“Good morning!” Double Time called as she pushed open the door. It was a bit past ten on Sunday morning, and as usual, Double Time was filthy. She was sticky, she was damp, and the chitin along her neck was covered in smeared lipstick. “How are you doing?”
“Good.” Light Step was sitting up in bed and reading a book on street art. “I found some really cool things you can do with chalk. I want to try them the next time I’m incognito.”
“Good times.” Double Time replied amicably, grabbing her bathroom kit from under her bed. “Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Sure.” Light agreed, but when Double Time trotted out, Light didn’t go back to her book. She bit her lip and stared at the door to their dorm room, willing it to open with her mind. Minutes passed that way. When she heard hoofbeats outside the door, she quickly flicked ahead a few pages so a keen observer would think she’d been reading.
Double Time pushed back, wrapped in a fluffy towel. The hot shower always made her carapace pale. She wasn’t quite snow-white, but her reformed “rainbow bug” look temporarily washed out every time she took a shower. It happened every time, only to go back to normal after a few minutes. She didn’t mind.
“So,” Light asked as Double Time dropped off her bathroom kit. “Did you have fun last night?”
Double Time paused mid-step, and turned to look at Light head on. “That’s the first time you’ve ever asked.”
Light shrugged. “I’m trying to be less of a bitch.”
“I noticed.” Double Time paused, then went back to what she was doing. She tossed off her hot towel and buzzed her wings to help them dry. “In a good way. It’s working for you.”
“Thanks. Getting to spend time out in the city is helping.” Light shut her book and turned to sit across on the bed, facing her roommate head on. “But, seriously. Did you?”
“Fun isn’t quite the right word. But, I enjoyed myself.” The beating of her wings was already restoring her colors, blues and greens springing back into prominence over her shell.
“Meet uh… anypony new?” Light cleared her throat.
“Okay, seriously.” Double Time paused the buzzing of her wings. “I want to go paint. Short version, please.”
“I’m just, ah.” Light drew in a breath. “What’s the appeal, exactly? Of getting screwed by twenty strangers every week? I didn’t think changeling drones even… you know.”
“Had a sex drive?” Double Time checked, waiting for Light’s nod. “We don’t. We’re all neutered. Only the queen actually gets laid.”
That made Light grimace, and Double Time smiled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up family history. But, no. I can’t enjoy sex the way you can. I don’t have the parts for it. But back in the old days, when we had to steal love to survive, lust was like… cinnamon. It’s not sustaining or nutritious, and if you try to eat a full serving of it you can actually get very sick. But some changelings liked a little of it to add flavor.”
“Including you?”
“Including me. And while I don’t need to drain love to survive, I miss that taste in my diet.” She turned to gather up her painting supplies, tossing them into her saddlebags. With a flash of green light, she transformed into a unicorn mare. “And they’re not strangers. I feed on love; the lust is incidental. It only works if the ponies I’m with feel genuine affection for me. The relationships I’m in are quite shallow, and mostly predicated on physical attraction, but my partners do really want me to be happy. That’s enough to get a taste.”
“It doesn’t bother you that it’s…” Light gestured. “Superficial romance?”
“If a group of ponies invited you to the movies once in awhile, but you otherwise didn’t know them that well, would you feel bad you had a superficial cinematic relationship?” She tossed on her saddlebags, tightening them around her barrel. “I get that sex is a big deal for mammals, so I’m not trying to be disrespectful. But to me, it’s just not that special. It’s a way of getting spicy food.”
Light didn’t answer right away, and Double Time shook her head. “Anyway. I really want to go paint, so, catch up later?”
“Yeah.” Light said. She bit her lip hard. Then she asked, “When we meet up later. After, I mean. Do you uh… you want to go to the movies?”
Light Step shivered like she was freezing. Her legs shook, her tail twitched, and clamping her jaw together was the only thing that kept her teeth from chattering. No amount of effort would keep her gaze in one place -- her eyes darted around the room.
“You really don’t look like you’re having fun,” Double Time said. “I think this was a bad idea.”
“I’m fine.”
“Shaking uncontrollably at the thought of sex is not normal.”
“No. No. I’m fine.” Her tone turned pleading. “Please.” Light Step reached up to put a hoof on Double Time’s shoulder. With effort, she reduced its shaking to a slight tremble. “Could you be, um… a little taller?”
And so, Double Time became a little taller. She was in the form of a pegasus stallion, and quite the looker too. Bright eyes, a winning smile, strong shoulders, and a large frame all combined to make him a classic heartthrob. His mane was perfectly tousled, beautiful in a way that made it seem like he put in no effort at all. Nopony would have thought it strange to hear he was an actor or a model.
“Um.” Light Step stepped up to Double Time, checking their relative height. Her nose brushed Double Time’s, and another involuntary shudder passed through her. “That’s good.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “And could your coat be a little darker please?” And so Double Time’s coat darkened.
Light Step nodded, drawing in a breath through clenched teeth. “And, uh. Down there. Between your legs.” She pointed, just in case her implication wasn’t clear. “Could you…”
“I can do whatever you want,” Double Time said, his tone gentle. “But that’s already above average. I know it looks small out here, but trust me, it’ll feel a lot bigger once it’s inside you. Don’t overdo it your first time.”
“Okay,” Light whispered. “You’re the, um, expert.” Her eyes went to the floor. “I think that’s it then.”
A long silence hung between them. Finally Light asked, “How do we start?”
Double Time tilted up her chin with a wing. Their eyes met, and Light’s breath froze in her throat. A blush rose in her cheeks, and when she was nearly flush red, Double Time leaned in. Their lips met so gently that at first, Light barely even felt it. Double Time’s hot breath was real, but his lips were just a tingling at the edge of her senses.
Then he pulled her against him, and they met in a slow, passionate embrace.
For the next hour, they didn’t say a single word. Double kissed her, held her, and urged her on with his touch. She did not so much yield to his affection as surrender. When a suitable time had passed, and he’d caressed her in a sufficiently romantic manner, she rose to the common position, spread her legs, and lifted her tail.
He obliged her. She wasn’t vocal. Other than a few gasps for breath—and a sharp squeak at the end—she barely made a sound.
When it was over, she cried.
“Shhh. I’m here.” Double Time said, the first words they’d exchanged since they started. They curled up on Light’s bed together, and she tucked herself into Double’s larger body. He hugged her tight as they lay together, occasionally making soft affirmations or soothing noises.
Then, two sharp knocks reverberated off the window. “Knock knock!” Twilight called. The Princess Twilight Sparkle, that is. She was hovering outside. “Thought I’d stop…”
Double Time and Light Step turned to look out the window and saw Twilight hovering there. At the same moment, Twilight realized precisely what it was she was seeing. She froze mid word. “Uh.”
Light Step couldn’t find words either. She didn’t need to. An incoherent scream of rage conveyed her meaning perfectly well, and a moment later, she added a thrown lamp for emphasis. It shattered her window on her way out, and Twilight only narrowly dodged the projectile and the resulting cloud of broken glass.
“Well, I can see this is a bad time,” Twilight quickly averted her eyes. “I’ll uh… I’ll come back later.” Twilight fled before anypony could say more, twisting around the building and out of sight.
“Get out!” Light screamed at the open air, seemingly unaware that Twilight was already gone. She shook like a leaf on the wind, struggling to hold back tears. She stayed that way until Double Time wrapped her up in a hug once again, and told her it would be okay.
Double Time and Light Step went out to greet Twilight together. Double Time was still in his pegasus form.
“Light!” They found Twilight a block away from the building, somewhere with a good view of her statue. “I am so sorry. I was just trying to stop by and say hello. I honestly didn’t think—”
“It’s fine.” Light waved her off. Her voice was clipped, but she’d done a good job rubbing the tear-streaks off her face. “What did you see?”
“Just… you two. Lying together in bed.” Twilight cleared her throat and looked up into the sky. Her words came quickly, belted out in rapid bursts. “I mean, I don’t even know if anything happened. Not that anything would be wrong if it did happen! You’re your own mare and you make your own choices. But maybe you two are just good friends who needed to take a nap, and, that’s fine too. I mean, I have no evidence to contradict that very reasonable theory.”
“Us, lying in bed? You didn’t see or hear anything else?” Twilight’s expression was all the answer Light was likely to get, but it told her enough. “Right. Well.” She looked over at Double Time. “This is, uh… Ocean Rhythm. He’s my coltfriend.”
“A pleasure to meet you, your highness.” Double Time waved.
“Oh. Your coltfriend.” Twilight smiled stiffly and waved back. “It’s lovely to meet you, uh. Too. Yes.”
“Can you give my sister and I some time to talk?” Light asked Double. When Double gave her a questioning look, she added, “I’ll be fine. Really.”
Then she kissed him on the muzzle. He left.
“I’m really sorry,” Twilight repeated once he was gone. “I was only trying to be friendly and stop in to say hello. I didn’t think—”
“It’s fine. Really. It’s fine.” Light looked around the campus. It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the quad was full of students enjoying the weather. The statue of Twilight was home to a number of pigeons, and as Light watched, one of them pooped on the statue’s head.
“Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down?” Light suggested, and they did. There was a bench not far away.
“So…” Twilight drew out the word. “That’s your coltfriend, huh? He’s um…”
“Caring.”
“Yes!” Twilight latched on, her words speeding up. “Caring. Very empathetic and caring. You can really see that when you look at him.” She gestured off the way they’d come. “You know. From a distance.”
Light frowned, and her brow furrowed. She turned to stare at Twilight. “You think my coltfriend is hot?”
“Well,” Twilight scoffed and looked off into the distance. “Not that that matters. But, he does seem physically attractive. Yes.”
“I guess he is. I don’t really think of him that way.” Light shook her head. “But what do you care? You’ve never abused your title to get a date with a model?”
“I have never-!” Twilight’s wings fluffed out. She was the very picture of indignance. “I mean, I would never do that. That’s a very… low and petty abuse of a sacred office.”
Light blinked twice. Her frown tightened. Then, suddenly, her ears shot up: “Oh my gosh. Are you a virgin?”
Twilight’s wings parted from her body and her voice rose. “That’s none of your business.”
“Oh my gosh.” Light laughed, more incredulous than amused. “You’re nine years older than me. What have you been doing?”
“Saving the world. Studying.” Twilight crossed her forehooves. “And it’s not a rush. I still look like I’m sixteen. It’s not like I’m getting any older.”
Light’s laughter stopped.
“Oh. Oh, no. Light.” Twilight lifted a hoof towards Light’s shoulder. When she saw her sister’s expression, sharp and hard, she lowered the hoof without contact. “I didn’t… mean it that way. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“You’re saying that a lot today.” Light forced herself to take a deep breath, letting it out between her teeth. “But you’re right, I guess. I don’t think of him that way, because, you know. He’s a friend first. But he is pretty easy on the eyes, isn’t he?”
Birds tweeted. Neither of them spoke. Finally Light asked: “Why are you here?”
“I heard there was an incident with you and one of your teachers last semester.” Twilight cleared her throat, squared her shoulders, and lifted her head. It was a more formal posture. Her tone, while still polite, ceased to be apologetic. “Something about you saying Cadence would pull funding for the school if you didn’t pass a class.”
“No. I implied Cadence would pull funding for the school if they expelled me for disorderly behavior.”
Twilight frowned. “You think that’s better?”
“I didn’t say it was better or worse.” Light kept her tone level. “But I don’t need to cheat to get good grades. I earned every A+ fair and square. I went off on a professor in the middle of class for being a racist ass, he threatened to expel me, so I threatened him back.”
“That’s still wildly unacceptable behavior! You can’t use my and Cadence’s names that way.” Twilight drew a deep breath. “I could ask them to expel you over this.”
“You could.”
“I could also tell mom.” Twilight snorted. “She could cut you off. Force you to get a job.”
Light shook out her mane, and when she spoke, she spoke firmly. “You could do either of those things, yes. You could also vaporize me or banish me to the moon. But right now all I see you doing is sitting here and talking. Punish me however you want. I can’t stop you. But I’m not going to apologize.”
Twilight didn’t know how to react to that. Her attempts to look away from Light drew her gaze to the statue of herself in the middle of the quad. Another bird was pooping on her head.
“They also tell me you’re a very talented student,” Twilight said. “And a talented wizard too. I’ve heard you can teleport, duplicate images, transmute substances, or control thousands of objects at once.”
“Kind of. My natural talent is art, not magic, so it’s a bit niche.” She tapped her hooves together to count. “I can teleport small items, particularly art supplies, but I can’t teleport myself. I can duplicate images, but not arbitrary objects. And ‘transmuting substances’ mostly means turning paint into water or gas so I can undo a mistake.”
“That’s still more than most unicorns will ever learn.”
“I know! It’s amazing, isn’t it? I assumed I was adopted.” Light held her hoof over her heart. “But it seems, against all odds, I actually am your sister.”
“Yeah. That’s true. That’s true, you are.” Twilight tapped the bench. “I was pretty anti-social and hard to get along with at your age.”
“Maybe you needed to get laid more.”
“I don’t understand, Light!” Twilight snapped. Her head rose to look her sister in the eye.
“You understand fine. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have apologized so profusely earlier.”
“I understand why you’re angry with me. I understand why you’re bitter. I even understand why you don’t want to see me. You have every right not to like me. I get that. I get all that.” Twilight waved a hoof. “But you don’t dislike me. Do you? You hate me. You actually hate me.”
Light froze.
“That,” Twilight said, “that’s what I don’t get. That’s what I don’t understand.”
“Fine. Fine.” Light’s tail lashed. Her hooves shook as she climbed off the bench. “You don’t have to understand it. Okay? Maybe it’s not yours to understand! I didn’t ask Cadence to name the new school center after me. She’s the one who thought it was funny. So I don’t need her help, and I don’t need your help, and I don’t need you to understand. Maybe I just need you to get out of my life.”
“Light—”
“You want to know why I hate you?” Light’s breath came quickly. Her throat tightened, and she struggled not to hyperventilate. “I just do, okay? I just do. So why don’t you leave me alone!?”
Then, Light ran away.
Twilight didn’t chase her.
“Double,” Light said. She was trying not to cry again. “Can you help me, please? I want to go into town tonight. Incognito.”
Double Time was back in her natural form. “I don’t know, Light.”
“Please? I need…” Light sniffled. “I need you to do this one thing. Please.” Her tone turned pleading. “I’ll never ask you for anything again. I just need to get away from this.”
“No. No.” Double Time shook her head. “I don’t mind casting spells for you. But I’m worried about you. In any shape, I’m not sure this is a good time for you to be alone.” She sighed. “I’ll do it, but you have to let me go with you.”
“Having a changeling with me will kind of blow my cover.”
“Oh, wow. If only one of us was a master of disguise.” Double Time was enveloped in green light, and when the spell cleared, a fluffy grey unicorn mare was left standing in her place. Her cutie mark was a fire and a cloud of ashes. “See? We can be buddies. Burner and Smoke.”
“Heh.” Even as her voice cracked, Light smiled. “Are we street artists or a comedy duo?”
“You are pretty funny.” Double Time’s horn glowed, and in a flash, Light was transformed into her alter-ego. “Come on. Let’s go get some chalk.”
“And a few cans of spray paint too,” Light said. “I want to show you something.”
By the summer, devotees of the street-art scene already understood that Burner was not friendly to the royal family. He’d depicted Shining as a painted whore, Cadence as a cruel prankster, and his depiction of Celestia was practically blasphemy. Some ponies wondered if Burner had suffered some injustice at the hooves of an alicorn. His dislike of them seemed more than a young street artist trying to be edgy.
But in the summer, a new Burner piece appeared that broke the trend. It was classy. Sweet. Ponies said it was practically respectful.
It depicted the Princess Twilight Sparkle, looking at the handsome stallion on a nearby advertising billboard. It made an innocent creature of her, with the faint blush in her cheeks, the spread of her hooves, the way her eyes focused and her jaw hung a quarter-inch open. It showed embarrassment and fascination, puppy love and young lust, and the curiosity of a creature who was just discovering what sex and sexuality meant to them.
It also covered the entire south face of the ball-bearing factory, a surface large enough it could be seen clearly half a mile away.
The ponies of Canterlot loved it. Within a month, they were calling Twilight their virgin princess.
I really like how their relationship is developing.
Their idea of a date seems a bit strange to me, but hey, whatever works for them.
The Virgin princess xD hey she can be like Queen Elizabeth the First! (If I remember my history correctly)
"but her her reformed “rainbow bug” look temporarily washed out every time she took a shower"
Mood changelings!
"...That’s a very… low and petty abuse of a sacred office.”
You know, dirty minds will read that last word as something slightly different, with an 'ri' in it.
I loved reading the last two chapters. Hoping for more
Really... I understand her frustration, but she is a bit of a bitch.
Without more context, I can't really see Twilight as actually doing anything overtly negative to her, yes... her very existence is affected by Twilight's life and fame, but really... get over it.
This newest one will definitely blow her cover to her family.
Holy damn she loves her. Light loves and idolizes Twilight as only a younger sister with an untouchably accomplished older one could. But she finds herself in her shadow, forced to live facing achievements she will likely never come close to matching.
Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. And only a deep, pure love cold give birth to such profound hate.
Curious as the piece was both an extreme attack and betrayal of trust, revealing Twilight is a virgin and cementing that image, making it even harder for her to get laid (unless Rainbow gets her to notice her advance - and you can rip my ships from my cold, dead fingers), and a sign of respect for what's likely her greatest idol and image of what pony kind should strive to attain.
I love how you're writing light, specially her relationship with art
Her relationship to double, though... That could get all kinds of messed up. Let's just hope she lets go of her hang ups with sex and enjoys a healthy sex drive with her bug girl/friend.
9287922
She's a teenager. Give it some five years and she will, those things are not rushed.
"and the chiten along her neck"
"and the chitin along her neck"?
"Light didn’t answers right away"
"Light didn’t answer right away"?
Hm. Bit puzzled about what forms Double Time uses for her weekly sex thing. Does she spend a lot of time in her natural form, even though it lacks some particular pieces of relevant equipment, does stuff on her disguises transfer to her natural form here, or is what's seen on her natural form only a small fraction of everything that gets on her?
"“Okay.” Light whispered"
"“Okay,” Light whispered"?
"and when she was nearly flush red, and Double Take leaned"
"and when she was nearly flush red, Double Take leaned"?
"Double Take’s hot breath was"
"Double Time’s hot breath was"?
"I’m here.” Double Take said"
"I’m here,” Double Time said"?
...
Twilight. Twilight, you have such very bad timing...
I mean, wow. Did you take a cue on when to visit from Discord? Possibly after having a spat with Fluttershy?
"There was a bench not far away."
Wasn't Twilight already sitting on a bench?
"They found Twilight a block away from the building, sitting on a bench with a good view of her statue."
"and he brow furrowed"
"and her brow furrowed"?
"Her tone while still polite, ceased"
"Her tone, while still polite, ceased"?
"need you do this one"
"need you to do this one"?
Good grief, Twilight. Looks like you're picking up some bad habits from Rainbow Dash.
9288003
Thank you so much for these edits! They're all fixed. In case it isn't clear, this new story is unedited -- so more of these typos are slipping through. I'll try to catch more for the next chapter.
Losing her virginity like that could have psychological consequences
Does she? All we've seen so far is Light's perspective on Twilight and pretty much everyone else (hate) and yours (she's shallow). And yet Twilight gets along with... everyone else. Or maybe she's just selling out in the name of peace?
That said, wonderful job of portraying the cracking genius child's outward expression of internal conflict. I mean that. And it will be even better (hopefully) when we can see a little more of what's actually going on inside her.
9288042
No problem, but you're welcome. :)
(It looks like you missed this one, though, left from checking something in a previous chapter: 9287941)
Though thanks; I don't mind too much here and know how easily typos can get past, but of course it is nicer not to have them. :)
Hm, the painting of a "stranger" picturing Twilight as a virgin for all to see and for everypony to know. Shortly after their argument... that won't totally end with the other royals and Light's family in general discovering their youngest secret identity at all!
Surely they were already looking for the one who disrespects them and their public image in such a crude manner, how nice of Light Step to make it so easy now.
I had an idea for a similar story a while ago, but it would be a bit different: It would be about a descendant of Starswirl the Bearded. Twilight Sparkle finds out about him and that he lives way out on the edge of civilization, and she visits him and starts pestering him about various things, being a massive Starswirl fangirl, of course. About five chapters in, he finally manages to make her stop by asking her a question: "What's my name?" And Twilight is startled to realize that she doesn't know it, even though she'd heard it in Chapter One. She'd heard Starswirl's Descendant just fine, but she hadn't actually paid any attention to his actual name. As she realizes this, he gives a nice little speech that goes like this:
The plan kinda got ruined when they brought Starswirl the Bearded back.
Well there are definitely worse things she could have done for Twilight, though I think that any member of the royal family will probably be able to connect the dots after this.
Another intriguing chapter. We're going more and more from Light being a grumpy jerk to seeing why exactly she is like that in the first place, beyond just Twilight having the same parents.
And knowing Twilight's luck and personality, I assume this isn't the first time something she barged into a situation with Light without thinking.
I also noticed the confirmation that yes, Cadance sponsored that building without first asking Light or possibly even telling her about it. That's probably even worse than having to live in the Twilight complex.
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It's not like she cares what they think. The secret identity is meant to fool the everyday pony who doesn't know her and just thinks of her as Twilight's sister.
Tensions rise! This newest art piece of Light could easily reveal her secret identity. Here's hoping she can at least get her degree before it all goes to tartarus.
9288190
I dunno, I think you can still write it. Even has an easy source for drama, the descendant actually meeting Starswirl.
Goddamn, Lightt. Twist that dagger, why don't you?
You, Sir, do depict individuals that are disturbed quite well.
Aside from the second her, shame you can't wash the 'rainbow bug' look away, blegh.
Good work on this, I adore how this evolving, it's incredible.
While this will undoubtedly reveal Burner's identity to Twilight, I have my suspicions that Twilight's not going to spread the information around the family. Twilight really cares for Light Step and hates causing unnecessary conflict, so I can totally see her not mentioning it to anyone else.
pankster -> prankster
Or the hooves of one, even.
9288190
That sounds like a really interesting story. How would Twilight have reacted to that speech?
Wow Twi. I know you were socially stunted, but I'd think by now you'd know that normal people use doors when visiting someone, especially when it comes to college dorm rooms.
you know i wonder if light when light is old and grey she will ask twilight for her forgiveness for hating her when she was so young
9288474
Eh, I’ve known plenty of folks who’d tap on a window when coming over. It’s endearing...when nothing embarrassing happens.
9287843
I think it was an attempt for Light to come out of her shell a little more, and understand someone who she likes. I think her saying the whole "coltfriend" thing was a cover up to Twilight, I don't think Light planned it to be any more than that. It sounded like Light might have been asking someone she trusts to take her virginity, in an effort to understand herself, and her... friend?... better.
9288722
Maybe, but it’s not really clear how much time has passed here, so it’s entirely probable that it’s not totally a cover-up. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if it is or not.
What really matters is that the change in Light is very visible; her latest mural isn’t even that bad! Sure, it’ll probably make Twilight inordinately unhappy, but it’s endeared her to basically everyone in Canterlot. And likely also made it so she’ll have to look for dates elsewhere, but I don’t really see how that’s a bad thing.
The sad thing is, Light might have gotten Twilight on her side if she'd explained the situation in more detail. (I wouldn't be surprised if her big sister taught her that citation spell.) But given the monumentally bad timing, I can hardly blame Light for being so confrontational. And the whole "I'm immortal (and, incidentally, you're not)" thing...
Twilight tries so hard to make her little sister like her that she virtually guarantees the opposite. And Light doesn't really have a healthy outlet for her resentment and loathing of herself and others. Especially not with the latest mural all but announcing her identity. This is going to get even uglier in short order.
Art is passion, often squeezed out like a paint tube because everything in the artist has no other way to go.
Light Step is definitely an artist at this point.
9288739
I dunno, I think the mural is a very cold and calculated dig at her sister... Twilight showed embarrassment at being a virgin, Light's current mural depicts Twilight in such a way that Twilight is both very embarrassed about, and thanks to the moniker of "the virginal princess" is unlikely to be able to shake, as who would want to deflower a virginal goddess.
Well, okay, a lot of people would, but ponies, maybe not so. Also, we don't have literal gods in our world that can banish someone to the moon for a thousand years.
Then again, Twilight did say that the altercation happened "last semester", so perhaps a few months have passed. I guess it isn't clear. But as far as time between the "date" and the meeting with Twilight, it does say that Double Time was still in her pegasus form, so I am guessing that means there was maybe a few minutes, or hours at best, between Twilight's visit and them meeting. And given they way Light lies out of her ass, coming up with the boyfriend name there and then, I'd say she is lying specifically to lie to her sister. Perhaps out of embarrassment, or out of covering up her own shame (she is still only about a hour or so from having decided to try casual movie-going, so might still be coming to terms with it.)
I'm a little surprised by the nine year gap, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention before. I sort of figured that this was set further in the future, so maybe the gap would be something like 15 years. Enough so that Light Step can't remember a time before her sister was a princess.
Also, this is just another reminder that pony names can have some pretty terrible implications about destiny.
Anti-social? Twi?
camo.derpicdn.net/f6b962afcc67781807dd1a895d062ddf70691d10?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FiAfNYwfQu-I%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg
9289654
Perhaps.
But then, no one in Manehattan knew who she was, wings be damned. So, worst case, she has to date outside Canterlot.
But consider this: Light Step, perhaps, wanted to have sex because she thought this would catch her up to Twilight. So, beyond something embarrassing, it’s a victory for her too.
I can't relate much here to the feelings of being shamed or embarrassed of virginity. I only say that because as a female reader it kind of pulls me out of the story a bit to see female characters act they way they do here, having more masculine insecurities and priorities. From what experience I have as a woman thing in a woman body ... we don't really give each other crap for being virgins. At least past the age of 16. The opposite, actually. I tell other women that I'm asexual, and while I get the occasional "That's odd, I don't get it" if I ever mention one of my rare sexual encounters it is cause for deep introspection/unwanted discussion into what I did, what they did, what we both felt, and more or less its all a veneer for determining whether it not it was socially acceptable that the sex happened. Usually more likely to get pissed at someone using virgin as an insult than having any shame in being one, or being assumed one. The social expectation to be sexually experienced isn't really placed on women (well, white cis women) anyway. If we wanted to hurt one another and be petty fucks, we wouldn't imply that being a virgin was shameful, but that not being an object of male desire is; i.e - being fat, ugly, unwanted, unfeminine, unhygienic, too undeveloped, too old, too smart, badly dressed, etc.
Maybe because of that, I don't take Light's artwork here as purely vindictive (or, I guess, I wouldn't really understand the insult if it was). Twilight came to grill her little sister over her mistake, bring up her flaws, without being willing to admit any of her own. That painting is showing Twilight what that feels like, that unwanted attention to something you consider private. Light is the one who won't say what is wrong, Light is the one harboring all the ill will, Light is the one who needs friendship lessons from her big sister, and Light is the one who needs positive reinforcement and that same kind of unasked for paternalism that Light participated in with Double Time.
Light wants Twilight to be honest, and I guess that would start with Twilight admitting that she doesn't like her sister, either. Or maybe Light wants Twilight to say that so she'll better be able to make sense of, or feel less guilty for feeling, her feelings towards her family.
IDK YOU WRITE REALLY COMPLEX AND REALISTICALLY CONTRADICTORY CHARACTERS AND DON'T SPOON FEED THEIR EVERY THOUGHT AND MOTIVATION AND EMOTION TO THE READER SO ITS HARD TO TELL AND I HAVE TO THINK AND I LIKE THAT
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Thank you for sharing this. When I write female characters, I try to be cognizant of the social pressures society puts on women, rather than just writing them as men with skirts. But I personally can only see society from the male perspective, and sometimes that colors the outcome. I appreciated getting to see Light's character broken down in a way that highlights my own biases and assumptions.
One thing I was going for in this story was a partial flip of gender expectations. With Equestria generally being portrayed as a matriarchal society, Light describes her brother as a "trophy husband" who "spends a rich mare's money." This is intended to be a direct reversal of real world views regarding trophy wives. By contrast, Double Time engages in (as you noted) unprompted paternalism with Light. The idea that this is what Light wanted is a gender stereotype from the real world that was not flipped.
Double Time is something of an interesting middle ground in this regard. The way I try to write her is that she's not really male or female, but tries to act the part of whatever role she's in based on what she thinks is "normal" for ponies. This means that while she isn't a part of pony gender norms, she isn't immune to them either. For instance, when Light invites her to "the movies," she turns into a large, classically attractive male figure and engages in paternalistic behavior. She does this because based on reading books, watching movies, etc, she thinks this is what a male is "supposed" to do.
Light does not particularly care about sex. In early chapters, she calls Double Time a "whore" not because she's offended by promiscuity, but because she thinks it will hurt Double Time's feelings. When it doesn't, she gives up and switches to another insult.
Here, she isn't calling Twilight a virgin because she thinks there's anything wrong with being a virgin. She's doing it to poke Twilight in the eye. The mural is publicly associating Twilight with an image of innocence and childlike purity because Light knows that will make it hard for ponies to take Twilight seriously.
Twilight doesn't care if ponies think she's had sex or not. But she does care if they constantly think of her as "the virgin princess" instead of evaluating her for her accomplishments.
Best comment ever.
I wonder if Light's family would actually ever cut her off? Financially, I mean, like Twilight threatened.
The painting will take on an entirely different connotation next week when the billboard undergoes a pre-programed changed to an advertisement for hemorrhoid ointment.
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Next week is when Twilight remember she is a monarch and can have people put in a dungeon in the place she banished them to.
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Triarch, I think. Maybe. Honestly I’m not certain that even just Celestia and Luna are co-equal rulers...Celestia really does seem to be in charge, with Luna definitely coming across as a junior partner. Then again Faust’s original intent was for Celestia to be Queen, with Hasbro mandating that she instead be a princess due to Queens being associated with evil.
/pedant.
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I've been lurking and over-analyzing your fic for a while, so you actually responding to my comment. Woah. The anxiety.
But I wouldn't have wrote anything except, well, I knew you had an answer. You put a lot of deliberate effort into your story, characters, and presentation, and while I love to pieces that the lack of transparency leads to good brain food, and ultimately a better read, I also think it's an incredible shame you don't get to write lengthy line-by-line essays about your own work without losing that characteristic, to a degree. You write great stories, and you also do great navel-gazing and behind-the-scenes commentary that's enjoyable to read.
Ahahahaha. I love it. XD
That last line was hilarious!
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Well, I'm aware that Light doesn't expect her family — especially Cadance — to actually back her on this; the impression I got was that she also expected the school faculty to be too intimidated by her family, or more specifically the possibility of losing their funding, to actually call her on her bluff. Her reasoning, as I understand it, essentially boils down to "I know that Cadance wouldn't so much as lift an eyebrow for my sake, but I also know that the professors and staff are too scared of getting on the bad side of the people paying their salaries to actually go and press this issue with her".
In other words, she's counting on her family's reputation in two different aspects — she's counting on their official relationship with the university to give weight to her words, and she's counting on people being too intimated by that and their reputation to approach them on this matter.
Now, I'm not saying that she wasn't justified in calling her professor out — I'd argue she was, although whether she chose the best way to do that is another argument entirely — but I am saying that there is a fair bit of hypocrisy in how she openly disdains her relatives and their status but still relies on the benefits afforded her by that status.
i get the feeling that step would be greatly annoyed if she took her art to a place where she'd then earn her wings
Yeah, she's most definitely getting that "Princess of Teenage Rebellion" title down the line.
Very good story so far, I really like how her problems are so very 'mundane' and 'ordinary', but also that just because of that it doesn't meant that for someone her age and with her life experience those problems aren't a 'big deal' from her point of view.
Have a like!
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Maybe Twilight ought to use a line from one of Patchwork Poltergeist's stories. Quoting from memory, here:
"You're right, I don't like you. But I'm not here because I like you. If I just liked you, I'd sleep in and just let you work it out however."
Wow. Light is just being an arse here. A spoiled hateful arse.
Also, this hate is not something good to live with.