The Question Recurring 6 - Quiet Desperation Part 2

Twilight's Point of View

>Tonight is the night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

>You had waited so long for it.

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>"Alright, I'm going to stop you right there Anonymous. I held my tongue the last time you spoke from that unicorn's perspective, but I have to ask the obvious. Is this your story or not, and how do you have any idea what she was thinking?"

You sighed.

"Damn it Discord, can you not just listen. Trust me, there is an explanation. Her and I... we were pretty close."

>"Were?" He said with a sneer.

"Yeah. 'Were' It was my mistake. In my defense, I had no past at that point and I thought she was the only one I could trust to tell me the truth. Now, Can I continue, or do you have any other criticisms?"

>He pulled a list from behind his back.

"Now how the hell did you do that? I thought you said you had no magic here."

>"I don't have magic. I do however have a pen and paper. Funny what you can find when you look. Now," he licked the tip of his claw and flipped a page "I think your story may have some issues with perspective and tense. Also there's next to no action. You acted awfully," he drew out the word, "boring. And much too nice.  Where's the sex, drugs, violence, and rock and roll?"

>You smiled.

"Are you criticizing my actions or my storytelling. I regret neither. You're too damn impatient. Wait for it. It wouldn't make sense if I skipped the stage-setting, now would it? Now can I continue?"

He flipped another page, scanned it, and then shut the notebook.

>"Go ahead."

>You cleared you throat.

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Twilight's Point of View

>You were going to see the Princess at the Gala tonight.

>To actually be in her presence was so much better than writing letters back and forth.

>Earlier in the week you had told Anonymous that you would talk to the Princess on his behalf.

>He was one of the nicest p0nies... er creatures that you had ever met.

>He was however, constantly bothered by his lack of memories.

>That's why you were so excited to see the Princess.

>He had come over every night this week to hang out with you.

>You had to admit, you had your suspicions that he came to have questions answered and for the food you >usually offered him, but even when you gave him nothing he stayed.

>He always listened attentively to everything you had to say.

>No p0ny besides the Princess had ever done that for you.

>He also asked some intriguing questions that had never crossed your mind before.

>Like How long has Equestria existed and what created it? What did this planet look like from space? Was Equestria one of many lands?

>His simple questions almost always lead to more fundamental, impossible to answer questions.

>He was especially interested in magic and its uses and very nature.

>Magic was your favorite subject by far, but there was only so much you could explain.

>He had been amazed when you showed him all of the tricks you could do.

>You didn't want to show off but he insisted until you gave in and showed him them all.

>He was disappointed when you told him that you knew very little psychological-related magic.

>That sort of stuff was very hard, and beyond your abilities.

>It was at that point that he asked if you wouldn't mind speaking to the Princess.

>You readily agreed.

>You really did want to help him, and surely the Princess would be able to help him once the Gala was no longer taking up her time.

>The sun had just gone down so you left with Spike to go meet your friends.

>After all, transportation was your responsibility.

>This was going to be the best night ever. Or a close second anyway.

 

Anonymous' Point of View

>You were sick of this boutique.

>All week, for a good 6-8 hours each day you had tended the place.

>You only got to leave when Rarity returned from her spa and deemed it acceptable.

>Given the small amount of customers, she only made a profit for her "High Art" as she put it, by charging high prices.

>Sure she was nice enough to you, but she was pretty negligent about her sister.

>You found it hard to respect and like someone who didn't treat everyone with the same level of kindness.

>She never did drop her formality when addressing you, so you continued to refer to her as "Miss Rarity" even if it was getting old.

>She had only paid you once more since the first time, and you ran out of both stipends quickly.

>She made you a simple t-shirt and pair of pants.

>For some reason she had insisted on you being fully unclothed while taking the measurements, which to you had seemed unnecessary, but you had consented.

>Tonight though, tonight was going to be pretty good. You were free to relax, and Twilight was going to ask the Princess to help you.

>So in your good mood, you had decided to award your benefactor, Rarity, with a homemade dinner for two.

>It seemed like the least you could do.

>You also hoped she had a good time at the Gala so that and this dinner would maybe butter her up enough to ask for a shortening of your hours.

>It seemed unlikely that she would meet that perfect stallion, Blackblood or whatever his name was.

 

>You had asked her once about him.

>She had proceeded to talk your ear off for the better half of an hour.

>You doubted anyp0ny was that perfect but you hoped, for her sake, that the Gala went swimmingly.

>More than Rarity's success, you hoped for Twilight's.

>If the Princess was even close to as wise and compassionate as Twilight liked to describe her as, than you had nothing to worry about.

>You had been spending a lot of time with Twilight lately.

>The fourth night after you came to Equestria, she invited you to see the stars with her.

>She assumed you would be interested because you had grabbed that star book.

>She was right, as you had spent the following day at the shop reading about Equestrian constellations.

>After you dealt with the final customer at the boutique, you had closed up and headed to the little hill just outside of town Twilight had told you about. Sure enough she was at the top with a blanket and some muffins set up near the peak.

"Sorry I'm late Twilight. I got held up by a customer who came in at the last second."

>"That's okay Anonymous. The stars are here all night."

"So I read some of that book today, but a guided lesson from Professor Sparkle would be more entertaining." You said as you grabbed a muffin.

>Even in the dark, you could tell she was blushing. She had said she found it ridiculous that you would refer to her as a teacher, when she thought of herself as a student.

 

>"Okay then. I'm sure you read that almost every night, most of the stars change positions on Luna's whim, but there are some constellations that never change such as Canis Major, there," she pointed "and Canis Minor there." She shifted her hoof.

"Why is the moon always full here?"

>She continued in her lecturing voice.

>"That's a good question Anonymous. Logic Dictates to us that there would be times throughout the month where our planet that Equestria rests upon would block the sun's rays and leave a shadow so to speak upon the surface of the moon. The constant full moon is a recent development. When Celestia controlled both night and day, she let the moon move in its natural course. With Luna returned to night duty, she prefers that the moon always be fully visible."

>You laughed.

"You suppose that's for ascetic reasons or a display of power?"

>Twilight thought for a moment.

>"Probably both. It reminds her subjects that she has returned and, in my opinion at least, the moon is beautiful when its full."

>You looked away from Twilight back to the moon.

"I agree. And it lights everything up pretty nicely too. You know, your lectures may occasionally be a bit bland, but their always informative. You're a well-read p0ny."

>"Thank you Anonymous. Do you remember anything about the stars?"

"Unfortunately, no but they do bring up some feelings that seem... familiar. I remember feeling... small. Being amazed at the vastness, the infinite expanses of... I don't really know. A little hope thrown in there and - certainty- yeah that's it. I haven't felt that since I got here. I don't know what of but it's something anyway. Thanks for bringing me out here tonight."

>"Thanks for coming."

>You smiled, leaned against Twilight, looked up and spent the rest of the night in silence.

>That was the best time you had had since you got here.

>Looking at the stars led to more questions.

>The main questions she couldn't answer were about the nature of magic and Equestria itself.

 

>She had called them metaphysical questions that nop0ny except for maybe the Princesses knew any answers to.

>At least she could answer most of the questions you asked, and her grasp of magic was phenomenal.She could teleport, move things with her mind, and even create objects out of nothing.

>Her gift seemed to take a lot out of her though.

>You felt guilty when she had worn herself to exhaustion when she showed you some of her abilities.

>She told you that the trick to it was a focusing of the will, but when she put a quill on the table, you couldn't move it, no matter how much you "willed" it to move.

>She suggested that it was because you had no way of channeling the magic, like a horn.

>Oh well. It was a dead end for now, but you refused to forget such powerful abilities.

>You looked outside the boutique again.

>It was now fully dark and the stars shown brightly against the black sky through the window.

>Time to lock up.

>Before you could get to the door, a brown earth pony walked in.

"Hello there sir, I was just about to lock up. Can I ask what you're looking for?"

>You remembered seeing this pony earlier in the week.

>He was the one who had held you up from stargazing with Twilight.

>He came into the store, looked over the hat selection for a good 3o minutes then left unsatisfied.

>The selection hadn't been changed since then.

>For a pony with an hourglass for a cutie mark he seemed not to possess a very good sense of time.

>He even had a pocket watch, one of the only pony's you had seen with one, but you never saw him use it.

>Maybe he owned a watch shop or something.

>"It is late, isn't it?" He mumbled. "Do you have any overcoats?"

"Yes sir. They're along the back wall over there." You gestured in their direction.

>Again he was unsatisfied with the selection, and left 15 minutes later without buying anything.

>You locked the door behind him and went to the kitchen to start dinner.