Dadonequus Discord Part 180

>You decide to sit back on your seat and eat the rest of your waffles. There was still some from the extra stack. so you took a few of those and started munching.
>"So...Anon, It's just you,Spike, and me now. And I was thinking,well, how would you like to do something that'd you would like to do?" Twilight was immediately trying to charge into a bonding moment.
>Something you'd like to do? hrn....
>You poke at a waffle, then take a bite, then look at Twilight right in the eyes.....this could be fun.
"Belching contest."
>"What?!" Twilight reacted exactly as you thought she would "Isn't that a little..."
>"Hey, I'm game. Let me go get some sodas!" Spike ran off, then gets magically held as Twilight stops him.
>"Spike wait, isn't this setting a bad example? I don't want to do that."
>Spike turned his head to Twilight, he looked eager to play. "What are you talking about Twilight? He's the one who suggested it, it's too late for that. Besides, I got a win streak to keep."
>"What?! You do this too?!" Twilight had no idea
>Spike shrugged "Yeah, it's called fun...you know...fun? Now come on already, let's do it! I promise you'll have fun"
>You nod in agreement
"He's right you know, besides. You did ask the question"
>You give her a little surly smile...you don't know what it was. But you felt like you had to avenge Discord in some way before giving this the good old college try. And as things are right now, you had no closeness or reason to be meek around her.
"You're not going to back out on me now are you?"
>Twilight looked to you, then Spike, then back to you, Then back to Spike. Then hung her head as she let Spike go. "Ok, let's do it......"
>"Alright, Be back in a jiffy! nehehehe, This was a bad game to suggest Anon. You're gonna lose sooooo hard!" Spike announced as he ran to grab some drinks.
>You just snickered. You were always good at burping, and even if you lose. it'd be no big deal. It was gonna be pretty funny to see Twilight try.

>Spike comes back with three tall cups. puts one in front of you, Twilight, then sits on his seat and holds his as he shifts his eyes to you and Twilight. "Alright, you know the rules. Right?"
"Drink the whole cup and burp? Yeah. It's all universal right?"
>Spike nodded "Yup, we all drink, then take turns burping. Who wants to go first?"
"Why don't you go first, I want to see what I'm dealing with"
>"Spike snickered "oook, not my fault if you give up. You ready Twilight?"
>Twilight sighed, and magically held her cup up. "Yeah, but...I'm just telling you both. I don't like this"
>"Come on Twilight, just give it a try. I mean, you'll still lose. But at least you can say you tried. Ok?" Spike failed at comforting her.
>Twilight grumbled at him, and held her cup close "Fine...let's do it. I'll go after Anon.."
>Spike grinned, then held his cup up to make an announcement "Ok Everypony, it's time for yet another burping contest. The amazing Spike will go first, and make his ninety nine win streak into one hundred...bottom's up!" Spike guzzles down his soda, slams his cup down, and wipes his mouth...staying silent, focusing hard on next next....movement.
>And then Spike releases a burp, a mighty burp, a burp so powerful that he shoots out a good sized green flame from his mouth that continues to burn until finally it goes out. Spike wipes his mouth again, snickers, and rubs his claws on his chest as he looks at you with a smug look "Your turn Anon"
>Damn....that was.good...too good. You had burping skills, but....not that awesome...but maybe..MAYBE with your pony body. You could outclass him. You had no logical reasoning as to why, but you could..right?"
>You swig down your soda, take a deep breath and swallow...then go for it.
>You release a mighty burp. But you couldn't get it nearly as loud or as long as Spike. It just....wasn't enough. But that was fine. You didn't care too much for winning.
>"Well, we already know who's going to win this one" Spike smirks.

"Yeah yeah, I'm just out of practice"
>"Well, I forfeit then. No point in me doing it since Spike has already won" Twilight insists on quitting.
"Oh come on Twilight, I already burped. I liked doing it, I don't think you'd be setting a bad example."
>"You know you both shouldn't be doing burping contests right? It makes for a bad habit"
"Who are you, Rarity? Come on Twilight, all you gotta do is burp and be done with it. This is guy stuff. Guys do this all the time"
>"He's right, it's too late about the whole habit thing.. Come on already. You could at least give it your best try, it's ok, better to lose with dignity than to be a big chicken." Spike was being ultra smug. It seemed he wanted his one hundredth win to be a real victory, with no one giving up.
>Twilight could feel a rage building up at her. A coward? at a simple burping game? "Fine! Since you care about your stupid win record more than your well being then I'll give it my best shot. But we're going to have a serious talk about this afterwards Spike"
>"Yeah yeah, come on Twilight. Don't take it so personal. It's a contest. I just didn't want to see you quit, just smile and have fun huh? It's not like we go and burp all the time...." Spike looks at you "You don't do that, right Anon?"
>You shake your head
"Nah, no. I don't really do it too much though. But Spike, how do you have ninety nine wins if you don't do it too much?"
>Spike eyes widened, then he began to sweat as he smiled sheepishly "o-oh...erm..i-i'm just...talented...at this...eheh.."
>"Sure..." Twilight drinks her soda, and slams her cup down onto the table "talented....." Twilight's anger turned into raw determination. She leaned back, then released forward.
>Her mouth opened wide, and out came the most heinous burp you ever heard...and it just wouldn't stop. You could swear you felt the castle vibrating along with it's constant wail.

>And..it...just...won't...stop
>Twilight was still blasting her burp to the point that the empty cups on the table fell over.
>And this went on for a whole minute and a half. Long enough for Twilight to fall forward onto the table and pant. "...There....how was that?..."
>It seems she didn't even honestly know....that she won.
>You blink, you're eyes wide. No way...no fucking way...
>Spike teared up, then slammed his face on the table and started slamming his fist on it multiple times as he cried "MY PERFECT RECORD! MY HUNDRED STRAIGHT WINS! HOW?! HOOOWWWWWW......." Spike raised his fists in the air and screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
>Twilight, hearing Spike's yelling, becomes alert and raises her head. She herself was surprised at what she had done. "Wait...I won?"
>You were silent.....how? fucking how?! What bullshit was this?!
>Spike put his head back down and began to sob. "...I lost....to Twilight.....h-how"
>Twilight smiled, a smile that slowly became arrogant. "W-well. You see what I mean Spike? Not only is it a bad habit, but the way you made it into a contest? Well...you should know the old phrase "You can't win them all". I hope you both learned a valuable lesson."
>"........" Spike did nothing but sob
>You were speechless, how...fucking how?...just...
"I demand another challenge!"
>You had to beat her at something. But it had to be something she either hated...or maybe..
>"Another challenge? Anon, wouldn't you like to do something else? We could read a book together, or study up on the ecosystem of the Everfree forest"

>Studying huh? Maybe...
"I challenge you to a study off! How about that?"
>"A....study off?" Twilight put her hoof to her muzzle and thought to herself....that didn't sound bad. It could even be...EDUCATIONAL! "Anon, that's actually a great idea. Could I make the rules?"
>You could see Twilight's face light up with this challenge, like a cute little school girl who just got asked out on a date. Ergh...now you felt...a little bad...maybe...tone it down a little.
"Uh..yeah sure."
>Twilight nodded "Ok! I propose that we study up on something we both know very little about. And despite there probably being a million things we actually don't know about. It has to be something we both can actually study on without it being too dangerous or obscure. So, the subject we should study should be...." Twilight gently puts her hoof on the cutie map table "This map" The moment she does, it lights up. making the entirety of mini-Equestria more vibrant than usual.
>wut?
"Twilight...this is YOUR map. Besides, we already know what it does. it points out friendship problems that need to be solved."
>Twilight nods "Right!...but we don't know the WHY or HOW. I haven't even scratched the surface on how the map actually works. I wouldn't mind having a study partner to try to figure it out. If we fully understand it, we might be able to help even more ponies! Doesn't that sound great?
"Partner? I thought it was a challenge?"
>"It is a challenge, and the winner would be everypony! I know you're smarter than most colts, and you do seem to have a knack of thinking outside the box. So we might find something. And if not, at least we can say we had fun trying. Right?" Twilight gave you a big grin.
>oh good lord, you didn't even think she expected results. She just twisted this into a partnership.
"...but...aren't we supposed to be against eachother?"

>Twilight nodded "We would work separately as well, compare and share notes, see what we can find as individuals as well as a team. But, the winners would be just the same. Everypony. Come on Anon" Twilight gives you a big happy grin "You said I could make the rules, and you can't back out either. I didn't back out of the burping contest. Trust me Anon, you'll have a lot of fun. Promise!"
>Ogggggggggggh
>You sigh, you weren't getting out of this Not unless you wanted to seem like an asshole.
>you look over to Spike, who had decided to walk off. probably to contemplate on what he should do with himself at this point. Then look back at twilight. And reluctantly accept.
"...ok"
>"Great!" Twilight's horn lights up as she makes pencils and notepads fly through a door behind her and land both in front of you and in front of her. "let's get started!"
>Twilight didn't expect to find anything too revealing. But she saw this as a great moment to do some bonding with you.
>You look at the cutie map. What the fuck were you supposed to learn from it? It barely even showed up in the show. unless every episode centered around it after the hiatus.
>Twilight sat next to you on Fluttershy's chair and looked intently at the map, using he rmagic to tap the pencil under her chin. "Hmmmmmm....So Anon" She looks at you with a gentle smile "How do you think we should tackle this?"
>....goddamn it. that cute dork grin....h-hhh--hhnn...DON'T DONNNN'T.
>.....dammit, you could feel yourself softening up already. She tried to seal you.....but now?.....egghhhhhhhh
"Erm...well.."
>You felt unsure, about more than just the map, you look over to it, and eye it for a moment.
"It's a map of Equestria, right?"
>Twilight nods "Mhmmm"

"And it points to friendship problems, and even tells you which one of you should go check it our, right?"
>Twilight nods "Yes! You really do know the basics...which is funny...because" Twilight chuckles a little "That's all I know about it too"
"Well...the thing is. There's always a friendship problem that's going on somewhere. But then, even when that's true. Only the problems you and our friends would need to solve would be pointed out. So the question is, how does it detect friendship problems? How does it even know what a friendship problem is?"
>Twilight smiles and then looks at the map "That's a very good question Anon, One I wish I knew the answer to. If I knew, I could perhaps use my magic to make it's power more potent. So we could help ponies that maybe...just maybe..the map might miss. I don't want to try to take the map apart though...I don't even know if I can. All I know is that the magic of the map is very powerful."
"Hrnnn...Well,.."
>You tap your hoof through a hologram of a mountain.
"Maybe the map is connected to every living thing? Don't take my word for it, but I've sort of...seen that kind of thing before. sorta"
>Yeah, in old cartoons about fairies and magic.
>"That's a good theory Anon, and that very well could be true. Actually..." Twilight starts to write something down, then smiles like a lightbulb just went off in her head "I'm going to take note of it, because now I have a theory to add on to yours"
>Woah what? she actually liked the thoery?

"Really? You think that's a sound theory?"
>Twilight nods "Mhmm! In fact..Now that I think about it. Look at the map closely"
>You look at the map...but...nothing comes to mind.
"It's er...what am I looking for exactly?"
>Twilight giggles "Anon, the entire map is what I mean. Think about your theory. Now expand upon it."
>........er
"uhm......uhhhmmm.. I....got nothing"
>Twilight gives you a motherly smile, then extends her hoof out over the map. "It's not just every living thing Anon, it's possible this map is actually showing Equestria as it is at every moment. It'd be hard to notice since nothing changes that quickly and Equestria is huge. But look, there's the farm Pinkie grew up on. Griffonstone, Canterlot....but then look at Cloudsdale. It's moving really really slowly right now. And it wasn't even there yesterday. I never noticed. Anon, this might not be thoery. This might be fact! We have to write this down, now! quick quick!" Twilight immediatly and furiously started jotting down notes, she was getting excited over the whole thing "I can't believe I overlooked something so simple! Oh gosh! Just a few minutes in and we've already made monumental progress! Isn't this exciting Anon!?"
>Huh...not exciting..but...you actually felt pretty good that you lead Twilight to a seemingly simple discovery. You decide that maybe it'd actually would be worth writing down. and...well..write it down.
>"That makes me wonder. If we're right, and..I really think we are. That means the map possibly knows about the friendship problems it detects because it's connected to the world. And if that's it. Then I wonder how it decides which of the six of us should actually go and try to solve it."
>That.....would be more difficult to think of something for.

"Maybe it's got a mind of it's own? You know, a little brain in there?"
>Twilight shook her head "No, I don't think that's it. I was thinking maybe it was tied to our cutie marks. But maybe it's something more. Or just.....hmnnn. Now this is a toughy. I have no idea how it would know when and which of us would be needed. And it's definitely not random."
>You look more closely at the map as you start to get more and more into it. You felt proud that you figured something out before Twilight...even if she did expand upon it.
"Well, if it is connected to everything. Then maybe that's the simplicity of it. It is connected therefore it feels. You know, since cloudsdale can be seen moving on the map, it doesn't sound too crazy to think that maybe it's connected to everypony and therefore would know who is having a problem based on their feelings. And since it would also be connected to you and the others. It would know exactly who to call upon to try to fix the friendship problem"
>"Very interesting theory Anon" Twilight, you noticed, was jotting everything you said down "Is this also based off your past experiences?"
>Err, well yeah actually. It was almost care bears esque in nature...actually..ironically...care bears was also a hasbro product. ...ok ok..maybe that's TOO deep.
>You nod
"Yeah kinda. You think it holds water?"
>Twilight nods as she finished jotting down notes "It really does. I have to ask though, what kind of experiences have you had to come to these conclusions?"
"Errr....you know. Living with Dad...you see a lot of things in a short amount of time. Plus, I used to read er...some things back in the orphanage"

>"Oh right...right." Twilight felt a little stupid "I should have figured that living with your father would expose you to things out of the norm. Still, it seems really oddly specific to our situation. I'm...." Twilight realized something, and cringed "I'm being suspicious again....I'm sorry..." Twilight looked down in shame.....
>...ergh..why is it now that it hurt your heart?...fuck...she was actually trying this time....dammit.
"I-it's ok...I mean. It does sound a little weird I admit. But hey, I guess that explains my cutie mark too. Right?"
>"...You really forgive me? I know I've...well....not been really good with you. I tried to seal you, I thought Starlight may ave been planning something, I even thought you and Discord we're actively lying and manipulating things together...I don't know what things...but things..But I can see, I was wrong. And I am sorry"
>You nod...and even hop off your seat to give her a hug..A hug?!.....oh god...any will you had to try to get under her skin was very quickly leaving you.
"It's ok, really. Let's just forget about it and erm...continue the challenge"
>"Anon..." She was reluctant at first to show you affection, thinking you'd move away despite you hugging first. But then she wraps her hooves around you, and hugs you gently. In her mind, she thought less of Discord, and more of Fluttershy. And it warmed her heart. She figured, and even thought that despite you having some traits that would seem mean and bad. You also had a softness to you. Or maybe she was just really relieved to be forgiven. "...y-you're right. Let's see how far we can figure this out....together"