Bon-Bon: I can’t stay here, I have work in the morning!

Lyra: This is ridiculous. We’ve been out here for like fifteen minutes. They can’t just hide in there! We have valid questions that need answering!

Berryshine: Yeah! It’s like they think they can just sing a song and it’ll solve everypony’s problems!

Lyra: Oh that is so Twilight too. Just sing a song and walk away.

Rose: There she is! They’re coming out!

[Ravenous uproar]

Twilight: Everypony please! If I can have your attention!

Reporter Pony?: Princess Twilight-!
Twilight: I am so sorry, but we will not be taking questions at this time-
Reporter Pony?: My pencil…

Twilight: Everypony, we would like to let you all know just how thrilled we are that The Friendship Journal was such a hit among so many ponies! So much so that you’ve taken a break from your everyday lives to gather here. It is for this reason, and many others, that I invite you all to return to your homes and reread the work! But this time, do so at a slower pace. Reflect upon the many lessons found within, but only one-at-a-time. Maybe only read one lesson a day!

Rainbow Dash: But mostly just go home!

Reporter Pony?: And what if we don’t?!

[Cries of approval]

Twilight: That is a very good question! And if I could just direct your attention to the center of Ponyville-! [Zap] Which is where you now are. For those of you remaining, I can’t promise you you’ll all end up in the same place if you stay, but I can assure you it won’t be here.

[Pause, Grumbles of Dispersal]

Twilight: Thank you! Thank you for reading! And if any of you find your way to Sweet Apple Acres on your way back, be sure to let everypony there know they are trespassing on royal land, gifted to the Apple family, who have the sole authority to prosecute!

Lyra: I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.

Twilight: I just… never quite put two and two together, I guess.

Lyra: More than that, I can’t believe you didn’t get me! You came back to Ponyville for Pinkie Pie but you didn’t get me?!

Twilight: Well, I couldn’t carry Pinkie Pie and you at once.

Lyra: Alright, fine.

Twilight: I’m really sorry for how I treated you, Lyra.

Lyra: Yeah, well it’s not alright. I was never as smart, or as quick, or as clever, so I couldn’t even keep up with you and Moondancer. Quite clearly, I might as well have not even existed to you.

Twilight: I know! And I’m sorry! If I can just-

Lyra: But you know what really gets to me? All the help you’ve given me. I figured it was because we went way back. But not even knowing who I was? How could anypony have really changed that much? How could a pony that only had friends by association become this selfless… thing? … But I guess that’s why you became the princess. And me…?

Twilight: Lyra… I-

Lyra: I don’t really want to talk right now, Twilight. I just want to think to myself.

Lyra: Yeah. That’s definitely turned on.

Spike: The portal to the human world was like this when we got back from Canterlot. You really don’t know anything about it?

Lyra: No. I don’t have a reason to go back to that world again. I got everything I needed the first time.

Spike: This is really bad… If Twilight finds out-

Twilight: Finds out what?

Spike: Twilight! I-I-

Twilight: I already know everything, Spike.

Spike: You… do?

Twilight: Even with the map, I still consider this portal the most valuable and dangerous object in the castle. You think I don’t check on it several times a day?

Spike: But… why didn’t you say anything?

Twilight: You were solving a problem, so I let you take care of it. And you did a good job, Spike. At least until this happened. Speaking of which… Lyra, did this little lie lead to a greater truth too?

Lyra: Hey, I don’t know anything about this!

Twilight: I’d like to believe that, but you already tried going behind my back once. Regardless, this is a major security risk. There’s no telling who went in there, what they’re doing, or what they might bring back.

Lyra: So close the portal. Risk gone.

Twilight: I can’t! If whoever passed through the portal is still in there, they’ll be trapped! And if they become desperate… Ooh… I wish I’d dismantled that machine the moment I got back!

Spike: What do we do now?

Lyra: Go in after them?

Twilight: No… If something bad happens, Sunset Shimmer will contact me. I can’t let whoever went in there know that we know. We’re going to have to wait this one out, Spike. Lyra, I want to trust you. Whoever is doing this could be coming and going daily. If you find out anything, please let me know.

Lyra: Yeah, sure.

Oh Discord! What a wonderful guest you’ve brought with you to this gala I’m overseeing- ah haha! I will literally scalp you!

Twilight: Oh! Lyra! I wasn’t expecting to see you here!

Lyra: Yeah… I just wanted to come by to thank you again for your help. You know, personally.

Twilight: I was happy to help, of course. But to be honest I’m still a little uneasy about lying. I don’t feel that was the best decision.

Lyra: Bon-Bon’s been talking for years about expanding and hiring some help, but she’d never go through with it. She always thinks she’s looking so far ahead, but really she’s just afraid of the risks. Risks I can take for her. She wants to do it, but she’d never agree to me helping her unless she thought she could pay me back.

Twilight: And you’re sure this was the only way to make that happen?

Lyra: You’ve got your elements of harmony to guide you. But growing up I had a different set of rules to go by. A little lie here can lead to a greater truth down the road.

Twilight: But this isn’t some little white lie. She’s going to eventually find out that there is no government grant. Approximately a year from now, in fact.

Lyra: Hopefully by then it won’t matter…

Twilight: According to this you work some… sixty hours a week!

Bon-Bon: No, I’m in the shop sixty hours a week. I work much more than that once I’m home. Especially during the busier half of the year.

Lyra: It’s not like you’re really working that entire time.

Bon-Bon: Oh, you mean like you’re not really working when you’re sitting in your little stall doing nothing most of the time? And for half the hours?

Lyra: I am-!

Keep reading

Lyra: I don’t believe this…

Bon-Bon: Thank you so much for seeing us, your highness!

Princess Twilight Sparkle: It’s my pleasure! I’m delighted by this opportunity!

Lyra: I don’t belieeeeeeeeve this…

Keep reading

Dear Mike Dawson,

It can sometimes be difficult to stand apart from the crowd and resist falling for the latest trend. A lesson my friend Rarity has learned more than once, but I had yet to discover myself. In an effort to stay ‘hip’, I was willing to try just about anything to keep everypony on my side! But I’ve found that if you truly believe in yourself, you have no need to jump aboard every bandwagon you come across. In time, your true friends will rally behind you for your unique and individual style.

Your faithful Princess,

Twilight Sparkle

I see no reason to believe anything will change, especially not immediately.

I’ve yet to see any indication that she’s become anymore powerful than she already was. Not that flight is any small feat, but she could already self-levitate. Everypony in Ponyville already knew she was Princess Celestia’s student. If ever she called out, everypony in town already listened and was ready to act when necessary. It might seem different, but ask yourself what’s really changed.

The biggest adjustment for anypony to make will be for Twilight herself. Her personal identity has been altered. We’ve always known who Twilight was, even if only subconsciously. She’s the one that’ll need to come to terms with who and what she really is.

If you’d told me two years ago that Twilight Sparkle was going to become an alicorn, and somehow convinced me you were telling the truth, I’d have been irate. The notion that somepony born into a well-off family, with all the opportunity in the world and little hardship, would be rewarded with such a prestigious gift would have left me frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal.

I’ve watched Twilight for quite some time, wishing I had her life. That I could have been born with such potential. That surely I wouldn’t squander it with pointless study in mundane arts like turning an apple into an orange or growing facial hair.

But after all that I’ve witnessed, I’ve begun to understand that I’m not meant to hold such power. For all the magic at her disposal, Twilight has a level of restraint that can only be matched by an alicorn.  Were it me, I would have used it to right every wrong I’d ever witnessed. And I don’t think that would have ended too well.

Information on alicorns are a secret even I’ve never had access to. Maybe nothing’s really changed. Maybe Twilight always had the characteristics of an alicorn, just not the appearance. Maybe the spell she completed was the very spell that transformed her, and required a very specific series of circumstances and relationships. Maybe this isn’t the first time it’s happened, just the first time it’s happened this way.

I’ve digressed a bit, but what I’m trying to get to is that I’m happy for her. I still wish it were me; that I could have been given such a reward for the ordeals I overcame. I can’t help that. But she lived the majority of her life in near isolation and learned more about the magic of friendship in a very brief period of time, than anypony else has in their entire life. And that’s a trial I wouldn’t want to undertake.

So here’s to you, Princess Twilight! You deserve everything you’ve achieved and I can only look forward to what you’ll accomplish next!

Just don’t expect me to call you Princess very often.

Congratulations, Fluttershy. You’re the new Twilight.

Lookin’ good, Twilight. Lookin’ real good.