(AiE) (Anon x Twilight Sparkle) Twinon - The Grand Galloping Gala


                                            >You are Anon.

                                            >Princess Celestia - or as you know her, Mom - is fixing your tie.

                                            >”Anon, hold -- still!”

                                            >You’re squirming, naturally. Celestia never gave in when it came to these things.

                                            “Mom, quit it. I don’t even wanna go to this stupid thing.”

                                            >”Nope. Don’t want to hear it kiddo. You’re going whether you like it or not.”

                                            >You give her a dirty look (after she turns her back, of course).

                                            >”Do that again and I’ll bring you with me to my next conference,” she says.

                                            >You revert your expression immediately. If there was anything that could make you behave, it was a threat to sit through hours of one of Equestria’s “peace conferences.”

                                            >”So...have you thought about taking anypony to the Gala?”

                                            >You look up to see her smirking.

                                            “I’m not doing that, Mom. Besides, nobody wants to go with a monkey anyway.”

                                            >Her smirk fades into a look of concern.

                                            >”Anon, don’t you ever say that...you know it’s not true.”

                                            >You escape from her grasp once she finishes your tie.

                                            “Yeah, well...I still don’t want to go to this stupid thing.”

                                            >Celestia smiles warmly.

                                            >”You’ll survive, kiddo.”

                                            >She starts for the door, but seems to remember something halfway.

                                            >”Oh - and Twilight Sparkle is coming,” Celestia adds cheekily. You might want to dress extra well for this one!”

                                            >You groan. Twilight Spergle has been trying (and failing) to court you since you met last month.

                                            >Celestia seems to think you and her little protege are a good pair, but you want nothing to do with it.

                                            >Doesn’t seem to stop her though.

                                            >Celestia laughs and leaves the room. You are alone with your thoughts.

                                            >You’ve been to one of these Galas once before, just sitting by Celestia and doing nothing.

                                            >You imagine the same for this night as well.

                                            >You won’t bail on this though.

                                            >Celestia’s been good to you ever since you came to Equestria as a kid.

                                            >Even raised you herself, basically. Became your new mom.

                                            >You don’t remember much about your old life.

                                            >Just that you didn’t have someone like that before.

                                            >Your mom wasn’t around before, and your dad would only seem to yell at you and say words that were frowned upon here.

                                            >...and hit you.

                                            >You can still remember Celestia’s face when she first saw those bruises on your arm.

                                            >Regardless, she’s been good to you and you owe her big time.

                                            >Even if it means talking to her socially inept student.

                                            >

                                            >This punch is awful. It’s just shy of being water.

                                            >You swallow it disdainfully and set your cup down to your right.

                                            >To your left is, like last time, Celestia.

                                            >”Thanks for coming with me, Anon,” she said, turning to you. “I know you don’t find these things to be very entertaining.”

                                            “Mm. It’s no problem.”

                                            >”Truth be told, I don’t like them very much either. But they seem to be very popular, so on they go.”

                                            >You smile.

                                            “Have you had this punch?”

                                            >”Oh, it’s awful, isn’t it?”

                                            >Your smile morphs into a grin.

                                            “Actually, I’m a huge fan.”

                                            >Celestia’s face scrunches up, embarrassed, but she seems to catch on almost immediately.

                                            >She laughs.

                                            >”I don’t know why they didn’t just use the same recipe as last year. That one was quite good!”

                                            >”...well - better, anyway.”

                                            >You nod.

                                            >A purple pony trots up to meet you and Celestia.

                                            >”Hi princess!”

                                            >She turns to you and blushes.

                                            >”Hi Anon…”

                                            >It’s Twilight Sparkle.

                                            >Celestia smiles at her.

                                            >”Good evening, Twilight. I trust that you and your friends are well?”

                                            >You give her a polite wave.

                                            >”Oh yes, they’re doing alright...doing well…”

                                            >She turns to you almost mechanically.

                                            >”So...uh...Anon…while we’re here...I was wondering if you wanted to...um...get some punch?”

                                            >Celestia gives you a look that seems to say Indulge her, please.

                                            >You hold back an eye roll and crack your neck.

                                            >”Sure...it’ll be good to stretch my legs.”

                                            >Twilight squees and tilts her head (kind of cutely, you admit).

                                            >You gesture for her to lead the way and follow her to the snack table.

                                            >

                                            >”So…”

                                            >You avert your attention from the slew of treats in front of you and face Twilight.

                                            >Her face is buried in a book.

                                            >”Do you like music? What kind of music do you like?”

                                            >You try to be polite here.

                                            “I guess...a bunch of different things. What about you?”

                                            >She looks up for a split-second.

                                            >”Me too.”

                                            >Twilight shoots her head back into her book.

                                            >”So, how is having Celestia as a Mom?” she tries, but immediately blushes and shakes her head.

                                            >”No, that’s too…”

                                            >She looks up to face you.

                                            >”One sec!”

                                            >Twilight is pouring through her book nervously.

                                            >”C’mon...c’mon...let’s see…” she starts.

                                            >You gracefully snatch the book from her hooves.

                                            “Twilight,” you say. “Let’s just talk. You don’t need a book to talk to me.”

                                            >She scrunches up.

                                            >”But all my talking points are in there! How am I going to woo - I mean, get to know you - if I don’t plan it out accordingly?”

                                            “Well, you’re just going to have to figure it out.”

                                            >Twilight scratches her mane with a hoof.

                                            >”I don’t know...we stayed up all night writing this down…”

                                            >You’re a bit confused now.

                                            “We?”

                                            >Twilight blushes. “My friends and I.”

                                            >Out of the corner of your eye, you see a group of mares hiding behind a table, watching you and purple pone chat it up.

                                            >One of them notices you looking, and they all duck down to avoid being seen.

                                            >You smirk.

                                            “Good to see the elements of harmony are hard at work keeping us safe.”

                                            >Twilight’s as red as a turnip.

                                            >You can’t help but laugh at that.

                                            “I’m just kidding, you know.”

                                            >Twilight brightens up a bit.

                                            >”Yeah...it’s just a little...embarrassing.”

                                            >She goes red again.

                                            >You don’t know why, but this mare’s not as irksome tonight.

                                            >You laugh again.

                                            “Besides, my mom trusts you a lot. You’re probably not too bad.”

                                            >You expect steam to start bursting from her ears.

                                            >”She - the princess said that about me?..”

                                            “C’mon,” you say. “Wanna walk around the garden?”

                                            >Twilight smiles.

                                            >”O-Okay! Sounds...fun.”

                                            >You return a smile and stroll with her outside.