Trials and Tremulations

by Bulbajer

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Trixie, Comedy
Length: 1392

In a world where unicorns oppress non-unicorns, Twilight and her friends swim against the tide of racism, all the while trying to enjoy their young lives.

In a world where unicorns frequently discriminate against non-unicorns, Twilight is sent to Ponyville for a break from the stress of city life. Having been raised in a progressive unicorn household, she now comes face to face with the ugly reality of racism. Twilight soon learns that friendship is not free; it must be fought for. So she fights: for her friends and for a wider friendship between the privileged and the oppressed.

Includes multiple romantic-comedy subplots that have nothing to do with racism, which is why the story is tagged both "dark" and "comedy".

Cover credits: gturkey and Fehlung

Published 2015-02-22 07:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-31 01:47:21 UTC

Prologue

A short while ago, in a reality far, far away…

Not much was happening. And by “not much”, I mean no more than usual. Which happened to be a lot in this particular city. The streets were congested; profanities uttered by impatient taxi haulers and angry commuters reached even the top floors of the tallest apartment buildings. Birds circled above street lamps, looking for ponies to piss off. Smoke poured from towers and vents in a variety of shades, mostly gray. High above all this, from an ocean of blue, the sun shone down happily, as it usually did. Just another ordinary day in Canterlot.

If you were to visit a certain residence in this city, you would observe a conversation taking place with each of the four members of the household occupying different rooms. This was not all that uncommon for the unicorn couple Twilight Velvet and Night Light, their daughter Twilight Sparkle, and their adopted dragon son, Spike. Although their home was large compared to the apartment residences of many Canterlot citizens, the family sometimes found it necessary to put some additional space between each other. Especially during arguments. So, if you were familiar with the family, you might think this was just another ordinary day in the unicorn household. But, of course, you would be wrong.

For today was a very big day in the life of Twilight Sparkle. And she was not happy about it.

“Just how many books do you plan on taking?!”

“All of them.”

“… Twilight, you aren’t serious, are you? Tell me you’re not serious.”

“Sadly, no, I’m not serious, Spike. I can’t take all my books with me to Ponyville. I’d have to ship them separately, and I should really be strict with my spending until I get the hang of country life.”

“It’s more of a suburb, dear.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“But why even consider it? We’re going to be living in a library! A library!”

“Yes, but they may not have a very wide selection of books there. It is out in the country after all.”

“Suburbs.”

“Thanks Dad.”

“You sound like you don’t like Ponyville. We haven’t even gotten there yet.”

“Well then, I’m sorry, Spike. Forgive me if I feel a little cranky about being forced to move to Ponyville, while right here in Canterlot, fascinating political developments are occurring that could – no, that will – affect the entire country!”

“Suburbs.”

“Out of context, Dad.”

“My apologies.”

“Oh, come on, Twilight. Mom and Dad are right. You need a breath of fresh air.”

“Spike’s right on point, honey. City life isn’t for every mare, and though you may say otherwise, your health has been sagging lately.”

“I’m just fine, Mom! Urrrrrg!”

“No you’re not, Twilight. A mother can tell when her daughter needs a new atmosphere. Ponyville will be perfect for you. And besides, it’s not forever – only a few months.”

“A few months? A few months!? Do you know how many hours of research that equates to?”

“Heh. If I didn’t know better, Twilight, I’d say you were scared of going to Ponyville.”

Silence.

“… Twilight?” Spike stuck his head out of his room, where he had been packing. The young dragon wondered if had hit a nerve. “Twilight?” he called again. No, that wasn’t it. Spike knew what kinds of things set Twilight to self-destruct mode, and calling her scared usually wasn’t one of them. Still hearing no answer, Spike walked the short distance to Twilight’s room. He knocked gently on the open door.

“Twilight?” he asked softly. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I offended y-” Spike gasped in disbelief. “Twilight? Are you… crying?”

Twilight sat on the floor of her bedroom in front of her massive bookcase. A pile of books lay to her side, forgotten, as the unicorn stared down at the floor, her shoulders quivering. Turning to acknowledge Spike’s presence, she wiped a hoof across her wet face. “J-just barely,” Twilight answered, a blush rising to her cheeks. “Just barely crying.”

Spike gulped. He hadn’t seen Twilight cry in a long time. “It’s okay,” he murmured automatically as he approached her and put a claw on her shoulder. “I’m sure Ponyville isn’t that scary… at least, I hope it isn’t…”

Twilight chuckled softly in spite of herself. “It’s not that I think Ponyville will be scary, Spike. I’m sure it’s a lovely little place.” She sniffed. “It’s just… this will be my first time living away from home.” Glancing out the window, she continued: “We’ve gone on a vacation or two before, of course. But we always came back home. I can’t imagine living somewhere else on a long-term basis…” She turned to the open doorway. “Not to mention living without Mom and Dad.”

Spike followed her gaze for a bit before nodding slowly. “I can’t really imagine it either, now that I think about it.” Looking back to Twilight, who was wiping her tears away, he patted her mane somewhat awkwardly. “But it’ll be okay. We can do it.”

Twilight smiled through wet eyes. She nodded before chucking again. “Look at me,” she muttered, shaking her head, “me, of all ponies, having a breakdown over something like this. Don’t tell Mom and Dad, ‘kay?” she added with another blush.

Spike grinned, glad to see Twilight returning to her usual self. “Of course not.”

Getting to her hooves, Twilight inhaled deeply. “Right. Back to work. What do you think, Spike? Should I take Hoofard Bluestein’s Weather: A Detailed Investigation or The Visual Guide to Atmospheric Phenomena?”

Spike gulped. Twilight continued unabated: “I have to take one of them, naturally. I can’t risk the chance that the Ponyville library doesn’t have sections for each of the various branches of science. But I already have so many books packed, so I’d prefer to take just one… but which?”

At this point, Spike started slowly backing out of Twilight’s room, hoping that she wouldn’t turn from the bookcase. “A Detailed Investigation is, of course,” she continued, “more thorough and better suited for research than The Visual Guide. On the other hand, pictures might come in handy if I want to share my knowledge with the citizens of Ponyville. And to be honest, wall upon wall of text does get boring occasionally –”

Spike had cleared the doorframe; turning to tip-toe back to his room, he didn’t see Twilight following him with a knowing smirk. “– very occasionally, I should stress. Oh! And there’s my social studies books –” Spike, realizing the game was up, broke into a run, with Twilight close on his heals – “– to consider! Should I finish my book on the Crystal War? I mean, Ponyville’s library probably has the book, it’d be a crime if they didn’t –” She used her magic to capture the poor dragon just before he reached his door – “– but what if they don’t have it? Or if their copy is damaged?” Leaning close to the suspended Spike, she gave him her best crazy face. “You know how I feel about damaged books!”

Spike laughed, all the while struggling uselessly to escape Twilight’s magic.

“… Then again, I should probably keep my focus on the political situation, and that will require at least one major work on Canterlot politics. One can never enjoy politics too much…”

Suppressing another laugh, Spike sighed in an attempt to appear exasperated. “You know,” he interrupted, “Ponyville might have its own ‘political situation’ for you to obsess over.”

This stopped Twilight in mid-rant, causing her mouth to form a comical “o” shape for a few priceless seconds. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh, that reminds me, Spike, I have to pack my diary!...”

Suddenly released from the pink magical grip, Spike fell to the floor, landing on his feet. After wobbling unsteadily for a moment, he walked back into his room. “Celestia help us if she forgets Smarty Pants…”

Author's Note

If you're the type of reader who would rather not read fics if they include ships that conflict with your ships, hover over the next paragraph to see which ships this fic will contain. It's just a bit of a spoiler.

Main ships: AppleDash, Twixie. There may also be one or two minor ones, in addition to the standard background pony ships (e.g., Lyra x Bon Bon)

Chapter 1

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