Replacements
by Jonathan “KnightMysterio” Spires
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Canterlot...
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“I can't believe it!” Twinkleshine said, the ivory-colored unicorn hopping up and down excitedly. “Lunch and a show with Princess Twilight!”
Lemon Hearts giggled happily. “I know, right? This is so cool!”
Minuette chuckled. “Girls, c'mon,” she said. “It's our old school buddy.”
“Our old school buddy who's saved the world a few times and is now all three tribes of pony at once,” Moondancer said with a wry smirk.
Lyra Heartstrings smiled, the mint-colored unicorn relaxing in her usual upright manner on a bench. “Yeah, but she's still just a pony. You guys just come visit Ponyville now and then, but I live there with her. I could tell you stories...”
“Tellmeplz,” Lemon Hearts said, hopping up on the nearby bench with an excited grin on her face.
“First tell me how you sit like that without hurting your spine,” Moondancer said, wincing.
Lyra giggled. “Sorry. I'm pretty much a fangirl of minotaur culture. This is how they sit,” she said. “And it's pretty much the least of how much I know about them.”
“Minotaurs are bipeds. We're quadrupeds,” Moondancer protested.
“My spine is flexible,” Lyra countered.
“And your head is squishy,” Minuette said, poking her. Lyra giggled.
Twinkleshine smiled. “Girls, c'mon. We're here to have fun!” she said. “And when Princess Twilight arrives...”
“I know it's hard, girls,” said a voice behind them, “but please, just Twilight.”
The five unicorns turned, smiling when they saw the purple alicorn behind them, a nervous grin on her face. Minuette, ever exuberant, immediately ran up to her and hugged her.
“Sorry! It's just so cool knowing one of our old school buddies is royalty now! Even if it is old news by this point!” she said.
Twilight chuckled. “Well, let's just have ourselves a casual fun day. Friends can do that, right?” she said, her ear flicking nervously.
Moondancer frowned. Twilight didn't notice.
“Sure sure!” Twinkleshine said. “What are we seeing today?”
Twilight grinned. “Well, how about the new musical Nightmare?” she said, holding up six tickets in her magical field.
The gathered unicorns all gasped. The musical was about an alternate take on an old story, about unicorn witch who menaced a young Earth pony girl who was brought to her realm by a mystical tornado, one that landed on the witch's beloved sister. The musical was about the witch's life before her fall from grace, showing the events that made her declare herself to be the new Nightmare, casting her in a tragic light. And it was FREAKING POPULAR, tickets for each show selling out faster than Pinkie Pie warping reality to outrun Rainbow Dash.
“H-How?!” Lyra said, a grin spreading over her face.
Twilight grinned cattily. “I may have thrown some royal weight around,” she said.
Moondancer gave her an amused look. “Got someone's seats taken?”
Twilight scoffed. “Duke Nezmarron is a tribalist jerk and a royal suckup. He wasn't even using all those seats in the box anyway, he just didn't want to be around commoners.”
“BOX SEATS!?” Lemon Hearts shouted, giggling happily.
“You are the best friend ever!” Minuette said, hugging her.
“Heheh... Yeah...” Twilight said, her ear flicking nervously once more.
Moondancer frowned. Twice now... she thought. She needed to talk to Twilight.
Twilight smiled, and continued. “And for dinner before the show, we're going to be eating at the Tasty Treat!”
“The food revolutionaries that saved Restaurant Row?” Twinkleshine said, “I'm game. I'm definitely game.”
“My treat,” Twilight said, leading them to the restaurant, making casual small talk the entire time. Several times, though, Moondancer noticed sadness or nervousness in Twilight's demeanor, increasing her resolve to speak with the princess. Once they arrived at the Tasty Treat and had all placed their orders, Moondancer chose to ask.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” Moondancer asked.
Twilight squeaked, startled by the question. She looked around nervously, smiling. “Um... Yeah! Why did you ask?”
Lyra frowned. “Moondancer? What's up?” she asked.
Moondancer sighed. “During my 'depressed self-loathing shut-in' phase, I had the opportunity to study a lot of things. Including psychology. Twilight, you've been giving a lot of 'tells' that show you're nervous or scared about something.” She leaned forward, smiling warmly. “Whatever's wrong, you can tell us. We're your friends, right?”
To everyone's surprise, Twilight burst into tears. Saffron Masala, the waitress, tactfully said nothing, just leaving the drinks she brought and heading back to take care of other customers. Minuette, sitting next to Twilight, hugged her tightly.
“Twilight, what brought this on?” she asked, worried. Similar expressions of concern were on the faces of the others.
“I'm sorry, I... just, just give me a moment...” Twilight said, the alicorn taking a moment to compose herself. “It's a bit of a long story.”
The gathered unicorns all nodded. Once Twilight had composed herself, she asked, “How many of you remember Sunset Shimmer?”
Lemon Hearts snorted. “Oh her? She was one of Celestia's personals, like you were, right?”
Minuette rolled her eyes. “I remember. She was so stuck up, if a bird pooped on her face it'd go up her nose.”
The gathered girls all laughed. Twilight continued her story. “Sunset went off to another world after a bad argument with Celestia. She ended up in another world, one filled with this beings called humans. I think they're some sort of evolved primates or something...” she said. “The portal she used turned her into one of them.”
“Oh wow...” Lyra said softly.
Twilight continued. “Long story short, Sunset pretty much bullied her way into a position of power there. Through... various means that I don't want to go into, she ended up accidentally revealing where she had gone. I went there alone, things happened, magic rainbows happened, and Sunset was put on the path to becoming a better pony.”
“Sunset Shimmer. The biggest snob in the school,” Twinkleshine said in disbelief.
Twilight smiled. “She's come a long way,” she insisted.
“Magic rainbows... Like what cured Princess Luna of being the Nightmare?” Minuette asked. “I thought only the other Bearers could use the rainbow. And in another world...”
“It's related to the stuff I don't want to go into,” she said. “Sunset's not that pony anymore. As for the Bearers... The thing about that world is that there's counterparts of EVERYPONY there. All of you, my friends from Ponyville, even Celestia and Luna. They're the principal and vice-principal of a school there.”
“I can see that,” Lemon Hearts said after a moment's thought. “Princess Celestia was pretty much the principal of the Gifted School, right?”
Twilight looked thoughtful. “...That does make sense, in hindsight. But, yeah. Sunset's come a long way from who she used to be. She stays in that world by choice, trying to make up for what she's done, and has SAVED that world more than once.”
“Wow, ponies just turn into superheroes around you, don't they?” Twinkleshine said admiringly. Then her face fell. “Wait, that means WE'RE due for a supervillain.”
Twilight grimaced. Moondancer coughed. “Let's let her finish,” she said.
Twilight smiled gratefully at Moondancer, and continued. “Anyway... After the latest adventure... you all saw the rips in the sky, right?”
Lyra shuddered, remembering. “Yeah... all those strange things in the portals... Wait, that was the world Sunset's in now?”
Twilight nodded.
Lyra grinned. “Incredible...”
Twilight smiled sadly. “The one responsible for that was... well, it was MY counterpart in that world. She had become fascinated by the magic from our world that was manifesting in theirs, and was accidentally corrupted by it into a Nightmare-esque form. Sunset stopped her, saving both worlds.”
Minuette whistled. “She really has come far...” she said. All of her memories of Sunset Shimmer were bad ones. To hear that she was now saving worlds...
Twilight sighed. “And now we come to why she's relevant to tonight. A few days back, I had some free time, and wanted to go visit her. When I contacted Sunset, however, she said she and the girls already had plans. With the other Twilight Sparkle.”
Moondancer winced. “Oooh... I can see where this is going...”
Twilight started crying again. “I got jealous. I'm ashamed to admit this, but for a brief moment there, I was mad at her for... for taking my place in my friends in that world. And then I started thinking...” She fidgeted, shuffling her hooves. “I was out of contact with you for so long... I didn't even mention you to the other Bearers... I didn't even talk with Lyra, and she LIVES in Ponyville...”
“Twilight, it's okay...” Lyra said softly.
“No, it's not,” she said. “I got so mad at supposedly being 'replaced,' that I didn't realize... I was afraid you girls would think I replaced you...”
To Twilight's surprise, the five unicorns all giggled.
“Why are you laughing?” Twilight asked nervously.
Minuette hugged her. “Silly. You can't 'replace' friends,” she said. “All you can do is add more.”
Moondancer nodded. “Friends, real friends, will always be there for you, even if they haven't spoken for a while.” she said. “You taught me that, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Ponies move on, Twilight,” Lyra said, smiling warmly. “Everypony has their own life to live. And you had a world to save. We can hardly begrudge you that.”
“The fact that you're so broken up about it,” Lemon Hearts said, grinning, “shows that you're nowhere near the terrible friend you think you are. We were your friends in one part of your life. And we're happy to still be your friends now!”
Twinkleshine got up, moving around to Twilight's side of the table, and hugged her. “So be happy, okay? We're just glad to spend time with you! Let us be there for you.” She poked her, giggling. “Save the tears for the sad parts of the musical.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you...” she said softly. “Thank you so much, girls...”
Twinkleshine went back to her seat as Saffron brought out their food. Twilight sniffled, a real smile coming to her face. “Thank you. Sorry about that, I just...”
“It's okay,” Moondancer said. “We understand.” She chuckled. “Me especially.”
Twilight smiled warmly. It felt good to have such wonderful friends...
“Although after the show, I'm gonna want to talk to you about these 'hyu-mons.' They sound fascinating!” Lyra said.
Twilight's head drooped. “I've given you something new to obsess over, haven't I?”
“Yes, yes you have,” Moondancer teased.
Twilight sighed wearily. The other girls just giggled.
THE END
