Christmas mini CYOA

>>29123031
Forget the party we have to deliver the gift

Where should the package go? can you deliver it and still not miss the entire party?

>>29123043

Don't be a queer, parties like this happen once a year.

>>29123043
To clarify still try and get to the party but the present is more important.

>>29123055
Pssh, that's just an excuse so rara can find some living meat to fill her ever expanding cooch

>>29123087
More like ever shrinking
She scares off all the stalions she tries to court

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>>29123043
>>29123046
>>29123077
It's not that far from here, and I guess I could trot all the way...
After a few minutes I reach the apartment building where the package was supposed to be sent, but no one answers when I knock the door. After a moment a janitor peeks into the hallway, giving me a wary glance.
"What do you want at this of the night?" He asks. I move so that light falls better over me, "Oh, Lady Rarity, I didn't notice it was you." He scratches the back of his head apologetically.
"Don't worry, but would you know who lives here?"
"Room seventy five...?" He thinks for a moment, "That'd be the new girl, she must be at the hospital now."

Something requires my atention, back ASAP

>>29123031
Cat! Put it on your back!

>>29123210
To the hospital
If we run out of time to go to our party we can spread hearthswarming cheer there instead.

>>29123210

Leave him the gift, do NOT go to the hospital. It's party time senpai.

>>29123210
Does he know why she is at the hospital?
Also, make a mental note to chew your food carefully, make sure Twilight has the emotional support she needs, and learn how to accessorize face masks.

Bump in hope of a tiebreaker

>>29123210
A party is for us. A hospital visit is for that one pony. We are generosity. Go to the hospital. She needs it more.

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>>29123325
>>29123239
>>29124278
>>29123325
"The hospital? Whyever?"
"She had to take some test, I think. It's Canterlot's General, I think."
I nod and walk out of the building, trotting by the time I am outside. Canterlot's general is not all that far from the 93rd street.
I arrive panting, and clean some sweat from my forehead before entering.
"Could I see...?" I take the package to see the name on its label, "Miss Earth Dance?" I ask the receptionist.
"Visit time is over," She doesn't turn away from the computer she's working on.

>>29124359
Tell Etherbreeze that sitting that close to the screen isn't good for her. Also mention that you are not a visitor, you are just delivering her package. You are here in an official capacity.

>>29124359
Ask if she can get the package to her

>>29124379
>>29124514
"Isn't it bad for you to have your face so close to the computer?" She doesn't answer. "And I don't come as a visitor, I need to deliver a package!"
"If you leave it with me, it'll be delivered to her as soon as possible after proper verification of it's contents." She says mechanically.
I give a look to the package. If I remember correctly it has rather... private clothing inside it. I am not sure if she'd appreciate some intern snooping into it before it's delivered and doing who knows what.
"Can't you get it to her yourself?"
"No." She answers plainly.

>>29124650
We're the element of generosity. Does that get us any special consideration?

>>29124650
Operation sneak into the hospital is a go.

5 AM over here, napping.

>>29125007
Night, Cammy

Bump for break ins

>>29125776

>>29125776

BEB

Bump for sick horses

>>29124650
Pretend to leave. You can use telekinesis on the door to make it seem like you left, right? Then see >>29124715

This isn't the Time's End CYOA, what the fuck Cammy? Did we seriously not pick the secret option?!

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>>29128851
>>29124715
>>29124713
"I- don't you recognize me?" I smile when she turns, and grimace when she shakes her head, "Lady Rarity, element of generosity, noble, and fashionista...?"
"Ah." It's all she says before turning back to the computer.
Hrm.
I open the door and close it with telekinesis while walking to the hallway as silently as I can, containing the surprise when the lights turn on when I approach them. They must be those new ones that save energy.
I wait warily for a second, but it seems like the receptionist didn't notice me.
Ha! And Rainbow says I don't have it in me to be a rascal.

>>29128893
Where does the orange line lead

>>29128994
I read the signs on the lines closer to me
>Intensive Care
>Emergency Centre
>Oncology
>Neurology
>Cardiology
I hear steps approaching from around the corner

>>29129023
Shit we better get out of here cardiology seems her most likely location run but not so fast you make a big noise.

>>29129023
Our gift receiver is getting tests apparently. Chances are she's in one of the areas to our right in that case, so we can head towards cardiology first.

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>>29129182
>>29129053
I trot to the Cardiology ward as quietly as I can, then turn arround to see behind me.
It doesn't seem like anyone's noticed me yet.

>>29129543
Peer in the ajar door

>>29129587
And whoever is inside, tell them that we are ever so sorry, darling, but we seem to have lost our way trying to find [NAME OF MARE HERE]. Might you be so kind as to direct us to where she currently is? We must have misheard the directions we got from the mare up front.

>>29129650
>>29129587
I peek into the ajar door, looking into the eye of a colt who scrambles away from the door.
"Calm down," I say in a soothing tone before he can open his mouth, "What are you called?" I glance around the room, and see a stallion nearby.
"Are you a vulgar?" Asks the colt nervously.
"A... vulgar? Do you mean a burglar? I add.
He nods.
"No, I am just searching for a friend and got lost. Do you know someone called Earth Dance?"
He nods.
"And could you tell me where to find her?"
"She always goes to the pink rooms..."

>>29129857
Pink is oncology. Sounds like she has cancer.

>>29129857
Thank the colt and wish him sucess with his heart.
Tell him to come by the boutique in a few days and you will make him a free hat as thanks.

Head for oncology

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>>29129970
>>29129877
"Thanks," I move as if to leave, but stop almost immediately, "If I can ask, why are you here?"
"My dad got sick, and the doctors let me stay with him." He gives a worried glance to the sleeping stallion.
"That's nice of them... and you, too. Do you know where the Carousel Boutique is?" He nods, "Pass by whenever you can, will you?"
I walk away to the Oncology ward without waiting for an answer, avoiding a few orderlies in the way.
It doesn't take me long to find a door with her name on its card, and I notice that there's a note stuck under it:
>She's ready to go, but I didn't want her to go outside with this temperature in a day she won't find any cab.
> -Bitter Drink.
I knock the door softly and open it enough to peek in, startling a furless pegasus, "Can I enter?"
"Do I know you?" She asks back, moving her wings in discomfort.

>>29130607
If you didn't already, you are about to now. I brought you a package and friendship.

It's naked.

>>29130607
I brought you a package from my store that the deliverypony forgot

>>29130704
>>29130647
"Not personally, but I brought something for you," I show it to her, "The delivery pony must've forgotten to grab it."
She hesitates to come to me, so I float it to her in telekinesis. A faint blush appears in her face for a moment when she opens it.
"Oh." It's all she says for a moment. "Thanks."
"Is anything wrong?" I can't help but ask her.
"Nothing new." She goes back to reading her book without another word.

>>29130978
Ask what she is reading.

>>29130978
Would you like some company? Or a friend? Or fashion advice?

>>29130997
>>29131111
"What are you reading?"
It takes some hesitation, but she lifts the cover so that I can read it. 'Guide to the diagnosis, care, and prevention of common ills.'
"There wasn't any other book here I hadn't read already." She explains when I don't say anything.
"There isn't anyone who would stay with you?"
"I am not from town." She lowers her gaze.
"And would you mind if I stayed?" I ask after a moment.
"I don't think you are supposed to be here at this time of the night. And you were nice enough already." She adds, gesturing to the package.

>>29131301
A note on the door mentioned you could probably leave now would you like to come to a party with me.
Dont push it though if she says no simply wish her a happy hearthswarming and be on your way.

>>29131363
Push it just a LITTLE. Friendship is important.

>>29131301
"You know, dahling, I own a workshop brimming with both feathers and glue. I'm sure we could set you up with a brand new look. Purple is in this year!

>>29131363
>>29131370
"Then... the note on the door said you could leave? I am going to a party and the others wouldn't mind it if I bring a guest."
"It's too cold for me outside," She swashes her limp tail uncomfortably, "I'd love to go somewhere, but I forgot to bring a jacket on my way here."
"It's not too far, only a street or two." I press on.
"The doctors said I really shouldn't get cold."

Paused.

>>29131572
Very well i hope you get well and i wish you a happy hearthswarming.

If there is any problem with the clothes feel free to drop by the boutique and we can fix it right up

Is there a window if so try and leave though that to minimise our chance of being discovered but make sure you close it behind you.
If not just walk along the hallways avoid getting seen if possible but it would be better to be seen walking the aisles then to be seen obvisouly hiding now that you have delivered the package its not a big deal if you get caught.

Head to your party.

>>29131572
Hold on a second, I will make you a stylish coat out of hospital sheets and window curtains. BECAUSE I AM DRESS HORSE AND I CAN DO THAT!

>>29131572
You know, there's no chance I'm making it to that party on time at this point anyway. I could pop back to my boutique and get you something warm if you like. I'd think it was an awful shame to just leave you here bored and alone on Hearthswarming.

>>29131714
Or this is good too, actually.

>>29131611
Fuck change my vote from this to
>>29131714

>>29132337

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>>29131716
>>29131714
>>29131831
"I could get you a jacket," My gaze wanders over the blankets and curtains, "I think I could do something that'd highlight your eye colour and..." I notice the look she's giving me, "I'll ask my friends if I can burrow a jacket for you, could you wait me in the lobby?"
She nods and I jump off the window, not wanting to risk being found by a orderly.
Soon we are walking to Velvet's and Nightlight's household, and I notice that Earth is not following me anymore.
"You--" I turn to her, standing a short distance from me, "Wait, you are Rarity."
Did I really forget to present myself? "Yes?"
"I thought-- I, I knew what you looked like, but I hadn't realized," She gulps, "I am sorry if I offended you or did something wrong or--"
"Don't." I sigh and walk back to her, "Please, you have no idea of how tiresome that routine gets."
"I mean I knew I had ordered that from you but I thought you had employees--"
"I do, but don't think about it. Can you do that?"
She hesitates, but nods. The short way left is made in silence.
Before long I knock a door, and Velvet opens it. Age has made her venerable rather than old, which seems to be a common trait in her family.
"Is this your guest?" She barely twitches when she notices the lack of fur, "Do come in."
"Sorry for being so late," I do as she says, prodding Earth to do the same.
"With the people I invite?" She rolls her eyes, throwing Twilight a glance, "I didn't expect /anyone/ to arrive in time."
Neither Celestia or Twilight notice us, both too entrenched in a heated argument.
"Make yourselves comfortable, I was about to bring some food." She walks away.
Earth sits with me between her and the alicorns, throwing them nervous glances.

Gotta go pretty soon, no time for images.

>>29134182
Introduce yourself and your guest to Twiggles and Celery in the hope that it might change the conversation topic and end their argument.

>>29134182
We should probably tell Earth about Velvet and Nightlight, so she knows whose house she's in.

>>29134416
>>29134607
"Celestia?" I try in the hopes that they may notice me.
"...taxes are already complex as they are, adding one more layer..."
"Twilight." I try again.
"And I am telling you the current system means money goes virtually nowhere!" She answers Celestia instead.
"A measly amount of money, which I prefer to people not knowing how much they should pay."
"A measly amount of money times thousand!" Twilight bangs the table.
"I know your formula is simple for us, but most people don't care about--"
"Girls, what have I told you about politicking at the table?" Calls Velvet from the kitchen, cutting them both dry despite the low volume of her voice. I wonder if having foals would teach me how to do that.
"I apologize." Celestia curtsies in the door's general direction, giving Twilight a look.
"Me too." Twilight's look says clearly that she isn't done with the subject.
"You too what?" Insists Velvet.
"I am sorry." Twilight seems to notice us for the first time. "Oh. Hey."
Celestia smirks -an expression that I've come to know means she's trying not to laugh- and turns to us. "Yes, hey, miss..."
"Earth Dance." She bows, extending her wings under the jacket, "It'sAnHonourToMeetYouPerson--"
"Stand up, Velvet is the only queen inside this house." Celestia cuts her gently.
"Damn right." Adds Velvet from the kitchen.
"And it's a pleasure to meet you, miss Dance. Would it be too much to ask you to not mind my title tonight and to have fun?"
"We are just two old mares who like to play politics." Adds Twilight.
"Yes." Earth's lie is transparent, "I can do that, yes."
"And I am glad to hear that."
1/2

>>29134999
Nightlight enters with a shopping bag before she can say anything else, and I pip in, "Earth Dance, this is Nightlight, Velvet Pump's husband..."
"A pleasure." He makes a curtsey and heads for the kitchen.
"...and Twilight's father. And you already know who Celestia and Twilight are." I make a point of omitting their titles this one time, "The others should be arriving soon."
"Others?" She looks at the door nervously.
"Spike--"
"Amber needed his help." Interrupts Twilight.
"--won't be coming it seems, but I trust Pinkie and Luna can?" Celestia nods.
As if on cue Luna crashes through the door, her mane covered in snow and wings in a thin sheet of ice.
"I'll pay it!" She exclaims before even hitting the floor and sliding on the floor a few centimetres. Earth starts moving to her in panic, but Luna stands immediately, seemingly unharmed. "How late am I?" She asks, gasping for breath.
The going away was canceled.

>>29135004
I'd say slightly more than is fashionable, but then I only just arrived myself.

>>29135037
Seconding this

>>29135037
"Not much more than I am." I cringe at the ice in her wings, thinking about that must it feel like.
"Good, good." She nods with a gulp. "I had to knock a nasty storm away from here and... Hi. Do I know you?" She asks Earth.
"I don't think so?" She steps back, looking as if she was about to explode from nervousness, "I- I've only--"
A gasp interrupts her, the air growing thinner.
"YOU!" Pinkie shouts from the remains of the doorway.
"Me?" Earth points at herself.
"YOU!" Repeats Pinkie before running to her and looking at her from all angles.
"What is it!?" Earth tries to cover herself in near panic.
"You are..." Pinkie puts a hoof on each of Earth's cheeks and pulls her face to her own.
"I am what!?"
"You are pink!"
Earth only stares at her, deflated.
"Pink?"
"Pink ponies represent!" Pinkie carries her to Celestia and grabs each in a single-armed hug, "To defend our rights and make a name of our own!" She gives Twilight a long look while hmming, but doesn't grab her.
Celestia giggles, but Earth seems to be processing what just happened.
"Pink?" She asks again.
"Yes, my sister on arms!" Pinkie lets go of her.
"The Princess is pink?" She asks.
"Very slightly." Celestia nods.
"And you are Lad-- Pinkie Pie?"
"The pinkerest of them all!"
Earth nods slowly.
"And I am here to smile! And also, to do some other stuff. See ya in a bit!" She hops outside again, both Celestia and Earth nearly falling from the sudden lack of pony bearing their weight.
1/2

>>29135877
"You get used to her." Celestia regains her composure quickly.
"Like I got used to my door being blasted to pieces." Velvet enters holding several bowls of snacks floating after her in telekinesis and sets them on the table, "Have this until I am done with the main course."
"Wait," Earth takes the jacket off and offers it, "This is yours, right?"
Velvet turns to see it and shrugs, "My husband's, but keep it on until someone" She looks at Twilight. "Fixes the door."
"Let me." Luna's magic grabs the pieces and floats them to their original place like a jigsaw, "I trust neither of you had as much trouble as I did?"

>>29135891
I had to be extra sneaky

>>29135891
No, I can say with certainty we did not attack any storms on the way here.

>>29135908
>>29135917
"I did have to be discrete, but nothing of that scale." I sit at the table, inviting Earth to do the same. "What have you been up to?"
"Put a storm in a bubble shield and kicked it away." Luna sits with Celestia shaking the ice from her wings now that the door is fixed.
"I made a new formula for taxes that'd save money for all parts--"
"Twilight." Celestia gives her a warning look.
Twilight ignores her, "And worked some more on spell automation."
"And Fluttershy?" I grab some food from the bowls in telekinesis.
"Yesterday I helped her walk some, but Rainbow--" The door bangs open, Pinkie entering again with gifts on her back. "Pinkie, we just fixed that!"
"But Twi, gifts!" She throws a box at her, which is catched by Celestia just centimetres from her face, and delivers the rest without further ado.
Earth is surprised when she is given one too, looking from the small box to Pinkie and to the box again, "You had something for me?"
"You silly, I always have extra gifts." Pinkie smiles back and trots to the kitchen to give Nightlight and Velvet their gifts, humming something.
Earth looks at her box some more before putting it on the table, "I think I am a little scared of her."

>>29136564
Dont worry pinkie is a little odd but shes harmless
You want scary you should meet some of her sisters

>>29136564
Pinkie is nobody you need to fear. Yes, she's intense, loud, and all over the place, but more than anything else she just wants to make as many people happy as she can. She would never try to do anything that would make you feel bad, I promise.

She cares too much for that.

>>29136613
>>29136736
"She is loud, intense, overbearing more often than not, and I love her for it. Don't worry, the only thing she wants is to make people happy."
"Aww," I receive a surprise kiss on the cheek, "But I can't make people happy, that'd be creepy! I help them be happy." Pinkie sits between me and Celestia, "What did I miss?"
"Not much, we were only catching up."
"Well I partied about as much as usual and I think maybe perhaps I can leave the Cake twins to handle the shop tonight if nothing goes wrong I guess." There's a slightly nervous sheen on her eye for a moment. "Do you have any siblings?" She asks Earth.
"Well y--"
"Don't ever leave them alone with matches. They do the things you did, /only now you are the one who has to fix them/."
"Wasn't that nearly twenty years ago?" Asks Celestia.
"And I just finished paying the rebuilt kitchen!"
"Because you won't let me pay it for you!" Groans Twilight.
"Because that's cheating!" Pinkie snorts, "How many times do I have to tell you?"
Twilight opens her mouth, but Pinkie stuffs it with potato chips.
"No arguing in your mom's house, silly filly."
Nightlight enters with a vinyl and puts it in an old, well cared for player, "Dinner will be ready in a jiffy. Anyone minds the music?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEJW_j8bjmg
We shake our heads, so he goes back to the kitchen with a nod.
"So," Pinkie turns to me again, her head resting on her hooves, "How did you two meet each other? Was it a magical week in Saddle Arabia? A fated meeting of eyes among a crowd? Tell us everything."
"I must admit some curiosity." Adds Luna, getting a nod from Twilight.
Paused for the night

>>29137366
Oh nothing that exciting i was simply delivering a parcel that the deliverypony forgot about.

>>29137366
I demand a drawing of that kiss.

>>29137380
Tomorrow™

>>29137366
Oh there's not much to tell really. I was delivering an outfit to Earth and learned she had no plans for the night. Thought it would be nice if she joined us.

Bedtime bump

beb

>>29138290
>>29137376
"Nothing so fantastic, my courier forgot to deliver her gift, today of all days..." I shrug. "It did include some sneaking, thought."
"Ha! I will so tell this to Rainbow." Pinkie grins. "Stealthy unicorn on the loose!"
"Whatever shall we do." Twilight rolls her eyes with a small smile. "Diamond-Gaze strikes once again."
"Begin the hunt immediately, that is!" Luna sets a hoof on the table, mock bravado filling her, "The fearsome Diamond shall not be stood for!"
"Luna." Velvet peeks in from the kitchen with a small, forced smile, and we all follow her gaze.
Luna looks at her hoof -which is, in fact, /in/ the table- for a moment and beggins repairing the hole without another word.
Celestia covers a smile with her hoof before talking, "And I trust the sneaking wasn't anything I should mind?"
"I just didn't want hospital orderlies to peep into her gift."
"Oooh what was it?" Pinkie stares at me as if doing it hard enough could yield her the answer.
Earth tenses, but doesn't say anything. "No can do, you know my records are private."
"Aw." Pinkie crosses her arms. "I am still adding her to my files, thought."
"...files?" Asks Earth.
"It's a long story." I kick Pinkie's leg under the table."
Velvet shouts from the kitchen, "White wine or red?"

Updating from public wi fi that may go down at any moment.

>>29141346
White- a Sauvignon Blanc, if you have any.

>>29141390
"Do you have more of that Sauvignon bottle?" I ask when the others have answered.
"Not that much." She answers after a moment.
"Any white will do, then."
"What's with Canterlot and wine?" Asks Pinkie, giving Celestia an intense look.
"You seem to be assuming I know?"
"I wouldn't mind some Apple family cider." Twilight gives her glass a longing look. "And I have noticed the rarity of anything but wine in Canterlot."
"It's only a coincidence." Insists Celestia.
"Tia..." Luna gives her a look.
"What?"
"Don't tell me you forgot it." Luna keeps looking at her, and then smiles suddenly, "Oh, I knew you hadn't."
"I refuse to consider something so silly could be related."
"Oooh story time!" Pinkie grabs some popcorn from her mane.
"Pinkie, please, it's not important."
"All of history is important." Twilight looks offended when she says it.
"Not /all/ of it of course." Insists Celestia.
"/All of it/." Twilight insists back.

>>29141717
Listen intently
>>29141346
I need art of luna breaking the table

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>>29141717
I'd say any history someone dearly wants forgotten is /very/ interesting. Luna, care to share?

Have to go, back in an hour or two

Bump for storys of historical intrest.

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>>29141739
Too tired to resume today, but have a quick drawing.
'Nighty.

>>29143150
Nice
Good night

Bumpity

beb

>>29145535

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>>29141747
>>29141739
"I'd like to hear it too." I pip in, adding to Celestia's anxiety. Earth nods distractedly besides me, staring at nothing in particular.
"Well..." Luna smiles widely, "Shortly after we had done away with Discord--"
"Oh!" Twilight claps her hooves together excitedly and trots away, "Lemme get my notebook!"
"I am getting back at you for this." Whispers Celestia quietly enough that I barely hear it.
"Done!" Twilight hops back in with a notebook and a pen on her snout.
"As I was saying, shortly after our first defeat of Discord -he was 'mad king' those days and insisted in no capitalization, since he hadn't gotten the whim of naming himself yet- and while we were still building a proper country, Celestia had a problem...
This problem was one that no amount of power, no skill with weapons -and believe me she already had a lot of it those days- and no intimidation would do away with.
Celestia was bored.
Sure, we had a lot of things to do, but even still there were moments when we were supposed to relax. She'd make exercise and find people to challenge to duels, but it wasn't long before people wasn't willing to try to win against, well, the new god-queen, because people really was into deifying us back then.
>Celestia: They just had had a bad god, I guess they wanted good ones for a while.
Probably, yes. Now, meet...
I don't think I can remember his actual name, let's name him Jack.
Jack was a stallion who had fame with the ladies and, more important right now, came from a family of distillers. Some lived through Discord by challenging him, others by running away, Jack's family did by being as drunk as they could and going along with the flow.
Celestia decided to take distilling as a hobby, and to find the best possible teacher for that, which quickly led us to Jack. I have to admit I understood his fame-- He was rather dashing in a way.
>C: Yes, his breath dashed to you and you dashed away.
Oh, shush you.

1/3

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>>29146126
Jack was rather... worshippy.
>C: Unbearably so.
You loved every second of worship back then. But eventually understood that the sun-goddess wanted to learn from him. From him! I have rarely ever seen a stallion get so excited to be on top of a mare, if that gives you any idea.
After some alcohol to relax him, Celestia started learning. They started with how to properly take care of the grapevines, then how to grab them from the plant with her hooves because magic changed the taste slightly...
>C: Which I still believe is only an old mares tale.
...and how to make barrels properly. All in all it took several years before she made as much as a drop of wine, and rumours about them were rampant by then, but both Celestia and Jack were completely oblivious to all of them. Especially Celestia.
>C: I did know about most of them, Luna.
Puh-lease. Jack had gotten used to Celestia by then, and only curtsied every single time she entered the room without failure--
>C: I also ordered him to eat some mint every day, after the first moon.
...and as I was saying Celestia had reduced his disliking of him to a modicum. Tartarus, she would even go a week without arguing with him!
>C: Once we got over the whole worship deal I found he was rather pasionate about his craft.

>>29146135
Indeed he was. Bear in mind that wine wasn't a posh drink in this region back then, or even very well known, so he sort of saw himself as a harbinger of a new era of alcoholism, and wanted Celestia to help him with that. It didn't help him in any way that most people didn't even know what was she learning from him, with rumors having deformed the story in all posible ways and no mass media as we know it today.
So he proposed her that they started this sort of... What did he call it?
>C: I think it'd translate to 'migraine-of-ages'.
This distilling contest. But he wanted her to enter the contest, which needed her to actually make wine. Celestia was very, very competitive back then -Rainbow would be left to shame in comparison- so of course she accepted.
And did she accept-- with me and a mare from a country that was large on wine called Coracao Rimbombante--
>Twilight: What does her name mean?
It escapes me right now. With us as the judges, she spent an entire week in her distilry, shunning her official duties all the while. This wasn't intended to make a real, full-on wine, since she obviously didn't have time to let it mature, but she still put all she had -both magically and physically- on it. All that time left her with a bottle and a half worth of wine, after all her failed attemps, and she gave Jack a glass to try.
The next day, when we opened the doors of the castle, he was awaiting her with a brouquet, after years of not displaying absolutely any feelings towards Celestia.
I bet you can't guess how she reacted.

>>29146142
With anger? I think I'd feel slightly insulted by someone attracted to me purely for the product of my work.

>>29146142
"I don't know. What was the reaction?"

Oh wait, we're Rarity.

"Ooh, do tell, darling! Did you fall into his arms and he whisked you away on a whirlwind romance? That would be simply sublime!"

>>29146126
>Yes, his breath dashed to you and you dashed away.
Lol

>>29146972
This

Bemp

>>29146748
"Mad?" Twilight and Earth give me confused glances, but I shrug, "I mean, if someone suddenly I've known for years fell in love with me because of a dress I'd be."
Celestia grimaces, but Luna speaks before she can, "Tia exploded."
Twilight perks up, "Wait, do you mean--"
"Year thirty six of the harmonic era." Interrupts Luna.
"The day the sun shouted! Yes!" Twilight grins back, "The first time in over a thousand years a pony cast a functioning teleportation spell, inspiring the filly that would grow to be known as Clover the Clever to nearly triple our volume of magical knowledge!"
Celestia shifts on her hassock. "It took moons for my fur to grow back."
"Anyway, Celestia exploded. First she was a confused, babbling mess, then she shifted to what was her default those days-- angry.
>C: It took me quite a chunk of my life to grow over that aspect of myself.
No friggin joke. She shouted so loudly both of Jack's ears popped -even I have issues using the royal Canterlot voice at that volume- and the language she used was such that we had to suspend courts for a while because the nobles kept starting arguments about it."
Of course I didn't think it could be actual love, but by then she had cast a very, very defective teleport spell we still hadn't fully developed to go smash rocks somewhere.
And in all honesty, this all had left me with a puzzle: Jack and Celestia had very definitely never felt anything for each other before, yet now he couldn't stop talking about his "Swe--"
>C: Don't.
>Twilight: What?
>C: Luna, if you tell them I swear...
--He couldn't stop talking about Celestia, and I had to put him in a padded room to keep him from chasing after a very, very angry alicorn.

Sorry for dissapearing, I had to run away to do stuff and I didn't have time to do anything.

>>29149373
What became of him?

>>29149610
"What happened to him?"
"After a few hours I decided to taste the wine for anything strange--" Celestia kicks her softly under the table, but is ignored. "--and found it was a somewhat okay wine. Coracao reacted more strongly, spitting the wine and claiming it had a similar make up to a love potion.
This left Celestia and by association me in a delicate position-- rumours were already rampant, and people was more than given to make this into a twisted love story between them. Love magic had a very bad fame, back then...
It didn't help us in any way that Jack escaped from the room and closed himself on his distilery, doing who knows what-- We never found out the recipes of what he did, but it resulted in three barrels of some of the best wine I've ever had. I am pretty sure I still have the last bottle of it, even. Somewhere.
We tried to clean the potion from his system as soon as he walked out of the distillery -He set everything up in such a way that if we tried to blast a hole in a wall the whole building would blow up- but he had spent half of the time preparing to evade us and ran away, leaving one of the barrels as a gift for Celestia and the other two buried in the basement. It was several moons before he sneaked in there to get back the other two. One he sold to some posh noble. The other he used to kickstart the brewing competition again, once the noble had spread the word of how good it was: The winner would get the barrel.
This all was all a try to attract Celestia to him AND to spread wine as the be-all-end-all, since the potion had seemingly made him even more passionate about it than before.
And here's the problem: Celestia wanted the barrel, and he kept appearing only in public acts where we couldn't just zap him with a spell.
>C: And quite a few people wanted the barrel, too.
1/2

>>29150093
Yes, for a while it was the talk of the region -Equestria wasn't a proper country yet- and that was one of the main factors for wine to be seen as rare and costy afterwards. Especially when he held the competition in a mountain, making it into a trade centre in a mater of weeks. Many brewers coming from other regions brought a lot of wine culture, and overall you could say Canterlot was built upon a foundation of barrels.
>C: It was with a heavy heart that I decided to make it the new capitol, knowing all this.
So we had a lovesick stallion, a barrel of wine we wanted, a competition with several dozen masters of their craft putting the odds against us, and a reputation to hold.
I wonder if any of you can guess--
>T: Oh! I know th--
>Pinkie: No cheating!
>T: Mpph!
I have to agree with Pinkie, don't be a spoilsport.

>>29150100
I had sometimes wondered why you moved castles

>>29123031
Thats a cute cat

beb

>>29150262
"You changed the capitol?" Asks Earth, speaking aloud for the first time since Luna started telling the story.
"It's not something that basic education goes deep into, but yes." Luna leans slightly on Celestia when she talks, "Me going rogue left it in shambles."
"We didn't yet feel ready to rebuild." Celestia adds quietly.
Twilight speaks, "It was the best option."
"Twilight..." Celestia gives her a look.
"It was! It alluded to the morning -or new beginnings- metaphor, which was good for people, kindled a resurgence in economy that helped rebuilding, and ultimately promoted the 'move on' message without any word being said."
"Twilight, we've been over this." Says Luna, "We had long since ignored the best solution."
"But it was still the most rational one."
"Can you honestly say there is only one model of rationality knowing Discord and Pinkie?" Twilight cringes, but says nothing "There was discontent at my solution. The next three centuries were spent walking on the edge, for a multitude of reasons."
"Anyway," Luna covers Celestia's and Twilight's faces with a wing each before any of them speaks again, "We had a competition, a poisoned stallion, and at the side wine we really wanted to get. The obvious solution, since Jack was one of the judges, was giving him an antidote -a very potent one, to counteract a potion that had been working for moons- in a drink. The antidote was easy enough to make, but now we had to make something with a strong enough flavor to mask it completely.
>C: And Jack-- Wait, was his name Song or something?- doesn't mater. Jack was a strong believer of subtlety, and passionate enough about brewing that he didn't even let me do it until after several years.
The only solution we could find was to stack spells on top of the remedy, and neither of us knew much about illusion--

>>29153594
>T: But you already were a world-class arcanist by then.
Yes, I knew enough about general theory to learn quickly about specialized areas, but we didn't have enough to do what I wanted to, which was balance illusion spells with guards that'd prevent the medicine from reacting to it, and we couldn't do any treatment to the glass to make it hold the enchantment so we'd have to cast the spells on a liquid, which is hard even nowadays.
Long story short, we didn't win. but we did get the medicine to Jack-- and made him vomit when he tasted the wine.
>C: It's not my fault that he couldn't hold his drink.
Yeah, sure. While he did vomit the medicine, we used the chance to take him to a medic and dispell him in the way. There was quite the issue when we found out someone had stolen the--

Velvet and Nightlight enter with several pots and cutlery floating after them, startling Luna, "Oh I did get too verbose again didn't I?"

>>29153598
Not at all details are good

>>29153598
It was interesting all the same.

>>29154439
>>29154385
"It's no issue, your stories are always interesting to hear." I smile at her.
"I've talked enough for a while, anyhow. What about you?" She tells Earth, "I am sure you have something to say too."
"Hm, me? No, nothing." She smiles awkwardly.
"Hooves off the table," Velvet enters the room, tableware floating around her, "I wouldn't mind hearing something about you myself." She says as everything floats into place.
"Don't mind me, really." She shuffles in her hassock, "It's nice enough to hear you talk."


Sorry again for having such a lousy schedule lately, but I really have little free time lately on top of the problems I already had.

>>29155835
Its fine if you dont want to talk but i assure you there is no reason to feel embarsed

>>29156638
"Earth, you don't have to say anything you don't want to but we don't bite." I smile at them comfortingly, "We won't mind hearing you talk for a bit."
"Out with it, girl." Velvet crashes into my approach like a thunderstriken pegasus.
That makes Earth smile faintly, "Alright... I am from a small city south of Trottingham--"
"Canterville?" Asks Luna, "Clover? Horseshoe Rock?"
"Horseshoe." Says Earth, "I didn't expect you to know it."
"I know every city." Luna seems slightly offended.
Earth nods, "I was born and live there, and I am a ceramist."
That seems to get a reacion from Celestia, if only a twitch of the eye, and Luna perks up, "Ha! I knew I had seen your name somewhere. Did you expose a piece at a Trottingham exposition recently?" Earth blushes immediately, "You'll be a great artist if you keep putting such passion in your work, the way you texture fur was surprisingly good for someone your age. The main problem of it was that the curvature of the shaft should be more like this, and that mares tense their hips upon penetration like so..." She makes the shape she's describing in the air out of threads of magic, and soon notices that we are all staring at her while Earth blushes furiously. "What?"

>>29157085
It's always nice for someone to get recognition for their work, but in this case maybe it would be best to discuss the specifics of this one piece later on, instead of at the dinner table.

>>29157130
"The diner table may not be the best place to talk about that."
"Oh? Oh!" She dispels the figures immediately. "Forgive me."
"I'll leave it pass." Says Velvet as Nightlight, gives us our servings, "But you are a sculptor, then?"
"Mhmm." Earth nods slowly, "I can do both, but sculptures are more engaging. Ceramic changes nearly all of its properties depending as it dries, so anything must be either heavily supported or in pieces like a jigsaw," She gets more interested the more she talks, "Supports seem like the most easy to do, but that also means the surface texture is ruined so you have to sandpaper everything once you've hardened it and then texture it, which is very time consuming, and it can need a huge oven to harden."
"And the piece I talked about?" Asks Luna.
"That one was two pieces for the mare and three for the stallion. I fused them during the glassing, and then... coupled them afterward." She adds shily.
"Good, I did notice some extra glass along some lines, but nothing most people would see."
"You know, we got a new telescope a while ago that uses some newfangled transparent clay lenses." Nightlight sits with Velvet, "I can't seem to remember the name of it." He gives Twilight a look.
"Synthetic Creollene," She says after a moment, "A piezoelectric pseudofluid."
"I've heard about it, but the material is still pretty costly."
"And so worth it." Luna pips in.
"Oh, definitely. I hadn't ever seen the surface of the moon so well from within a city.." Nightlight says.
A phone rings in the kitchen, and Twilight stands to take the call. After hanging up, she peeks through the doorway, "Rarity? Could you come for a moment?"
"Something bad?" I stand and follow her upstairs.
"No, but I had forgotten to mention it before." We walk into what I think used to be Twilight's room and out to a balcony, "I've been worried lately."
"What about?"
"Well... myself." She admits hesitantly, "Have you noticed me acting oddly tonight?"

>>29157396
Paused for the night.

>>29157396
I havent noticed anything sorry

>>29157396
You seem your usual self dear. It's a shame you were arguing with Celestia earlier, but I'm sure you two wouldn't let a little work harm your friendship.

beb

>>29158505

>>29157497
>>29157478
"You seem to be have far more political arguments with Celestia than usual, but nothing else."
She sighs, relieved, "I thought I wasn't keeping my temper properly, Luna mentioned I've been cranky lately... when was the last time we talked?"
I think about it for a moment, "A few moons? Time does fly by these days, doesn't it?"
She nods slowly, leaning on the balcony, "I thought as much. Rarity, truth is, I'd been avoiding all of you but Fluttershy, and Rainbow because she's unavoidable."
"Whyever?" I can't help but feel hurt by what she says. "We are there for each other. We've always been."
"Yes, but this wasn't something you could help me with. I needed time to think about it myself- why I feel so afraid of everything lately." Her eyes get misty, "Rarity, for the first time in so long I feel authentically afraid for myself. Not for what can happen to my loved ones, not for losing possessions, but for my own, physical safety."
"But--"
[1/2]

>>29160105
"But nothing. Rarity, it took Spike -The one thing that made me feel safe- travelling away for me to fully realize how weak I am. I know I've said that magic doesn't make the unicorn so many damn times, but I now realize I was saying that as one of the most powerful people on the world. Healing Fluttershy's spine... it's consuming me, Rarity, do you have any idea of how tiring it is? I've been making mass out of energy in a regular basis every day of the week for the last year and a half! I can bear the increased appetite, I can bear the mental stress of knowing how easy it'd be to screw up, but reaching the end of the day with no magic whatsoever? With my legs trembling from the effort it takes to stand up? Fluttershy is my friend, and I'd die or even kill for her, but I hate feeling defenceless so much too." She pauses, crying, "Tonight was the first time in so long I felt really, authentically well, but a while ago I-- I realized that I want to give up the Elements. That I am tired of them forcing us to be the heroes and putting us all in harm's way. I want someone else do to it, if only once."

>>29160107
Damn.
Give her a hug. It's no good to nag her at a time like this, but perhaps she does needs reminding that there's a good reason we share the things that are bothering us with our friends when they start, and not when they get too hard to hide.
It's understandable if she's had enough of the Elements. She should still talk to the others about this, even if it's just one at a time, but it's her right to decide when enough is enough.
And if we're not going to be using them anymore, then we can still ensure that things are taken care of! It would be wise to take steps to make sure others are properly prepared to deal with future problems. Maybe some of that tax money she's going to be saving could go into better training and equipment for the guard, for example.

>>29160107
Give her a nice long hug and tell her you will help her find a replacment element of magic

Going to work, may or may nto have a connection there.

>>29160302
Have a nice day at work

>>29160296
>>29160178
I grab her in a hug, shushing soothingly like I've done for Sweetie so many times. When she seems to calm down I speak as softly as I can, "Why didn't you talk about this before?"
"B-because I didn't know why I was scared, just that I was. I realized that just last night."
"Hmm...?"
"I woke up in the middle of the nigh hearing something." I nod, "And spent four hours searching it, getting more and more scared because I couldn't even make a light or find the switch. Then I realized it was a stray dog scratching the front door." She gulps.
"And then?" I have the feeling that she wants me to ask it.
"The dog made me cry. I-I was crying at six in the morning because of a dog."
"So?"
She moves out of my hug, shifting her wings uncomfortably, "What do you mean so?"
"You talk as if that was something to be ashamed of."
"But it is!" She shouts, "I am supposed to be a leader and some dumb dog made me cry and I was so mad I punched it!"

Queued the rest for a bit since I couldn't find a way to put it in this post.

>>29162646
Oh. Well that's... unfortunate. Perhaps you shouldn't be staying all alone in that big castle. A little company at night can do wonders.

beb

>>29164712
"That's... unfortunate." I cringe, "Have you considered getting someone to make you company at the castle?"
"Everyone is busy," She sits, folding her wings, "You know that. And I don't trust the guard enough to be as close to me as I'd prefer them to be."
Before I can answer her legs bend slightly under her weight, her expression growing disconcerted before she regains her footing. I try to move closer to her, but a sudden fit of dizziness reaches me, making my horn grow numb.
"Sorry, I've tried not to use..." Her eyes open wide, "Damn it! I keep doing that on reflex when people is around." Her horn shines with fickle light, making the dizziness go, "Are you okay?"
"Give me a moment." I take a few deep breaths, "Have you talked with the others about this? And what will we do with the Elements?"
"Flutters is hesitant about it, but Rainbow was the one who proposed it. I also, er... 'talked' with the tree."
"Really?"
"I went to it with AJ a few moons ago, it changed the Elements again, made them some sort of spirits."
"Whatever for?"
"I am not entirely sure why, I haven't talked much with the spirits. I only know we can call them at will, and magic... wasn't exactly pleasant." She grimaces.

B

>>29168178
Had to give an emergency bump i need to go do something then i will come back and read the new post

>>29166362
ask to be shown the spirits after the party

>>29166362
Sounds like something we'll definitely want to see for ourself.

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>>29172604
>>29168517
"Could you help me do it later?"
"You don't need my help, it's easy." She sighs, straightening herself, "Magic."
The room grows slightly darker, two points of light appearing at the other side of it, "Is this more of your questions?"
"No, I was only showing her--"
"By wasting my time." Interrupts magic.
"Which I am sure was wisely spent doing nothing." Twilight growls back.
Magic doesn't answer, so I cut in, "Darling, could we leave the spirit summoning for after the dinner?"
"I'd be glad to not be bothered further." Magic disappears.
"Anyway, you only have to say their... names while being aware that there's someone to call and intending to." Twilight says after a moment. "As I said, magic is not the most enjoyable of the bunch. Loyalty is a close second."
I nod and we trot down the stairs, hearing Luna's bolstering voice as we do.
"--got word that he intended to kidnap orphans-- oh hello girls. I was telling them of this one time we had to deal with some crazy stallion who kept stealing--"
"And breaking pottery." Adds Earth, offended. It seems like alcohol flowed while we were up.
"Yes, he kept getting into high security places to steal, well, worthless trash. And breaking them more often than not." Luna giggles, "And then we got word that he intended to kidnap orphans, and we couldn't risk him breaking those. But my inside mare sent me another message little after- that she had understood his modus operandi." She pauses for a second, "He didn't want money, or even glory. No, what our thief wanted was, I kid you not, being a villain."
"A villain?" Twilight asks.
"Oh, yes. He lived in some kind of delussion where he wanted to be a good, proper villain. Which sadly meant we couldn't stop him ourselves, since the grandest glory for a villain is to have a good hero."

>>29173307
>Suddenly Bo bo

>>29173307
Ask who they used in the end

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>>29173307
What's this?

>>29175680
Oh spoopy

>>29174192
"And who did you use?"
Luna smirks,"I couldn't use anyone who'd fit into his internal narrative-- Police, me, my sister, someone I knew, all would fit whitin it somehow. So I did it as the worst possible character."
"The worst character?" Velvet asks, smiling, "Oh, don't tell me you--"
"Yes I did. I used some quite complex magic to look like an orphan--"
"She needed help from me for that one. Couldn't keep the spell all day on her own." Celestia ruffles Luna's mane with one of her wings, smiling pleasantly.
"Shush you." Luna forces the wing away with telekinesis, "I'll tie my mane one of those days, just so you can't do that."
"Surely, yes."
Luna gives her a look before resuming the story, "So I disguised as an orphan and mixed with them. Only I was a bad character: Some spells ensured that everyone liked me unconditionally, except for the single most brattish of them -who hated me beyond reason instead- and I proceeded to show off everyone by being the best at everything and be loved for it until the guy appeared to kidnap us. Then I kicked his ass, still looking like an orphan, without breaking a sweat. And I had some tragic past or another, too."
"It was a fire, wasn't it?" Asks Celestia.
"I think so. The best part of all of this was that our villain knew all of this. Oh, his face when he realized he didn't have any way to repair the story..."
"And what happened with him?"
"We forced him to go with a psychologist, and after a decade or two he was a happily married writer." Celestia says, then drinks a sip of cider
"What was he called?" Velvet has a hungry look on her eyes.
We rejoin the others at the table, Earth growing slightly more relaxed when I sit, and after a moment Celestia speaks again: "Spilled Ink?"
"Can't say I know it." Velvet sighs.
"We never said he was a good writer," Luna shrugs, "Only a happy one."
Earth whispers, "Did you argue? I heard shouting." Pinkie nods softly enough that I barely notice it, giving me a look.

>>29175901
Dont worry about it just hero stuff

>>29176209
"Nothing you should worry about." I whisper back.
Celestia and Twilight are talking about something -it seems to be something or another from the court- and I use the silence to drink something for the first time in the night, enjoying the warmth that comes with it. It tastes like a crop from a desertic area, maybe--?
"Twilight, would you?" Asks Discord.
Velvet and Nightlight grimace, Pinkie grins widely, Celestia tries to keep her own smile politely discrete, Luna punches him on the shoulder in the principle that he's within punching distance, Twilight sighs, and Earth does her best to hide behind me without drawing any attention.
"Would I what?" Asks Twilight when it's clear that he won't do anything until that's asked.
"Pass me the mayo." He says, lifting a plate of... pasta?
I try not to think too much about the fact that there definitely wasn't enough space between Celestia and Twilight's chairs for his to appear.
"We don't have mayonnaise." She deadpans.
"Why wouldn't you have mayo?"
"Because dad can't eat it."
"Oh but this is nepotism!"
"What?"
"Fascism I say! Classicism!" He continues unabashed. "A clear act of racism!"
"Classicism isn't--" Start Velvet and Twilight in unison.
"Tch tch, you are cutting my freedom of speech." Discord shakes his head slowly.
Velvet grabs him by the throat in telekinesis, "Listen, you old brat. I've said enough times--"
He takes the telekinesis off as if it was a collar and throws it back to Velvet's horn, "I'll win you over one of these days. And be at ease, I did have a reason to come here. Can you believe this, pink grand supreme?" He asks Celestia. "Such crass attitude towards my innocent self?"
She makes a point of not answering despite her smile, so Discord turns to me, "And you, sweet cheeks?"

>>29177403
introduce discord to earth

>>29177403
I certainly believe you had a reason dear. Whether it was a good one is a different matter.

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>>29175680
"All because you try to understand by gazing into my past."

>>29180146
spoopy

>>29177519
"Oh, reasons, certainly, but forgive me if I put its quality in doubt."
"Well, quality, of course it has qualities!" He makes an offended snort, "I'd personally rate it Fluttershy out of ten."
"Fluttershy?" Twilight gives him a strained look. "What is it?"
"Oh, nothing, she wanted to know if you had touched a certain subject buggering you." He lowers his face to hers and lifts an eyelid, "Did you sleep well last night? I wouldn't say so."
She pushes him away with a burst of telekinesis, his body dissolving into mist rather than crashing with Celestia, "What have I said about personal space?"
"That it's a social construct?" His face reforms from the mist, floating around her.
She grumbles something under her breath, "What was Fluttershy talking about exactly?" He whispers something on her ear. "Wait, she knows?"
"Puh-leaze. Did you expect her of all ponies not to notice?" His smile gains some warmth to it.
"What is it?" Asks Celestia, giving them both a look, "Twilight, is it anything I should worry about?"
"No, just-- It's a personal issue." Twilight rubs her forehead, "Tell Fluttershy not to worry about that."
"I repeat: Are you fully aware of the pony we are talking about?" Asks Discord, "Because I somehow doubt it now."
"Just tell her, okay?" Twilight deadpans at him.
He shrugs -shoulders appearing from the mist for the sole purpose of shrugging- and disappears in a flash of light.
"Twilight." Velvet gives her a look only a mother could, "You know what I think of keeping unnecessary secrets."
"Really, mom, don't think about it. Can't we just enjoy the night?" Her smile isn't very natural when she says it.

>>29180567
i think you should tell your mother and teacher twilight

>>29180567
If it's not worth worrying about there's no reason to hide it now, is there?

>>29180615
>>29180724
"Darling, if it wasn't worth worrying about you wouldn't hide it, wouldn't you?" I tell her as tactfully as I can.
She works her jaw for a split second before answering, "I am aware it's worth worrying about. That is why I want the only good night I've had in quite a while to be as enjoyable as possible now that I already told you." She grabs her glass and downs it in one gulp, "Can we not turn this into a soap opera, please?"
"Twilight--" Start Celestia and Velvet.
"I do not have any cellular abnormality not caused by the Elements or sickness, murdered anyone, burned my home or library, and nothing will change by the end of the night or year." Twilight cuts her, making obvious efforts to keep her breathing levelled, "Isn't that enough!?" She puts the glass back on the table with more force than necessary.

>>29184686
very well twilight
drop the issue for now we will have to talk to celestia about it later
change the conversation
ask what shining armor and princess cadance are doing for hearths warming

>>29184686
Nothing changing is the problem, but if she's going to be stubborn about it then so be it. We'll just have to collar her after tonight before she makes excuses.

>>29185385

>>29184816
>>29184969
Pinkie speaks up for the first time since the argument started, her eyes wide as plates, "But the problem is nothing changing."
Discord appears behind her and pats her on the back, although I can see feeling in his expression despite the apparent jest.
"I know that Pinkie, but Twilight is right. We can wait for her to tell the rest of you tomorrow if she wants to."
Velvet and Nightlight lock their eyes on her, she talking after a moment, "And don't you even think about escaping."
"She won't." Luna says curtly.
"And I think Fluttershy will be glad about this arrangement." A hat appears on Discord's head, which she takes off promptly with a reverence, "Don't miss me too much, will you?"
Velvet gives him a telekinetic slap.
"How... lovely." He teleports away, rubbing his cheek.
There's a moment of silence.
"How's Cadance?" I pip in when no one seems to be willing to. "I expected to see her."
"She and Flurry were going to come, but duty kept them." Celestia sighs.
"Duty?" Asks Earth.
"The yaks seem to be offended again." Luna groans in displeasure when Celestia says it. "And there's some issue with glass termites too."
"I still think I should do a long-range teleport there and get 'em." Says Luna.
"She explicitly told you not to bother."
"Come on, just a hop to the moon and back down! You know that only takes a moment."

>>29189091
Sure! I'd love to see how Flurry has grown up. Worst case scenario they can't come and all we wasted is a teleport spell. It's not like Luna is going to run our of alicorn magic.

>>29189091
How about you get flurry heart while cadance stays it might be not perfect but hearths warming never is. Im sure earth would love to meet her

beb

>>29189404
>>29189410
"I'd love to see them." I smile, "It's been entirely too long." Pinkie, despite still being quiet, nods softly.
"And we'd enjoy a chance to see our one grand daughter." Says Nightlight, leaning on Velvet.
"Maybe I could teach her some more arcanism." Twilight says quietly.
Luna sticks her tongue at Celestia and trots outside, chased by the rest of us.
"Enjoy the show, girls." Luna's horn alights, "I don't do this every day."
"I can't help but hate her a bit when she does it." Mutters Nightlight.
"What is it?" Earth gives us confused glances.
"Translocation." Says Twilight calmly, staring at Luna.
"Translo--" Starts Earth, but is interrupted. I am sure that, had blinked, I would've missed it all.
The sky seems to approach to us as nauseating speeds, the moon larger than everything else as if seen through bad lenses, and Luna jumps to it with a thundering report. For an instant it seems as if she was miles long and thin as a hair strand, and then the sky is perfectly normal and Luna nowhere to be seen. I look up to see the moon shake slightly enough that I'd normally dismiss it, and then again when Luna jumps off it.
Earth moves her mouth, but is only on the third try that I hear her, "WHAT DID JUST HAPPEN?"
"TRANSLOCATION." Shouts Twilight back, a fair bit of jealousy in her voice,
"IT'S MORE OF AN ART THAN A SCIENCE." Celestia's has pride rather than jealousy, and she manages to sound calm even while shouting. Her horn alights, covering our ears and filling them with warmth, "MAY I?" She shouts at Earth. When the pegasus nods, she heals her ears too.
"But what is it?" Earth looks at the moon as if it had answers for her.
"Getting the there her rather than going there. Isn't she taking too long?" Asks Twilight.
"Maybe she missed?" Asks Velvet.
"Luna never misses." Celestia sounds angry, making Earth shy from her.
"They'll be back." Velvet and Nightlight head for their home, "The food's cooling."

>>29191833
ask earth if she wants to stay and watch lunas return
if not head back inside

>>29191833
We should really have asked earlier, but does Earth have any food allergies or requirements?

>>29123031
>"Dear santa i want your dick"

>>29191848
>>29191843
"Do you want to go inside?" I ask Earth.
"I'll wait for a bit." She answers after a moment, sitting down. "You don't have to."
"I don't mind it." I sit and press myself against her, not wanting her to get cold.
"The princess said she went to get Princess Cadance and... Flurry, right?" I nod, "General Flurry Heart?" I nod again, "And if she is Princess Twilight's niece, and Princess Cadance was married with Prince Shinning Armour..."
"It's not a secret as much as not said very loudly. Flurry didn't want it to influence her career."
"Oh." She's silent for a moment. "What next? Sweetie Belle is your daughter like some say?" She jokes.
I try to keep my cringing at bay. Sweetie took the same decision regarding me.
"...No, I've never had children."
She nods and is silent for a moment, watching first Celestia -who sat a distance from us- and then the sky, "How do you all do it?"
I wait for a moment for her to add something, but she doesn't, "Do what?"
"Being so normal."
"Hm? You had expected us to be heightened beings who only ever care for important matters?" I ask with a smile to make it clear that I am not bothered. She nods hesitantly.

>>29195195
Well we started out not doing this sort of thing very frequently its a lot easier when you are eased into it.
Also pinkie and applejack keep us grounded

>>29195195
You don't let it change you. The hero stuff, I mean. It takes a pony to solve a problem, not a hero. It's as easy for me to be normal as it is for you, because I spend most of my time being as normal as anyone else. It's just that occasionally instead of say, going to the market, I might spend the day shooting rainbows at some troublemaker.

>>29195299
>>29195369
I think about the answer for a moment. "We've admittedly seen some sights..."
"Yes! I've read a lot about it, the-- You've been to Tartarus and back! Chrysallis' palace! Tirek's for--!"
I lift a hoof to stop her, "Please. We've seen a lot of things, but we never let it change us. Applejack still takes care of her farm, Pinkie of her bakery, all of us have our jobs still. We just shoot rainbows at someone every once in a while... and not as often as we help someone get over their feelings and stop being dangerous. Those stories are just not as popular."
She thinks about it for a moment and nods quietly.
"And I really should've asked before, but do you have any allergy I should worry about?"
"No, don't worry." She shakes her head. "Thanks for bringing me here."
"My pleasure."
The moon shakes slightly, and almost immediately after Luna falls in front of us, holding Cadance and Flurry in a bubble shield.
"Here--" Luna gasps for breath, "Here they are." The bubble bursts.
Cadance and Flurry step out of the bubble quietly, the younger one talking first, "I don't want to ever see a baby again."
"You probably will." Cadance musters an impressive amount of dignity for someone with such a ruffled mane and singed tail.
"I know." Says Flurry, in a similar state. "I know."

>>29196039
What happened to you?

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10KB, 650x646px

>>29196641
"Whatever happened?"
"Termites!" Flurry launches herself to the air -seemingly not noticing she's doing it herself- and extends her arms to the air, "Clever glass termites!"
"We hadn't expected them to have formed such a large cluster." Adds Cadance.
"And they kidnapped all of the babies!" Continues Flurry, "A whole pediatric wing!"
"I helped them evacuate." Luna rubs her horn, "This'll hurt tomorrow..."
"They demanded we let them eat the crystal heart." Says Cadance. "Hello, miss...?" She asks Earth.
"Earth Dance, Mi Amore, Mi Amore, Earth Dance," The pegasus curtsies when I say her name, "I invited her to the party."
"A pleasure," Cadance offers her a hoof, "Dear, would you stop throwing wind at her?"
Flurry nods and folds her wings midair, falling with a clack of hooves against the ground, "Sorry, you know how it is."
"We should probably go inside now." Celestia walks to us, curtsying at Cadance, and lets Luna lean on her, then heads there
"Flurry!" Pinkie crashes into her with a hug, "Did you do the thing?"
"I forgot to, sorry." Flurry cringes.
"But imagine if we could make the aurora completely pink!" Pinkie grabs her by the cheeks, "We lost the chance to give everyone a pink Eve!"
"I am pretty sure that means the end of the world for some religion or another." Twilight pushes Pinkie gently to hug her niece, "It's been too long, you rascal."
"It was only two moons." Flurry tries to escape from the hold without success. "Auntyyyy."
"You know what I meant." Twilight holds her harder.

>>29197188
Join the group hug.

>>29197230
This
Huuuuug them

>>29197230
Smell ponka's hair when you hug. If Super has taught me anything, it is that every version of ponk has good-smelling hair.

>>29197230
>>29197343
>>29197379
I grab both of them in a hug, and Pinkie is quick to add herself and a not so surprised Cadance to it.
"So many aunts." Furry tries to wiggle out of our combined hold without success, doing her best to look cranky rather than smiling, "Too many aunts."
I slide closer to Pinkie without releasing my hold and, not knowing why myself, smell her mane. She blushes for an instant before I talk, "Are you still using that cotton candy shampoo?" I ask her after taking a moment to identify the smell.
"Why would I use cotton candy shampoo?" She asks with a serious expression.

>>29197534
Because the alternative is you just make that smell on your own and that would be weird.

>>29197534
why wouldnt you

Paused for the night.

>>29195195
>Princess Cadance was married with Prince Shinning Armour
>was
What happened

beb

>>29123031
mini CYOA is nice!

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>>29197557
>>29197550
"You don't?" Asks Twilight.
"Nnooo?" Pinkie earns glances from all of us.
"But your mane smells like cotton candy."
"It does?"
"Yes!"
Pinkie doesn't answer.
"Your mane isn't supposed to smell like cotton candy on its own." States Twilight.
"It isn't?" Answers Pinkie in the same tone of voice, edging away.
"Hold on, I've got to run a test-- Come back here!" Twilight runs after a giggling Pinkie.

>>29201691
Tell twilight her tests can wait until tomorow

>>29201691
Trying to quantify Pinkie is something we've tried and failed before Twilight. You'll end the night saner if you just let it go.

>>29201718
>>29202246
"Twilight..." She ignores me, "Twilight!"
"I'll go inside." Earth stands, shuddering, and heads there.
"What!" Shouts back Twilight before I can answer.
"Will you really do this again?"
"But it defies logic!"
Cadance laughs softly and gestures at Flurry to follow her inside.
"Shut up!" Twilight shouts at her, ruffling her feathers. "Pinkie, come here!"
"Please, you know we can do this in the morn."
"I'll even put the probes on myself!" Adds Pinkie.
Twilight nods grudgingly and walks inside, not saying a word.
"I'll go at noon!" Pinkie tells Twilight, hopping closer to me, "You silly filly."
Before I have time to react she buries her face in my mane and smells it noisily.
"You smell like perfume." She says after a moment, her voice muffled by my mane.

>>29203213
Perhaps that's because I put some on. Perhaps that's just how I smell. I'll never tell.

>>29203314
"Maybe I use perfume. Maybe I just smell like that."
"Really?" She doesn't take her face from my mane.
"I won't tell."
She keeps her face on my mane.
"I like your smell." She says after a moment.

>>29203461
Thank you darling. I like yours too. We're a couple of pleasantly scented ponies.

>>29203512
"And I like yours too," I move to have my mane face-free, "I guess we are just a couple of pleasantly smelling ponies?"
"Preach the word, sistah!" She puts a hoof around my shoulder and walks me inside, where the conversation is picking up again. "How about you join me for a cupla' rums?"

>>29203735
Have some rum
Just a few though no need to get drunk

>>29203735
>already had face in mane
>now we have hoof on shoulder
Jeez, at least be subtle about it ponk. Next thing you know you'll be booping snootles.

>>29203753
>>29203954
"Just a few." I nod, "But not too much, hm?"
"What's the fun in being drunk?" She rolls her eyes, "Heyo, Velvet! Rum!" She shouts gladly.
"Rum?" Twilight gives us a cross eyed look, "Mom doesn't have--"
"Under the kitchen's faucet." She goes back to talking with Celestia and her husband.
Twilight's gaze shifts between us and Velvet, and after a moment of it she groans and goes back to talking with Flurry, who laughs.
I follow Pinkie to the kitchen, where she serves each of us a small amount of it in small glasses.
"Pinkie--" Before I can say anything she gives me mine and gulps hers down, sitting by me and covering our hooves with her tail, "Pinkie, you really don't care much about subtlety for some matters, don't you?"
"Huh?" She extends a hoof to the bottle of rum, but lowers it again with a headshake, "How do you mean?"

>>29204534
Like the thing you're doing with your tail right now. Not that I'm complaining.

>>29204534
What are we saying?
That pinkie is flirting with us or something we started it didnt we

>>29205113
>>29204941
"Like what you are doing now with your tail."
She looks at it as it it was someone else's for a moment before saying anything, "Oh."
I nod.
"Do you want me to stop?" She asks carefully.
"No." I shake my head softly and down my glass of rum. "I can't say I do. But is this new, or..?" I leave it in the air.
"I hadn't noticed the way I was acting, and if I had been acting like that for long we would've noticed it before." She ruffles her tail uncomfortably, "Sorry if this is just me being a bit more drunk than I think I am."

Paused

>>29205441
Do the same thing with your own tail so we're even.

>>29205441
I guess we have both been lonely for so long
Give her a kiss on the forehead

>>29123031

>>29123031

Saved from falling off the board bump

beb

>>29207799

>>29205511
>>29205507
A question coming to mind, "When was the last time either of us had a relationship?"
She opens her mouth after a moment, but it's a few seconds before she says anything, "A while."
"Time does pass us by." I say to myself.
She nods, and I put my tail over hers, making her blush.
"But we don't have to let it, don't we?" I press myself against her.
"I'd like to try that." She laughs softly when I kiss her forehead, "You are a silly filly too, did you know that?"
Nightlight and Earth enter the kitchen, noticing us and falling still almost immediately.
"Are we interrupting something?" He asks when we don't say anything.

>>29209239
Nod

>>29209239
A little, but don't feel like you can't come in.

>>29208673

>>29209239
Blush furiously.

Bump for bisexuals

>>29209916
>>29209641
>>29211199
I blush, but shake my head, "No, no, enter."
They nod and grab a bottle of wine, Earth giving me and Pinkie surprised looks before walking out.
Pinkie clears her throat, "So, do you want to do something after the party? See what happens and all?"

>>29213600
I dunno thats your area of expertise.

>>29213600
I would love to, I just need to check on Earth first. I hope the poor dear is doing okay.

>>29213600
Sounds lovely. I should probably make sure my guest is doing alright though. Bringing her here was sort of throwing her in the deep end.

>>29213721
Wait i just realised she said wanna do something not what do you wanna do
Make that
>>29213751

beb

>>29214982

>>29214311
>>29213721
Your ineptitude at the most basic tasks continues to awe me.

>>29216741
The fuck are you blabering about.

>>29214236
>>29213751
"Just let me check on Earth, would you?" She nods, and before long we find her, "Darling, are you enjoying the party?"
She nods,"Prin-- Luna." It seems to hurt her to make the correction, but the alicorn -with whom she was speaking- seems satisfied "Luna knows a lot about sculpting and modelling."
"It is a fascinating art.. even if it has its risks." Luna's eyes pass over Earth's naked wings briefly, "One grows tired of practicing them as time goes, however. Perhaps I'll pick it up again when I've forgotten enough of it to relearn."
"I'd love to see anything you make." Earth smiles, but there's a certain undeniable want in her eyes.
"Check for anything made by... Celestia, what did I sign the statues as?" She shouts at her sister.
"Abhorrent?" She asks back, "Or was it Crescent?"
"Crescent." Luna nods to herself, "Check for anything made by Crescent around the twelfth century of the Alicornian dynasty."
"So there's nothing I should worry about?" I ask Earth.
"No, no!" Earth smile has a slight nervousness.
"We can take care of anything that may happen." Luna assures me. "Including making your guest comfortable."
"I was actually thinking about heading back home soon." Earth adds shyly, "It's fascinating to talk with all of you, of course, but I don't have much stamina these days."

>>29217550
Tell her she should feel welcome to sleep here the night and go home in the morning.

>>29217550
Whatever she wants. It was a pleasure having her here regardless. Maybe we should see her home at this time of night though.

>>29217550
You stay as long as you want, and you head back home if it starts to feel like you're fading.

>>29217673
This. Make sure to see she has someone to help her home, and if not, go along. This might be the only time she'll get to do stuff with the mane6.

>>29217651
>>29217673
>>29217824
>>29218146
"I could talk with Velvet to see if you can stay here for the night?" She seems uncomfortable at the idea, "Or I could walk you home?"
"I wouldn't want to bother you."
"Nonsense, your apartment is near my Boutique."
She nods, but Pinkie speaks before either of us can, "We heading out now, then?"

>>29218329
Yes, Pinkie. We are walking Earth home and then maybe you would care to join me back at the boutique?

>>29218329
Yes. I take it you're... coming along?

>>29218506
This

>>29218506
This seems like a really weird response. It sounds like we're surprised that Pinkie is coming along when we were just talking about going somewhere with her.

>>29218576
We never talked about going anywhere with her right now. We said we'd do "something after the party". Party isn't done yet though, we're just leaving early. She might not have wanted to, so we're making sure. It's polite.

>>29218603
This

>>29218506
>>29218441
>>29218559
>>29218576
>>29218603
>>29218776
"I take it you are coming along?" Earth gives us both a look, which I can't help but be amused by.
"I..." Pinkie gives Twilight a look, "Luna, could you keep an eye on her?"
"I already do." She nods.
I grab the jacket Earth used earlier from the perch with telekinesis -noticing that there are still two unopened gifts in its pockets- and give it to Earth, beckoning Velvet, "I'll bring this tomorrow."
She nods and we tell everyone farewell before heading out. The first minute or two are spent quietly, with Pinkie pressing her side against me, before Earth speaks, "Thanks again for bringing me here, it was nice."

>>29218936
It was nice having you. You're good company. I'm sorry I didn't give you a little more warning about who you'd be spending the night with.

>>29219013
This
Mention she seemed to get along well with luna

>>29219013
>>29219053
"It was nice to have you too. You seemed to like Luna?"
"I already knew she had reputation as an artist, but she knows so much about everything!"
"Luna's not an artist, she just likes to build stuff!" Pinkie pips in.
It takes a moment for Earth to answer, "What?"
"I disagree with her in that," I explain, "But Luna's told us that what she finds enjoyable is the... structural process of it all. That she sees art forms as an excuse to think about and implement pattern sets and... structural methods?" I give Pinkie a look, "Did she call it that?"
"I think so?" Pinkie answers after a moment. "It was structural something."
"Integrity?" I try.
"I don't think so."
"Hrm. Anyway, that's what she seeks when doing art."
"Oh." Earth thinks about it for a moment, "I guess that's why some of her paintings come off as schematics. It was still fascinating to talk with her about it, though. She knows so much about... everything! And her nom de plume-- Everyone knows the princesses use those, but hearing her talk about it was... magical, now I feel like I'll search that name and find the work of a lost genius!" She says, getting more and more excited.
"Just remember, the princesses are careful to not say it too loudly."
"Yes, I won't tell other people." She nods. "But despite talking with her so little I learned so much, I feel like a filly in... In Heart's Warming Eve." She smiles widely.
"Someone has a cruuuush." Pinkie singsongs jokingly.
"What? No! I just find the amount of knowledge she expires surprising."
"I know that, you silly." Pinkie snorts, "But it sounds like you want her to be your teach."
"I... don't think anyone wouldn't want her to. But the Princess hasn't sought a pupil in such a long time." Says Earth, her enthusiasm fading.

>>29219552
Well, try to stay in touch. Sometimes friends make the best teachers.

>>29219552
No i suppose they have not
A little odd really.

>>29219552
Maybe they are scared of another shimmer

>>29219685
"Sometimes the best teacher is a friend," I suggest, "The princess didn't seem to mind talking with you either."
"Do you really think so?"
"Do try to stay in touch, if you can." I nod.
She nods back, and after walking for a while longer I notice that Pinkie's ears are erect.
I follow her gaze to a nearby arcade, boasting several signs about seasonal offers and a more than healthy flow of people going in and out.
"What is it?" I ask her.
"I know that jingle." She says after a moment, her ears twitching.
I try to distinguish anything within the mixed sounds of what are probably several dozen games inside the building without success.
"Should I know it?"
"Oh? Oh! No no no, I don't think you'd remember it." She shakes her head, "It was like twenty years ago."
"Twenty?" Asks Earth, "Do you mean Element Quest?" Pinkie nods effusively, "Oh girl, there was one in my town when I was a filly, you have no idea how many quarters I put into it."

>>29220057
Why don't you two could have a go while we're here?

>>29220057
Lets play vidya

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>>29220313
>>29220132
"Why don't we... play it?" I ask them. My only experience with arcades were the few times I accompanied Sweetie or Pinkie to them.
"I'd be up for a game." Nods Earth.
"Awww yeah!" Pinkie hops in, followed by me and Earth.
Eventually we reach a relatively large white box with a black, curved screen on top, tiny figures of me and Twilight floating over it.
"Do you remember it now?" Asks Pinkie, "I convinced the rest of you to pose for several movements."
"I... think I do? But it doesn't look like me."
"Well, yeah, that was when the industry was starting." Earth puts a hoof in one of the sockets and moves it arround in circles, making a 'Insert coin' message flash over the floating ponies, "They believed they could make high resolution sprites in a jiffy."
"Don't you tell me, Binary was soooo mad when he realized he'd have to choose between playable speeds and the art he had made for this." Pinkie rolls her eyes, smiling widely.
"So what is it like?" I ask them, "You said it's Element Quest? Is it about is seeking the elements or something similar?"
"Eeeh," Pinkie smiles awkwardly and presses a combination of buttons in the control closest to her, making the image change.
"What is that?" Earth reads the text that now floats i n front of us.
"The debug menu," Pinkie navigates it, "I want to show her one of the demos."
"This has a debug menu? I didn't--"
"Creator's secret." Pinkie presses a button, making the image go back to me and Twilight.
They start to run at each other immediately, and to my horror me-- the tiny me punches Twilight, making her fly to the other side of the square, only for her to flare her wings open and throw what I think is a laser at the tiny me.

Paused

>>29220609
This is just the debug screen right the games not really about beating up our friends is it.

i need to catch up

>>29220609
Oh. I see how it is. Fine then, but I'm not playing as myself!

>>29123031

Pre work bump

beb

Bumpy

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>>29221021
>>29223484
"This is only the bug screen right? Not what it's actually like?"
Earth steps away from us, cringing, so Pinkie takes the intitiative, "It's only a game, Rare."
"A game about me punching Twilight!"
"It's not about that?" She tries.
"Then what is it about."
"Each player chooses any of us and... they fight." Pinkie cringes,
"Why would anyone do that?" I ask, looking at the controls. There are four four of them on its two sides, "it sounds dreadful."
"I've spent moons worth of time playing this." Pinkie sounds slightly hurt when she says it. "It's only a game. Exploring possibilities and releasing emotions where they won't hurt anyone."
That makes me step back too, "Alright, I won't judge you if you want to play it."
"I was hoping you'd play too? Check out video games already?" She smiles timidly, her mood picking up quickly. "It's been three decades already, you know."
"A game about fighthing?" I am the one cringing now.
"Chess is about waging war." Earth pips in.
"Alright. I'll do it." I nod. Pinkie puts three coins in the machine and pulls me to seat besides her, Earth sitting on the other side without a word.
"Now put your hoof here," She guides my hoof to the socket, "This is your joystick."
I wiggle it, making a cursor with the number 3 on it move on the screen, "Use it to move. Now select which one of us you want to to control."
"Why do Twilight and Applejack have thicker legs?" I ask without moving my cursor.
"Because they are the tank characters." Explains Earth, moving her own.
"And Fluttershy doesn't have wings! And Rainbow has more colours than that."
"A bug and a technical limitation." Says Pinkie nonchalantly.

>>29230118
Lets play as rainbow it would feel the least wierd

>>29230366
I move my cursor to Rainbow and tap a button over her, making the words "START MATCH" scroll through the screen area.
"Try to move, imagine they are paper pages moving in a 3D space." Pinkie makes her small Applejack run circles to show me, "Pressing the joystick as a button makes her jump."
I follow her instructions -Rainbow can dash quickly across short distances, buck enemies away, and summon a cloud per game that stays in place and hits anything other than its summoner- and once I am used to the movement -She is, as I should've expected, nearly nauseatingly fast- we start the match.
I fight against the reflex of searching for a way to end it diplomatically and punch Apple-- Pinkie while she's engaged with Rain-- Earth, making the black line that covers her body diminish.
"That's my health bar," She explains without taking her eyes from the fight.
Earth jumps to flight over her, dissengaging from the fight suddenly, and falls down between us producing a ring of colour that slows down everything, making our outlines grow smaller yet and throwing me away. Pinkie is quick to react, however, giving her a swift buck that throws her to me. I press the button closer to my hoof and make my Rainbow buck too, bouncing Earth's back to Pinkie's AJ.
"Aw, yeah!" Pinkie taps the same button, bouncing her back to me, "Team combo!"
"What!?" I press the same button as soon as I can, bouncing her yet again. "What is happening!"
"Team combo!" Yells Pinkie excitedly, bouncing the Rainbow a fourth time and making her go even faster.
"I never expected you to be so lame at this." Earth crosses her arms as I bounce her back again.
"Aw, don't worry!" Pinkie taps a key combination, her hooves nearly blurring from the speed, in the exact instant Earth's Rainbow makes contact with her AJ. "See? Combo over!"

>>29230624
Our sprites fade quickly to show the more detailed and clearly excited faces of Applejack and Rainbow looking at each other, the Rainbow sprite flying in the middle, and is then replaced by a short animation of Applejack bucking the Rainbow image skywards.
"Lame." Earth holds her controls again as soon as her Rainbow appears back in the center of the ring and dashes immediately for my Rainbow.

>>29230628
This does not seem like much of a quest

>>29230628
Mash those buttons like only a desperate newby can.

beb

>>29230706
>>29230821
I try to make my Rainbow run away and mash all the keys at the same time, but Earth's dashes into my way and bucks me away, my life blinking red and then dissapearing.
"You di-- Lost." Pinkie gives me an apologizing look, not even looking when she makes AJ run to the remaining Dash and ends her with a swift buck, "I win."
"Team combos are lame with three players." Earth keeps her hooves on the controls.
"Hey, not like I used a harmony combo."
I take a moment to calm down before saying anything, "This didn't seem like much of a quest."
"Oh, the game was gonna be a sidescroller at first." Pinkie says nonchalantly.
"I want a rematch." Earth presses her joystick emphatically, making 'INSERT COIN' scroll in the air between us. "Two on two."
"What do you mean?" Pinkie seems oddly proud when she says it.
"Come on, I know you can play two characters at once. You won a tournment doing that." Earth presses her joystick again.

>>29232144
Fine, one more go of this uncivil game. We're playing ourself this time. And we will be victorious!

>>29232255
"Okay, I'll play one more time." I switch to Earth's side of the game and pop in a coin in my slot.
Pinkie puts an elbow in each joystick and wiggles both arms for a bit, pressing seemingly random combinations of buttons before selecting herself and Fluttershy to play.
"You are joking. You've got to be joking." Asks Earth, choosing Twilight this time, "The trick characters?"
"Don't judge it till you try it."
I ignore their banter and scroll to my character, trying to ignore how strange this all feels. I am playing a game where I gang up with Applejack to beat up Pinkie and Fluttershy.
"Alright, Rari-- You are a full-on crystal cannon," Explains Earth, "A creates a burst that stuns everyone nearby and throws you away, B summons a rapier for a few seconds or attacks with it-" My heart skips a beat, "-and C uses the rapier to parry attacks."
"Alright." I test the moveset for a moment before we start the match, Pinkie controlling both characters with ease and her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth.
Pinkie's Pink--
Ugh.
Pinkie bounces on her tail and jumps to the sky immediately, Fluttershy simply seating in her starting spot.
I run to her without realizing that Earth is running away at the moment, and the instant I approach Fluttershy she flares her wings open and takes flight, catching a falling Pinkie by her tail and throwing her to me like a slingshot. Twilight dashes in immediately covered by a myriad of bright spots, throwing them at Pinkie when she and me are stunned. Fluttershy -who had gone back to seating in the exact same spot- stands again and flies to Twilight at a surprising speed, her eyes growing twice as large when nearby, and flies away to the same spot as before immediately. Twilight's image flashes yellow for a moment, and all bolts change their trajectory towards me.

>>29232656
Tap A to dodge and keep game Pinkie stunned. With any luck the bolts will hit her instead.
Also tap real Pinkie with our tail. Dirty tactics for a dirty game.

>>29232681
I tap A immediately, throwing myself away from the path of the bolts and keeping Pinkie stunned as I slide to the side of the game.
Earth takes the chance to dash again to the still stunned Pinkie and encases her in a shield, then heads for Fluttershy.
"Rarity." Pinkie tries to stay focused on the game.
I head for Fluttershy too, and she circles around us and starts singing besides the trapped Pinkie, making her snap out of her stun and sing with her. The shield shatters and Pinkie jumps to the sky again.
"Rarity what are you doing." The flesh-and-blood Pinkie asks as I brush her side and neck with my tail.

>>29232835
Having fun? Whatever do you mean?

>>29232835
I have absolutely no idea what you mean darling. Hide smug grin.

Clearly pixelshy is the real problem here. We should pretend to go after pixel pie with the rapier and try to block her next attack and stun shy instead.

>>29232876
This

>>29232855
>>29232876
>>29233010
"Whatever do you mean?" I brush the tip of her nose.
"That." She blushes.
"I've got no idea of what are you talking about." I pass my tail over her ears and back to her neck.
I tap the controls until a rapier appears and run to Fluttershy again, still brushing Pinkie, and when Pinkie falls I tap what I hope is the right button.
My rapier swishes... and hits the cannonballing pony more by luck than any actual skill, throwing her in Twilight's direction.
I keep running for Fluttershy, but Earth taps a button combination that makes Twilight's shields burst and bounce Pinkie back to Fluttershy, who again grabs her tail, spins with it, and releases it in my direction even faster than before.

>>29233112
Mash A and keep trying to get pixelshy, give real pie a little flank bump.

>>29233184
Nah the flank bump would be going to far lets keep it at least a little fair we cannot auctualy physicaly unbalance her.

>>29233326
It's touching butts, not fly kicking her in the face.

File: 017 - In which Rarity that it is not Pinkie, but Fluttershy, that is the trickster fighter.png (17KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

17KB, 500x500px

>>29233465
>>29233326
>>29233184
I leash her flank with my tail, straining to reach there without releasing the controls but making her hop a little from the surprise, and mash the right button to throw myself to a side. Pinkie still clips me, but I ignore that and keep running to Fluttershy.
Earth mutters that another hit and I am a gonner as she engages Pinkie.
Fluttershy backs off while Pinkie taps several keys in order, making Fluttershy sing again and my rapier fade away and my character slow down massively.

>>29233642
Maybe if we get away from flutters we will speed back up again.

>>29233642
Dang. Does our like sword poke knock enemies back? We should try to combo before we die. Maybe we can stun fluttersquares now and jab her towards squarelight after the slowdown wears off but before the stun does.

File: 018 All kneel to Discord, god of tricksters.png (37KB, 1000x1000px) Image search: [Google]

37KB, 1000x1000px

>>29233833
>>29233804
"Tails or head?" Asks Pinkie, walking away from me again, as I tap A and throw myself away.
"Head!" I answer unthinkingly, rushing back to Fluttershy while she's stunned as fast as my slowness will allow me to.
Pinkie leashes her head, a coin escaping her mane and falling on the middle of the table.
Tails.
"Oh no you don't." Earth mashes her controls even faster, landing a flurry of hits on Pinkie as I hit Fluttershy with my blade. Both of them start to fade at almost the same time...
...But Pinkie still manages to input a command.
The whole game slows down as a shape emerges from the coin, the words "Trick Master: Engaged!" scroll over it all.

The rolls really don't like you bunch today.

>>29234063
So what happens if we just... move the coin with our magic? Like, slide it towards little Rarity and hit attack at the same time?

>>29234155
This

>>29234155
>>29234237
I slide the coin towards me with telekinesis and hit the attack button at the same time, slashing it with the holographic sword.
To Pinkie's mirth Discord shakes his finger, low quality audio coming from the speakers, "tut tut, cheating is bad. And I like bad!"
An holographic die falls over the playing area, rolling, bouncing...
19.
"Nice!" He exclaims, the sound scratchy. He snaps his fingers.
The black outline surrounding me turns red, and text scrolls over me:
>SPEED UP!
>ATACK UP!
>TRICKSTER'S MERCY SPENT!
"Now," He looks in Pinkie's general direction, "How about you do something?"
She nods quietly and throws Discord at me, his paws raised.

>>29234536
I doubt there's any strategy we can come up with that trumps a Pinkie controlled Discord, but we can try using that speed to dodge the attack and then just hammer the buttons at him. Can't out-think us if we're not thinking!

>>29234606
I move out of the way and stab at him with the sword, the red outline flashing and fading slowly, but he throws me against Twilight with a swipe of his paw.
Earth reacts immediately and releases all the bolts she had built up just before I hit her, the small balls hitting Discord in a flurry and pushing him further away from us.
The impact stuns us both for a moment, but as soon as she can Earth teleports closer to Discord, projecting an outburst that stuns him and destroying the shield that protects her.
She makes the outline around him fade further before he reacts, but he slides into the ground and reappears behind her, giving her a punch that sends her pinballing across the ring but makes him spin several times and leaves him dizzied.

>>29234811
>pinballing Twiggy
Smack her at him like a purple cannonball. May her sacrifice be forever remembered.

>>29234905
I run into Twilight's way and parry her with the sabre, her whole body covered in a cyan shimmer. Earth reacts and taps her controls, coalescing the shimmer into a drill-like shape that bores into Discord.
The words GAME OVER: PLAYER THREE WINS scroll through the screen as Discord fades.
I look at it in disbelief, Earth cheering.

>>29235204
Oh and paused

>>29235204
Haha! Yes, take that ruffian-I-I mean... perhaps this game isn't /entirely/ awful.
I am sorry about the distractions though, Pinkie. I honestly thought I'd never win anyway.

>>29123031

>>29235204
I suppose that was kind of fun
I do think it would have been better if it had remained a sidescroler whatever that is.