It wasn't very often that Twilight Sparkle left Canterlot, especially less since she'd started taking private classes in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and though she usually very much enjoyed train rides with her mother, this particular time wasn't so fun. For starters, they were going to Dodge City, which the Princess said wasn't admittedly her favorite town, and then her mom was too busy editing one of her client's novels to talk to Twilight, and, to make things even worse, the filly had forgotten to bring a book along to read during the trip.
As such, she'd been forced to entertain herself by staring out the window, watching the scenery rush by as the dumb train took her far away from school and Princess Celestia.
Eventually, after resigning herself to the fact that no matter how hard she stared outside, Princess Celestia wouldn't magically come to fetch her, she turned to observe the rest of the train's passengers. There were all kinds of ponies, of all ages and genders, and she found some selfish satisfaction at noticing a great deal of them looked as bored as she did.
Then again, a few of them seemed very entertained talking amongst each other, which Twilight personally found to be very silly. Trains were a great place to read books, and why would anypony waste good reading time talking to ponies who weren't their family or Princess Celestia? The Princess had once said that one could learn a lot from others, but Twilight knew that to be false since no pony knew as much as books did.
Her attention was drawn by the particularly noisy couple seated across from her. Thankfully, the space between seats was wide-enough it wasn't too loud, but it was loud enough to have probably annoyed Twilight if she'd been reading a book. The filly seated next to them seemed to empathize, at least, considering she looked up from her book and threw the couple a nasty look.
Actually, though, on closer inspection, Twilight realized she was probably their daughter considering she had the same white coat as the stallion, and her mane was a similar shade of purple as the mare's.
"Mother," the filly loudly said, almost as if she'd read Twilight's mind. "I am reading."
The mare turned around, looking delighted. "Oh, I know, I know! You're such a smart cookie, Rarity!" she exclaimed, eliciting a laugh from the stallion. "You keep having fun until we get to Ponyville, darlin'!"
That said, she turned around, continuing her loud conversation, and Twilight rolled her eyes almost in unison with the fil— er, Rarity. Moms.
Harrumphing, Rarity returned to her lecture, allowing Twilight to focus on what was really important: figuring out what book she was reading. She squinted her eyes a little, wishing the train would stop moving for a second, and then leaned forwards. After a moment, her efforts proved successful, and her heart nearly skipped a beat.
She was reading The Afflicted Eon! Not only was that one of Twilight's favorite books, but as far as she knew, it was an old novel too! Princess Celestia had given it to her last year, and Twilight had spent the entire night glued to the thing. There were so many plot twists, and Princess Celestia had even pointed out all the places where there was fourth shadow— no, no, foreshadowing— about them!
She didn't even know ponies could still buy that book!
Ohhhh, now she was even more upset she forgot to bring a book. If only she could… If only…
Standing up on her seat, Twilight realized the seat behind Rarity was empty. If she moved there, then maybe she could peek over Rarity's shoulder and then she'd be able to read a book! She'd read it already several times, but she didn't mind reading it again.
Pleased with her idea, Twilight sat back down, lifting her hoof towards her mother, until a sudden horrifying thought stopped her.
What if she's a slow reader?
Memories filled her mind, of horribly long and boring minutes she'd been forced to endure during class readings when her classmates spent two whole minutes reading just ONE book page! Two whole minutes! TWO!
It was awful!
She bit down on her lip, her enthusiasm waning completely, and yet… and yet, she really wanted to read.
Think, Twilight, think… Oh! I know!
She fixed her eyes on Rarity, patiently waiting for the exact moment when she turned the page of the book. It felt like she waited for ages, but when it finally happened and Rarity began to read a brand new page, Twilight put her plan into motion, counting the seconds under her breath.
When Rarity finally turned the page again, Twilight let out a satisfied nod. It had taken her two minutes and fifteen seconds to read the two pages, which obviously wasn't nowhere near as good as Twilight's own one minute and twenty-two seconds, but it was much better than the probably four minutes it would have taken her classmates.
Her excitement returning, Twilight lifted her hoof and rubbed on her mother's foreleg.
"Mommy?"
Twilight Velvet blinked, looking away from her manuscript and smiling down at her daughter. "Oh! Yes, sweetheart? Is everything okay?"
Twilight nodded, gesturing to the other filly. "Mommy, can I go over to her, please?"
Velvet turned to Rarity before turning back to Twilight, beaming. "Oh! Twilight, you want to go with her? Of course you can! Are you going to try and be friends with her?"
Twilight frowned, confused. "No. Why would I wanna do that?"
Velvet blinked, glancing towards Rarity before letting out a weary sigh. "Oh. It's because of the book." She playfully rolled her eyes and patted her daughter's mane down. "Well, you can go, of course, but remember how upset you get when I interrupt your reading?"
Twilight gasped, indignant. "I'm not gonna interrupt!"
Velvet softly laughed, going back to her task. "I hope not!"
Having received permission, Twilight crawled down the seat and trotted towards Rarity, going past her and then climbing on top of the empty seat behind her target. She carefully got up on her hindlegs and propped herself up on the backrest, peeking down over Rarity. To her luck, the book was in a perfect position for over-the-shoulder reading, and Rarity seemed to just be starting chapter ten!
Her boredom all but gone, Twilight let herself get lost in lecture, quietly reading alongside Rarity. They read a total of fifteen pages before Rarity suddenly stopped turning the pages. Twilight patiently waited a whole minute before frowning and looking away from the book, hoping to see what had interrupted her lecture.
Except, rather than finding the cause, she instead found Rarity had slightly turned her head around, her gaze now fixed on Twilight herself. Caught red-hooved, Twilight eep'd and immediately spun around, sitting completely still on her seat, her face bright red and her eyes glued to the snoring stallion on the opposite seat.
At a loss for what to do, and too embarrassed to run back to her mother, she settled on waiting a few more minutes before… trying to read again, making sure to check on Rarity this time. Or, at least, that would have been her plan had she not completely frozen the moment she felt somepony gently tapping the back of her head.
Maybe if she ignored it, it would sto—
"Excuse me?" a delicate voice said, accompanied by even more tapping of Twilight's head.
Gathering all her courage, Twilight turned around to find Rarity peering down at her with a frown.
"Uhm..." Twilight gulped down. "Y-Yes?"
"You know, it's rude to read over somepony's shoulder," Rarity pointed out.
Twilight shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting down. "I-I'm sorry," she meekly said. "It's one of my favorite books, and I--"
A gasp interrupted her.
"You've read it?!" Rarity asked, her irritation all but gone. She suddenly disappeared behind her seat, and before Twilight could move up to see where she'd gone, the filly appeared around the seat's corner, and unceremoniously climbed up next to Twilight. "Did your grandmother give it to you, too? Grandmama says this was the popular book when she was a filly, so she gave it to me. It's the only copy she has, you know, so she made me promise I'd take very good care of it."
"Oh, uhm, no, it was pri--" Twilight's words caught in her throat. As much as she wanted to talk about the Princess, she'd learnt the bad way that once she mentioned she was the Princess's pupil, ponies only started asking if Twilight could introduce them to her. "I… I found it in an old library?"
Rarity seemed to take it as an acceptable reply, questioning Twilight no further. Realizing that Rarity wasn't upset on her, and taking the act of sitting next to her as a positive one, Twilight couldn't help but ask:
"What did you thi--"
"Wasn't the end of chapter three really exciting?" Rarity asked, and Twilight nearly jumped up in her seat.
"YES!" Twilight blurted out, before quickly seating herself back down, a blush on her face. Not that that stopped her. "Yes! I didn't think that Lavender Cup was the one who took the train ticket!"
"Oh, oh, I know!" Rarity quickly replied, nodding her head. "I really thought it would have been Blue Diamond because he'd been so awful to Teacup and awful ponies like him are always the bad ponies!"
Twilight giggled. "That's what ponies want you to think, though. My teacher told me it's a cliché, because everypony expects the bad pony to be… uhm… well, the bad pony, but then the author shows that it isn't!"
Rarity frowned, pressing the book against her chest. "Well, even if he didn't take the pony, I still don't like him very much." She then put the book down and added, "But… if every author always makes it look like the bad guy is the bad guy, but then he's not, wouldn't it be more surprising if it turns out he is bad?"
Twilight shook her head. Yes, yes, yes!
"Right! I thought that, too, and I told the Pri— my teacher that, BUT THEN—! Then, in chapter fifteen, when Lavender Cu—"
"Oh! No, no, no!" Rarity shrieked, placing her hooves over her ears, her book nearly dropping to the floor. "I don't wanna know! Shh! Shh! I've never read a book with so many surprise things!"
Twilight whined, closing her mouth. "But—!" She faltered, desperately hoofie kicking the seat. But chapter fifteen was so exciting, and she hadn't been able to talk about it with anypony except Princess Celestia! Why couldn't she just tell this filly the entire story and that way she could discuss it?
"Uhm, though..." Rarity opened the book and flipped through the pages, a terribly delighted smile painted all over her face. "The surprise from chapter seven was really exciting, too! I was so happy that Rift Shield came for Lavender Cup, even though I really thought he'd never ever want to speak to her again!"
"Actually—!" Twilight said, sitting up straight and trying to imitate the Princess when she was being really smart, which was always, "Actually, look, look! It was hinted in chapter five!"
"Hinted?" Rarity asked.
Twilight eagerly nodded her head. "Uh-huh! My teacher explained that it's when an author puts little hints about something that's going to happen, so when it happens it's a surprise but it didn't come out of nowhere. It's called force shadowing. Er, foreshadowing."
Rarity frowned, obviously skeptical of Twilight's assertion, which was understandable of somepony who hadn't been taught by Princess Celestia. "But… But Rift was awful to Lavender Cup in chapter five."
Twilight shook her head, taking the book and quickly flipping through the pages. When she found the appropriate page, she quickly pointed to the fifth paragraph.
"Here, see!"
Holding the book still for Rarity, Twilight excitedly watched as the filly read, murmuring under her breath as she did so. After a moment, her excitement doubled when Rarity leaned back, gasping loudly.
"Oh my gosh! I didn't see that the first time!"
Twilight smiled, taking the book back. "Only really clever ponies see them at first," Twilight promptly said, deciding to omit the fact that Celestia had pointed them all out for her. "And there's plenty more, too!"
Rarity looked horrified by this. "There's more? But..." Her ears fell. "But that means I have to read it all over again!"
Twilight blinked. "Uh-huh…?" she asked, not understanding why Rarity said that as if it were a bad thing. "So?"
Rarity let out a frustrated huff. "Well, I don't want to have to read the chapters again! I want to get to the ending already! If I don't know how it ends soon, I'll be miserable! Miserable!"
Twilight kept her frown, holding the book against her chest. "But, I don't understand? I said that I could tell you how chapter fifteen ends, and you didn't want me to."
Rarity playfully rolled her eyes. "That's because I want to find out how it ends, silly. It's no fun if you te—"
"Rarity! Rarity, the train is leaving! Hurry up!"
Twilight blinked, and it was only then that she realized the train had stopped, and Rarity's parents were already on the platform. The train whistle sounded off in the distance, and before Twilight could react, Rarity gasped and got up, rushing off and out of the train.
Twilight blinked, and when she realized she was actually a little sad Rarity had to go, she pressed the book against her chest for comfort. And then she realized.
She still had the book.
"WAIT!" she blurted out, getting up and rushing towards the door, only for it to slam to a shut right in front of her.
On the platform, Rarity blinked at her once, twice, thrice at Twilight through the large window doors, before her horrified eyes finally landed on her book, safely nestled around Twilight's magical grip.
Rarity rushed towards the train, but was held back by her father, who apparently cared little for what seemed to be his daughter's desperate pleas as she pointed towards Twilight. Twilight simply stood there, at a loss of what to do, until she remembered what Rarity said.
"Well, I don't want to have to read the chapters again! I want to get to the ending already! If I don't know how it ends soon, I'll be miserable! Miserable!"
She couldn't let that happen! Rarity had said that was the only copy of the book she had, and now she'd never know the ending because of Twilight! And then that would make her a bad pony, and if she was a bad pony, Princess Celestia would be mad at her, and probably take away all her books, and then Twilight would be miserable forever!
She heard the train whistle again, and looked around for something, anything, her eyes finally landing on an opening right above the small window her mother was leaning against. It wasn't big enough for the book to fit in, and she still wasn't nearly good enough at magical object teleportation, but if she couldn't give back the book somehow, she could do the next best thing.
Without giving Twilight Velvet a warning, Twilight jumped up onto the seat, then climbed up onto her mother's head, disregarding Velvet's startled exclamation, and finally poked her muzzle through the open window.
"W-Wait!" she called out. "A-At the end of the book, Lavender Cup betrays the Professor and takes the train to Fillydelphia so she can tell everything to Mayor Design!"
There was a moment of silence, which she assumed meant Rarity was happy, but instead she was greeted with a absolutely horrified shriek.
"WHAT?!" Rarity yelled, clamping her hooves against her hooves. "BUT?! NO?! WHY WOULD YOU— BUT THE PROFESSOR—! BUT WHY?! WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?! WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME—! BUT—!"
Trying her best to fight her mother tugging her down, Twilight held onto the window, intent on explaining, but her efforts failed when the train came into motion and she tumbled down onto her mother's lap.
"Twilight Sparkle! What has gotten into you?!" Velvet scolded, slamming her manuscript down on the empty seat next to her.
Again, Twilight completely ignored her and pressed her face against the window, just in time to see Rarity bury her face in her hooves before she quickly became but a speck in the distance. Once she was gone, Twilight again fell down on her mother's lap, the book firmly clutched in-between her forelegs.
Oh well… At least now she'd have something to read during the ride, she guessed…
"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle, are you even paying attention to me?!"
Twilight Sparkle blinked several times, looking up from her book and towards the other side of the library, where one of her best friends stared back at her with a very miffed expression, two books floating by her side.
"Huh?" she said, ears perking up. "Uhhh, sorry, Rarity. What were you saying?"
Rarity sighed theatrically, making a show out of it — complete with the dramatic rolling of the eyes. "I said, which book do you think I should take? The one by Delicate Stitch, or the one by Firm Thread?"
Twilight frowned. "Er… Well, taking into account the amount of detail in coloring you told me you'd need, I would suggest you take Firm Thread's book. Delicate Stitch is very good, but she focuses more on materials, while Firm Thread leans more towards visual design. Though, actually, the author Ripped Seams is a balanced mix of both authors, so I'd suggest taking his book, as well."
Rarity hummed. "Yes, I was also thinking that Firm Thread was the proper choice, and I've heard Ripped Seams is good, so I'll take your word for it," she said, putting one of the books back inside the bookcase before trotting along to a different section. "I also think it's rather rude to be reading while you have company, darling."
Twilight, who was set to go back to her thrilling chapter, felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "Oh, uh, sorry!" She quickly closed the novel, folding her hooves in an awkward fashion. "It's just that Fluttershy lent me a book yesterday, and I can't put it down. It's really well-written, and it has some great plot twists. The main character, Triple Diamond, is really fascinating, especially her interactions with Tainted Cloak, the villain."
Rarity took another book. "Oh? And what is this book so fascinating it warrants your lack of social etiquette?" she teased, turning around and smiling playfully at the alicorn.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Shades of Disbelief by Whisper Winds. It's a detective thriller. Maybe you've heard of it?"
Rarity gasped. "Heard of it? Darling, who do you think recommended it to Fluttershy? I'm a frightfully big admirer of Whisper Winds. She has a knack for keeping you on the edge of your seat, doesn't she? Especially her endings! Ohhh, just remembering the ending of Shades; now that was a wild ride!"
Twilight laughed. "Well, don't spoil it, then!"
Rarity giggled in reply, trotting towards Twilight. "I won't, I won't. Though, when you finish it, there's another book I can recommend. It might be a bit hard to find, and it's not quite a detective thriller, but it is a thrill in itself, especially when it comes to twists that throw you for a loop." She placed her books next to Twilight, and sat down. "It's called The Afflicted Eon by--"
Twilight gasped. "By Single Hue!"
Rarity nodded. "Yes, exactly! You've read it, then?"
Twilight similarly nodded her head, excited by the knowledge Rarity had read the book. So few ponies had! "Princess Celestia gave it to me as a filly! It's one of my favorite books!"
"I can't blame you! I read it as a filly, and it was impossible to put down! I had such a crush on Rift Shield, let me tell you. I wanted to marry him," Rarity said with a childish giggle. "Though I confess I think I was more taken by Lavender Cup herself, now that I think about it. She had such an air of mystery about her!"
"But what about the ending, though?" Twilight interrupted, clapping her hooves together. "Weren't you shocked?! How Lavender Cup just completely betrayed the Professor without even giving it a second thought?! I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks! And then knowing why she did it..."
Rarity bit down on her lip. "Ah… Admittedly, I know she betrayed the Professor, but… I don't exactly know why she did it."
Twilight blinked. "... You don't? But… I mean… You just said you read it as a filly…?"
"I said I read it, but I never said I read all of it," Rarity corrected.
Wait. She didn't…
"Rarity!" Twilight gasped, horrified. "You skipped to the ending?! That's terrible!"
Rarity shook her head. "Twilight, please, you know I would never do that! I misplaced my copy."
"Oh… Why didn't you say so? I have an extra copy you can borrow if you want," she said, and not long after did she teleport her extra copy of the book.
Though she'd never lend her own personal copy, she didn't see anything wrong with giving away the extra copy. It was old and worn-down, and though she couldn't even remember what the original owner looked like, she was mostly sure that the little filly would have probably wanted for the book to be used eventually.
"Oh!" Rarity exclaimed, excitedly taking the book and brushing her hoof against the cover, a large smile decorating her book. "This brings back memories! I feel like I'm swooning over Lavender Cup all over again!"
"How did you even lose your copy in the first place?" Twilight asked. Rarity had never once struck her as somepony who was careless with her things, after all.
"Well, I didn't lose it," Rarity said, putting the book down next to the others. "It was… accidentally stolen from me, I suppose? My grandmother had lent it to me, and I was reading it on the train after a trip to Canterlot with my mother, and this strange little filly from the train kept it!"
Twilight didn't reply at first, and it later felt like it took her centuries to open her mouth and nearly squeak, "O-Oh, really?"
"Yes! I don't think she meant to keep it, of course, but she did! And oh goodness, my grandmother was so cross at me! It was her favorite book, and her only copy, and I'm sure you already know easily acquirable copies of this book are practically nonexistent. Grandmama punished me for three weeks because of it, and that's on top of the horrible scolding I got for it."
Twilight was afraid her nervous, forced laughter would give her away.
"R-Really? O-Oh, Rarity, that's awful!"
Rarity snorted. "And you know why I know how it ends? Because the filly spoiled it for me. The little devil screamed the ending to me through the window right before the train left the station."
Twilight tried to smile comfortingly even as she felt her heart sinking. "But, maybe she didn't mean it in a bad way? I'm sure she only told you the ending because she didn't want you to never know how the book ended! She was probably only trying to be considerate!"
Rarity giggled. "Well, she failed miserably at it, I can tell you that." She picked the book up again and smiled. "At least now I'll be able to find out why Lavender did such a terrible thing!"
"Ha ha ha… Yeah..."
Twilight gulped down, watching as a smiling Rarity opened the book and… and did nothing else but look at the first page. Nearly an entire minute went by, Twilight staring at the unicorn, awaiting some reaction.
"Twilight!" Rarity said, still smiling. "Twilight, darling, are you interested in knowing my grandmother's name?"
Twilight didn't dare reply.
"Look!" Rarity continued, turning the book towards Twilight.
On the very first page, in a faded-out foalish scrawl, Twilight Sparkle could make out the words: "Property of Ruby Belle." Twilight stared at the name, her mouth tightly shut since she didn't trust herself not to scream in horror if she opened it. Eventually, gathering up all of the courage she could muster, she turned her eyes towards Rarity and oh…
She wasn't smiling anymore.
"I'm so sor—"
"IT WAS YOU!" Rarity shrieked, waving the book around and nearly hitting Twilight with it, which Twilight didn't doubt might have been intentional. "It was you! You! Do you even know how furious Grandmama was! She never lent me a book again after that! And my parents were furious, as well! And then the ending, and you! You of all ponies!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Twilight blurted out, jumping up and away from Rarity. "You rushed out of the train, and the door closed and I mean--" She pointed an accusing hoof at Rarity. "You said you'd be miserable if you didn't know the ending!"
"Oh, for goodness's sake, Twilight!" Rarity snapped, slapping her hoof against her face. "Honestly, how thick can you be?! I didn't mean that literally! And you made me miserable by blurting out the ending at me! I can't believe it was you! You! And then you go around asking me to not spoil things for you?!"
"I'm sorry, Rarity! And that was, what, more than ten years ago?!" Twilight helplessly exclaimed. "You can't still be mad about it! Well, okay, maybe you can but..." She petered out, rubbing her hoof against her forehead. "I'm sorry, really. If I could make it up to you, I would."
Rarity was silent for a moment.
"There is one thing that would make me feel better about this," Rarity said, her tone becoming considerably less shrieky and much more calm. "If you really want to make it up to me, that is."
Twilight immediately felt herself relax. "I can? What? What is it?"
Rarity didn't reply, and instead merely stared at Twilight, eyes slightly narrowed. Twilight waited patiently and uncomfortably for about a minute before clearing her throat.
"...Well?"
Rarity smiled. "Triple Diamond infiltrates Hound Hollow and gets her revenge by finally killing Tainted Cloak, later finding the bracelet around his neck revealing his real name to be Shards Diamond."
Twilight didn't understand at first.
She blinked once, twice, thrice and only then, as she mentally repeated Rarity's odd request, did she realize what the unicorn had just done. Her eyes became wide as saucers, and she slammed her hooves against her mouth.
"No," she whispered.
Rarity didn't flinch as she took her books, flashed Twilight a dazzling smile and quickly trotted off towards the library's exit. "Tah-tah, darling! See you Tuesday for lunch! Oh!" she stopped, just as she reached the door, and said before rushing off, "And do enjoy your book~!"
"B-But—! But that means that—! That means that he's her lost chil—! RARITY!" Twilight yelled, rushing after the unicorn. "RARITY! COME BACK HERE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I DIDN'T DESERVE THAT! RARITY!"
~ FIN ~
Author's Note
~~ha ha hiatus, what hiatus?~~
Warm-up ficlet before continuing my endless EL write-binge. Based on the prompt: I know I’m not supposed to make eye contact with anyone on the train, but you’re reading a book I absolutely love. Did you get to that part where the thing happens yet?
If you find any typo or the like, please do let me know (preferably via PM). c:
