First Checklist Item [Misc Journal Shenanigans / Action]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ In the middle of the day, Luceti is treated to the following eloquent series of letters: ]

DDDDD

[ So this is what happens when a hoof gets ahold of a drawing-to-text synthesizer. This is followed by a voice post about three minutes later: ]

... triangle, a couple of straight lines, and a square have to do with...

[ Several minutes pass, and then a video materializes. The viewer may be greeted with a pair of huge, intense violet eyes. ]

A-ha!

[ The sight of this particular creature might seem out of place to anyone who doesn't know Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. You can now see a purple pony with a horn protruding from her mane. The horn is bathed in a magenta glow, as is a pointy stick that is way too close to the camera. Like mankind before her, Twilight is learning how to use tools. ]

Hi, um... anypony who's watching this! I'm Twilight Sparkle, and... I don't recognize these woods at all. [ She looks around, probably for the umpteenth time. Twilight's found herself deep within the forest, to the southeast. Not that she knows this. ] It doesn't look like any part of the Everfree Forest I've been to. [ A cloud parts and the sun shines in her face through the unseen treetops. Twilight shields her face with a hoof. ] Oh. Actually, I guess I could...

[ She looks back at herself and spreads her wings. Not her small Luceti wings, though. A huge pair of alicorn wings, of the same purple as her fur. She prepares to take off, then remembers the journal and hits it again with the stick. Video feed switches off. ]

---

[ Following this recording, the population of Luceti may witness a purple shape flying around the sky, observing the village from above. She'll circle a few times, trying to orient herself, before deciding to alight in the fountain square.

Two areas will grab Twilight's interest fairly quickly. First, she'll see her coronation outfit in the window of the clothing shop. She'll find this strange enough to go inside and consider buying it.

The other building she'll notice is the library (with a squee of excitement). Good luck extracting her from perusing the many, many, many tomes that now litter the floor. This is why Twilight needs an assistant librarian. What she wouldn't give for Spike right about now.

Feel free to interact with her in the square, at the clothing store, in the library, or in the air: she's several yards up but not out of shouting distance. ]

Comments

[tailasoldastime]

[His eyes suddenly widen.] Huh?

H... how can you have just...?

[Twilight, are you married? That... sounds strange in his head, ponies getting married...]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ She spreads her wings for him. ] The same way I just got these! It's kind of a long story.

[tailasoldastime]

[He cocks an eyebrow at the wings as he examines them again. He then glances back at Twilight with a quizzical expression. How are wings part of royalty?]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Twilight chuckles at his confusion. ] Basically, I proved myself to Princess Celestia that I had learned all there was to know about the magic of friendship, and, well... [ FLARE ] the rest is history.

I know it's confusing. I'm still wrapping my hoof around it.

[tailasoldastime]

H... huh? [He listened, really, he's trying to understand it, but... proved? Princess Celisha-someone? "The magic of friendship"?!]

Wh-what?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Er... maybe it's a little too much to take in all at once?

[tailasoldastime]

[His face contorts in deep thought, as if that will help, before defeatedly nodding his head in agreement.]

I-it's not... what usually happens.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

I'm not sure it's what usually happens in Equestria, either. Cadance, Luna, and Celestia never told me how they came to be princesses. [ She shrugs. ] I'm going to look into it, for sure, but I'm definitely not complaining!

1/2!

[tailasoldastime]

But, h-how can you be n-not sure, when you...?

[tailasoldastime]

[Wait a minute.]

L-Lun... y-you knew Princess Luna?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Twilight's eyes widen. ] Yeah, I do! My friends and I helped her a while back... is she here? Did something happen to her?

[tailasoldastime]

[His excitement fades a little.] N... no, she's... gone n-now.

But we... w-we were friends.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Oh. Well, I'm glad to hear she's making friends! I know she has trouble, sometimes, being a thousand-year-old princess and all.

[tailasoldastime]

That, that was what sh-she- huh? [Luna never mentioned anything about her age.]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

She probably doesn't seem like it because she was trapped in the moon for a thousand years. Like with most things in Equestria, it's kind of a long story.

[tailasoldastime]

O-Oh... uh, well.

She... s-said she was... trapped... but I didn't know it was in the... uh...

[He scratches his head. He thought their world was just full of horses, it didn't occur to him that so much magic and godliness would be mixed with royalty...]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

There was a conflict. Celestia had to send her there to keep from doing harm to the world. But she's better now! I've given her some tips on making friends. It sounds like she's been using them!

[tailasoldastime]

R-right... doing... harm. [He lowers his eyes - he definitely remembers her telling him that. The guilt she felt was very clear when they discussed it.] I understand.

What... "tips"?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Like... [ She thinks, trying to remember exactly. ]

To be yourself, and not worry about appearances. The right ponies will love you anyway.

[tailasoldastime]

[It reminds him of the kind of tips he was given back home, which probably means they're good. But something about one of them takes him aback a little.]

She... sh-she was worried about... a-ppearances?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ She sighs. ] Luna's body was once inhabited by a villain known as Nightmare Moon. The similarities between the two are uncanny, except that Luna isn't evil.

So I tried to help her fit in! And it sounds like it's working.

[tailasoldastime]

[His eyes widen as she explains Luna's past to him. A villain... Nightmare Moon... suddenly everything she told him before makes sense.]

So... that is why she... used to be lonely. And didn't always want... to trust.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

I think she still has a hard time trusting new ponies. I did for a while after I met my friends and they dragged me out of the library. [ In fairness, Twilight went willingly. ]

[tailasoldastime]

R... really? [With Luna, it was often evident to him... but Twilight seems talkative and friendly like so many others in Luceti...]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Twilight nods. ] But I've spent more time with them! Luna's been a ruler ever since she returned, and meanwhile I've been studying the magic of friendship ever since. So it makes sense that she could use some helpful advice!