I woke up the next day feeling well-rested and pain-free. Apparently, between being transformed and professionally massaged, my body had healed up quite well. I just laid there enjoying the lazy contentment of relaxing in a comfortable bed. Steady ought to be along soon to get me ready for breakfast. No rush to get out of bed…
My eyes sprang wide open. Steady was in Canterlot, just as I was supposed to be! How could I have forgotten that? I scrambled out of bed, ignored the fact that I fell on my nose again, and hastily dressed myself. Trixie was going to be pissed! Perhaps I could catch the next train and be in time for the afternoon session? That was before I spotted the clock by my bedside which could have woken me early if I had only thought to set the alarm. It showed 9:42 on the dial. I had slept in late too?! I groaned before grabbing my belongings and hurtled downstairs, tucked and rolled at the bottom and came to a creditable upright stop in front of the counter in the foyer, gave the startled mare at the desk the key to my room, checked out of the hotel, and headed out to the station. I moved at my best trot – I hadn’t mastered galloping in my own body yet – only to hear the train whistle and pull out of the station. I stumbled to a halt, panting and cursing my luck.
From what I remembered of the schedule, there wouldn’t be another train for a couple of hours. Ponyville simply was not big enough to justify a more frequent service at this time of day. I sighed and considered my options, but there weren’t many. First, I needed to let Trixie know that I would be delayed. Then I had to figure out what to tell her when she asked why I was tardy. Explaining that I was transformed into a copy of Celestia and spent an afternoon under the influence of poison joke would satisfy most, but the Great and Skeptical Princess would be less than impressed. “The show must go on!” she once had told me. I wonder what the nobles or the petitioners would have thought of “Celestia” sitting by Trixie’s throne as the unicorn held court? I snorted at the image that conjured up. I briefly considered doing that just for laughs, but then I realized it would be foolhardy to expect the magic of the Everfree Forest to do exactly the same thing twice.
I shook my head and reminded myself to be serious. I turned and headed for the library. Perhaps Spike could send a message to Trixie by dragonfire and ameliorate the situation? Better than doing nothing, I suppose. My stomach gurgled and I frowned. How could I be hungry after all the cake and pastries that I had gorged on yesterday with my bottomless appetite? Did they all just evaporate when I changed back into a pegasus stallion? My belly rumbled again. Maybe Spike would have pity on me and cook something up after sending the letter? I could do him a favor later – perhaps getting those comics in Canterlot that he was so fond of?
I entered the tree library without knocking – it was open at this hour, so I’d look silly doing so. Luckily, I found Spike re-shelving some books. He looked at me with a bit of surprise.
“Hey, dude, I thought you were going back to Canterlot?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m supposed to be there now. Between yesterday’s events and sleeping in late, that’s not going to happen. Can you send a letter to Trixie for me?”
“Sure, but don’t expect a reply. Princess Trixie doesn’t know a dragonfire spell like Princess Celestia and Luna do.”
“Maybe that’s for the best. Trixiefire might incinerate the reply.”
Spike laughed. “Ha! I bet you’re right. Let me grab a quill and paper.”
I dictated a note to briefly explain that I was delayed, and Spike sent it on its way in a puff of magic green fire. He then asked, “Would you like some breakfast, Mark?”
“Yes, I sure would, but why would you be making breakfast this late in the morning?”
The small dragon chuckled and replied, “It’s not late if you know Twilight. She often pulls all-nighters and falls asleep at dawn, if at all. She got to bed relatively early last night, and I was planning on waking her soon. Might as well prepare something for you too. I figure you were in too much of a hurry to stop for food.”
“How did you know that?”
“Your vest is on inside-out and your mane has a serious case of bed-head.”
“Oh. Right. Umm… did I leave anything edible here after yesterday…?”
“I went shopping this morning. Thanks for the bits, by the way. I’ve stocked up for the week, providing you don’t go on another binge.”
“Believe me, while it was an interesting experience, once was enough.”
“I hear ya.” Spike set about cooking a substantial breakfast for three people while I set about fixing my appearance. He served up my meal before heading up to Twilight’s bedroom.
The purple unicorn looked half asleep still when she joined me at the table. She downed a mug of coffee before her brain really kicked in and she cocked an eyebrow at me. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Canterlot by now?”
“Yes.”
She waited briefly for an explanation and then shrugged. “I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get back to her either.”
“Not my fault that I’m still here. Some ponies took me for a night on the town after the spa. I only woke up half an hour ago.”
“Oh. Right. Heh! But we had fun, didn’t we? That’s what good friends do.”
“Yes, Twilight, and I enjoyed myself, but I take my responsibilities seriously too. I had Spike send a note to Trixie to say that I was tardy.”
For some reason, the unicorn shuddered at that. “Say no more. I’ll make sure that you get back to Canterlot as soon as possible. I’m sorry that I can’t teleport you there because it’s too far.”
Just then, Spike belched and a scroll materialized from the resultant flames. Twilight took it in her magic and unrolled it. After glancing at the words, she passed the scroll over to me.
“It’s from Trixie,” she said flatly.
“I thought you said that Trixie didn’t know the dragonfire spell?” I queried Spike.
Twilight answered for him. “Maybe not, but she could always ask someone from the Guild of Mages. Some of them know the spell.”
“Right. Let’s see what she has to say.” I spread the scroll on the table with my hooves stopping it from curling back up again. I read the flowery script and winced.
“What’s it say?” Spike asked curiously.
“It says, ‘To the Grand Vizier Spark Dwells, the Magnificent and Patient Empress Trixie is sore displeased with your failure to present yourself as expected this morning.’ ” I paused to look at my audience. “When she’s in an ‘Empress’ mood, she’s definitely not happy.” I continued reading. “I have dispatched a Royal Guard pegasus chariot to Ponyville. Be on it. Signed, H. M. Trixie Lulamoon.”
“That’s a bit rude,” Twilight commented.
“I promised to be there this morning, so it’s my fault.”
“Still a bit of a curt way to treat her advisor. Not very princess-like.”
I sighed. “Twilight – I know you don’t like Trixie, but give her a chance. She’s not Celestia, but she’s trying hard, believe me. I wouldn’t stick around if I didn’t think she was worth the effort.”
“Or you didn’t want to get thrown out of your cushy room in the palace.”
Now I was irritated. “A week ago, I was stranded in a strange magical land in a body that was completely foreign to me. Trixie gave me someplace to be and a worthwhile job to do. I owe her a lot, but even if she threw me out, I would still have new friends to help me. Heck – Fluttershy even offered to let me crash on her couch last night. But Trixie is not going to abandon me because I know her better than you. Yeah, she’s a work-in-progress, but she cares, and that’s what matters to me, even if her attitude grates occasionally.”
Twilight stared at me for a long moment before her expression changed to one of chagrin. “If you were here back when Nightmare Moon returned, you might have become the Element of Loyalty instead of Rainbow Dash.”
I grinned. “As long as it doesn’t involve flying, I’m your stallion!”
We all laughed at that and finished our meals. Twilight then left to work on whatever her current project was, Spike went back to his book re-shelving, and I went outside to await the arrival of the chariot.
I settled down on the grass in the shade of the library tree. I had little idea how long it would take for the chariot to arrive, but I figured it would be at least half an hour. With nothing to do until then, I just relaxed and watched the world go by. I snorted softly. The world. A totally different one of ponies, griffons, dragons, and magic. Just over a week ago, I didn’t even believe in unicorns and pegasi and now I was one of them. A defective one, perhaps, but still…
I sighed. Did I belong here? The mares had made me feel welcome, especially Pinkie, but the truth was that I had just blundered into this situation and perhaps even made things worse by breaking the mirror portals. And although Twilight was endlessly fascinated by what she learned from me about Earth, I get the feeling that she’d happily trade me to get Celestia back, not to mention Luna. Aside from obscure knowledge from another dimension, what did I really have to offer to these people? My greatest skills were useless in a land where magic supplanted physics in almost every way. And yet, no one wanted to see me leave. What did they see in me? I was just going with the flow and trying to be helpful along the way. Mark Wells was not a moocher.
To get my thoughts from getting too morbid, I tried identifying the ponies who passed by. I quickly came to realize that I knew a surprisingly large number of them, and I put that down to the Pinkie party where I swear I must have been introduced to the whole town at one stage. Despite the blur of faces, I still remembered the names of so many of them. Aside from Twilight and her friends, there were Vinyl Scratch and Octavia – an oddly well-matched pair of musical mares; the postmare Muffins whom everyone nicknamed Derpy which she seemed to accept graciously; her companion Doctor Whooves, a most confounding stallion with a highly coincidental cutie mark; Mayor Mare – who could forget that name? – the spa twins, Aloe and Lotus; Applejack’s brother, Big Macintosh; Bon Bon and Lyra; Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily; the unforgettable Cutie Mark Crusaders; Nurse Redheart and Doctor Horse; Cloud Kicker and various other weather team members; Sea Swirl…
My mind screeched to a halt as I suddenly realized something: I recalled only a few stallions but a great many mares. I looked about me and didn’t even see one stallion at the moment. At the palace, the majority of the staff were female although I was fairly certain most of the Royal Guards were male. It was hard to be sure because their anonymizing magic armor made all the regular Guards look alike, but some had suspiciously feminine voices. Was I imagining things or did these ponies have a serious gender imbalance? So many mares and so few stallions made for a different social dynamic than I was used to. Thinking back on some of the interactions I’d had recently, I began to see some of them in a different light. My bachelor instincts started to kick in and I shuddered.
I don’t know exactly how long I had been daydreaming but my thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
“There he is!”
I looked up and saw Steady Flight coming in for a landing alongside two Royal Guard pegasi hauling a sky chariot. Apparently, my ride had arrived. I stood up and said, “Hi, Steady.”
“Hi yourself, Mark. What happened? Why are you still here and pissing off Princess Trixie?”
“Long story which I can tell you on the way back.” I approached the Guards and asked, “Do you need to rest for a bit before we go back to Canterlot?”
“No, sir,” one replied in a definitely masculine voice. “We are ready to return immediately.”
It made sense that the pegasi pulling a sky chariot for long distances would be strong males, but the other one didn’t speak, so I wasn’t sure of that fact. Steady had already piled my luggage onto the chariot, and I went to climb aboard. I had seen these used by others but I had not anticipated using one myself. I wasn’t looking forward to it. A week ago though, you could not have dragged me on one with a team of ponies, so I was definitely improving.
“Just a minute, Mark. I’ve got a message for you to deliver to Twilight Sparkle.”
“Huh? Why me?”
“Because you’re the Princess’ right hoof and scapegoat, of course,” the stallion replied, hoofing over a scroll.
“Right. Okay, this should take just a few minutes. She’s still in the library.”
I headed inside and found the mare surrounded by books. Literally. I decided not to ask why and passed her the scroll. “Message from the G&P,” I said simply.
Twilight lifted one eyebrow, shrugged, and unrolled the scroll with her magic. I saw her eyes flick back and forth as she read its contents, and then widen. She then rolled up the scroll once more.
“I have no idea about the contents, so is there an answer that I need to take back?” I asked.
Twilight looked thoughtful before replying, “Trixie has commanded me and my friends to go to the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance has requested our help in impressing the head of the Equestrian Games Selection Committee. She’s hoping that holding the Games there will help re-establish the city’s fortunes and bring in tourists.”
“Sounds something like Earth’s Olympic Games. There was always quite a lot of competition to be the city to hold them every four years.”
“Then you’ll understand the importance. Tell Trixie that I’ll talk to the others first, but we should be able to go there on the scheduled date.”
I nodded. “Well, that’s my duty done, and now I have to get back to Canterlot as fast as possible. It’s been great visiting, and I hope that we’ll see each other again soon. No colanders though!”
Twilight giggled. “No promises!”
I smiled and waved to Spike as I left. I boarded the chariot and realized that there weren’t any safety harnesses. “How is this supposed to be safe?” I asked Steady.
He merely tapped a rune inscribed on the railing and I felt a gently yielding field surround me. “That’s a restraint spell – you can’t accidentally fall out.”
“That’s reassuring. Aren’t you getting in too?”
“I flew here on my own power and I’ll fly back too. I used to be a long-distance courier, remember?”
“Oh. Right. We’d better get going then. Trixie is going to be mad enough with me as it is, so let’s not dawdle.”
The chariot team took that as their cue to start, and they galloped a few yards before taking off. Damned if it wasn’t like one of the scariest roller coaster rides I’d ever been on. People back home would pay good money for a thrill like this!
Steady drew alongside the chariot and said, “Okay, spill it – how did you get yourself in trouble this time?”
The journey to Canterlot almost wasn’t long enough to tell it all – with some edits, of course.
We arrived during the lunch break and Empress Trixie gave me a flat look from her place at the dining room table. Raven Inkwell stood next to her, her magic rearranging the sheets on her ever-present clipboard. I bowed my head and neck, keeping them low until I heard her intone in her ‘bored’ voice, “Approach, Meadowlark Smells.”
I did so until I stood by her side. She gave me a quizzical look but I chose to say nothing. Eventually, she broke the silence.
“You delivered my note to Miss Sparkle?”
I nodded with a little smirk on my lips.
“She and her friends will go to the Crystal Empire?”
I nodded again. No words required, good.
“You canvased the mood of the townsfolk? And they approve of the rule of Trixie?”
I nodded a third time, though my smirk grew wider.
She narrowed her eyes, obviously displeased with me. That’s fine. I’d just wait her out and she’d speak again. Instead, she held out a hoof. Drat.
I looked back to my saddlebags and took out two items. I handed her my plaque. Trixie’s ears perked forward and Raven whistled.
When Trixie passed it back, I hoofed her a framed photo taken at the Day Spa. It showed the Mane Six gathered around “Celestia”, everyone smiling broadly.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “And why exactly are you showing me this old photo?”
Raven gasped and pointed her quill at the cutie mark on “Celestia’s” flank. Trixie’s attention was drawn back to the photo and now both eyebrows rose. Her ears actually waggled back and forth for a few seconds. What did that body language mean?
The mares then looked up at me at the same time, both wearing the same amused smile.
“Ponyville?” asked Trixie.
“Ponyville,” I replied.
She smiled broadly. “Welcome to the club.” She handed the photo back to me as she stood up. “I’ll expect a full account of your activities over dinner. But for now, we have Day Court to run.”
“Yes, Your Patient and Forgiving Majesty.”
She lifted her nose as she strode past. “Oh, you aren’t out of hot water yet, Mismark Sells. You have just delayed the hour of your judgement.”
Crap. Looks like I’d have to turn up the entertainment and humor factor this evening. I hoped it wouldn’t come back to haunt me with endless teasing later... who was I kidding? Of course it would.
As Trixie, Raven, and I walked to the throne room, I remembered one detail of the trip that was better brought up now than found out later.
When we were in a section of hallway with no pony to overhear us, I said. “So…Great and Powerful Trixie?”
That earned me a suspicious glance over her shoulder.
“There will be some bills arriving for various damages I caused when I was in Ponyville: specifically to Sugarcube Corner and Sweet Apple Acres.”
She turned away with a sly grin. “As much as it pleases Trixie that you faithfully brought back reports of the townsponies’ positive opinion of Trixie, the Royal Court cannot simply absorb such damages. Your pay will be—”
I thought so. I turned to Raven and cut off the Smug and Powerful Trixie. “So the notes you take are made part of the permanent record of the court and distributed to the local newspapers, right? I want to read into the public record the instructive story of a mare who put on a show at the orphanage of a sleepy little village called Hackamore—”
As Raven’s ears swiveled forwards and her eyes began to sparkle, I was rudely interrupted. “On second thought, the Great and Forgiving Trixie will overlook your carelessness this once.” She stopped and looked at me with a cold stare. “We expect this never to be brought up again.”
I bowed deeply. “As the Generous and Many-Storied Trixie commands.”
She hesitated, then continued down the hallway.
Raven’s hoof kept me from following. She broke into a smile once Trixie had rounded a corner. “Spill it.”
I grinned. “According to the Equestrian Township Grapevine, Trixie’s reputation was such that she was not allowed to perform her show until she completed some community service. During her performance next to the town orphanage, the fireworks at the end of the show went awry and burned the place down.”
Raven put a hoof over her mouth. “Oh no!” The corners of her eyes were pulled upwards though—a dead giveaway that she was smiling.
“Oh yes. Trixie’s wagon was impounded until she finished helping rebuild the orphanage. In those three weeks, she camped outside with the foals, who thought this was the greatest thing ever.”
“Really?”
I grinned. “You know foals. Anything different from the boring normal is awesome, and sleeping outside was just the ticket. Also, Trixie has a special gift with little ones and entertained them every night … maybe because she felt guilty for destroying their house, maybe because she loved the appreciative audience.”
Raven dropped her hoof. “So how did that embarrassing chapter of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s life end?”
I chuckled. “Remember how I said the foals loved having her around? On the last night before construction of the orphanage was completed, they tried to burn it down again.”
Raven laughed so hard she started to cry. Eventually she settled down enough to say, “Let me guess. The townsfolk threw her and her wagon out of town because she was such a bad influence?”
I nodded and started trotting to the throne room. “Come on. Let’s not keep Her Royal Highness waiting.”
Raven caught up. “But now you’ve promised not to use that bit of blackmail material again.”
I thought back to the pages of notes I took during Pinkie’s party. “Oh, don’t worry. There’s plenty more where that came from.”
The afternoon court session went pretty smoothly and it kept my mind occupied. Trixie had royal-commanded me to attend dinner with her that evening, so I knew that I was going to be put through the wringer then. There was one other thing that was on my mind though since that morning, and I finally got the chance to ask Steady as we headed up to my room to freshen up and change before dinner.
“Is it my imagination, or do mares greatly outnumber stallions in Equestria?”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You don’t remember that? Sheesh! Of course they do. Depending on where you live, there are three or four mares to every stallion.”
“And how do the mares deal with that?”
“Remember what you said about breeding potential on the day we first met?”
“Y-e-s?” I replied, not liking where this was going.
“The mares like to know what they’re competing for in advance.”
I recalled Rarity’s gifts, Fluttershy’s cuddles, Twilight’s fascination, and even Rainbow’s tomboy challenges in a new light. I gulped. Suddenly I longed for the company of the one mare who preferred to watch me crash into things. That seemed to be infinitely less frightening right now.
I didn’t give Trixie a chance to get on her high horse (Okay, I meant that pun!) at dinner. I started by telling her how I had almost died achieving that altitude record. Then, while she was still on the back hoof, I explained how Rainbow Dash had saved me, Zecora had healed me, and how I promptly screwed up again by eating poison joke. I played up the pranks and other craziness that I did as “Celestia”, managing to keep her laughing so much that she forgot all about being mad at me. Of course, I did not breathe a word about Rarity’s fashion parade. That was a private secret between the six mares and me (and perhaps an inquisitive dragon) that I would take to the grave and Trixie would never learn. That reminded me – I had better find a really good hiding spot for those 8 by 10 glossies that Twilight printed for me.
Oh, come on! You don’t think I’d want to relive my most glorious moments? For a brief time, I was a supermodel!
“Look, Mark – I know that the poison joke made a huge difference, but surely you must remember some of what it felt like to fly properly? Just recall that feeling and let it work for you!” Steady exhorted me. Just because Trixie had let me off the hook for my tardiness didn’t mean that she would allow me to shirk my flying lessons.
I just stood there on the balcony with my wings outstretched, trying to do exactly that, but it wasn’t working. “Steady – thanks to Twilight, I won’t be breaking altitude records again, but other than that, I feel no different.”
My friend sighed. “Okay, then we’re back to trying to re-learn the hard way. Maybe without the power surges, you may be able to control yourself better. You did pretty well with the unpowered gliding, after all.”
“You still haven’t shown me how to steer,” I reminded him.
“Oh, right. I’ll never be a proper flight instructor at this rate.”
“Yeah, you make a better valet,” I teased.
He poked his tongue out at me and I smirked back.
“Okay, smartarse, pay attention.” Steady showed me the methods for achieving basic turns and had me rehearse them a few times before he was satisfied. “Okay, let’s see if you can do it while actually flying. Take your position and carefully summon your flight magic.”
I recalled everything that Steady, Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy had shown me, and then firmed my will. ‘I can do this!’ I told myself sternly, and then took off over the Royal Gardens.
Half a minute later after madly careening all over the lawns and flower beds, frantically twisting and turning, overcompensating and spinning out of control, I crashed through a copse of trees and felt the vegetation bring me to an abrupt springy halt. My nose suffered not at all and I would have counted that as a victory if I wasn’t being strangled. Vines were looped about my body and my neck in particular, and I wheezed as I tried to call for aid.
“How?! How did you manage to do that?!” Steady Flight exclaimed as he descended through the canopy. “That kind of vine doesn’t even grow in this climate!”
“Less botany, more help,” I choked out.
“And what’s with those crazy turns? Didn’t I tell you to be moderate when angling your wings?” Steady asked as he hovered next to me.
“Still asphyxiating here.”
“I mean, come on! Surely you learned something while you were an alicorn. Don’t glare at me like that!”
“Can’t breathe, idiot!”
Maybe he finally heard me, or perhaps my face was turning blue, but Steady finally realized that I was choking to death while he babbled about his frustrations with me. He unraveled the vine around my neck before helping me get untangled. “How you managed not to kill yourself before your illness, I’ll never know. You have to be the greatest klutz I have ever met.”
I could have let that pass because I was well aware of my clumsiness that had only been highlighted by my perfect coordination as Celestia, but Steady had left one vine looped around my hind leg while freeing my barrel, and as I slipped free, that last vine upended me before releasing me to plummet to the ground… nose first.
I groaned, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
“Oops! Sorry about that. What was that you said?”
“I said you’re buying again.”
The stallion flinched. “I’m gonna need a raise at this rate.”
That’s what I was afraid of. Flying was for the birds!
The rest of the week was remarkable for being unremarkable. Considering all the weirdness that had happened to me in the first eight days of my arrival in colorful pony land, I considered this a great blessing. Steady Flight even made sure that my lessons were held somewhere without anything harder than a cloud to crash into. I may have made a little progress at last. Practice makes… well… not perfect, but at least it wasn’t painful either.
My first weekend off was basically spent enjoying myself in the city. I even got to see a stage play. I must admit that Roameo and Jeweliette done by ponies is quite fascinating. Just kidding – Steady and I went to some bawdy comedy. I made a return trip to Ponyville the following weekend on the pretext of passing on Trixie’s congratulations for the success of their mission to the Crystal Empire and securing Ms. Harshwhinny’s stamp of approval for the venue of the Equestria Games. Actually, I just wanted to hang out with my friends. Not sure if bringing Steady along with me was a good idea though. On the one hand… or hoof… he deflected attention from me as a potential mate for most of the mares, but on the other, that just left Twilight alone and still wanting to do more tests on me. Oh well, I still got cake. Seems I have quite a craving for it nowadays.
Three uninterrupted weeks of business as usual at the court gave me time to learn more about Equestria and the running of a country, and I had gotten into a comfortable routine. So when Twilight arrived unannounced one afternoon during Day Court, I knew immediately that something serious was going down. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been to Canterlot a few times over the past few weeks; she regularly researched books in the Royal library and made more tests in the portal room. The mare had always avoided confrontations with Trixie though, and definitely stayed out of the throne room. Not today though.
Twilight strode in near the end of the afternoon session, ignoring the sergeant-at-arms who tried to politely do his duty. Trixie waved him off though, and let her rival approach the dais. I could sense Trixie tense up, the barest hint of what I had come to recognize as nervousness that the showmare normally concealed with skill. The way that Twilight kept an unyielding stare at the Princess as she approached only served to increase the tension. I wondered what Twilight was up to as I knew that the unicorn had no intention of rocking the political boat, preferring instead to concentrate her efforts on getting the real princesses back. Yet here she was, obviously on a mission, and wearing a cape of all things. I’d never known her to wear anything before.
Trixie took the initiative and spoke first. “Greetings, my loyal subject. How can the Great and Powerful Trixie help you today?”
Twilight said, “You can get off that throne for starters.” Her horn lit and her cape floated away. From the concealment of the cloak, she lifted wings that matched her purple coat to the gasps of all attending, Empress Trixie and myself included. I noticed, however, that Twilight’s expression was very focused and nowhere near friendly.
Perhaps being the subject of her angry countenance helped Trixie gain her wits back faster than anypony else in the room. She smiled, although I could tell she was anxious. “This is wonderful news, Twilight! Now Equestria can once again have diarchs as—”
“No,” said the purple alicorn flatly.
“No?” repeated Trixie, her brow furrowing.
“No. I will take over as the one and true Princess of Equestria.”
Hooboy!
# # # # # # # # #
Thats a heck of a note to end on.. And huh, i wonder, if we get to see the after-effects of a little trip.
Fuck yeah! Get the hell off that Throne, Trixie! Your 15 minutes of fame is OVER!
Maybe he should ask Derpy for flying lessons.
shit just got real real fast
Ho boy... the fit is going to hit the shan now... at warp velocities...
I wonder what triggered the ascension in Twilight. Guess we'll find out later.
Damn, Twilight just can't help pissing off Trixie at every turn, can she?
Chrysalis' actually relatively sane bid for a throne, instead of a frontal assault with a army built primarily for stealth? We'll see.
Ponyville
Do you really think that she's not out to get you as well
Something is very wrong here
More like the Generously Perfidious Trixie.
Oh no. She's cracked. She's gone nutso. Who broke Twilight?
Well, I am glade that this side tour is done and how we can get back to the main story plot. Don’t get me wrong it had its good funny moments and was good allowed him some levity where he couldn’t afford any while in court and allowed some development with Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 even if it was stretching is a little by visiting each one of them in turn for what was supposed to be just a milk run and maybe taking a public senesces in the neighboring pastoral area, or at least the those six mares. The part where he turned into Celestia sort of came out of left field to me, but it did allow to explore what makes an alicorn showed how Twilight misses her mentor and what she means to the unicorn. It also showed all the importance of a symbol Celestia’s image is to all of her little ponies.
I was honesty surprised that Steady Flight had been so openly snaky with Mark while doing his duties and being right in front of the Royal Guard, I would have thought that that castle staff would constantly be harping on him the moment he came back to Canterlot and being his old stiff self again.
I wonder if the Magical Mystery Cure episode actually happened at all sense it felt like not even a 24 hours had passed sense Mark last saw her and we now know there is a way to manufacture a fake alicorn with what had just happened to Mark not so long before and Twilight was the studying him the whole time he was in Celestia’s form and could be plausible that she managed to replicate the effect with the Poison Joke. So could this all actually be an act on Twilight’s part to get even with Trixie or could there even be a lot more behind this, especially sense she chickened out of the role when it was offered to her in the first place by Trixie even then? And I thought The fact that Twilight was sent to the Crystal Empire by Trixie in the first place was a bit odd, as I don’t see why she would specifically selected Twilight to go back to the Crystal Empire in helping for the Equestria Games she has other more important things to do then assigning that particular task for her and Cadence would have been a more plausible person/pony to ask for help. Could it be part of instruction left behind by Celestia by whoever took on the mantle of a princess and was told to follow specific instructions just for Twilight to follow and she didn’t even rip it to shreds out of spite?
Twilight has shown herself to me to be more of a pony of compromises when it comes to sharing authority when done in turn, even if she is very opinionated, I don’t see her just wanting to seize the crown when Trixie didn’t even argue about her just becoming an alicorn and even offered to share the thorn without any arguments, or question the legitimacy of her assertion, so there has to be more to it. For what I would have guessed Twilight most top most priority at the moment is to find a way to get Princess Celestia and Luna back from the shattered mirrors and playing the role of a princess isn’t going to help matters for her if she had to take on all the duties of a princess, even if she was groomed for the position by her mentor, I would expect that she already had access to all of the archive for that goal and had a blank check from to do whatever she can to achieving that goal. So, I take it that taking the crown all for herself, with showing no real ambitions for power for herself when she seems to have little in the way of obvious support at the moment, is not her actual goal but just a means to end to get what she wants and that is to get her mentor Celestia back to her. I am guessing that Twilight knows of something that might just actually help in that goal and she need to have the authority of a princess and especially no questions asked, which means that she has very desperate plan in mind and everypony (especially the council of mages)would normally agree that it is too risky and wouldn’t agree to it unless she wheels the power of an alicorn and the authority of a princess, and can’t of ford to have Trixie veto her or have any opposition to rally against her?
I feel there should have been at least one chapter even that separated between Mark’s leaving of Ponyville and Twilight coming to clamed the throne for herself at least, to show why she is taking on the responsibility of a princess some more, seem some other machinations going on, and have an idea who are the members of the council and what are the motives toward Trixie, or do they actually want Celestia back in the first place?
There is also the fact that Twilight could show that Trixie alicornhood was a sham to the public and even show that Mark was for a short time in the image of Celestia as well and just past some examination to see if she is indeed an alicorn now. I don’t think she would do that because it would throw into question the near divine image authority that they represent so she can’t throw outright say Trixie is just a regular unicorn.
All in all I don’t think Mark Friendship with Twilight will be incredibly strained or irrevocably damaged during and after whatever is going to happen next if his loyalty lay with Trixie first.
#TeamTwi4Ever!!!!
Anotyher mark chapter....time to get the theme song
and As few have said something is wrong here
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You seem to have overlooked that far more than 24 hours passed. In fact weeks have passed since Twilight got Starswirl's stuff and the cutie mark swap.
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Yep, that's Mark all right...
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but she wouldn't have that book because Celestia is gone before she could send it
9172881
I was vaguely aware of it but it's just felt like absolutely nothing of not happened in between and a little more development on Marks and Trixie's side of thing would have helped settle the readers with them again before this big event.
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You have forgotten that Trixie forwarded all of Celestia's teaching materials to Twilight in a previous chapter. That was included among them.
its about to get real!
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aaahhh
9172816
It smells like changeling.
Hmmm...now THIS is certainly quite the cliffhanger! Though even IF Twilight has real wings...what kind of Leadership does she really have in terms of Politics? Though I suppose that is part of what Marks Wells is for. I am not sure Twilight even understands what she would be giving up by replacing Trixie 100%. Assuming that this is, in fact, the REAL Twilight.
That really doesn't sound like Twilight. I wonder what happened... And if she'll want Mark for herself
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I was thinking the same exact thing
aw so Twilight solved starswirl's spell and ascended.
yep things are going to be interesting now.
The friendship... shall last... FOREVER!!!
Chrysalis. Calling it now.
I'm calling changelings!
I have nothing to add to this. This is perfection.
Plot twist!
too bad he didnt turn into a unicorn or earth pony. I bet he would fair better.
Also, I am surprised that Twilight is being so rude.
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Perhaps the rudeness is three-fold sourced. First, she and Trixie don't get along (oil and vinegar, illusion vs magic, Dodgers vs Yankees). Second, Trixie's message to Mark was equally as rude, though not as bound to a power play as Twilight's. Finally, it is possible she somehow found out that Trixie was named Celestia's substitute by mistake.
Careful now Twilight, 'tis a dangerous, dangerous thing you're doing here, I'm not entirely convinced you understand the ramifications.
What is authority? In Equestria, authority stems from the throne of Celestia. In the eyes of the common pony, she always has been, and always will be, their immortal ruler. Even in absentia, with Trixie on the throne, Celestia is still perceived to be "in charge", as Trixie's Mandate exists only by Celestia's imprimatur.
Twilight's actions will change that. If her coup stands, and this is a coup, then she will have transformed the fundamental nature of authority in Equestria. It will go from something that can only be given by Celestia, to something that can be taken, by anyone with the power and will to do so.
While we're here, lets add a second point. Trixie is no alicorn. Up 'till now, the office of "princess" has been synonymous with "alicorn". The one is the other, the Princesses are alicorns, so alicorns are princesses. This is what Twilight is basing her claim on, her divinity in contrast with Trixie's mundane unicorn status.
But Trixie has been ruling for months now. And nothing horrible has happened. The populace is content, the economy is running smoothly, no monsters prowl the countryside, and the mages collegium set the sun and moon along their paths. Perhaps alicorns aren't so indispensable after all.
This could very easily go down in history books as the defining moment of the age. A million timelines and possibilities narrowing down to One. Single. Point.
A disguised unicorn sitting on a borrowed throne,
A newly-minted alicorn, flush with the fervor of a true believer,
and a perfectly ordinary human, haphazardly stuffed into the body of a pegasus.
.
.
.
So no pressure eh? It's not like the fate of the world hangs in the balance or anything! *cackles madly*
The pacing is off here. It feels like there's been almost no time between Mark leaving Ponyville and Twilight ("Twilight"?) arriving in Canterlot.
I get that the story has made it explicit that there's a week or more that elapses between the events. But since we skip the days of nothing of note happening, it feels like he got to Canterlot, had a flight lesson, and then suddenly Twilight with wings.
I don't have any useful advice on fixing the problem. Probably just need to watch out for that sort of thing while writing future chapters.
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Perhaps I should have written a thousand words on how absolutely nothing of huge significance happened in the meantime? Aside from more crashes by Mark, of course. The whole point was that nothing happened. Twilight suddenly barging in to break the status quo was supposed to be a shock.
"Trixie, look at me: I'm ze princess now."
...You're a jerk, Twilight.
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Changeling, quite likely.
But Chrysalis?
This one sounds more like Queen Hillary from the 2016 election joke skipping straight to "You're on my throne, bitch! "
9176616
Can you link that joke, please? It sounds hillarious.
As far as calling Chrysalis, it is merely the law of narrative conservation in action: Why would you make a new character when an already existing one, who has a history of being a manipulative bitch, exists? It can't be Twilight, as she had already stated her willingness to give Trixie a chance. Therefore, know guess is Chrysalis.
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Something's off kilter.
Waiting for the curtain to fall
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Sure. You can find it here, then do a <cntrl-F> search for "From the NSFW story Hillary Clinton Saves Equestria"
9176889
If you want to see a homicide, just let my wife find out I made an unauthorized purchase for anything.
Besides, who said anything about hiring hit-men? Why should any of them get to have all the fun. I said that I'd kill to see it.
I'm sure it isn't the case. And i agree this absolutely for the best. But the way twilight is presenting this. Realy feels like she's turning evil just like when luna became nightmare moon.
I didn't know it was coming!
Huh. That ending.
I see people talking about this potentially being Chrysalis in disguise. I can't expect that to be the case, for one small reason: Twilight's ascension would have been news. If Twilight ascended and then Chrysalis decided to pretend to be her and usurp control of Equestria, she'd have to have a spy in Ponyville and literally be on the next train to Canterlot (or fly, I guess, she can do that too) and pretend to be Twilight. Otherwise, in the time it would take Chrysalis to get to Canterlot, Trixie would have already heard about Twilight being an alicorn. Spike would have sent dragonfire, which would be mere minutes for Trixie to receive the memo. Also, I doubt this would be a red herring fakeout where Twilight hasn't ascended yet and Chrysalis fakes a Twilight as an alicorn. We know Twilight Sparkle got Starswirl's spell, so though it's possible in this timeline she didn't pursue the spell, I can't buy that. It was something Celestia left to be sent to her right before Celestia went through the portal.
More likely it's Twilight herself. She would've stopped Spike from sending dragonfire to announce her ascension, so she could get the jump on Trixie. In which case, Twilight has opened a can of worms. First off, she doesn't even know what it's like to rule, and Trixie has done a good enough job to not try opening up a can of worms. Second, it'll mean Twilight will have less time to research the portals.
I suppose it's a good thing Twilight hasn't revealed (yet) that Trixie doesn't have real wings at least.
Three weeks and bam, eh? This is not a good idea...
I guess we're going to be doing Magic Duel again, but with Twilight and Trixie's roles switched.
Well ... Horseappels... I guess not having Celestia or Luna there become a Alicorn corrupted her mind OR she secreatly hated Trixie so mutch for her past or her current lackings of skill / wisdom she get her place to write everything right?!
Twilight on a powertrip... Neat...
9924635
And she didn't have Celestia to help this one.