flying was simply so much more efficient. She had saved a full - she did the calculation quickly - 3.5422132 minutes from her long walk! She smiled.
Trotting through the halls of Canterlot castle, she was surprised to find it mostly void of ponies. “That’s funny,” she said to herself. “Usually ponies are walking around and socializing… Is today some sort of ‘stay at home’ holiday?”
She found her way to the throne room quickly. Surprisingly, no guards stood outside the doors either. She tilted her head: this was all highly irregular. She moved to knock on the door (as she wasn’t one to burst in unannounced) when she heard a loud shout from behind the door.
“WE ARE BETTER THAN THEE, SIR, AND WE WILL DEMAND THY RESPECT! NOW KNEEL TO THY DARK QUEEN!” This declaration was followed by delighted, if malicious, laughter.
Twilight was shocked. “Luna!?” Quickly, she burst into the room quite unannounced (as usual), her horn alight with magic. “Princess Celestia, are you alright?! Where’s Nightmare?!”
Luna looked up from the chessboard, eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, Twilight! What a pleasant surprise. Come; we were just about to defeat my guard at this lovely game of chess.”
Twilight watched as Luna placed her queen, the black piece, in a very strategic part of the board. “Huzzah! Checkmate, guard! We have said thus once and shall say once again - kneel to thy dark queen!”
The guard sighed, looking incredibly bored as he tilted his king over. “I give. Another win for you, Princess.”
“How many points do we receive?”
“Princess, chess really doesn’t have much in the way of points… But, well, this makes 11872 games won and 2 lost.”
Luna smiled brightly, nodding. “Perfection.” She turned to Twilight, who had long since calmed down as she gathered context for the outburst of Luna she had overheard. “Now, Twilight, what brings thee to Canterlot?”
“Well, I was hoping to speak to Celestia…”
Luna frowned lightly. “We’re afraid my sister is off in Griffon territory negotiating the peace between our two nations.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh no! How could I have forgotten?!” She groaned, facehoofing. “I’m sorry to have intruded, Princess Luna. I don’t know how I managed to forget about it. I’ve just been so busy writing lately!”
Luna gasped, standing. “Writing!?” She smiled brightly, before opening her mouth wide. “GUARDS! LEAVE US! WE MUST DISCUSS PRIVATE MATTERS!”
The two guards standing nearby ran forward quickly to grab their fallen comrade, who was most certainly deaf due to his proximity to the shouty princess. “Y-Yes, your highness,” they said with a bow before dragging their shaking friend outside.
Twilight tapped her ears, trying to regain her hearing. “Er… Private matters, Princess?”
Luna nodded quickly. “Yes, dear Twilight. Thou said ‘writing’. We are embarrassed to admit to being thy biggest fan!”
Twilight beamed. “Really?! You’ve read my book?”
“Read? Twilight, we have memorized it!”
Twilight giggled, smiling. “Wow… I didn’t realize it had gotten so popular that even you were a fan of it, Princess. I’m honored.”
Luna nodded. “We simply love how thy ending of the book remained so absolute!” Twilight’s smile fell slightly. “A resounding ‘The End’! It sent chills down our spine!” Luna, oblivious as always, kept rambling, despite Twilight’s increasingly uneasy stance. “We simply cannot wait for the next release! We are sure thy next series is sure to astound. Pray tell, what is the next book about?”
Twilight gulped. “Er… you haven’t heard?”
“Heard? We are terribly sorry, but we have been busy reclaiming our duties. Very few ponies are used to us yet. When Celestia left us in charge of the daycourt today, we were not expecting any visitors.”
Twilight nodded; that explained the empty castle then. “Well… I’m… sort of…”
“Speak up, Twilight.”
She gulped again. “I’m… sort of writing a sequel?”
Luna tilted her head. She chuckled softly. “What was that? We think thou said a sequel. Surely, thou art mistaken. Only a foal would write a sequel after such an astounding ending!”
Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Well… Ta-da. I’m a foal!”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Dost thou mean to make a foal of us now, Twilight? What is this jest?”
“I-I just mean that I’m writing a sequel. You see, I came because I have writers block due to a wacky spell done by some crazy albino, and -”
Luna stood, glaring. Twilight gulped, stopping: the princess was incredibly intimidating. “We think thou do not grasp the severity of thy claim! A sequel is a heinous crime to the original book! We shall not allow it!”
Twilight shook her head, confused. The ringing was coming back. “Princess, that isn’t the biggest issue here! Again, a crazy albino blew up my door, and -”
“What say has a pesky unicorn in the issues of the world?!”
“Unicorn? Luna, I am a Princess, just as you!”
“Thou art nothing like us, Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight gasped, stumbling back as wind began to rise magically in the throne room. Luna stood, her eyes white. “L-Luna!”
“Do not refer to us as mere ‘Luna’, welp! We are higher than thou!” Luna flared out her wings, which were turning steadily darker. “If thou refuse to follow our advice, we must end thee!”
“LUNA!? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”
“We are not Luna anymore, Twilight Sparkle! We are Nightmare Moon, and we will control thee!”
Twilight watched in horror as darkness gathered around the princess. Her mane grew into a miasma of violet starlight, and her eyes into teal slits. Nightmare Moon laughed, flying into the air on bat wings. “Prepare to go into permanent retirement, Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight screamed, flying toward the stained glass window as Nightmare fired a beam of darkness from her horn. The beam of shadow hit the chessboard and blew it up. The explosion was far greater than even the door explosion from earlier. It pushed Twilight out the window as she screamed in absolute terror, her wings burning at the edges. She heard another ding, but was screaming too loud to hear the soft “Pointless Villain Resurfacing - Check!”.
Twilight groaned as she flew away, smoke coming off her wings. Nightmare followed her the entire way, her beams of darkness blowing up numerous support beams for towers and buildings. The entirety of Canterlot was soon burning, and ponies were screaming. Twilight was screaming. Everyone was screaming.
*~*~*~
General Lance sighed, tracing his hoof over the map layout of the terrain. “So… bored… When will those peace negotiations fall through so I can kill some griffons?”
A private ran in, out of breath. “Sir! Reports say Canterlot is under attack!”
The general slammed his hoof against the table, his eyes shining with happiness. “FINALLY! MEN! PREPARE TO ATTACK THE GRIFFONS!”
“B-But, sir, we don’t know that Griffons were those who attacked…”
“Private, I don’t need anymore of an excuse to cause a war with these monsters. Now go ready the troops.”
The private walked out, sighing. “Dang it… When I said I wanted a role in the sequel, I was expecting something better than an extra in the side story…” With a frown, he went off to gather the troops for battle.
