//------------------------------// // Antithesis // Story: All Is Calm // by Cranberry Muffin //------------------------------// “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Gusty had run blindly, shoving past the crowd and jostling anypony who happened to bar her way, headed straight for the city gates in an attempt to escape the unwanted attention of the crowd at the Festival. She hated being put in the spotlight; hated having any focus on her, even when it was positive, because she had never wanted to stand out – She’d always wanted to simply be one of the crowd. She didn’t stop running until she crashed head-long into another pony, sending both of them sprawling on the ground in a tangle of limbs and scarves. Gusty scrabbled about to get up, sliding on a patch of ice as the other pony shoved at her with a powerful wash of magic. She stumbled, desperate to gain footing lest she fall again, not wanting to seriously hurt herself there where there was nopony else but… …The filly she’d crashed into? Given the force behind the magic that had pushed her away, Gusty wasn’t expecting that. But the other pony was indeed a filly not much bigger than Lemon Meringue. She looked a little scruffy, her pink, green and yellow mane and tail a tangle, her knit scarf uneven and sporting a giant hole, though Gusty suspected she’d looked like that before they collided. “What the hay is wrong with you?” She snapped, glaring up at the older unicorn through narrowed green eyes, not at all caring about being rude to an adult, “You ran right into me! Weren’t you paying attention to where you were going?” Gusty blinked down at the standoffish foal, uncertain what to say. She probably should have apologized, but the kid’s attitude wasn’t really bringing about a burning desire to do so. “Maybe if you weren’t loitering around in the street…” She rolled her eyes dramatically, letting the sentence fade into nothing, the implication that it was entirely the filly’s fault hanging heavy between them. The smaller unicorn stared hard at her for a long moment. “…Un-bucking-believable!” She tossed her head, matted mane flying about her face, “You’re some piece of work, lady. And why the hay aren’t you back there at that stupid tree thing? Ain’t you the one who kept the stupid tree from falling down?” “Why aren’t you there?” Gusty countered as the two continued to glare at each other. She didn’t feel like she had to answer to this young upstart; she didn’t owe some street urchin anything, even if it was entirely her fault that they’d crashed into one another. “Why would I want to be?” The filly snorted, wrapping her scarf in her distinct magical aura and giving it a shake and sending a spattering of slush flying through the air, “I was only there to make sure that stupid baby did what she was supposed to.” A smirk crossed her face, her eyes glittering in the glow of a streetlamp, and when she spoke again, it was almost as if she’d forgotten Gusty was even there, “I can’t believe she actually did it…” It only took a second for the gears in Gusty’s head to start turning, for her to figure that this filly had something to do with the reason Lemon had been in the Tree of Light and then she was staring even harder at the lemony-lime colored unicorn, trying to come up with a reason why – And failing. “Maybe I’m just not getting it,” She arched a brow, gaze cool as she looked down at the bold-as-brass filly, “but why was Lemon ‘supposed’ to be climbing the tree?” It was those words that caused the smaller unicorn to realize what a mistake she’d made, Gusty supposed as she watched a horrified look cross the filly’s face, her green eyes going wide. She slapped a hoof over her mouth, edging away from the mare. “…Forget I said that.” “Oh no.” Gusty shook her head, putting on her best sad, disappointed face, “Oh no no no…Not after Lemon’s stupid stunt nearly destroyed all of my partner’s hard work. Not after it nearly destroyed my partner!” She took a step forwards, leaning in a little to make herself seem closer than she actually was, and lit her horn, “Now…Why was Lemon in the tree?” The filly gulped, suddenly looking as young as she actually was. She had no way of knowing, of course, that Gusty was bluffing; that she wouldn’t be able to dole out any magical punishment, especially not after the output of magic she’d used to slow the tree’s fall. Gusty was banking on that; counting on the fact that this child would assume she meant business, especially having witnessed her remarkable display back near the tree. “Uh…” She stammered, shuffling a little further backwards, “Um, I…” She lowered her head, tangle of hair curtaining around her face, shoulders sagging, “I dared her to steal the star.” That was not really what Gusty had been expecting –the remorseful action or the words- and she found herself sitting back, simply looking at the filly. “Why would you do a stupid thing like that?” She questioned, cocking her head curiously. It was a totally childish thing; something so stupid that of course Lemon would fall for it. The filly fidgeted, toying with the edges of her scarf and clamping her lips shut. Gusty continued to just watch her, gauging her reaction and pondering what might be on the filly’s mind. She wasn’t overly good at figuring out others’ emotions, though she kind of had this little unicorn pegged as some sort of bully from the first time she’d opened her mouth. The mare had dealt with her fair share of bullies in her time, of course, and this one fit one of the two extremes they usually belonged to. She looked unkempt and scruffy, like the kind of foal who would be picked on for not having money – Like the kind of foal who would intimidate others to keep herself from being tormented. So why was she then acting like she regretted her actions? It wasn’t like Gusty knew her and could seriously get her in trouble. “Come on…Don’t make me get the guard. This is serious.” At that comment, the filly’s eyes went impossibly wide, “No, don’t do that!” She said quickly, a panicked look crossing her face, “It’d kill my mom…She works so hard and is so proud of me for getting a scholarship to the Golden Dream School of Magic. If I get suspended or something, I’ll be in so much trouble and…and…” Her eyes started to glisten, pooling with tears, and Gusty felt a little bit bad. Only a little bit, though; this filly had caused her plenty of grief over the course of the past hour or so. “Look, kid…” Gusty sighed, “Just tell me what happened, ‘cause I’m going to wind up having one hay of a talk with Lemon later and I’d like to know all the details.” “I didn’t think she’d do it.” Came the mumbled response, “I dared her so I could laugh at her later.” “…You want to laugh at her?” On one hoof, Gusty could understand why somepony might want to pick on Lemon Meringue. She was kind of clueless and ditzy, while at the same time, bossy and bratty. She was spoiled and everything was handed to her – And the older unicorn suspected that this yellowish filly was nothing of the sort. She looked like the type who knew what it was to work, something Lemon would probably never know in her life. “I mean, I know she’s kind of dumb and annoying sometimes, but seriously? You don’t have anything better to do than get Lemon in trouble?” “You probably had it good too, didn’t you?” The filly looked up, green gaze meeting that of the older unicorn, “You probably took everything for granted and did whatever you wanted with all your tons of friends and Mommy and Daddy gave you whatever you wanted. I bet you never had to worry about money or food or making sure your grades were good enough to keep going to school. I bet you were popular.” Gusty snorted, rolling her eyes. “Please, do I look like that kind of pony?” Because seriously, if this kid was trying to make a play at sympathy, it wasn’t working. Her own life had been plenty hard, after all. “…No.” The yellow filly admitted, head tipped to the side as she seriously looked at Gusty, “You also don’t look like the kind of pony who was only liked for your magical abilities.” Her voice was low at that and she looked away, down at the end of her scraggly tail. …Oh. Suddenly, it made sense. This filly was a poor scholarship student at a prestigious magic school, given the opportunity to learn from acclaimed teachers because she had a lot of talent. There had been a few of them at Gusty’s school too, and many of the other students had looked down on them for coming from another world, a world they didn’t understand, a world of hard work and struggle. A world Gusty could understand, simply because her abilities were weak and she had to push herself just as hard to keep up with the other students as the lower class students often did. “You’re right,” Gusty conceded, “I wasn’t liked for my magical ability. I was teased for it…Because I have, like, no magical ability.” It wasn’t the kind of thing she usually admitted, especially not to a complete stranger, but this filly seemed like she needed it; like she needed to know that she wasn’t alone in the confusing feelings of adolescence and that somepony else understood all too well how it was to feel like you didn’t fit in. “But…” The filly looked confused, and rightfully so. If she had seen what Gusty had done in at the lighting, of course she would think Gusty was a powerful unicorn. “The tree…” “That was luck.” The mare lifted one shoulder in a shrug, working hard to keep the emotions that came with talking about her magic in check. It was strange, speaking of it so candidly, and she felt a little detached, as if she wasn’t even talking about herself. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. I’ve never really lifted anything that big with my aura before. I’ve never been able to.” She paused, glancing down at the smaller unicorn again, a thoughtful look crossing her face. “So no, I never felt like anypony only liked me because I had any great talent or anything. A lot of the ponies at my magic school made me feel worthless for having a ‘useless’ talent and they made fun of me a lot. I get it, kid.” “…Mimic.” “Huh?” “My name is Mimic…Stop calling me kid.” Even with the serious air about them, the filly’s attitude shone through, and Gusty couldn’t help smiling. “Okay then, Mimic,” In a way, she kind of liked this kid. She was spunky and reminded Gusty a little bit of herself and she was suddenly struck hoping the filly wouldn’t grow up to be as bitter and jaded as she was, “It’s just…you know. Don’t let them get to you, all the other fillies and colts that pick on you. They’re so not worth it.” It was then that a thought occurred to her, something which she’d never considered before – She felt that Lemon was entirely too stupid to be a threat to anypony. “Lemon Meringue doesn’t tease you, does she?” Mimic shook her head, once more half-hidden behind her mane. “Uh-uh. She’s just…Like, she thinks she’s so cool and all the teachers love her, even though she’s kind of dumb. I think it’s ‘cause her dad donated a bunch of money to the school or something. But whatever…I don’t get it. I work hard and I come to class every day and nopony gives me any attention, ‘cept when I learn a new spell or something. She doesn’t do anything but look all cute and they…” Her eyes were welling with fresh tears and this time she didn’t try to hold back. She simply let loose, crying unashamedly and wiping her nose on her foreleg, “It’s not fair!” “Life’s not fair.” Gusty didn’t mean to sound as cold as she did and felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth. It wasn’t this filly’s fault that her circumstances at home were less than perfect, nor was it her fault that her teachers were snobs who valued students from money, rather than those who had raw talent. It was, however, Mimic’s fault that she chose to be a jerk and –even though Lemon drove her crazy- it wasn’t okay for her to get the other filly in trouble. Mimic whimpered, lifting the end of her scarf in a wash of green and swiping at her eyes with it. “…” Gusty sighed, reaching over to awkwardly pat the filly’s shoulder. She hated –hated- being an adult sometimes. “Look…I’m sorry, but it’s true. Life kinda sucks sometimes. But it’s not all bad and if you, like, work hard and stuff, you can make it better. Sure, I wasn’t lacking for anything growing up, but I wasn’t happy, either. But I ditched the world I hated and found a better place to live and even though I bust my flank every day for little thanks, I’m pretty happy. And you know? You can have that too…But not if you’re too busy making fun of other ponies.” The filly nodded a little, still sniffling, “I don’t wanna get in trouble…” Her voice trembled, but when she looked up again, she looked determined, some of the fire from when she first snapped at Gusty lighting her eyes. “Then don’t.” They fell into an awkward silence then, as Mimic attempted to dry the remnants of her tears and Gusty pretended the filly hadn’t been crying. “I should get back…” Gusty finally said, voicing the first words that came to mind – Anything to break the uncomfortable silence. “They’re gonna be wondering where I am.” She scratched absently at one of her ears, running a hoof through her mane, “And I guess I won’t tell on you…But you should probably apologize to Lemon.” “Okay…” Mimic replied quietly, still looking kind of ashamed of herself, but also very tired; weary enough for Gusty to wonder when she’d last been able to stop acting tough and just be a kid. She glanced in the direction of the festival, then back at the filly sitting on the sidewalk, uncertain of what to do. This kid likely needed a lot of help, but who was Gusty to presume she could do anything? She didn’t even really know Mimic; how could she possibly think she understood? “Come on…” She offered something she hoped was a smile, though it was probably less than warm, “I got access to the best cookies and stuff.” The filly nodded, straightening her scarf and peering at her reflection in a nearby shop window. “If you tell anypony I cried…” Though her tone was menacing, the threat tapered off; clearly, she’d thought of nothing to back the statement up with. “I won’t.” Gusty reassured as she started walking, not waiting for the filly to follow, but somehow knowing she would. She knew the type; Mimic was likely starved for any adult attention, especially if her teachers didn’t pay her much notice. She would follow; of course she would. Sweetie Belle was the same way sometimes. “And you should cut Lemon some slack,” She added as an afterthought, as the top of the blazing tree came in to view, “Even if she’s kind of dumb sometimes, she’s really not so bad.” Behind her, Mimic didn’t respond, but it didn’t matter. Gusty felt a little better just having spoken the words. She didn’t often stand up for other ponies, especially ones she didn’t particularly like, and she’d never expected to be defending Lemon Meringue of all ponies, but something about it… Even though nopony knew she’d done it, it made her feel far better than saving the tree had.