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Illuminating Invitation (MLP: FiM AU)

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Alivaril said:
Um, please don't read that, it's really not — I mean–"

The creature wearing Sunset's form completely ignored her request and unfolded the parchment containing one of Cadance's failed drafts. She immediately regretted not tearing every single failed attempt into tiny pieces before she disposed of them. They probably would have taken up less space in the trash that way, and nopony would need to see her humiliating attempts at discussing a certain topic.
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Wait is this a plot hole
 
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Chapter 24: Unnerved. Unbalanced!
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    • Special thanks to @saganatsu, @DB_Explorer, @fictionfan, @Adephagia, @Wordsmith, @Taut_Templar, Jamie Wahls, @Elfalpha, @BunnyLord, @Drcatspaw, @tinkerware, @Lonelywolf999, D'awwctor, @magicdownunder, @Mordred, @Nuew, @Greydrone, and my 18 other patrons not mentioned here. An extremely enthusiastic "Thank you" to @Torgamous for her patronage as well. Also, if you're not on here, you fit the tier, and you want to be added, please tell me.

    AN: Beta-read by @ensou .


    Sunset Shimmer​

    Voice's presence diminished as the most stressful meal of the year continued. The weight of Her existence became ever lighter, and Her demure words felt less imposing and more like they belonged to a normal pony, albeit a magically powerful one. There were still hints of Her true nature, but it wasn't as weighty as it once was. The best comparison I had was of covering a lantern: light still peeked out at the edges, but it was much less prominent than before.

    The borrowed behavior itself was, as far as I could tell, completely flawless. Whatever She'd done while frozen, it was disturbingly effective and I had to wonder why She hadn't utilized it earlier. Perhaps the reason was that before, She was trying to avoid my reacting like this. Her prior method of copying ponies was fairly dynamic and had enough differences to form its own character out of those fragments. This skipped all those steps and went from an entity imitating specific ponies, to what almost seemed like another pony possessing Her.

    Voice's lessened presence actually didn't help me relax. Sure, it became easier to think of Her as a pony rather than merely being pony-shaped, and I was soon forced to acknowledge that I probably wouldn't notice anything amiss if I were now being introduced to Her for the first time. She'd done an excellent job with this latest form, too; her Her clothes were as well-fitted as they would be for a real maid, and there was a delusional part of me that enjoyed watching Her even as the rest of me screamed that what I was seeing Did Not Belong. However, my heartbeat and sympathetic nervous system seemed intent on acting like I was in serious danger, and should be fleeing instead of eating. I was guessing my instincts assumed that a threat trying to hide itself meant an ambush predator, and I should flee to the safety of a group before it pounced.

    I wished I'd never addressed the difference between Her behavior and how a maidservant was expected to act. The worst part was that I couldn't even really ask her Her to go back to acting normally. There were very few roles in society that would be able to follow me anywhere I might go. If She acted like a member of the Royal Guard, that might be more comfortable for me, but would ram straight up against Her hard requirement of no weaponization. Similarly, posing as a foreign ambassador or visiting royalty might allow Her to accompany me to some places as a friend, but only a small fraction compared to my life in general. She really had picked a good role for accomplishing Her goal of following me everywhere. It was just impossible to me to ignore Her.

    Over the course of perhaps half an hour, I only managed to halfheartedly work my way through my first plate and a little extra — not even a quarter of what I'd needed before Voice altered me, and an even lower proportion now. Thankfully, Voice finally seemed to get bored of reveling in my suffering at that point. In the span of moments, the 'maid' went from acting small and demure to actually meeting my eyes and standing more normally.

    "That's enough teasing for now, I think," She announced without the meekness of mere moments before.

    Her presence did remain far lighter than I was used to, but the more normal body language and tone remained enough of an improvement to let me release an explosive sigh of relief.

    "I think you broke my brain a little," I informed her. "The sheer dissonance between my awareness of what you are and how you were acting was just — argh."

    Voice giggled and waved one hoof airily.

    "There's not actually much of a mismatch," She disagreed. "I'm a grazer, remember? Being small and unobtrusive is important for my survival; poison and spikes don't protect me if I make something angry enough to prioritize gratification over self-preservation. Plus, you don't need to worry about offending me. If you cross a line, I'll tell you first, and will only be truly displeased with you if you knowingly repeat the mistake. There's also the simple fact that outside of being exploited for conflicts, which I'm now quite confident you know better than to do, I would be quite happy to do anything you told me to — at least, in a few more years so that you know what you're getting into, and so your mother doesn't try to throw me at the Sun."

    She had an odd grin as she said that last part, and I distrusted it immediately. I wasn't quite sure why I would need to wait a few years, but I could guess: if I grew impatient in my pursuit of ascension and I ended up taking her up on the 'demon goddess' offer, Celestia would not be pleased, but Voice would know enough about Equestria by then to make Herself scarce. I wouldn't give up on being an alicorn, though. There was no point to something that placed me in opposition to Celestia.

    "That is significantly more permissive than just 'rules to guide your behavior,'" I said flatly.

    Voice smiled and batted her eyelashes at me.

    "But the 'rules to guide my behavior' are those of a personal maidservant now, aren't they? I'm supposed to be that level of obedient."

    I almost wanted to hit my head on the nearest bedpost. I prized my mind and horn too much to risk damage to either, though.

    "You're the one who proposed that idea in the first place!" I snapped back.

    "And it is proving to be considerably more entertaining than I expected, Your Grace."

    The last was said in the same demure tone as earlier, and I twitched. She was clearly just trying to get a rise out of me, but the worst part was that it worked. I shouldn't get mad at her; there technically shouldn't be anything wrong with Her choosing to act like this. After all, much of the point of having power was having the freedom to act without fearing one's lessers. Celestia only knew how many eccentric but powerful ponies there had been in Equestria's past.

    "I am quite serious, though," She insisted, returning to speaking normally. "Just because a pony doesn't choose to hold their power over others does not mean they lack it. I don't need acknowledgement, validation, resources, or anything else required by corporeals. I don't feel fatigue and am quite happy to examine structures and systems of local life if I find the situation otherwise boring. I want some friends, but I can do that on days off or sometimes even while I'm on duty. I don't mind being told to do things, as it doesn't actually cost me anything, not even my attention; I do not need to be physically present in order to continue observing your life.

    "Imagine doing the same routine year after year for thousands of years. It really does get old, but being an outlier among Outsiders means people already have expectations for how I'll want to be treated. I sometimes play along, and I've been actively worshipped before. Multiple times, even. But that wouldn't fit here. There's already a benevolent theocracy in place, and my summoning is incidental to your overall story, not its focus. Focusing on me might even interfere with your apotheosis! I'm certainly not going to be founding a subversive cult with the intention of eventually overthrowing Celestia and instating myself as goddess-empress."

    A cult wasn't quite what I'd imagined when Voice mentioned previously overthrowing a tyrannical dynasty, I would admit. The way She talked about it, I'd assumed she was just helping other ponies in their preexisting rebellion — or, well, not ponies, as the case may be.

    "In short, I experience none of the usual downsides of taking a service role, and actually find it to be a fairly ideal option. Please consider that the alternative is me silently watching you with you lacking any awareness of my presence. I'm almost doing that, just with a side of helping somepony I actually quite like."

    When She put it like that, I would reluctantly concede that it might work out pretty well for Her. Hopefully, consciously knowing Her reasons would help the next time She decided to embrace the mask of subordination, because I didn't doubt that She would do so again. Still, now that I thought about it, there was one event I actually didn't want her new identity to be present for.

    "You aren't going to be like that when I'm visiting Twilight, are you?" I asked warily. "I feel like it will strain credulity if I have a maidservant attending to me while I'm supposed to be 'foalsitting.'"

    Plus, Twilight might be distracted by the presence of another pony, especially if she noticed something off with her. I would be distracted by Voice's presence, too.

    "Oh, if my known presence would cause issues around her, I'll certainly be happy to let you forget about me during those times," She said quickly.

    I squinted suspiciously. It seemed a bit odd that She would be so willing to back off like that, especially since that was one of the times where I actually would benefit from a personal hoofmaiden to handle Twilight's meals. It remained vastly preferable to having Twilight try to hide from the strange new pony or letting the tiny little filly be spoiled by thinking having servants was normal.

    "Thank you," I said grudgingly, then hesitated. "You wouldn't happen to know when this dressmaker is supposed to arrive, would you?"

    "You have plenty of time to finish your meal and attend to personal hygiene," Voice deflected, rather neatly dodging the question.

    Making ponies wait for me was indeed a tactic that some of the nobility enjoyed more than they should, but it wasn't one that I should be using anything other than deliberately. Still, Voice was the primary reason that I was trying to bother heeding the feelings of ponies at all. If She said I had time, I probably really did have time.

    I didn't immediately return to eating. Instead, I finally got around to levitating my necklace to eye level. Even with the help of a magnifying glass, I wasn't able to find whatever rune or runes were responsible for the warmth it now emitted. Maybe my necklace didn't even have an underlying enchantment, and Celestia had simply charged my necklace to keep me from noticing when she left. Magic without defined purpose could be dangerous, though, so I didn't think she'd done that. So, I supposed I had an answer to whether she'd merged a preexisting fragment into the necklace or enchanted it this morning. It was probably the merging.

    If that was the case, though, that merely meant the rune was hidden rather than being gone altogether. I improvised a quick spell and arranged a layered light trap on the far side of the gemstone before shining light through it. My attempt didn't work immediately and did require a few minutes of tweaking, but sure enough, I did manage to find the rune in question:

    Honesty.

    I squinted suspiciously at the lone letter and wondered if she'd expected me to find the necklace-embedded rune after all. I'd expected something like Protection or Comfort. I couldn't say what this was supposed to do aside from the obvious metaphor: trying to convince me that her feelings were sincere and not forced at all. As if. I'd long since seen her ability to produce emotions for spellcasting on demand. Admittedly, that was for smaller and lesser spells rather than a grand working like this, and she had been the one to teach me that forced emotions could consume the caster if they let even a trace of doubt bleed into their work…

    Maybe forced love was an exception? The amount of power Celestia was throwing around could destroy much of the castle should it break containment. She surely knew better than to risk the lives of her precious little ponies on convincing me.

    But longer-lasting spells built upon lies are inevitably unstable, and will break eventually.

    If Celestia was trying to make a protective artifact for me, it was even more important that the feelings involved be pure. She had to know that; she was the one to teach me the underlying concept, if not this specific application thereof. Her most memorable example was the dangers of using rage and then finding something you didn't want to destroy. She wouldn't go to all this effort for something that would not only fail, but would endanger ponies in the process. Maybe she was using some kind of a filter to ensure that only a single emotion made it into the actual end product. I hadn't sensed any such spell last night, but I had been too overwhelmed to sense much of anything aside from the lov—magic itself.

    The longer I thought about it, the more I doubted last night's conclusion that Celestia might start to feel genuine emotion if she pretended for long enough. Instead, it seemed likely that the longer this continued, the weaker each display would get as feigned feelings faltered. While that would certainly provide vindication and reinforcement that I had been right all along, I didn't want to see how she would react to finding out that pretending wouldn't be enough.

    Really, I didn't want to think about this. I knew that Celestia's words and deeds had been strange and inconsistent lately. I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment by letting myself feel even a little hope. The presence of the necklace was comfortable, and Celestia was treating me much better than before. That should be enough.

    …The necklace was too comfortable, actually. I wanted to go back to bed, and had to wonder if whatever healing Voice had provided yesterday only temporally displaced the need for recovery rather than removing it altogether. I glanced back and eyed Celestia's bed speculatively.

    "Your Grace," Voice started softly, and my head whipped back toward the once more seemingly-small mare. "If you sleep any longer, it will be difficult for you to properly rest tonight."

    I huffed. I hated that she She was right. Enough spellcasting would tire me and help get around that problem, but there was a fine line between ensuring that I was merely tired and falling into outright magical exhaustion. Celestia wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I had to return to the hospital so soon.

    "Didn't you say that you were done teasing me for now?" I complained, even if the ongoing display was quite effective at banishing any urge for me to go back to sleep.

    "Teasing, Your Grace?" Voice asked with feigned innocence. "I am afraid that any respectable personal attendant will be expected to act in a manner similar to my own."

    Yes, but they aren't an Outsider pretending to be a pony and you know it.

    I huffed and fixed my eyes firmly on breakfast, trying to avoid looking at Voice as much as possible.




    A bit over an hour later, a messenger arrived to retrieve me for a meeting with the apparent dressmaker. Thankfully, I hadn't needed to tolerate Voice's act that entire time; she'd eased up and let me actually eat after about five minutes. I soon followed said messenger toward the drawing room where the dressmaker was apparently waiting.

    Or where she should have been waiting, at least. One of Princess Celestia's most trusted aides, Raven Inkwell, stood just outside the entrance to said drawing room, clipboard in hoof and faintly disapproving expression as present as always. Hers was a mask that used to confuse me. She always pretended to be standoffish, but her heart wasn't in it; as far as I could tell, she just brandished the pretend disapproval as a weapon to keep ponies from wasting her time. She was one of the inspirations for my own defensive measures.

    I hadn't seen much of her yesterday, which was unusual; she would normally have accompanied Celestia to a number of the meetings that I had attended. I'd assumed that just meant she was busy cleaning up after the Summer Sun Celebration's aftermath, though.

    Inkwell waved off the Royal Guard messenger who'd retrieved me, and the stallion saluted before trotting off. I glanced back at her to idly note that Inkwell was a unicorn today. Rumor had it that there were actually two twins masquerading as a single Raven Inkwell, thus explaining both her differences in appearance and how she got so much done. I knew better. She just happened to be very good at self-transformation spells. I wasn't sure that I'd ever seen her as a pegasus, though, just as an earth pony and unicorn.

    ...Actually, I'd never seen her transforming, either. She was definitely the same pony instead of twins, right? Right?

    "Madame Inkwell," I acknowledged, a note of uncertainty creeping into my words despite my best attempts. "Is there a problem?"

    "There is," Inkwell confirmed darkly. "Woven Accord has deigned to send an assistant rather than come personally."

    It took me a moment to think through what she was saying, and connect 'Woven Accord' to the unnamed dressmaker I was supposed to be seeing. Anger flared an instant later. I would understand the insult if I had been the one to invite Woven, but Celestia had arranged this. I didn't doubt that she had delegated, but accepting the appointment only to send somepony else was an insult to both me and Celestia. Woven was effectively saying I wasn't worth her time.

    "Quite," Inkwell said curtly. "I would normally have sent the filly home with harsh words for her mistress, but a rather glaring discrepancy has brought itself to my attention. I went to school with Woven, and she couldn't enchant her way out of a cage made of gold leaf. Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark of the assistant she sent is a chisel poised against a half-finished gold rune."

    It didn't take a genius to figure out that mystery. Somepony had been taking credit for her assistant. The question was whether an assistant would still be worth keeping around rather than sending her scurrying.

    "Voice?" I asked aloud.

    "You should give her a try," Voice suggested, and Inkwell stumbled away from the abruptly appearing abomination.

    "Sweet Celestia–" Inkwell yelped in the largest loss of composure I'd ever seen from the somber mare.

    Still, her reputation was well-earned. She recovered within moments, startled alarm giving way to bafflement as she stared at Voice.

    "...Why is the Visitor dressed like one of the castle's maids?" she asked. "I thought she was supposed to look like an alicorn version of yourself."

    I mentally noted the fact that Inkwell had been told of Voice's nature, albeit not recently. I would have expected Celestia to keep that information as quiet as possible.

    "She decided at dinner yesterday that she's going to be my hoofmaiden," I admitted. "Unfortunately, she's right about it being an effective cover for following me. Princess Celestia is aware of the idea, but I think she expected Voice to get identity paperwork and official employment sorted before starting on the job."

    Inkwell looked between me and Voice, her usual mask of composure rather effectively cracked by what she was hearing. It was actually kind of fun to see, and I could understand why Voice decided that Her current course of action was enjoyable. I just wished I wasn't one of the ponies who was targeted by Her mischief.

    "It was explained to me that she is on par with Celestia Herself in terms of power?" Inkwell said slowly.

    Strong enough to empower somepony to be on her level, actually.

    "Close enough," I said instead. "And yes, I expect I'm as flabbergasted as you are, especially since Voice can perfectly imitate all the etiquette of a personal attendant."

    I left my horror at that act unmentioned. Inkwell was a competent administrator, but probably didn't have a developed enough magic sense to suffer from constant reminders of Voice's nature like I did.

    "We'll see about that," Inkwell said darkly.

    I stiffened as the weight behind me became far lighter in mere moments.

    "If that is your wish, Madame Inkwell," Voice said softly.

    Don't look back, don't look back, I mentally chanted, suppressing a shudder and keeping my gaze firmly fixed forward.

    "...How, exactly, do you know how to behave if you are not of our world?" Inkwell asked warily.

    "Echoes of actions still persist long after they have been performed," Voice said in that same deferent, fur-raising tone. "I needed only to listen, and then I could imitate."

    "You really are a walking security nightmare, aren't you?"

    "I also seem to be a distraction from current affairs, Lady Inkwell," Voice observed.

    Despite not taking a pointed tone, Voice's point still got across. Inkwell huffed, adjusted her glasses, and looked back at me.

    "Very well. If I am understanding your suggestion correctly, Voice of Immaterial Dreams, you believe we should simply cut Woven Accord loose and commission Flighty Flame directly?"

    I instinctually turned to see Voice's reply, and instantly regretted it. She remained in maid mode. I looked away almost immediately, but the sight was still seared into my brain. With anypony else, I might start resorting to illusions so that She wouldn't be able to see how her antics affected me, but I was sure that illusions wouldn't work on Her.

    "That would be my suggestion, Madame Inkwell," Voice agreed softly. "If the results are unacceptable, I would be willing to manifest suitable attire for Lady Shimmer myself."

    My eyebrows shot up. That was a degree of confidence that I hadn't expected, considering that assisting me to such a degree seemed outside Voice's remit of helping me with ascension.

    "And you consider fashion to be among your list of skills?" Inkwell probed with feigned dubiousness.

    Really, she was a great fit for Celestia. Both of them always intent on manipulating ponies to get their way.

    "She's visited a number of worlds and spent large amounts of time on each," I interrupted to save myself from needing to hear Voice answer. "Whatever She comes up with might seem odd at worst, but I'm certain it'll still be aesthetically acceptable."

    Inkwell sniffed haughtily.

    "We will need to tell Miss Flame of the occasion if she is to do an adequate job," Raven said 'reluctantly,' keeping her own thoughts on my adoption firmly buried. "It would be difficult enough even if she was not an apprentice."

    I rolled my eyes in response. We might be able to skate by via just telling her I would be made a duchess, but it wasn't normal for a pony to jump so many ranks at once. Unless she was stupid enough that she shouldn't have the job at all, such misdirection wouldn't work as intended.

    My attempts to avoid seeing Voice in Her current state were soon thwarted by simple virtue of Her trotting to open the drawing room doors for us, head bowed. I tried not to look at Her as we headed inside, not even when She closed the doors behind us.

    The blue-coated, yellow-maned 'assistant' within couldn't be more than a year or two older than me, if that, and I had to dampen reflexive rage. I knew that earth ponies often started working sooner than unicorns did, but there was still a limit to how much experience she could really have by now. This went beyond a mere insult and into a full-fledged declaration of animus. At least she had the solid presence of a pony who actually pursued and honed a magical Special Talent.

    "I wish you both a good morning!" chirped the oblivious mare before executing a textbook servant-to-superior bow. "I am Flighty Flame, and though the circumstances could be better, I am absolutely delighted to make your acquaintance! I would apologize on behalf of my employer, but I am quite upset by her behavior myself. Even if I am quite happy to be sent in her place, one does not refuse a summons from Princess Celestia."

    The show of unexpected bluntness paired with otherwise acceptable manners took me aback. Flighty might just be trying to make herself look better by shoving her employer under a carriage, but she didn't feel greasy. Plus, the way she'd said Celestia's name was much too reverent.

    A few days ago, I might have ignored her and said only the bare minimum; certainly little enough to be rude. Once again, however, Voice's instructions about being polite to the help dragged themselves to the forefront. There were all sorts of ways that the pony in charge of my attire could subtly humiliate me if she were so inclined. Doing so would be career suicide, but ponies weren't exactly rational creatures when irritated.

    I reluctantly pulled from long-neglected etiquette lessons and respectfully inclined my head, lady-to-lesser.

    "Lady Sunset Shimmer, personal student of Princess Celestia. Your employer's actions are not your fault, although I do appreciate that you understand just what she is using you for."

    Flighty almost sagged with relief before forcing herself to stand properly once more.

    "Thank you for your understanding. Am I allowed to know the occasion for this commission, or is this for general wear?"

    I glanced at the Royal Guard at one side of the room and shrugged. We'd been beneath privacy wards quite a bit lately. It would be good to show the Guard that they were still trusted, especially if Celestia thought we were at the point of discreetly telling outsiders.

    The choice was taken out of my hooves, however. Raven Inkwell answered moments before I would have.

    "Lady Shimmer is being adopted by Her Highness, and will be ennobled as a duchess in the process."

    Flighty Flame's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and the young mare's gaze snapped to me. I braced for grease, but instead, the feedback from Flighty was something new: a jolt akin to walking into a storm cloud right before it would have discharged a lightning bolt, but without the pain. It was actually quite pleasant even if I felt the sudden urge to run laps around the castle to discharge excess energy.

    "As you have said," Raven continued, "your employer's behavior is utterly unacceptable, and she is no longer under consideration. You, however, have come highly recommended, and we are willing to commission your work as an independent. The Crown will, of course, provide a budget for materials."

    Flighty blinked and discreetly kicked her own back leg with the opposite hoof. Judging by the wince of pain followed quickly by relief, she'd been trying to verify that she wasn't dreaming. I couldn't blame her for doubting.

    "I'm actually an enchantress specializing in jewelry, not a tailor," Flighty said apologetically. "I'd be perfectly happy to help, but…"

    All at once, I had to wonder if Celestia had planned for us to employ Flighty all along. The timing was beyond suspicious between last night's enchanting lesson and my own recent choice to replace Celestia's attire. It would be just like her to find somepony who could teach me as a distraction from her inability to deliver lessons I'd been previously promised. Still, I wouldn't throw away a perfectly good asset just because I was annoyed by the way she'd been delivered.

    "That sounds perfect, actually," I said aloud. "Celestia only ever wears jewelry anyway."

    Flighty went still for all of half a second before she started visibly vibrating in place.

    "You want me to make you something akin to the regalia of Princess Celestia?" Flighty breathed.

    The earlier excitement was back, but had transformed from a one-off jolt into sustained tingling that made me feel as though my fur should be standing on end with my mane a mess. Holding still for measurements would be miserable.

    "I'm expected to ascend within a decade, so it's not exactly inappropriate," I told her.

    ...I hadn't actually meant to tell her that. Why had I told her that? She didn't need to know.

    Regardless of the reason, a prolonged, excited "eeeeeeeeee–" soon transformed into phantom notes filling the room without a source. It might also have explained why I'd suddenly decided to tell her. Heartsongs and secrets were too often on speaking terms, in the sense of them being spoken. Sometimes even shouted.

    "You came to the right mare!" Flighty half-sang.

    She promptly retrieved a notebook from her saddlebags and darted toward me, flicking through the book at breakneck speed. I could see many, many pages of Princess Celestia and even Cadance in various styles of rune-laden attire ranging from stacks of bracelets in a Zebrican style to full-fledged armor. I was immediately forced to wonder: Why and how does this pony have measurements of Cadance and Celestia?

    It was the last thought I had time for before Flighty began singing in earnest.

    "I was not born with wings or horn
    I'm 'of the earth,' you see.
    But while ponies eye me with scorn
    There's plenty more to me!

    "When I was young and just a foal
    I saw Her raise the Sun.
    But though it gave me a new goal
    All said it was not done!

    "'All tribes are equal,' so they claim
    'Focus on your own gifts.'
    I tried to calm and change my aim
    Only to find more rifts.

    "I studied and fought for magic:
    Spells of thought and word.
    'To watch you waste life is tragic,
    Your goals are just absurd.'

    "Her School said I'm surely wrong,
    My tribe would make me stall.
    I thought I must stay strong
    And could still show them all!

    "I found a way to ask the earth
    To fuel spells big and small.
    I thought it would prove my worth
    Yet ran up to a wall!

    "The earth is still and calm,
    Both traits I sorely lack.
    Despair struck without balm
    And forced my hope to crack.

    "A fact I could not escape
    Was that I would need stone.
    But if earth was the wrong shape
    Could I not make my own?

    "Enchanting does not care
    If my thoughts and whims are flighty!
    Complete tasks with flair
    And be called to serve the mighty!"

    "The Princess will not change
    And cares not for any fad.
    None dare to call it strange
    But I think it rather sad.

    "Cadenza granted little hope,
    I seized it all the same.
    I could not help but mope
    When She sought to avoid fame.

    "Here's a princess in all but name,
    I did not know of you!
    I am so very glad I came
    You are my dream come true!"​

    I stared at the giddy, vibrating young mare before me and couldn't quite decide if employing Flighty was the best choice ever, or one that was going to end so catastrophically badly that we would accidentally make the castle explode. I could see it going either way, especially since I was already close to finding whatever ponies had rejected her from Celestia's School and setting them on fire. The foals there didn't wish they had Flighty's drive, and that was the problem!
     
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    • The longer this goes on the more I am starting to believe that her Domain as princess is going to involve education. One day some pony is just going to say something so ignorant about something they've forgotten about their own people/capabilities that she's going to spontaneously ascend to fix that major glaring bit of ignorance.
     
    Alivaril said:
    Hospital of the Two Sisters
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    YO ITS CEL AND LUNA?

    Alivaril said:
    The longer I thought about it, the more I doubted last night's conclusion that Celestia might start to feel genuine emotion if she pretended for long enough. Instead, it seemed likely that the longer this continued, the weaker each display would get as feigned feelings faltered. While that would certainly provide vindication and reinforcement that I had been right all along, I didn't want to see how she would react to finding out that pretending wouldn't be enough.
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    SUNSET NO

    Alivaril said:
    Flighty blinked and discreetly kicked her own back leg with the opposite hoof. Judging by the wince of pain followed quickly by relief, she'd been trying to verify that she wasn't dreaming. I couldn't blame her for doubting.
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    This mental image was amazing and you should feel proud of yourself

    Also I want you to know that I sang THE ENTIRE HEARTSONG

    And I didn't regret it at all
     
    Wait, was this Voice's first Heartsong? She's gonna be so happy to have seen that, she loved it when the concept was explained iirc.

    ...I hope Voice teaches Flighty all the interdimensional enchantments in gratitude. She'll show them, she'll show them all!
     
    Shadowward said:
    actually find ponies Sunset will get along with.
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    There's one right there, driven, competent, held back by the system, misunderstood and unappreciated, similar enough to each other to really strike up a real friendship. Also coincidentally familiar with how to utilize earth magic and how to create enchanted jewelry. It's too perfect. If Celestia or voice did not arrange this intentionally then it is evidence for the existence of harmony as an active fundamental force.
     
    Alivaril said:
    I wasn't quite sure why I would need to wait a few years, but I could guess:
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    Yes please guess Sunset, this should be funny

    Alivaril said:
    if I grew impatient in my pursuit of ascension and I ended up taking her up on the 'demon goddess' offer
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    Swing and a miss!

    Alivaril said:
    But longer-lasting spells built upon lies are inevitably unstable, and will break eventually.
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    Yeah, it's almost like she's trying to give scientific proof she loves you cause it's the only way you'll believe it.

    Alivaril said:
    While that would certainly provide vindication and reinforcement that I had been right all along
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    Yes Sunset, because being right is the most important thing here. /s

    Alivaril said:
    I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment by letting myself feel even a little hope
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    Aww poor Sunny. Where's Celestia with those new hugs when you need them?

    Alivaril said:
    She always pretended to be standoffish, but her heart wasn't in it; as far as I could tell, she just brandished the pretend disapproval as a weapon to keep ponies from wasting her time. She was one of the inspirations for my own defensive measures.
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    I'm not sure if it would be more amusing to inform her of this directly to see her expression, or inform Celestia and see the looks she gives her assistant for clearly being a bad influence.

    Alivaril said:
    "We'll see about that," Inkwell said darkly.

    I stiffened as the weight behind me became far lighter in mere moments.

    "If that is your wish, Madame Inkwell," Voice said softly.
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    *Gets the popcorn*

    Alivaril said:
    And could still show them all!
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    Oh. Oh dear. Her presences suddenly makes perfect sense.

    Alivaril said:
    Flighty was the best choice ever, or one that was going to end so catastrophically badly that we would accidentally make the castle explode.
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    Ah, new best friend material detected.


    I'm suddenly imagining Raven standing there an hour later looking just done with this meeting but too afraid to leave the pair unsupervised.
    Raven: "I was just supposed to set her up with the dressmaker not spend half the day supervising a playdate. I'm going to be so behind on my schedule. Maybe I can leave them be for a little while."
    *Hears the pair start discussing another distressingly dangerous idea*
    Raven: "Or I could stay here and make sure they don't destroy the castle. That would make for even more schedule delays."
     
    FallenPears said:
    Wait, was this Voice's first Heartsong? She's gonna be so happy to have seen that, she loved it when the concept was explained iirc.

    ...I hope Voice teaches Flighty all the interdimensional enchantments in gratitude. She'll show them, she'll show them all!
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    Oh no. Voice was already going "oh wow you ponies are so adorable" but this will make her go full diabetes.

    Also, "but they aren't an Outsider" had me chuckle. Because, well. How do you know that, Sunset? Are you really sure?
     
    Axel Fones said:
    Oh wow I really like Flighty's song.
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    I'm very glad! It was fun, but a lot of work. Songs are hard. I felt it was absolutely necessary for Flighty, though, so t'was time well spent.

    Emerald Summer said:
    *Hears the pair start discussing another distressingly dangerous idea*
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    Safety standards are for ponies who don't know what they're doing, right?

    Asmodemus said:
    Eldritch God Empowered Mare Versus Modern Educational System
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    Sadly, if Sunset tried to challenge them legally, Celestia would probably bounce it down to a lower court so ponies didn't think she was just siding with her adoptive daughter even though Sunset would totally be right.

    That won't save them.

    Saphire said:
    Also, "but they aren't an Outsider" had me chuckle. Because, well. How do you know that, Sunset? Are you really sure?
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    Fortunately, Voice doesn't seem to be one of the Outsiders who will replace the ponies surrounding their victims with eerie puppets and/or additional extensions of themselves.

    Seem to be.
     
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