Twilight Sparkle...The Gamer?

by Moonlight_Mist

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Slice of Life
Length: 12272

When Twilight fulfills her destiny and ascends to the throne of Canterlot, everything goes black. Turns out her life is a game, and she won. Now follow Twilight Sparkle as she experiences the shiny appeal of New Game+.

When Twilight fulfills her destiny and ascends to the throne of Canterlot, everything goes black. Turns out her life is a game, and she won. Now follow Twilight Sparkle as she experiences the shiny appeal of New Game+.

4/16: It was only approved yesterday, and already this story is featured and hot? You guys are the best!

4/17: Second day and still featured! Moved to the top featured spot too! Awesome!

4/18: Still in the top spot? I think people like my story.

4/19: Left the top spot but still featured. It feels amazing to feel so appreciated!

Published 2019-04-15 13:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-05-25 11:20:09 UTC

Prologue: Character Creation

Author's Note

My first attempt at a ‘Gamer’ fic. I’m completely ignorant of the origin of the concept, so if I do something that messes with the spirit of the concept (you know, assuming anyone cares about that in this regard), please inform me so I might make it right. I hope you enjoy.

Edit: I did away with the ‘Twilight revealing she can talk’ bit since it wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway. Plus in hindsight it feels like too drastic a change to Twilight’s character to be simply on the basis of starting fresh.

Edit 2: I’ve defined all the stats and given each a reference of scale. Someone thankfully pointed out a basic thing I’d overlooked: a lack of scale for my stats. I don’t remember who said it but thank you. No use giving all these numbers if there’s no baseline. So now there are baselines derived from canon. I also renamed Chaos magic as Soul magic, though Discord does remain the creme of the crop user of this kind of magic. And he’s never used his full capabilities. Are any of you really surprised by this?

Edit 3: I was informed that apparently using a list-style format for stats that includes the abbreviated name of each stat is considered the standard way of handling them in gamer fics. My concern when I left them out was that including them would bog down the flow of the chapter, but if it’s the usual way of doing it I won’t try to reinvent the wheel. The original stat sheets have been put back in.

Prologue: Character Creation

So much had happened, Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but think. It was strange for her to think back and realize that she and the other Pillars of Harmony had been friends for no more than four years. So much had happened in so short a time, and the sheer quantity, not to mention absurdity of activity that had become her life since that fateful night, that of the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration was almost mind-numbing to think about.

Despite that, and all the difficulties she...no; they, faced, she found that her heart would ache at the slightest thought of 'what if none of it ever happened'. Knowing what she went through...what they all went through, it was worth it. Her friendships were so worth it that Twilight adamantly told herself that if she had remained a reclusive scholar, and then learned a few years down the road what could have been, that her heart would undoubtedly have broken.

So much, and it had apparently all been leading up to one moment. One endgame, if she were to think in chess terms. A fitting lens to look through, Princess Sparkle mentally declared, given the distinctly hooves-off methods that her mentor, Princess Celestia favored. It was incredible, thinking back, everything Twilight had experienced since she was sent to Ponyville to begin to follow her destiny.

All that, and never would she have guessed what her destiny would have turned out to be. Here she was, among her friends; her fellow Pillars of Harmony, seated in an arrangement of thrones not unlike the set up in the Palace of Friendship. To her, the strangest thing by far about the situation was that Celestia and Luna, the long-standing rulers of the land, were prostrated before them.

"Princess Twilight. This has been a long time coming." Celestia told Twilight. "Just as my sister and I were but temporary wielders of the Elements of Harmony, so too was our reign only ever meant to be a means to prevent a power vacuum and the anarchy that would undoubtedly follow, until the Elements manifested a physical state. As you've no doubt come to realize Princess, you and your friends were always more than mere wielders of the Elements. You six are the Elements of Harmony.”

Luna eyed her sister briefly, then smiled at the six before picking up where Celestia left off. “Harmony has long been the central ideal of Equestrian society, and that goes deeper than any theological belief. It's a concept deeply rooted in who we are, and so it only makes sense that Harmony would be at the top of the Equestrian Hierarchy. Now...Princess Apple, Princess Shy, Princess Pie, Princess Belle, Princess Dash, and Princess Sparkle. It is time for you all...to fulfill your destinies. I know you will do your friends, your families, and your home a great justice in your collective reign. It is time, Your Highnesses." Suddenly, from deep within each of Twilight's friends there was a bright glow of magic that grew until it was a pillar of brilliant light. Orange, Pink, Blue, Indigo, Red.

The pillars of light grew in intensity until the entire room was consumed by a light so white that it erased all traces of shadows. Through the brightness, Twilight caught glimpses of five familiar silhouettes. Rough forms that, together with her formed a circle. Her friends. But there was something different about them. They were all taller, fuller, and each had a clearly defined horn and pair of wings. At this revelation, Twilight shed tears freely. Her emotions were twofold; happiness for herself, that she would never be without her friends, but sadness for them, who had just had their chance to follow their families into Elysium pulled away from them by the schemes of fate.

Even in her whited out vision, Twilight felt like the light was getting more and more fully white. She thought she'd go blind in a minute or so, and then the overbearing light shifted; in but an instant, to an equally oppressive darkness. She was alone in this darkness, she could tell. There was no sense of scale to her surroundings. There was no magic in the air for her to sense. As the Element of Magic, her innate ability to sense the aether was so refined it was like a form of radar. Her magic sense was failing her now, and that frightened her.

Without any warning or preamble, giant letters appeared before her. She jumped back with a yelp and instinctively flared her wings to remain in the air. It was a very...pegasus instinct. Twilight looked at the letters and was completely puzzled by what she saw. They read 'Congratulations'. Before she could really puzzle over this, a...she could only call it a window appeared in front of her. It had letters on...in...it as well.

The End.
Save Clear Data?
Yes/No

Below that, there were more details.

If you choose to save Clear Data, your save file will be a new game. It is strongly advised that you save Clear Data on a new file to prevent loss of data. Upon loading saved Clear Data you will be in New Game+. You will have access to additional Perks during Character Customization, depending on your Merits from previous playthroughs.

"Wh-what in Equestria is all this?" Twilight asked aloud. Was this some kind of elaborate joke? What would be the point? Twilight had never had any personal interest in gaming, though she wouldn't deny joining her nerdy BBBFF for a round or two of O&O, if only to see what the fuss was about. It never piqued her interest past the initial curiosity, but at least she can say that if this little situation turned out to be real, it wouldn't have been a totat waste. After all, why have an interface like she'd seen in passing every now any then on game screens while walking by Ponyville's outdoor arcade, if nothing else was going to work like a game?

Regardless, it was no secret that she had no interest in gaming, so this wasn't a prank...at least not one meant for her. Could she have set off a prank spell not meant for her? She didn't know the odds of that, given the fact that everypony had been stationary. So it wasn't a preset trap spell; and there were no spells being cast other than whatever had been happening to her friends, which was likely related to Harmony given that she briefly saw they all had ascended.

So...was this...real? Had her life been a game? It sounded even more ridiculous when she thought of it specifically as a possibility. Then again, if it was, how would she ever have known the difference. Really the only way to find out more was to play along, right? ‘Okay Twilight. Stay calm. If it's a prank, it shouldn't be hard to find the responsible party.

‘If it's real, then I'm apparently going to relive the events I just went through, but with advance knowledge. Is that cheating? No, of course not. it’s normal for ponies to go back to a medium of entertainment they’ve found particularly engaging more than once. Any advantage I might have through past knowledge is just like a gamer pony replaying a game they’ve finished.’ As if sensing that Twilight had finished reading that, a window opened off to her left, headed with the word ‘Character’.

Character Stats (Endgame)

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Archmage
Job Title: Princess
Level: 15
HP: 1340
MP: 3250
ATK: 112
DEF: 78
STR: 22
END: 56
SPD: 48
AGI: 37
INT: 120
WIS: 40
CLV: 15
RES: 90
COMBAT MG: 44
CRYSTAL MG: 112
TIME MG: 96
ILLUSION MG: 74
ARCANE MG: 240
HEART MG: 80
SOUL MG: 30
DARK MG: 180

‘...Okay, some of these are more obvious than others. HP is health pool, MP is magic pool, ATK is Attack, DEF is defense. I imagine STR is strength and END is endurance? Still, assuming SPD is speed and AGI is agility, how are they not the same?’ Apparently seeking to answer the questions dominating her thoughts, the window filled with more information.

STR
Strength is a measure of your ability to ability to externally use your body’s physical potential. In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Earth Pony. For scale; the Earth Pony Maud Pie had 250 STR the last time you saw her, and she’s never used more than half of her potential output.

END
Endurance is a measure of your ability to use your body’s physical potential to resist forces enacted upon you In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Earth Pony. For scale, the Earth Pony Applejack had 200 END the last time you saw her, but she could do all her work on her farm in the same easy manner even with half that.

SPD
Speed is a measure of your movement speed. In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Pegasus. For scale, the Pegasus Rainbow Dash had 200 SPD the last time you saw her, and her Sonic Rainboom applies a factor of 3 to that.

AGI
Agility is a measure of your reaction speed. In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Pegasus For scale, the Pegasus Rainbow Dash had 170 AGI the last time you saw her, and her Sonic Rainboom applies a factor of 4 to that.

INT
Intelligence is a measure of your knowledge. In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Unicorn. For scale, the Unicorn Starlight Glimmer had 200 INT the last time you saw her, nearly twice your own.

WIS
Wisdom is a measure of your ability to employ your knowledge in a practical way. In ponies, it’s most prominent in the Unicorn. For scale, the Unicorn Rarity had 250 WIS the last time you saw her, and she put it all to work in her business with her large-scale finely-honed
multi-target levitation.

CLV
Cleverness is a measure of your ability to find unorthodox solutions to problems and otherwise test the limits of what you can do. There is no greater example of cleverness than Discord, who tops out at 1000 CLV. You’ve never seen Discord try to make anyone uncomfortable.

RES
Resistance is a measure of your ability to withstand the effects of magic. All creatures have it. All creatures call upon it unconsciously. There is no exceptional example of RES except the Nullstone throne Chrysalis used to defend her hive, but given the properties of Nullstone it’s hard to actually call that high RES.

MG
The eight core fields of magic. They are Combat, Crystal, Time, Illusion, Arcane, Heart, Soul, and Dark Magic.

COMBAT MG
Combat magic includes any spell designed specifically for use in a real fight. Though currently banned in duels, this was not always the case. It has always been said that no combat magic could be used in duels, but there was not originally any true enforcement power in that rule as an honor system was considered enough...until it wasn’t. A classic example of combat magic is the Arcane Lance, which is notoriously deceptive in its similar appearance to the comparatively harmless Magic Missile. For scale, you had a COMBAT MG score of 700 when you fought Tirek, and the last spell you used against him, the one that matched his massive arcane blast, was an Arcane Lance. If it had hit Tirek instead of his magic, it’s unlikely he would have emerged unscathed, even with him holding all non-Alicorn magic in equestria.

CRYSTAL MG
Crystal magic covers a few sub fields. Any spell that generates light or color that doesn’t qualify as an illusion is crystal magic, as is crystal manipulation, ice magic, and defensive spells. For scale, the shield used by Shining Armor in the defense of Canterlot during the wedding invasion was a feat requiring a CRYSTAL MG score of at least 300, given its size and resistance to physical attack.

TIME MG
Time magic explains itself. Any spell that alters the flow of time. The area of effect of Time magic is called a ‘Temporal Distortion’. Spells that alter one’s perception of time are not true time spells, and instead are filed under Illusion magic. One noteworthy case of Time magic that was never understood as Time magic is the speed spell Accelero. It has always been erroneously classified as an Arcane equivalent to the Time spell Haste. Accelero is an advanced haste, where the distortion is more of a film than a bubble. The speed effect of haste is achieved without the consequence of faster aging within the distortion. For scale, the level of alteration employed by the changes Starlight made to Starswirl’s famous ‘back in time’ spell would normally have required a TIME MG score of at least 2000. Starlight was only able to cast it by hacking the Cutie Map and thus getting a boost from the Tree of Harmony.

ILLUSION MG
Illusion magic explains itself. Any spell that alters the way the target perceived something. For scale, to imitate a Changeling’s disguise would be a feat requiring an ILLUSION MG score of at least 600.

ARCANE MG
Arcane magic is the broadest field, as it’s essentially the catch all for any spell that doesn’t fit into one of the other fields. For scale, you had a COMBAT MG score of 700 when you fought Tirek, and the spells you were using to pulverize rubble were Magic Missiles.

HEART MG
Heart magic is the field least known about. Many will hear ‘heart magic’ and think ‘Oh! Cadance’s love spell!’ They’d be wrong. Cadance’s love spell, while deliberately shortlived, is technically classified as Dark Magic as it is a manipulation spell. Heart magic has often been mistakenly called Dispel magic, but as a whole it’s any magic that affects other magic. Any spell designed to hinder or bolster another is Heart magic.
For scale, the spell Cadance used to bolster the fading embers of Shining Armor’s shield so it could repel the Changelings was a spell requiring a HEART MG score of at least 800, given the empowered state of Chrysalis.

SOUL MG
Soul magic is mistakenly referred to as Chaos magic, being the bread and butter of Discord, the Lord of Chaos. Soul magic is an extremely versatile field of magic that involves impressing your thoughts on the world around you. Only a true master of Soul magic can make permanent changes by impressing his/her will on his/her surroundings. The essence of Soul magic is nudging the world around you with ideas, beckoning your surroundings to allow them to set in. It’s a very subtle art. For scale, Discord’s greatest feat of Soul magic was when he convinced the Sun and the Moon to take the day off and play hide and seek with each other. Successfully influencing such forces of nature with Soul magic is a feat requiring a Soul magic score of at least 1600.

DARK MG
Dark magic has a largely well-deserved bad rep. As a whole it’s very hard to do good things with Dark magic, as the essence of Dark magic is domination . Manipulation of a target’s mind and body and imposing your will on your surroundings are two commonly used examples of why Dark magic is so bad. It’s the hammer to the needle and thread of Soul magic. For scale, the Dark Magic Crystal used by Sombra to destroy the Tree of Harmony would have required a DARK MG score of at least 1200, given the force it was opposing.

It was a lot to take in, but it was good to know Though it was scary to realize that she’d never seen Discord try. Really try. Letting an uncomfortable shudder run through her form as she absorbed that little nugget, Twilight confirmed her understanding, and the process moved on. The next window was headed by the words 'Merits' and ‘Perks', with a backslash between them indicating a simple format. The 'Merits' were that she apparently accomplished important events in her 'playthrough' while 'underleveled' if she remembers Button's gamer lingo right. The 'Perks' were apparently a kind of reward acquired by meeting the conditions for the merits, though these rewards were only available during the 'New Game+' customization.

Twilight studied the information in the boxes carefully. The...she assumed they were abbreviations that preceded the numbers that directly followed her name, 'race', 'title', and 'class' made no sense to her. She assumed it was some kind of gamer lingo. She'd look into it later. When she really looked at her list of 'perks' that she got from her 'merits', looking them over closely she felt that if anything, those were cheats. She took a deep breath, then focused intently on the affirmative answer to the initial question.

Her...interface changed then, displaying a number of light gray horizontal bars with slightly darker gray borders lined up vertically, each numbered consecutively with the top one being numbered '01'. The bar numbered '01' was also the only one that wasn't otherwise blank except for a big [EMPTY]. It had a mugshot and a basic overview of her character sheet.

Remembering the warning from before, she focused on '02', and the specified bar changed. It didn't change much; it was still almost as blank as before. The only difference was that instead of the big [EMPTY], there was now a big [NEW GAME+]. Also, the bar was a light gold instead of gray, with an appropriately darker gold border.

That 'save' interface vanished, and was replaced with almost an exact copy of that interface, except that the 'save' was now 'load'. Twilight focused on '02', and the interface changed again. This was the Character Customization screen, based on the interface header. Her 'Character Name' was filled in as 'Twilight Sparkle', and it was faded to show that it was preset. Everything else was blank. She focused on the 'race' field, and a drop down menu formed. Sure enough, right at the top was the race specified as a reward for a certain merit.

The Alicorn option beckoned her with its appeal; almost taunting her with its mere presence. It would be interesting to see what would happen if she was reborn to her parents Twilight Velvet and Night Light as an Alicorn foal. She couldn't help giggling in an uncharacteristically mischievous way as she ultimately gave in and selected Alicorn.

When she made her selection, a second 'title' field appeared next to the one that remained blank, being occupied by the 'Princess' title, grayed out like her name. The blank 'title' field was understandably unable to be interacted with. But it was interesting to know that starting as an Alicorn resulted in a default Princess title, but that it was secondary to any title earned in the ‘game’.

‘Selecting’ the 'class' field opened a drop down menu, but the options were pretty generic in name. Likely some standard names for basic classes. The options that stood out to her were mage, fighter, brawler, rogue, archer, and ranger. So, magic user, hoof-held weapon user, hoof-to-hoof combatant, silver-tongued sneak, ranged weapon user, and...maybe jack of all trades? There were other classes, but they seemed strangely oriented to what Shining Armor would call NPCs. The names of said ‘classes’ painted a picture of laborers in various forms. Twilight found it odd that such choices would be available to somepony chosen to be a Main Character role.

Twilight selected ranger out of curiosity, then remembered the perk of starting with Archmage. Sure enough, there was a tick box next to the 'class' field labeled 'Archmage?'. She focused on it and it ticked itself, the class field changing to choice/Archmage.

She then focused on the 'confirm' button, and the interface changed. Now there was a selection between Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty, with a series of tick boxes below that, on close inspection, were clearly the perks for inherent magic mastery, and inheritance of inventory and magic proficiency.

Again, feeling mischievous, she ticked all the boxes, then in an attempt to offset how utterly broken she was going to be, using a term she overheard Button use once or twice, she selected Hard Mode. She got through the equivalent of the standard ‘Confirm selections’ window, and then she was shown a character sheet much like what she saw before making any of these decisions. When she saw her level was 1, she expected her stats to be lower. Sweet Celestia!.

Character Stats

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Ranger/Archmage
Job Title: ---/Princess
Level: 1
HP: 7500
MP: 8250
ATK: 500
DEF: 500
STR: 250
END: 250
SPD: 250
AGI: 250
INT: 250
WIS: 250
CLV: 250
RES: 250
COMBAT MG: 500
CRYSTAL MG: 500
TIME MG: 500
ILLUSION MG: 500
ARCANE MG: 500
HEART MG: 500
SOUL MG: 500
DARK MG: 500

She noticed this was also where she could use her stat points mentioned in the Perks list. Then she realized what made the ‘big’ points special. Each stat point was worth a +1 to any stat other than HP, MP, ATK, DEF, or the MGs. The ‘big’ points were worth +5 each. From her merits she had a whopping 30 of each.

With a sheepish smile and eyes darting about, as though someone was there to chastise her for 'cheating', she applied three normal and ‘big’ points to each of the eight compatible stats, then put one more of each into STR, POW, INT, WIS, CLV, and RES after experimentally putting one on each stat to see any other stats were affected. Once her points were set, her sheet was updated. With a heavy blush showing through her cheek fur, she made her final confirmation. Then, everything went black.

Character Stats (Finalized)

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Ranger/Archmage
Job Title: ---/Princess
Level: 1
HP: 8220
MP: 8970
ATK: 548
DEF: 548
STR: 274
END: 274
SPD: 274
AGI: 268
INT: 274
WIS: 274
CLV: 268
RES: 274
COMBAT MG: 548
CRYSTAL MG: 548
TIME MG: 548
ILLUSION MG: 536
ARCANE MG: 548
HEART MG: 548
SOUL MG: 536
DARK MG: 548

...As color was suddenly returned to Twilight's world, she heard through her young ears a surprised shout of "Do we tell the Princess?" Followed by a frenzied shout of 'I don't know!' in reply. She knew those voices! The first was the head nursemare at Canterlot General Hospital’s natal wing. The response was from a mare she had been introduced to as a filly. She learned in that meeting that this mare was the midwife who delivered her. She, Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn foal, was silent and attentive. After all, with her intelligence and wisdom at almost 300 each, she was a lot smarter than most adult ponies.

Clearly the mares who delivered her just made their decision and sent someone to notify Celestia, judging by the ‘pop’ and aetheric buzz that followed; intrinsic signs of teleportation.. Despite being a newborn, Twilight’s high mental stats granted her enough sense of self to not give into the instincts that might make other newborns cry with all the various stimuli around. The interface had been real. Her life was a game. How...interesting. Now, how to broach to her parents that she was completely self-aware despite her age. 'You know what? To Tartarus with overthinking! That was my first life! ...Wait, did I actually think that? I can't reveal myself like that! Newborn ponies don't talk, and certainly not like that!' Twilight had decided she was going to try to enjoy herself, and not be so particular. However, there was still a need for some degree of procedure.

She'd gone through her entire customization following one whim after another, but now she was actually 'playing'. There was no need, nor cause to jeopardize her perfectly normal starting position in her family by being blatant or careless. 'Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!' She thought, though she made sure what came from her mouth was an accurate emulation of a baby's babbling. She saw the look of joy on her parents' faces, and the looks of helplessness on the nurses'. She was going to act like a normal baby, but she couldn't hide that she was an Alicorn baby.

Twilight's efforts would keep the impact minimal by comparison, but there was no way the baby Alicorn sired by a minor noble family would be a secret for long. She'd be front page news before her first birthday. Oh, someone ‘pop-bzzt’d back in! Hi Celestia! "Bap-bababa-bpppht!" The babbling got the attention of the ponies around Twilight, but only in that theyreacted to how cute they thought it was.

How much would change in Twilight's life from her being born a genius by adult standards, despite her decision to keep it to herself for now? How much more would it have changed if she'd given into impulse and revealed herself? She didn't know, but one thing that would change a lot down the line was that she wouldn't let herself develop the kind of anxiety she had before. She now knew her life was a game, but that was no excuse to go completely hog wild. Still, there's no reason she couldn't testt the limits every now and then, right?

Chapter 1: First Day

Celestia had been overseeing a trial of grand larceny, the defendant being a silver-tongued rat of a stallion by the name Gladmane. Luckily everything was settled before the news of a baby Alicorn came her way. She didn't want to have to miss such an occasion because of the latest Corporal Sticky Fingers'. Celestia couldn't help smiling at the origin of that little title, despite the current connotation. When she saw the foal, and heard its babbling, she felt a warmth spread across her cheeks as her smile widened. 'This child could thaw the cursed cold of days long past with her mere presence.' That was Celestia's first thought.

Twilight didn't notice at first, having been focused on keeping herself in check, but everyone she looked at had a display above their heads. She knew this was a part of her status as 'The Gamer', and surprised herself in her ability to take it in stride. She looked at each pony's information, and quickly digested what she was given..

Twilight Velvet
Unicorn
?
Level 12
???

Night Light
Unicorn
?
Level 15
???

Berry Bobbin
Unicorn
?
Level 10
???

Lemon Drop
Unicorn
?
Level 13
???

Stable Hoof
Unicorn
?
Level 25
???

Tower Shield
Unicorn
?
Level 30
???

Celestia
Alicorn
?
Level 250
???]

'250?!' Twilight remembered that Button Mash said once or twice that level caps were usually no higher than 100. Thinking about it, she supposed it's make sense that caps wouldn't exist if it's just real life acting like a game. 'Even so, that's high. Well, she is over a thousand years old.' In the end, she decided she shouldn't be surprised. She did wonder what the question marks were, though. Suddenly, one of those windows appeared in front of her. Her eyes darted around, but nopony else seems to have noticed it. Her parents were still vocally doting over their new filly, the nurses and doctor had started their initial medical check of her, and Celestia surprisingly seemed to be off in some kind of la la land. It's not like it would require much focus, so she took the opportunity her own inaction provided her and read it.

[Continued observation of a subject has fulfilled parameters. Skill 'Scan' unlocked.]

[Scan: Reveals a subject's hidden data during observation. Works only on subjects you have a bond with. Revealed data remains revealed even after 'Scan' has resolved.]

'Hidden data? Is that what those are?' "Interesting. Scan." Her eyes glowed slightly, not that she could see it, and through her vision the ponies around her, as well as a few nondescript objects for some reason, had a glowing outline. A grayish-brown jar in the corner with a stylized triangle pattern painted across it in white, a thick green book with a rough, aged-looking spine with the book's title written in a very flowery script, and a desk lamp. She focused on her mother, and the data window became was fleshed out.

Name: Twilight Velvet
Race: Unicorn
Class: Spell Slinger
Job Title: Astrologist
Level: 12
HP: 1120
MP: 2400
ATK: 70
DEF: 84
STR: 28
END: 42
SPD: 38
AGI: 44
INT: 100
WIS: 80
CLV: 40
RES: 60
COMBAT MG: 56
CRYSTAL MG: 84
TIME MG: 76
ILLUSION MG: 88
ARCANE MG: 200
HEART MG: 160
SOUL MG: 80
DARK MG: 120
Your mother. A thrill seeker when she can indulge, her greatest fears and dreams are for her children.

'Spell Slinger? Is that an advanced class?' She disregarded that and focused on her father.

Name: Night Light
Race: Unicorn
Class: High Mage
Job Title: Researcher
Level: 15
HP: 1180
MP: 2600
ATK: 74
DEF: 88
STR: 30
END: 44
SPD: 34
AGI: 41
INT: 99
WIS: 87
CLV: 32
RES: 74
COMBAT MG: 60
CRYSTAL MG: 88
TIME MG: 68
ILLUSION MG: 82
ARCANE MG: 198
HEART MG: 174
SOUL MG: 64
DARK MG: 148
Your father. Highly values order and organization. As the head of magical research in Canterlot, he has a heavy role in the future of Equestria.

'Is that what he does? Wait...High Mage? Assuming there are three tiers of classes, my parents must be 2nd tier. Hmm.' She shifted her gaze again.

Berry Bobbin
Unicorn
?
Level 10
???
Note: You do not have a bond with this subject.

'I guess blood relation is enough of a bond for it to work. Let's see.' She looked at Celestia.

Celestia
Alicorn
?
Level 250
???
Note: You do not have a bond with this subject.

'That settles that. I don't know any of these ponies, and what I knew in my past life doesn't count. I guess it has to go both ways. Now let's see...' She decided to look at the objects that were glowing. There shouldn't be anything of note to them, but she checked since there was nothing else to do.

Object: Jar
Wouldn't it just be so satisfying to pick up and smash?

Twilight stared, her face devoid of emotion. 'Okaaayyy... Next.'

Object. Book
There's a story to be had here. Do you want to experience it? Yes/No

Again Twilight stared. She decided yes, and there was a glow only she could see.

Investigation can be rewarding. Not all rewards will be so obvious.
+50 EXP

Twilight Sparkle
Level 1
50 EXP
50 TNL

'TNL? Probably 'To Next Level' given the context. Moving on.'

Object: Lamp
You must be feeling quite enlightened. Yes/No

'What? How is that grounds for a yes or no question? Whatever, I'll humor it.' She thought yes. Suddenly the bulb in the lamp flashed red, and Twilight felt a stinging feeling rush through her body. 'Ow! What?'

Carelessness can be dangerous. 10 damage to Twilight Sparkle. Not all traps will be so obvious...stupid.

'Hey! What else could I-' Twilight cut herself off when another window opened. There were two words written in a big font.

LOOK AWAY

Twilight pouted at that in a way very befitting a foal, despite her mental age. 'I'll just return to the not-game-like stuff. Looking around, she noticed that not much time had passed. Celestia had clearly seen her react to something unseen, based on her befuddled expression, but that will fall to the wayside.

So much time had passed with checks and rechecks, and the nurses repeatedly advising her parents to ask Celestia if they needed help with her, given her status as an Alicorn. That line of repetitious thought was ceased in good time by Celestia's admission that she knows nothing of caring for an Alicorn foal, or how their magic surges would manifest. That was the big point of worry, but it was all taking forever. Twilight had been sitting in her mother's hooves doing nothing for 15 minutes! 15 whole minutes! She was bored.

She was about to fall asleep, but she didn't want to, so she flapped her wings a few times to get lift off, a few more to start a stable flight, and then started flying around the room. She made several circuits, babbling the whole time as an excited foal would. Really she was trying to imitate Flurry Heart, but it seemed to be working at least.

At the third circuit around the room, her horn flared with magic and she started firing Magic Missiles in random directions, babbling and giggling foalishly the whole time. This got the attention and participation of the ponies around her, who started working their flanks off to ensure all of Twilight's beams were neutralized.

Celestia appeared to be enjoying herself, apparently making a game of discerning how much power was in each beam and matching it exactly with one of her own. She looked livelier than almost any time Twilight had seen her in her first life. That was an exciting prospect. With a first impression like this, and not having to worry about crippling anxiety, maybe Twilight could genuinely become Celestia's friend like the white Alicorn always wished for before. This went on for a few minutes, but then Celestia brought it to an end with a light cough.

"Well my little ponies, this has been unexpected and quite entertaining, but I must return to the palace. Velvet. Night Light. You two have a shining star of a child, and I know you'll raise her well. Unfortunately, as remiss as I am to tell you this, I need to inform you both that there is no way your daughter's status as a natural-born Alicorn will be secret for long. There will be questions. There will be paparazzi. However, I would not be the ruler I am if I didn't offer to have a platoon of guards stationed around your property and ready to escort you and your children around Canterlot; incognito of course. " Twilight's parents looked at each other, smiled, and Velvet told Celestia,

"We'd appreciate all the help we can get, Princess." The princess nodded in response, and then, almost as if as an afterthought, asked what the foal's name was. Again, Velvet responded. "Her name is Twilight Sparkle, your highness." Celestia's smile widened ever so slightly.

"Sparkle. Yes, a powerful Unicorn name. A promising Unicorn name. Destiny has great things in store for your daughter, for her to have that name." A slight not of her head, and she promptly left with the pop and buzz of teleportation. Immediately after, Twilight knew something she could do. Flurry Heart did something similar after all. She cooed with childish wonder, and scrunched up her face in a dramatic show of false exertion. Her horn lit up slowly, adding to the show that it was harder than it was.

For good measure, she cast a simple cantrip that made a ball of light shoot off of the caster's horn, but overcast it deliberately so it looked more like a spark than a ball, taking a starburst shape. Then, while all of this was happening, simulating a strained casting, she teleported and simultaneously cut the light ball cantrip. It looked, to all around her, like a strained casting that succeeded despite the difficulty. Velvet gasped in awe and grabbed Twilight in her magic, pulling her back to her mother before hugging her tight and exclaiming,

"My daughter can already teleport! Did she learn to do it from watching just the two exits and one re-entry she saw? Oh, she's such a smart cookie!" While Velvet was busy whooping and otherwise being excited about her daughter's accomplishment, Night Light coordinated with the hospital staff to get Velvet and Sparkle checked out of the hospital. One thing Twilight wondered was 'where's Shining Armor?'

They went home and, staying true to the plan of acting like a baby, Twilight immediately flew off and tested everything. She made it a game of hide and seek while she was at it, and by the time she was found standing on the ceiling in a small cubby between three walls, with the cookie jar in hoof she'd emptied the vessel of sugary offerings and placed them one by one on the sacred dais that was her tongue and allowed it to be accepted by her stomach by way of her throat. They were all gone, and Twilight had a smile on her little face that screamed 'ain't I a stinker?' for just a moment, before it changed to the innocent, albeit content smile of a happy baby.

'Even if I have to act like a baby, I'm still gonna milk this.' Twilight thought as she waved her arms about, cookie jar still in hoof, and babbled before she 'accidentally' dropped the jar. She adopted a shocked face to completely sell it, and when Night Light caught it in his magic, the sudden need to act causing him to overcast and crack the porcelain jar with the force, Twilight felt she had taken it far enough...for now. She responded in the way she felt a baby would in this situation. She cried and looked into her mother's eyes, begging with them for comfort.

Velvet silently held her hooves out to receive her crying child, and they hugged. Night Light looked downtrodden, until Twilight batted at him with a hoof and he looked over to see the adorable expression on his child's face, and the silent beckoning to make it a group hug. The father accepted, and they just hugged like a happy family would. They fell asleep in their collective embrace, the toll of the day having finally caught up to them.

A voice called to Velvet and Night Light while they were deep in sleep, calling them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. It roused them a little, but it took another couple of calls like that for them to return to awareness. Shaking off the sleepiness, they looked to the source of the voice. Their son, Shining Armor had just returned home from his day at school. Twilight looked at her brother from the cover of Night Light's leg.

Shining Armor
Unicorn
?
Level 3
???

"Hey, son!" Night Light called to him. "Meet your sister!" The father presented the son with the daughter, who smiled at her big brother. The brother smiled back and gave the tyke a light noogie. He asked what her name was, and while he was getting his answer, Twilight used Scan.

Name: Shining Armor
Race: Unicorn
Class: Brawler
Job Title: -
Level: 3
HP: 350
MP: 830
ATK: 21
DEF: 28
STR: 7
END: 14
SPD: 10
AGI: 15
INT: 32
WIS: 16
CLV: 15
RES: 35
COMBAT MG: 14
CRYSTAL MG: 28
TIME MG: 20
ILLUSION MG:30
ARCANE MG: 64
HEART MG: 32
SOUL MG: 30
DARK MG: 70
Your brother. Very shy, enjoys role playing because he can be not himself which makes him not shy. His most secret of dreams is to become a guardian, living to protect someone precious to him.

‘I guess the ‘job’ field is literal. I remember Shining Armor saying that Job is Synonymous with Class in games, and that some use one while others use the others. I’ve never heard him talk about a game that had both, so I guess it makes about as much sense as anything.’ She looked at her brother, who was smiling."Twilight Sparkle? Okay. Hey Twily, I got homework to do, but we can hang out later. I know you were just born today, but you seem like a pretty fine edge, if you catch my meaning." Internally, Twilight rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Good old Shining Armor. Always a table top nerd. Oh well, it was because of him that she knew what to do with the stat points. Funny how that works out. She kept listening, Shiny was about to keep talking.

"Anyway, you look like a pretty smart cookie, so there must be something the two of us could do to have some fun together, right?" Twilight smiled, then Velvet waved him off, telling him to do his homework first. Shining playfully raspberried in response, then said, "I know, mom!" He waved at his sister and she waved back, then Shining took his books and papers to his room to work.

Later on, Shining took Twilight outside to play, and while their parents were hesitant to let their newborn daughter outside given the pedigree of her race and what that might mean if she was to be seen so soon, but they ultimately acquiesced to two pairs of weapons-grade puppy-dog eyes, each partnered with a level 4 pout. It was a scenario that threatened cuteness fallout, and so the order that would have caused it was rescinded, for the greater good.

The young siblings played for a couple hours, though about an hour in Twilight got a strange 'Gamer' message.

Shining Armor is growing closer to you. +1 Bond with Shining Armor.

'There are bonds now? Huh.' Twilight could work with that. It would make it easier to figure out what she meant to who. She wanted to be friendly this time, without the period of recluse that defined her before becoming the Element of Magic. This was perfect. The siblings played for a couple more hours after Twilight got the notice, and in that time their bond went up by 1 again. They would have played more; who knew hide and seek could be so engaging, but their mother called them inside.

"Twilight! Shining! We have a guest! Come introduce yourself and your sister, Shining! And get ready for dinner! Twilight! It's been a few hours, come get your next meal!" The pair hurried inside, finding Velvet together, where the mare introduced them to a younger Princess Cadance. “Kids. This is Princess Cadance. Her full name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but she says she doesn't like the narcissistic sound of it so she sticks to Cadance. She's a princess in training under Celestia, but when she heard about Twilight she wanted to offer herself as a sitter. She'll be joining us for dinner, isn't that great kids?" Shining looked bashful but nodded, while Twilight just babbled at Cadance.

"Ooh. Hi Twilight! My name's Cadance! You're such a cutie!" Twilight beamed and babbled happily. She was really getting into her act, but her immersion was disrupted when she got a 'Gamer' notice.

Bond Quest: First Impressions with Cadance

Cadance got with your brother because she babysat you. If you want that to happen again, you might want to make a good first impression for your prospective sitter.
Success: +500 EXP, +1 Bond with Cadance, more chances to become close to Cadance
Failure: +50 EXP, temporary awkward status when interacting with Cadance, fewer chances to become close to Cadance

Twilight considered this. How could she make a good first impression? ‘Oh! I know!’ She dropped to her hooves facing Cadance, and started going through motions that were odd on their own, the strangeness only accentuated by the babble speak that went with it. First, she hopped and landed on her front and back left hoof, then hopped again and landed on her right hooves. She hopped two more times, again to her left then right hooves. These motions were accompanied by her 'saying' "Bum-bye bum-bye" She then put all four hooves back on the floor and lowered her front half to the floor, leaving her rear legs straight in a way that resulted in a position that would have been worthy of shielding Shining's eyes and screaming at a mare about their lack of morality if it wasn't a foal doing it. She used her front hooves to make the motions of the peek-a-boo game, and it was accompanied by her 'saying' "A boo bay" The purple foal made pattycake motions while 'saying' "Bah pah boo", then turned away from Cadance and shook her tail while 'saying' "Oo li-say!". Then she returned to a normal standing posture looking at Cadance, who was just confused.

"...Velvet what was that?" Cadance asked, maintaining her look of being totally lost. Velvet shrugged her shoulders. Twilight hadn't been around long enough to have been taught anything, especially whatever that was.

Bond Quest: First Impressions with Cadance

Cadance got with your brother because she babysat you. If you want that to happen again, you might want to make a good first impression for your prospective sitter.

Failure
What in Tartarus was that? Way too strong. Way too soon. Who knows what she thinks of you now?
+50 EXP
Awkward +5 status when interacting with Cadance. Duration: 6 months
You blew it with Cadance being your sitter. It'll be hard to interact with her now, given her studies.

Twilight gaped. She screwed up that badly? Oh boy...

Author's Note

So much positive reception in just one day! Thank you all! This is the first time something I’ve written has gotten so much positive attention so quickly, and it’s got me pretty motivated! This would have been out hours before, but then I checked the the source of the ‘gamer’ thing to make sure I wasn’t too far from the spirit of things and realized I’d missed the point entirely with what I wrote originally. Here’s hoping I did a decent enough salvage job, I really wanted to get this to you guys before midnight in my time zone, but I missed that personal deadline, so I’m gonna keep from making myself deadlines. It’ll happen when it happens, but I won’t let that be an excuse to leave this to fade.

Edit: I made a lot of changes here, and completely changed the ending. The next chapter will be deleted as it needs to be completely rewritten.

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Ranger/Archmage
Job Title: -/Princess
Level: 1
HP: 8250
MP: 9000
ATK: 550
DEF: 550
STR: 275
END: 275
SPD: 275
AGI: 269
INT: 275
WIS: 275
CLV: 269
RES: 275
COMBAT MG: 550
CRYSTAL MG: 550
TIME MG: 550
ILLUSION MG: 538
ARCANE MG: 550
HEART MG: 550
SOUL MG: 538
DARK MG: 550
EXP: 100
TNL: 0
LEVEL UP! Twilight Sparkle Level 2! +150 HP, +150 MP, +10 ATK, +10 DEF, +5 STR, +5 POW, +5 SPD, +5 AGI, +6 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CLV, +6 RES, +10 COMBAT MG, +10 CRYSTAL MG, +10 TIME MG, +12 ILLUSION MG, +10 ARCANE MG, +10 HEART MG, +12 SOUL MG, +10 DARK MG.
TNL: 150
EXP/TNL: 0/150

Chapter 2: Salvaging a Bad Outcome

Twilight would never have expected such a display to go so wrong. 'Perhaps I let my familiarity with my Cadance have too much influence in my decision of how to introduce myself.' Still, thinking about it wasn't going to do anything. Maybe there was room to salvage the burning train wreck that had become of her introduction to a different Cadance. Time to employ the most dangerous weapon in a foal's arsenal. The Sad Face. Twilight sat in front of Cadance, slouched her posture just a bit, folded her ears back, let her wings droop a bit, and very slightly lifted her right front hoof off the floor, then looked up at the pink Alicorn. Hey eyes had widened almost 18%, her pupils specifically enlarging to take up an astonishing 67% of her visible eyes. Her purple irises widened a bit as well, the vibrant violet color only further accentuating the already pronounced wet look of her eyes, like she would cry any minute.

Her bottom lip was pushed out an impressive quarter of an inch, achieving a remarkable 30º angle in what would be called a legendary example of a soul crushingly devastated looking pout. "C-Cay-d-dace g-go? N-no go! Zday!" She tried to make her speech sound as broken and infantile as possible without losing the meaning or completely butchering the words. As she continued to look at Cadance, she could tell she was faving an effect. She leaped at the pink alicorn and hugged her tight, fake tears falling in an expert display. "Cayd-d-dace sad? Mad? I sowwi." That did it. Cadance gasped and hugged the foal.

"No, no! I'm not mad at you! I was just confused. Maybe a little concerned." The pink Alicorn immediately regretted adding that bit on when Twilight sniffled and asked,

"I do bad?" Cadance shook her head furiously, desperate to assuage the fears of a filly too young to understand. Twilight smiled and the tears stopped, her face the perfect image of a foal's relief that they hadn't done wrong. Her thoughts told a very different story though. ‘I win!'

Bond Quest: First Impressions with Cadance
Cadance got with your brother because she babysat you. If you want that to happen again, you might want to make a good first impression for your prospective sitter.

Salvaged
Luckily Cadance has something of a bleeding heart for foals. Might be why she was always run ragged by little Flurry Heart.
+250 EXP
Quest Failure Penalty reduced. Awkward +5 status when interacting with Cadance reduced to awkward +2 status. Duration of 6 months reduced to 3 months.
65% chance Cadance will decide to be your sitter.
Bond with Cadance to be established.

Quest Salvage
Sometimes when a quest is failed, there's a chance to make up for the action (or lack thereof) that resulted in quest failure. This is called a Quest Salvage. A successful Quest Salvage results in a reduction in the quest failure penalty, plus a portion of the original Quest Success EXP and monetary reward being awarded to you on top of the much lower EXP and money given to you for your time when you failed the quest.

'Huh. Salvaging failed quests? Best not get into the habit of needing to correct my own mistakes, but still it's nice to know that's a thing. It would have been a shame if that act had gone to waste. Plus, now I know there might still be a chance to befriend Cadance and get him in with my brother.' Twilight looked at her mother and cooed innocently, visibly melting the heart of the previously mildly disturbed, off-white Unicorn. The foal Alicorn jumped to her next, hugging her just as tight as she previously did Cadance. It was a heartwarming sight to see, one that was ruined by a twitch in all present noses. Velvet gasped.

"Oh no! Dinner!" She was off like lightning, hoping that she wasn't too late to save her neglected cooking. Twilight and Cadance followed, and all three were disturbed by what they found. Night Light looking very proud of himself, standing in front of a range while black smoke billowed from the oven.

"I don't know how you made such a mistake honey." The blue stallion said, a smug look on his face as though he'd one-upped the master. "I mean really, what's the point of giving an appliance multiple settings if you're always going to turn it up to full every time anyway. It just leads to mistakes like what you made dear. You didn't turn the heat up all the way, but I fixed it for y-what's that smell?" Twilight facehoofed when she knew no one was watching.

'Seriously? My dad is that kind of stallion this time? Give me a break!' The purple princess thought. At the same time, her mother trotted up to her husband, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face that held a promise of despair beneath a curtain of false joy.

"That smell, dear, is you burning our dinner. How many times do I have to tell you, stay out oF MY KITCHEN!" The facade broke down very quickly, and very predictably, and with a blast of magic the blue stallion was ejected from his wife's sight. Cadance approached the mare, a pitying look on her face.

"Some ponies. What did you see in him, Velvet dear?" Surprisingly, the response given was not the usual 'sometimes I wonder that myself' that is usually the go to response to such a question. Instead, Velvet answered with her heart.

"I saw a rational, reasonable pony capable and willing to be an anchor to my adventurous spirit. More importantly, I saw a pony more than willing to put up with all that I am, which you know isn't always easy." The response given to that by Cadance was something in the realm of 'true enough', and then the girls shared a laugh before Cadance turned the oven off with a flick of magic.

"Oh, thanks for that. I can't believe I'd forgotten." Cadance gave a cheeky smile, and the two were back to laughing. To Twilight, it was like watching a pair of high school besties at a reunion after being apart for a year. Content with how the evening turned out, she smiled. Once the two got the laughter out of their systems, Velvet brought up the elephant that had suddenly stormed into the room.

"What to do for dinner though." Cadance took the opportunity to offer to pick something up. Velvet clearly considered it, but her only response what a very hesitant, "I-I couldn't ask you to do that! You're a guest, and a Princess besides!" Cadance waved the concern off, emphasizing that she offered, dismissing Velvet's attempt to make it sound like she was the one who brought it up. Once Cadance asked to bring Twilight, suggesting that it might be good for them; and her decision, if they spent more time together, Velvet was a bit more amicable.

With Velvet's blessing, Cadance grabbed Twilight in her magic and placed the foal atop her head. Still maintaining the persona of a normal foal, Twilight poked her head up between Cadance's ears, just above her horn in a display of false timidness mixed with an act of childish wonder. She was really getting into the act, seeing as there was a twinkle in her eye that really sold the 'childish wonder' angle. With a smile on both their faces, Cadance left the Sparkle home and made her way to the market district, talking about this or that to Twilight but expecting no more than the babbling she got in response. The pink Alicorn had a pleasant smile on her face by the time she got to the market.

As a pony who grew up a Pegasus raised by Earth Ponies, the many uses of Unicorn magic were still a novelty to her. Approaching a produce stall, she stared at the runic crystal-powered refrigeration unit with a wide-eyed wonder she'd normally expect from a foal like Twilight. She was snapped from her stupor by a gentle cough from a well-meaning Pegasus sales pony whose wings were very oddly folded. Perhaps luckily for Cadance, the crystal powered refrigerator was a rather new innovation, so it was currently in the novelty phase of its existence for all of ponykind. Thus, the fact that she; a pony with a Unicorn horn stared at it in wonder wasn't seen as odd.

Cadance struck up a conversation with the sales pony about his wares. He had suppliers from all over Equestria, so he always had different product from different climates that were always in season. The refrigeration certainly helped with that. It was a real bit saver once it became standard for cargo transports dealing with perishable goods. That the transports had to be made of something that worked with runic crystals made it better in other ways too. For example, the transports could be given defensive runes to protect against raid attempts.

Twilight took in the exchange like a sponge. She'd known about the refrigeration of course. It was an innovation that had come about shortly before she was born in her first life too. Still, runes and runic crystals had never been a subject of study at Celestia's school, since they were overall a new idea that too many considered impractical for too much to be taken seriously by the masses. As a result, classes focused on the study of runes were never approved for the School for Gifted Unicorns.

Speaking of; what a wake up call to learn years later that Celestia, Princess Celestia didn't have absolute authority for running her school. The school named for her. Too many of those on the EEA council didn't believe in the future of runes, so approval of rune study was never possible in any school. On a whim, Twilight chanced a glance at the palace. Cadance noticed her look, and giggled. "Yes Twilight, the palace is especially beautiful this time of day." When the sales pony asked about her, Cadance hesitated a bit, before responding,

"W-well I'm her...I'm her babysitter. I haven't actually started in an official capacity, but if she's going to be my charge I wanted to get to know her better, and what better time than now? Her father's a bit thick and ruined his wife's cooking, so I volunteered to get something to replace it!" The sales pony laughed and reiterated Cadance's previous statement of 'some ponies', then passed a white canister with a fake teat on one end to the pink Alicorn. At Cadance's inquiry, the sales pony revealed he was a father, opening his wings to reveal that the odd folding of them was covering a bundled up Pegasus foal.

Cadance had to keep herself from cooing in adoration, lest she awaken the baby, but the sales pony explained that the contents of the canister was a substitute for mothers' milk; so long as a baby had received the mother's first milk. Cadance passed the canister to Twilight, who after a brief appraisal worthy of a foal; one consisting on checking different parts of the thing to see if it was food, and then briefly tugging on the rubber teat, she settled for using it as intended. The sales pony figured that if Cadance was looking for something to make into a meal, produce probably wouldn't do it, though he did offer her a slight discount of a head of lettuce. The princess-in-training accepted graciously, and after the lettuce was paid for, the pair moved on to more stores. Twilight happened to notice the window of her 'game' open with text. A list?

[Bond Quest: Help Gather Dinner!
Cadance is shopping for your family's dinner! Help her out!

First Ingredient
[ ] Noodles
[ ] Broccoli
[X] Lettuce

Second Ingredient
[ ] Tomato
[ ] Olive Oil
[ ] Hay Dough

Help Cadance! Select a Second Ingredient!

Reward
+100 EXP
+1 Bond with Cadance

No Failure Condition

Twilight raised an eyebrow for a bit, then smiled. Any little nudge she could make toward a chance of having this Cadance be like the Cadance she remembers is worth a shot. She poked her head up behind Cadance's horn, and squinted her eyes, peering keenly over the selection of stores and wares before her. Though the question remained, what to pick...?

Author's Note

Here’s the replacement Chapter 2. I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize until I tried to write this how much I was banking on the original Chapter 2, the one with the bombastic fight that ultimately made 0 sense both from a logic standpoint and; honestly, from a storytelling standpoint. I feel like the story so far benefits from not having a bombastic fight so soon. Maybe once Twilight’s old enough to be Celestia’s student. So yeah, too soon for such action, but I didn’t think it would be so hard to work around that once I decided it wasn’t going to work. Thanks to those whose comments made me think about it enough to realize that.

Two things. First off, while I’m not going to specify such in the chapter title, this chapter is currently to be considered in Beta form. Priority for finding any problems and corrections is to be focused here if at all possible; I thank you all for any and all contributions to the quality of this story to this point and moving forward.

Second, it won’t be something I do very often, and I know it’s awfully mundane to do it for, but if you readers want to include on of the three ingredients under the ‘Second Ingredient’ tab of Twilight’s current quest, I will use the one most picked at the start of the next chapter.

It’s not a necessity. I was originally planning on just continuing the chapter through the entirety of this quest, but I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of stories directed in some limited capacity by the readers. I’m thinking I’d like to try my hand at it for the future of this story, and decided this was the chance to get my feet wet in that regard with something mundane. Figured it was best to play it safe for my initial foray into something that; in my experience, seems to be awfully divisive.

In any case, you do you, and I’ll see you.

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Ranger/Archmage
Job Title: -/Princess
Level: 2
HP: 8400
MP: 9150
ATK: 560
DEF: 560
STR: 280
END: 280
SPD: 280
AGI: 275
INT: 280
WIS: 280
CLV: 275
RES: 280
COMBAT MG: 560
CRYSTAL MG: 560
TIME MG: 560
ILLUSION MG: 550
ARCANE MG: 560
HEART MG: 560
SOUL MG: 550
DARK MG: 560
EXP: 350
EXP:TNL: 350/150
LEVEL UP! Twilight Sparkle Level 3! +150 HP, +150 MP, +10 ATK, +10 DEF, +5 STR, +5 POW, +5 SPD, +5 AGI, +5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CLV, +5 RES, +10 COMBAT MG, +10 CRYSTAL MG, +10 TIME MG, +10 ILLUSION MG, +10 ARCANE MG, +10 HEART MG, +10 SOUL MG, +10 DARK MG.
TNL: 200

Name: Twilight Sparkle
Race: Alicorn
Class: Ranger/Archmage
Job Title: -/Princess
Level: 3
HP: 8550
MP: 9400
ATK: 570
DEF: 570
STR: 285
END: 285
SPD: 285
AGI: 280
INT: 285
WIS: 285
CLV: 280
RES: 285
COMBAT MG: 570
CRYSTAL MG: 570
TIME MG: 570
ILLUSION MG: 560
ARCANE MG: 570
HEART MG: 570
SOUL MG: 560
DARK MG: 570
EXP: 350
EXP:TNL: 200/200
LEVEL UP! Twilight Sparkle Level 4! +150 HP, +150 MP, +10 ATK, +10 DEF, +5 STR, +5 POW, +5 SPD, +5 AGI, +5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CLV, +5 RES, +10 COMBAT MG, +10 CRYSTAL MG, +10 TIME MG, +10 ILLUSION MG, +10 ARCANE MG, +10 HEART MG, +10 SOUL MG, +10 DARK MG.
TNL: 250

Accidentally Amazing

Twilight's eyes lit up all of a sudden as she decided what she'd point out to Cadance. She extended a hoof in a way that the pink Alicorn would see, before fully extending it to point at another vendor of crops, but then she remembered something about the place that would serve to be a problem.. The farmer's market in Canterlot always did like to have vendors selling wares of all the same color.

It was a weird decision, but the way the overall display became like a rainbow of food did carry a certain visual appeal that Twilight couldn't deny struck something deep in her. It was always arranged darkest to lightest too, with the lightest of the reds and oranges being in the direction of the orange and yellow respectively, then the darkest of the yellows, greens, and blues being toward the greens, blues, and purples, with the purples reverting back to the dark to light pattern with the lightest purples at the end.

The whole thing blended together in a way that only added to the rainbow theme. It was a sight to behold. In this case though it made her job harder. She'd planned to point in the general direction of the tomatoes and scream 'Wed', since it wouldn't do to have her perfectly enunciating the 'r'. But clearly that wouldn't cut it.

Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went on in her head. She lit her horn and gently took hold of a tomato, lifting it from the stand and floating it over to her much to the annoyance of the vendor. "Hey! This isn't a charity! I don't care if you are a princess!" He initially assumed it was Cadance doing it, but then he saw the one with the lit horn was the baby on her back. "Oh great, it's the kid doing it! I don't need ponies giving their kids magic lessons at the expense of my merchandise! You're gonna compensate me for that, lady! I-huh?" He finally got a good look at the tomato in Twilight's aura, and was dumbstruck.

"Wha-but how? To think a baby could have such fine control. there's not even a blemish!" The surrounding crowd could only gasp in amazement and shock at this revelation. As for the merchant, he at least had the decency to look guilty for his tirade after realizing the truth. "I'm sorry kid, I didn't realize I was getting angry over a non-issue. You want that? Take it, for the trouble." Twilight played the foal act and just tilted her head as though lost.

Cadance had been stuck in place by her own shock from the moment she'd seen Twilight grab the tomato. It was a perfectly spherical tomato. Such a perfectly round object required equal force to be applied from all directions in order for the levitation spell to act upon it. It had to be equal from all directions to hold it in place, and the force equilibrium had to be disrupted in one or more directions in order to achieve telekinetic motion. Add to that, tomatoes are notoriously difficult for the young unicorns still learning control, being such a soft and tender object.

The line between just holding it and damaging it is so fine, some unicorns never learn enough control where they don't have to focus on not squeezing it too hard. There was an inkling in the back of Cadance's mind where she was wondering if Twilight was even a foal at all. Once she snapped out of her stupor, she took the red fruit when offered it by Twilight, placing it next to the lettuce. She grabbed and paid for a second tomato, then continued to walk around the market looking, but not before her gaze lingered on the foal astride her for but a moment.

You left the ponies in the market in awe of your mastery of magic control. Given the nature of Canterlot ponies, this is sure to spread. +5 reputation in Canterlot.

Cadance was left in awe of your mastery of magic control, but it seems she might be starting to wonder if you're really a baby. +1 bond with Cadance. Cadance is slightly suspicious of you.

Twilight saw that last bit and mentally facehoofed. Really? Why was she so bad at this?

Bond Quest: Help Gather Dinner!

Cadance is shopping for your family's dinner! Help her out!
Quest Update

First Ingredient
[ ] Noodles
[ ] Broccoli
[X] Lettuce

Second Ingredient
[X] Tomato
[ ] Olive Oil
[ ] Hay Dough

Third Ingredient
[ ] Oats
[ ] Strawberries
[ ] Potato

Help Cadance! Select a Third Ingredient!

Twilight knew she had to keep going with that, or at the very least it's not something she wanted stopped. Cadance had said she'd shop for dinner, but with this quest of helping Cadance, she was so used to being able to just help that she was struggling to maintain her act at all times. She'd neve had to trick those closest to her before. That doesn't mean she never did, a certain incident with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus that could have been handled so much better in hindsight comes to mind.

However, that just means she knows she doesn’t like how it makes her feel to knowingly trick someone close to her. She's always been completely open with her thoughts and feelings, so having to hide any of it away felt like a mental tug-of-war. Plus now Cadance is starting to get suspicious of her. What should she do? Should she let Cadance in on the truth? She didn't know, and that hurt her too! She looked lost as her mind went in circles.

Author's Note

Another chance for readers to influence the story! I know I said last chapter this wouldn’t happen very often, but I want to get a feel early on for if you guys like this sort of thing. So, if it wasn’t made clear by the chapter itself already, the choice is in Twilight’s course of action regarding Cadance. Does she reveal the truth? Yes or no?

Also, a new addition to Twilight’s status updates.

Relationships

Bonds
Family
Shining Armor: 4 (Bond of family +3, Play time +1)
Twilight Velvet: 3 (Bond of family +3)
Night Light: 3 (Bond of Family +3)
Acquaintances
Celestia: 3 (Show of Great Potential +3)
Cadance: 1 (Show of Potential +1)
Friends
You aren’t close enough to anyone that you, or they, would call the other friend.

Reputation
Personal
Celestia: 4 (Breaking the Monotony +4)
City
Canterlot: 5 (Show of Great Potential +5)
Nation
Celestia feels a need to aid and protect you and your family, and hasn’t yet revealed your existence to Equestria as a whole.
Foreign Nation
Foreigners have not been made aware of you.