Then Twilight Sparkle calmed herself down to analyze it rationally. Based solely on the information provided by the newspaper and her understanding of her Second Senior Sister, Aurora did indeed meet all the conditions to be a successor. If this were true, it wouldn't be hard to accept...
But that was where the problem lay.
The entire report was filled with the scent of inciting anxiety and stirring up trouble, without any clearly meaningful wording or concrete information.
In short, after reading it, Twilight Sparkle just felt very uncomfortable, and a wave of inexplicable anxiety welled up in her chest.
Even though her reason told her that the credibility of this news was not high, the deliberately incited anxiety still affected her, leaving her feeling at a loss.
She couldn't help but imagine, what if this news was true?
Would their relationship with Aurora change because of this? Could they still study and play together like before? Would Princess Celestia abandon students who weren't good enough because of this?
In that instant, thousands of thoughts flooded Twilight Sparkle's mind, and all the questions eventually pointed to the one thing she feared most.
Would she lose Flying Light because of this, and everything beautiful she currently possessed?
"Twilight."
The call from beside her brought Twilight Sparkle back to her senses; she looked up to see Aurora's expressionless face, looking at her with an unprecedentedly serious expression.
"Do you remember what I told you last night?"
"You mean...?"
"For me, nothing is more important than you; even magic has to take a backseat compared to you. I'm not saying this to comfort you, but to state my position. You are a friend I acknowledge, and I believe you can understand what I mean."
This was the first time Twilight Sparkle had seen such a serious and earnest Aurora, but she didn't feel that such a Flying Light was scary; instead, it made her heart, which had been wavering just a moment ago, feel steady again.
"I enjoy every second I spend in this world, so I hate it when something disrupts my current pace of life and pony-to-pony relationships, especially this kind of obviously fake, untrue news..."
Speaking of this, a seemingly incredibly bright smile appeared on Aurora's face, but this smile, in Twilight Sparkle's eyes, felt a bit scary.
Although Aurora looked like she was smiling, Twilight Sparkle could clearly feel that her Second Senior Sister was incredibly angry at this moment.
"So now, your Second Senior Sister is really, super angry, okay?"
Aurora had originally thought Blue Blood Prince was the most extreme person she could encounter, but she hadn't expected there to be even better ones. It really lived up to the old saying: Where there is one disaster, there is surely another.
Of course, this saying carries a derogatory meaning in the current context.
"Obviously, I have an emergency situation that I need to deal with right now. Twilight, can I ask you not to tell First Senior Sister about this for the time being?"
Aurora took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the feeling of annoyance in her heart. Then she gave Twilight Sparkle a few instructions while her eyes shifted worriedly to Sunset Shimmer on the other side.
If this report were seen by Sunset Shimmer, it would definitely cause her great distress, which was something Aurora didn't want to see; now she could only do her best to prevent this media incident from causing more serious consequences.
She couldn't straightforwardly tell them her view that she didn't want to be a princess, because the act of saying such things itself gave other ponies a very contradictory feeling.
It was like the idiom "There is no 300 taels of silver here," especially since The Grand Princess hadn't publicly indicated any intention to select a successor, so if she said this, it would seem even more problematic.
Rationally analyzing it, the birth of this public opinion was not without traces. Even without this photo from the Grand Galloping Gala, it would still have erupted at some other important or minor time.
After all, The Grand Princess had only taken the three of them as personal students for such a long time, so it was no wonder that those ponies who were usually full and had nothing to do would let their imaginations run wild.
If this were the original world trajectory, by now there would probably only be Twilight Sparkle left by The Grand Princess's side, and naturally, there wouldn't be so many issues arising.
However, Aurora had already mentally prepared herself to take risks the day she decided to become The Grand Princess's student, and a situation like the current one was still within expectations.
But after actually encountering it, she still felt so angry!
"I will come back as soon as I finish dealing with it. If I haven't returned after three o'clock, you and First Senior Sister can wait for me at the station."
"Okay, but... Flying Light, are you really okay yourself? Or, is there anything I can do?"
Aurora smiled reassuringly and patted her head, saying.
"I'm just going to send an express letter home. After all, this level of public opinion is not something I, an underage pony, can control, so I have to ask my parents to do me a small favor."
It was also time to let those freeloaders at the Canterlot newspaper office see what an "invisible hand" really was.
Although, based on Aurora's values, she didn't really like using such methods, she had to admit that in many cases, it was really simple, crude, and very effective, especially when dealing with guys of the same class.
It seems that no matter which world it is, reality is often the kind of thing that makes people and ponies feel both helpless and unable to laugh or cry.
Aurora tossed two bits into the money box as payment for the newspaper, then teleported outside and sprinted toward the nearest post office.
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