Pandora suddenly curled around Twilight as she read, peaking over the purple mare's shoulder with little regard to privacy.
Twilight could only jump as she felt the other curling around her, the mare was reading what looked to be a freshly printed manuscript, rough and filled with corrections that she had been writing in the margins.
The draconiquus just looked at it for a moment, "I bet that person didn't even ask for those corrections. You don't even know this pony you are going all grammar princess on do you?"
At that the mare could only smirk."Actually, her name is Faithful Quill, and she is a good friend of mine, she asked me to play the part of Editor for her newest book."The other shot back smugly.
Pandora put on a pince nez one rim square and the other a half moon, "Are you sure this isn't a literary war you are waging? Because if the goal was to never make her write again, I think you won." She snickered softly as she rested her chin on a hand, claws idly tapping her own snout.
Twilight rolled her eyes," Oh please, Faithful knows how harsh a critic I can be. I have to be if she wants to publish this book about changelings in the scientific community." Pandora poked the book and the words fell out with a smirk. The less than amused mare sighed and rubbed her temple with a hoof." Pandora? I know I might not be your mother for decades to come...but I wont hesitate to ground you." She said with a huff.
Pandora smirked and wiggled her brows and her body followed the motions, "Dunno, sometimes with how dad talks.... Hey for all know you guys could be taking the skin boat to tuna town."
Twilight blushed with a loud groan, "Pandora, not that it is any of your business but at this current juncture I can promise you I'm a virgin!"
Her universe hopping daughter gave her a look, "I refuse to believe that on principal.
Twilight frowned heavily, "What is wrong with me being a virgin! I'm sure you are as well!"
With a nonchalant shrug she yawned, "Just saying you don't clear your browser history is all. And what if I told you I wasn't? That have a whole harem of lovelies waiting back home for me?" The noodle wiggles some more.
It took a moment for the purple alicorn to process that before she face hooved, "You know full well I don't do t hat kind of stuff....that might be spike."She huffed before blushing deeply."I would say that while I'm disappointed, you're a grown adult."
Pandora shrugged again, "Just saying Mom had a thing for dragons, scaly or otherwise." The noodling intensifies.
The mare's eyes widened."A..are you trying to imply that Spike and I...?" She asked, a look of horror on her face and unable to continue.
Her psuedo-daughter raised a brow, "What? No. I mean, maybe? He wasn't alive when I was born, but right now she is dating some giant doofus, hits on everything in sight and Future Mom beats him up and drags him around by his ear. Pretty sure that is what constitutes for love with you sometimes, dragged me around by my ear plenty of times."
Twilight couldn't help but frown at that, Spike wasn't alive? that was the last thing she wanted to hear about the future, or a possible one at least. She quietly nodded and spoke after a moment, "I..I wont even begin to try and say I understand how things are in your time Pandora."
Her daughter shrugged, "I mean its not like you weren't there or anything. Just, you study a lot, and so I did too."
The alicorn smiled at that." You did? I'm well..I'm happy to hear that you do..or did....I mean...I hope that I instilled in you the value of knowledge."
Pandora snickered, "Well I mean yeah, with a dad playing doctor and a mom obsessed with patterns and prediction algorithms it was hard not have that kind of stuff just, I dunno branded into you."
Twilight could only laugh at that and smile softly."Sounds like an interesting foalhood.
Pandora laid out as if lounging on a couch though she rested on nothing by thin air as she chuckled, "Yeah the robots were cool and the explosions were great, even if we were on the move a lot."
Catching her curiousity as she her quill continued to dance with its corrections her head tilted in question, "On the move?"
Pandora nodded as she began to idly play with a Rubik's cube she conjured from no where, "Yeah, Future Mom always had us set up somewhere close to a breach, and dad took care of the people who were too close to it."
The princess quietly listened and frowned." Breach? Took care of? It sounds like Discord was truly doing some good...I'm glad to hear it at least."
Pandora rolled her amethyst eyes with a chuckle, "Yeah mom doesn't look it but she says she use to be a general back in her day. Frankly I find it so hard to see, her like that, so grim and battle hardened, I mean looking at you doesn't help either." She poofed up another rubiks cube and now her back legs were solving one as well, "And yeah, Dad is usually always getting in some kinda trouble but I always thought that was what being a doctor was all about, cause a little pain here, snip off something that is too far gone to do any good and let the rest recover instead of being slowly poisoned."
Twilight could only smile softly her tone just as somber, "There are many timelines Pandora, many worlds where things didn't end up as peaceful or happy as they have here....we....well we are very lucky in that regards...I've met other versions of myself....ones that can only be spoke of as tragic figures."
Pandora didn't speak for a long time after this, more focused on the duo of rubiks cubes she worked on. As silence was only kept abated by the scribbling quill of Twilight's corrections and the soft click-claks of the double cube puzzle solving finally broke her own personal silence after a time. "I did some digging you know. There are some pictures she keeps around but she never really talks about them aside from simple offhanded comments like old friends or people she outlived." She hesitated, unsure of how to go forward, "I.. I know history is written by the victors and well they flatter themselves a lot but when you sweep aside the bullshit and read it for what it is... My mom has been around for a long time just like dad but... Hero isn't a term you can use for either of them."
Twilight quietly slipped into her little act of correcting grammar, sentence structure and dictation, a soft little hum heard now and then before Pandora spoke once more. Looking up, Twilight couldn't help but flinch at that reminder."I....I met your mother.."She spoke after a moment."I....I opposed her for the longest time, kept her from hunting down a certain Pony..."She spoke after a pause."I thought she was a monster, a twisted, heartless nightmare version of myself...."
Her claws stopped cold around the multi colored puzzle cubes, still not looking up from them. She took a soft swallow, "You know... You know that isn't exactly a light statement coming from you right? I mean yeah the books didn't tell the whole story but... What was I supposed to do? Ask her?" She let out a mirthless laugh, "Yeah great conversation topic to have at the table. So mom how was your past life, raping and pillaging across Equestria trying to kill some bitch who stabbed you in the back?"
Twilight could only look down and away from her daughter now."If it helps....I was wrong, I hate admitting it, even now, but I was so very wrong about her, about what I thought about her." The mare spoke softly.
The draconiquus' smile was just as cold as her laugh, "Oh you saw a light in her? Please lay this epiphany on me oh enlightened one."
Twilight set aside the manuscript, something far more important to fix now, "There is good in everypony Pandora...Everypony....If your father could change his ways, if Starlight and Trixie and Sunset could. Your mother..she was a victim of the world she grew up in. She was a mare who was beaten and battered by destiny a pawn cruelly used and toyed with.." She sighed and closed her eyes, she knew that she shouldn't have said any of this to Pandora, it wasn't her place.
That smile smile slowly fell into a harsh scowl, Pandora's features much less goofy like her father's and instead taking on an intimidating and harsh draconic edge, "Oh yes because tearing the world asunder and destroying civilizations is such a natural and healthy response to being victimized!" Her mane began to smoke as she barely restrained her fury, "So I guess it's doubly written in my DNA to just fuck everybody over when I get butt hurt, and pretend to play hero just so I don't look like the bad guy? Or who knows maybe I will draw dad's card and just be seen as a monster for doing the right thing and slowly go crazy before I play the fucking part to a T because that's all people will ever see me as!" The dam broke as those eyes filled to the brim before tears quickly fell as she looked at her claws, the rubiks cube dropped and forgotten, "just.... by the machines.... I am... I am literally the only natural born draconquus, and they don't know what the fuck they are doing, just smile and saying it will get better but... I don't want to follow in the footsteps, hooves, what the FUCK ever, if it leads to..."
Twilight's eyes widened at that, She couldn't help feeling a stab of fear in her chest at the others outburst, It was then that she saw the tears and the mare moved quickly, hugging her, nuzzling into her gently."Pandora.....You're not bound by those who came before you, you're not doomed to their fate, to repeat their mistakes...You can learn from their mistakes...from my mistakes and be better than any of us who came before..."She spoke softly now, nuzzling gently into her as she held her daughter." You have a chance to be so much better than we ever could, no matter what timeline we are from.."
Pandora held onto her tightly, her long form coiled around the mare who may not be the mother of her own time, but was still able to be the one she needed in her crisis, "It's just... its just so hard to pretend.... Act like its all okay, like I even know what I am doing. And they see Mom and Dad, then here I am playing assistant and know just how dark the shadow really is that is cast over me." Even after her soft crying and sniffles had ceased she still held Twilight close, "Can you... can you read me a story please? I know you don't know yet but, my favorite is Donut Steel: Origins Edition." That book deserved all the rotten tomatoes in the world that the critics gave it, how it got a sequel published was a mystery yet to be solved. It probably never would be in any timeline. "You uh.. you use to read that to me as a kid to get me to go to sleep."
The mare nuzzled into her all the more."I..I'm not sure I've ever heard of that story to tell the truth...but do you know the story of Daring Do?"She asked curiously, with a glow of her horn, a dozen books began to make their way though the air before she chuckled." I used to think that these stories were just that...but she actually exists! I've even been on a few adventures myself with her."She spoke with a chuckle.
