Twilight VS the Projector [Comedy]
Twilight VS the Projector
The Projector
Rarity treasured the simple pleasures of life. After all, the simple pleasures were often things one took for granted and then longed for most when they were gone.
There was nothing quite like reading a captivating romance novel on a rainy afternoon; no delight like a dress perfectly formed, every stitch in its place; no relaxation like drinking tea with Fluttershy in the garden; and no greater joy than shocking Twilight into a silent freakout with ‘modern technologies’.
It had been several months already since Rarity had befriended the alicorn spirit and, in retrospect, Rarity would have never quite foreseen their friendship turning out as it did. Before they were even friends, back when Rarity would never dream of omitting the “Princess” title that came with Twilight’s name, it had felt like her relationship with the alicorn was strictly a… well, not a friendly relationship, but a… very odd, very serious relationship.
“I simply cannot wait to see her expression! It’ll be the best one yet!”
The Everfree Forest was hardly a place that ponies desired to enter, and even less so merrily skip through it, but Rarity's love for shocking Twilight into silence with mundane modern objects was simply too much.
Fluttershy giggled, trotting next to Rarity in a much more reserved fashion. “It was nice of Cheerilee to lend us all this, wasn’t it?” she asked, looking at the reel-to-reel projector and accompanying screen that Rarity was floating in front of them.
She wasn’t the only one curious about it, either, considering the black owl guiding them kept looking back and throwing wary glances at the odd device.
“It was, and we’d better make sure to return it in pristine condition,” Rarity warned, seeing to it that projector didn’t brush against stray branches that might damage it. Of course her warning mostly translated into making sure one particular very curious spirit didn’t dismantle the only projector Cheerilee had.
Admittedly, it had taken quite a lot of convincing for Cheerilee to lend it to them, but it would all be worth it just to see Twilight’s reaction. If she’d nearly lost her marbles over a flashlight, the projector was sure to garner an even greater reaction.
“Look! There’s the library!” Rarity exclaimed, her heart skipping a beat at seeing the familiar old oak in the distance. She hastened her already quick pace, feeling very much like a filly set loose in a candy store. She could hardly stifle her excited giggling as she followed Themis towards the oak tree. “Hurry, Fluttershy!” she called, glancing back at the equally excited pegasus.
Upon stepping hoof inside the library, Rarity’s eyes landed on Scootaloo, sitting at a table and no doubt still reading the same comic books she’d been poring over when the two mares left hours earlier. At the sound of their arrival, though, Scootaloo looked up and then jumped to her hooves.
“Geez, that took forever!” she exclaimed, trotting towards them.
“Where’s Twilight? And Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked, carefully setting down the projector and screen, simultaneously looking around for the alicorn.
"Princess Twilight's downstairs helping Sweetie with some magic spells,” Scootaloo explained, watching as Fluttershy took out some film reels from her saddlebag while Rarity prepared the viewing screen. “What films did’ja bring?”
Fluttershy squinted at one of them. “Uhm… ‘The Anatomy of Flying’ and…” She looked at another one. “‘Magic and Technology: A Perfect Harmony’.”
“What?! But those are so boring!” Scootaloo blurted out, looking back and forth between the two mares with a disgusted expression. “She’s gonna fall asleep to those!”
Rarity playfully rolled her eyes. “No, she won’t, darling,” she assured, once more failing to stifle a giggle. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Besides, these were the only films Cheerilee had to lend us, and yes, though they may be a little boring—”
“A little?”
“Terribly boring, I’m sure Twilight will be more than thrilled; positively riveted, even.”
That said, Rarity completed her preparations, and as such removed a white sheet from her saddlebag and draped it over the projector so that only the imaging lense was left uncovered. She didn’t think Twilight would be able to instantly figure out the machine simply by looking at it, but she didn’t want to take any risks.
“Right, here we go!” Rarity giddily exclaimed. “Scootaloo, be a dear and fetch Sweetie and Twilight, will you, please?” she asked, turning away from her handiwork.
Once Scootaloo had run off, Fluttershy spoke up. “Which one should we show her first?” she asked, unable to stop herself from absorbing the excitement Rarity’s entire being was exuding. “Maybe she’d like the one about magic?”
“Oooooh, yes!” Rarity agreed, taking the corresponding reel and briefly removing the sheet so as to properly place the film. Film placed and sheet canvasing projector once more, she looked to Fluttershy, who was busy making sure the screen was straight and properly facing the projector.
“I hope Princess Twilight likes it,” Fluttershy said, nudging a corner of the screen into place.
"Hope I like what?"
Rarity and Fluttershy turned around to find the ghostly princess herself, appearing as unannounced as ever. And apparently as curious as ever, considering she didn’t even wait for a reply before starting to levitate away the projector’s cover.
"Don't do that! You're not supposed to see yet!" Rarity shrieked, her own magic pushing down the cover, much to Twilight's surprise – and momentary dismay. Rarity then noticed someponies were missing. "Wait, what happened to the girls?"
"They said you needed me to come up, so I did," Twilight explained unceremoniously. "They've been giggling at me ever since you left, and wouldn’t tell me why," she added, looking away from the covered object to find Rarity and Fluttershy failing miserably to hide their excited smiles. "Almost like you two are,” she added with narrowed eyes.
"Patience, darling," Rarity said, clearing her throat in an attempt to push down more giggles. "The girls are just excited for you to see what we brought. We just have to wait for them to get here."
Twilight frowned.
She looked towards the spiralling staircases, her horn lighting up, and mere seconds later, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were teleported into the room, both of them landing on the floor with a startled “oof!”.
That done, Twilight looked back to Rarity with an expectant stare. “There.”
Rarity blinked. Alright then…
She cleared her throat and gestured to the covered object. “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said, loudly and clearly, with as much grandeur as she could muster, as if she were about to address royalty — which, technically, she was. “I present to you…” Suddenly, in a theatrical fashion, she lifted off the cover with her magic, revealing what hid beneath it. “A projector!”
Silence ensued as four excited ponies waited with bated breath, staring at an unimpressed alicorn. Rather than gasps or ‘ooh’s and ‘aaaah’s, the projector was met with nothing more than cautious curiosity.
“This is a photographic camera, isn’t it?” Twilight asked, taking a step towards the projector and looking it over. “Why is it larger than the one you have? Isn’t it impractical? Is there a difference in quality? How does it work? Is it powered by magic?” She then noticed the small speakers attached to the device. “What are these for? Is it some kind of ventilation system?” She looked around, and before Fluttershy could say anything, Twilight levitated one of the film reels close and inspected it. She squinted her eyes and looked at the frames. “This already has photographs in it? Are you re-using it?”
She floated the reel back to Fluttershy and directed her attention to the screen. She narrowed her eyes and took a step towards it. “What’s this for?”
“Allow me to demonstrate,” Rarity said, a flicker of light departing from her horn, followed by the projector turning on moments later.
An image blinked on the screen, and finally, like a photograph, the title credits of the film appeared before the ponies. The words ‘Magic and Technology: A Perfect Harmony’ were written in an elegant calligraphy, and below the title a unicorn stallion stood perfectly still.
Twilight blinked, seeming only slightly impressed. “Oh! It projects images and photographs.” She turned to the projector, and asked, “How do you change to the next one?”
“Darling, it does much more than simply project images,” Rarity said, the giggle at the tail-end of her sentence sounding much like a teacher amused by her student’s innocent ignorance. Silly Twilight Sparkle; she had no idea what awaited her.
“It does?” Twilight asked.
“It does,” Rarity replied, letting out another enigmatic giggle, revelling too much in the suspense she was creati—
“Come ooon, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle said impatiently. “Show her already!”
Rarity blinked, having momentarily forgotten that there were other ponies in the room. “Yes, yes,” she said, clearing her throat with full intention to continue with her air of suspense. Sweetie Belle didn’t understand anything about showmanship, did she?
Of course she didn’t.
“Star!” Rarity called, glancing towards the chandelier floating near the ceiling and lifting her hoof. She then slowly lowered it as she continued speaking and said, “Lights, please!”
One by one, all the candles on the magic candelabra started to dim, flooding the room with enough darkness to properly see the movie, but leaving enough light for Rarity not to miss a single second of Twilight’s reaction.
Twilight seemed to be somewhat concerned by the display, glancing at the theatric unicorn with a confused expression, and only looking at the screen when a smiling Rarity gestured for her to do so. Whereas Fluttershy and the fillies sat down to enjoy the show, Twilight remained standing, glancing back and forth between Rarity and the screen.
“Well?” she asked after a moment.
Rarity declined to reply, simply continuing to smile and lighting up her horn once. She heard the projector start up, and smiled wider when Twilight’s attention was quickly captured by the screen.
“Magic and Technology!” a voice emerged from the speakers. “Welcome to our tour through the technological advances of ponykind made possible thanks to the…”
The voice faded away in Rarity’s mind, becoming nothing more than background noise, unheard and uncared for. The same could be said of the film itself, which she held no interest in watching. Her attention was focused instead on a much more fascinating sight, which was a terribly entertaining show in itself.
While moments ago Twilight had looked as serious as ever, her expression had now changed completely. Rarity watched with absolute delight as Twilight’s eyes widened, her ears flicking up as she took a step forwards, her mouth slightly opening up.
A quick glance around informed Rarity that likewise, the other three ponies couldn’t care less about the film, and Twilight had become the center of everypony’s attention as she again took another step forwards.
Eyes transfixed on Twilight, Rarity found herself wishing she knew the thoughts that were no doubt blazing through the Princess’s mind while she watched the film. As the stallion on screen spoke, Twilight kept glancing back and forth between the screen and the projector.
After a moment of Twilight staring at the screen with a shocked expression, Rarity decided to speak up. Or, she would have, had Twilight not spoken up first.
“Rarity…” she said, still looking at the screen with wide eyes.
Rarity giggled. “I know.”
"Rarity…” Twilight repeated, lifting her hoof and waving at Rarity, still not bothering to actually turn to look at her friend.
Rarity giggled yet again. “I know, darling, I know.”
And then, it happened.
At the rate of approximately a million miles per hour, question after question shot out of Twilight’s mouth while she practically zoomed from the projector to the screen, to Rarity, to the back of the screen, to the projector, to Rarity, to trotting through the screen, to going back to staring in shock.
How was it doing that? Where was the sound coming from? How could a pony not actually present in the room be speaking? Was it a long-distance communication spell? Where could she find that spell? Who was that pony? Could she meet them? What did Rarity mean she couldn’t dismantle the projector? She was going to put it back! What did Rarity mean she ‘always said that’?! She always reconstructed them exactly to how they were before! Well, okay, almost exactly, but—
“Twilight, I said no!” Rarity said for the tenth time, conjuring a barrier between the alicorn and the projector. “You cannot take it apart!”
“But Rarity—!” Twilight blurted out, whatever decorum she usually possessed all but gone. Without a care for Rarity’s protest, Twilight trotted through the unicorn’s barrier and stopped right before the projector. “I only want to see how it works!”
“Aw, come on, Rarity,” Scootaloo said, “Princess Twilight’s really good at building stuff! She helped me when my scooter broke!”
“Scootaloo, what she gave back to you looked nothing like a scooter. Don’t look at me like that! It didn’t!” she added when Twilight shot her an indignant look. “Twilight, this isn’t mine!”
Eventually, Twilight stepped away. “All right,” she relented, throwing the projector an alarmingly longing look. “Can I look at the other moving photographs, then?” she asked, levitating the second reel. “Please?”
“That you may,” Rarity said, relieved that the projector was no longer in imminent danger. “But before you do, I have a surprise for you that is far better than dismantling the projector.”
Twilight’s ears flicked up. “Did you bring another one?”
“Er… No… But you’ll love it far more!” she exclaimed before Twilight’s disappointment could flood the room. Without another word, she dug into her saddlebag and took out a thick book. “Tah-dah!”
Scootaloo grimaced. “A book?”
“Oh, a new book?” Twilight asked, her ears flicking back up.
“And not just any book! It’s an instruction manual!” Rarity explained, flipping through the pages. “Now, you don’t have to dismantle the projector to know how it wo—” Her sentence was cut short when the book disappeared from her hooves and reappeared in front of Twilight. “... You’re welcome…”
“Maybe we should turn off the projector, then,” Fluttershy suggested, but as she trotted to it, a pink barrier appeared before her.
“Wait, I’m still watching!” Twilight blurted out, even though she was still very much staring at the book.
Rarity rolled her eyes, smiling good-naturedly and sitting down. “Well then, everypony get comfortable. We’re in for a long hour.”
“Rarity? Rarity, wake up…”
After a long yawn, Rarity’s eyes fluttered open, and she stretched out, idly grasping the sheet that had been placed over her. She blinked once, twice, thrice and found Twilight standing besides her, looking her down with an impassive expression.
“Oh, pardon me, I must have dozed off,” she said, stifling a second yawn and looking around. A quick glance showed her three sleeping ponies, meaning she hadn’t been the only one who’d succumbed to the sandpony’s grasp. Those films really were more effective than sleeping pills.
Her cursory glance, however, also came with the realization that something was missing. “Twilight?” she said slowly, feeling her grogginess almost immediately disappear. “Twilight, where’s the projector?”
“The projector? Oh, I—”
“Oh no, you dismantled it, didn’t you?” Rarity interrupted, clutching the cover against her chest. “Twilight! I told you tha—”
“I didn’t dismantle it!” Twilight whispered, indignant. “I only moved it downstairs so it wouldn’t wake you up while you slept! You seemed tired, and I thought you should rest...”
“Oh… Thank you,” Rarity said, now feeling rather badly for her accusation. A bit embarrassed, she looked down and finally realized she was clutching the blanket she’d brought to hide the projector. “Did you cover me with this…?”
“I didn’t want you to be cold,” Twilight explained, a light flush appearing on her cheeks when she glanced at the others. “I looked in your saddlebag for more blankets for everypony else, but I didn’t find any…”
“And you picked me to cover?” Rarity asked, somewhat taken aback by the gesture. She giggled and fluttered her eyelashes. “Awwww! Sweetie Belle would be green with envy!”
Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.
“If you didn’t dismantle the projector, why did you wake me up?” Rarity asked, yawning one last time before standing up, levitating the sheet with her and placing it atop the two sleeping fillies. “Finished your book?”
Twilight nodded. “I wanted to ask you some questions. The manual had a history section, and it mentioned something called a flip book?”
“Flip books? I’ve never told you about flip books? Well, today is your lucky day!” Rarity exclaimed, trotting past the alicorn and towards the aisles of bookcases. “You still have blank scrolls, don’t you? We’ll need a few of them so it’ll work.”
Some time later found the two mares sitting at a table on the library’s lower floor, Twilight leaning over Rarity and watching her friend carefully stack up several sheets of scroll paper.
Once they were in proper order, Rarity took the quill dipped in the nearby inkwell and cleared her throat. “Why don’t I…” She drifted off, finally lowering the tip of the quill and carefully drawing an owl on the first scroll’s corner. “There!”
Twilight leaned in further, furrowing her brow. “... That’s it?”
“No, that’s not ‘it’,” Rarity replied, lifting the scroll and revealing the one beneath it. “Now, we’re going to to draw an owl in the same place, except we’ll change it up a bit. How about we make it fly?” she suggested, drawing the same owl, now with its wings lifted up.
Minutes later, Rarity had drawn numerous nearly-identical owls, enough for it to flap its wings and fly up a few centimeters. After instructing Twilight to pay attention, she placed her hoof near the edge of the upper scroll and then used her magic to quickly flip back and forth through the scrolls’s edges.
“See?” she said excitedly, watching the owl fly up and down.
“Oh! I see, it’s a primitive version of the moving photogr—”
“Film,” Rarity corrected.
“Film,” Twilight said, using her magic to take scrolls and try the flip book for herself.
"Why don't you try making one?" Rarity suggested, eager to see what Twilight would come up with. "It's fairly simple."
Twilight furrowed her brow, taking the quill in her magic and staring down at the scroll. She turned the scroll around so an owl-free corner would be facing her, and after dipping the quill in ink, she carefully began to draw on the scroll.
Rarity watched, trying to not to be too eager and lean too much towards Twilight; she didn't want to, well, go through the Princess, after all. It was interesting, however, to see their difference in styles: while Rarity had drawn the owls in a quick fashion, as she did most of her sketches, Twilight seemed to be putting extra care into her strokes. Sadly, this made it difficult for Rarity to see what she was drawing, and she eventually decided to lean back and wait patiently for the result.
Maybe she ought to read the manual while she waited.
Eventually, Twilight put the quill down, rousing Rarity's attention by clearing her throat.
"Oh, you've finished?" Rarity asked, putting the book down and scooching closer to the alicorn. A cold breeze brushed against her coat, and she made a mental note to bring sweaters whenever she'd be sitting so close to Twilight. Without waiting for Twilight to offer permission, Rarity took the scrolls. "Let me have a loo..."
Rarity drifted off, a strange warmth bubbling up inside her. She hadn't really known what she expected Twilight to draw, but she would have assumed it would have been a book, or a spell, or an owl. Instead, Rarity was flattered to find herself staring at a simple yet charming drawing of herself reading.
"Twilight..."
She flipped through the scrolls and watched as 'Rarity' turned the pages of the book with her magic, the book gently levitating up and down. It certainly wasn't a very detailed drawing; if anything, it was almost childlike in its design, but Rarity was completely taken by it nevertheless.
"Do you like it?" Twilight asked, and there seemed to be some sort of hesitation in her voice. It occurred to Rarity that this was the first time Twilight ever did, well, anything for her, and it made sense that she'd be nervous.
"Well," Rarity said, turning to Twilight and smiling. "I must say I'm happy you didn't draw me being thrown against a bookcase!"
Twilight's face turned crimson. "You won't ever let that go, will you?" she asked dryly.
Rarity laughed in reply. "Not a chance!" she proclaimed, her smile widening when Twilight rolled her eyes. "In any case," Rarity continued, taking on a serious tone and looking back to the drawing, "I love it, Twilight. It's very charming! Of course, I am a charming model, am I not?" she added with a wink.
Twilight giggled softly, her previous offense fading away. "Rarity, I..." she faltered, furrowing her brow as if having a hard time piecing together her next words. "Thank you," she said, finally.
"Thank you?" Rarity asked, blinking. "Whatever for?"
"For bringing all these things for me to look at," Twilight replied. “I appreciate it.”
“Twilight, it’s my pleasure!” Rarity insisted, offering her most dazzling smile. “It really is, and once you’re out of here, I’ll be even more delighted to show you everything else we have outside!”
Twilight's expression darkened for a fraction of a second, and Rarity remembered just how adamant the alicorn was in her belief she was trapped forever. When Twilight opened her mouth to reply, Rarity half-expected her to say as much, but she found she was wrong.
"I… Thank you," Twilight said, lamely, awkwardly, as if she'd wanted to say something else but refrained at the last minute.
Rarity didn't make mention of it; she already knew what had been left unsaid. Still, Twilight not saying she couldn't be freed was leaps and bounds more encouraging than her just stating it as if though it were fact.
One day, Twilight Sparkle would sincerely believe there was a way out of her library, and Rarity had already decided she'd make that belief a reality.
