Puella Magi Twilight Magica
By darkponyD
005 – I’m Not Afraid of Anything Anymore Part 1
Location: Ponyville Medical Center, Recovery Room 101, Ponyville East
A dark blue coated pegasus colt laid in bed, sullenly staring out over the city, the curtain billowing in the breeze. A steady, electronic beep filled the otherwise silent space with a steady beat. On the dresser beside him sat a large stack of CDs, all of them containing both classic and main stream acoustic music. His gaze unwavering, the colt reached over to a portable CD player, popping the disk out and replacing it with another. Soon enough, the soothing tones of Sheared Coat’s latest single filtered into his ears through the earbud stuck in his ear.
Just outside the room, Rainbow Dash stood just out of sight, a grin plastered on her face. She had, like every week previously, been anticipating this weekly visit to her Cloudsdale friend. It had been nearly three months since the accident and, though she knew he was going to be fine, she couldn’t help but worry about him. Or, at least, that’s what she told anypony who asked. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow turned and entered her friend’s room.
The colt’s head turned at the sound of the filly’s hooves clopping on the floor, his face immediately changing from one of boredom, to one of happiness. “Hi...” he said.
“Hey, Blues,” she replied, while walking up to Blues’ bed, pulling up a chair when she got next to him. Once she was seated next to him, she opened up her saddle bag and used one of her wings to pull out a single, cellophane wrapped CD. “I gotcha something,” she said as she passed the gift to the colt.
Blues’ eyes widened once he got a look at the album. It was the new Switchhoof album Fading West. “Rainbow,” he said, unable to keep the awe from his voice. “This album isn’t even out yet. How in Celestia’s name did you manage to get your hooves on a copy?!”
The aforementioned filly grinned. “Don’t thank me, thank Vinyl. She happens to be friends with Fore Hoof.”
The colt quickly unwrapped the disk and popped it into the player. “I heard the songs on this album are pure genius!” he said. “Wanna take a listen?” He held out the other earbud to Rainbow.
Blushing, Rainbow took the offered earbud and put it in her ear. “I-if you don’t mind…”
“I wish I could play this on a speaker,” Blues sighed. “A single earbud just doesn’t do this group justice. But, we are in a hospital…” It was at this point that the opening riff started playing. The colt’s grin grew even wider as the music progressed, but Rainbow didn’t notice, her mind turning to another time. A time when she had hated any and all things she considered ‘egghead-ish’, with music being number 1 on the list. That opinion changed after she met Blues.
Acoustic Blues. He had been considered an acoustic prodigy, earning his cutie mark from an amazing acoustic performance. A performance that, coincidentally, changed Rainbow’s view of all things ‘egghead’ related.
Rainbow’s mind returned to the present, as she noticed something. A tear streaming down the colt’s cheek, and a bandage wrapped wing trying to make the proper motions for chord transitions.
***
Location: Central Park, Ponyville Central
“Tiro Finale!” A large bolt of energy burst from Pinkie’s artillery cannon, blasting a rapidly moving, multi-colored blob. As the blob disintegrated, so did the labyrinth it had been hiding in, returning Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight to their original location; Central Park.
“Wwooww,” Rainbow gushed as she emerged from her point of cover beside Twilight. “You’re so cool, Pinkie!”
Pinkie frowned. “This isn’t a magic show, you know.” Her Magical Filly attire vanished, revealing her pink fur and balloon and cannon cutie mark. “Don’t forget that what we’re doing here is extremely dangerous.”
“Right on!” Rainbow crowed as Kyubey ran up, jumping onto Twilight’s back.
“Hold on,” Twilight muttered. “It didn’t drop a Grief Seed this time.”
“That’s because it wasn’t a Night Mare,” Kyubey explained. “It was only a Night Mare’s familiar, or minion if you prefer. Familiars don’t carry Grief Seeds.”
“So that wasn’t a Night Mare…”
“It seems like we’ve only been fighting duds lately…” Rainbow sighed.
“Yes,” Pinkie conceded. “But we can’t leave familiars to do as they please. If allowed to grow more powerful, familiars become the same kind of Night Mare they broke away from.” She then gave them a wide grin. “Well, should we get going?”
***
The trio had been walking for some time, only just getting to the edge of the large park, when Pinkie decided that now was a good time to ask her question.
“So have you figured out what to wish for?”
“Nah,” Rainbow replied. “How about you Twilight?”
“No…”
Pinkie chuckled. “I suppose that’s how it goes when someone tells you to think hard about something.”
“What did you wish for?” Twilight asks. Pinkie’s face darkens as she stops on the path. “Oh! I don’t mean to pry if you don’t want to answer--“
“It’s fine,” the pink pony cuts her off as she offers a weak smile. “In my case, I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about it first. Do you remember about two years ago, the massive traffic accident that left over forty ponies dead? Well, that’s where Kyubey found me, on the verge of death. It’s not that I have any regrets; the life I currently live is far better than dying would have been. But…” She paused, looking at the two fillies in front of her. “I’d like those who do have a chance to think carefully before deciding. I want them to have the choice I didn’t have.”
The trio start walking again, silence descending on them, only to be broken a few minutes later by Rainbow. “Hey, Pinkie, if you make a wish, does it necessarily have to be for yourself?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Well…” Rainbow hesitated, wondering how much she should say. “For example – and this is really just an example, OK? Say there was someone who was having a way tougher time than I am, and I wanted to use my wish to help him.”
“Are you talking about Blues?” Kyubey inquires from his perch on Twilight’s back.
“I said this was just an example!!” Rainbow huffed, getting into the little creature’s face.
“There’s no requirement that the wish’s beneficiary be the contractee herself,” Kyubey explained. “There’s even precedent for it already.”
“But it may not be the best idea,” Pinkie cut in. “If you want to use your wish to grant someone else’s, then you need to make doubly sure you know what you’re wishing for.” She turned to face the cyan filly, a frown on her face. “Rainbow, do you truly wish for his dream to come true? Or do you actually wish to grant his dream so that he will be grateful to you? They sound the same but at the core, they’re totally different concepts.”
Rainbow was quiet for a time, digesting what she heard. “…That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry,” the pink filly replied, giving a weak smile. “But this really needs to be said now, before it’s too late. Because if you go ahead with it without making certain first, you’re sure to regret it later.”
The cyan filly looked away, before smiling. “…You’re right. I guess my idea was a little naïve. Sorry.”
“It really is a hard decision, isn’t it?” Pinkie said with a sagely nod. “There’s no need to rush into it.”
“Though for me,” Kyubey adds. “The sooner you decide, the better.”
“That’s no good, Kyubey,” Pinkie replied with a laugh. “Nopony likes a colt who pressures fillies to do things.”
***
Location: Home of the Sparkle family, East Ponyville
“It really isn’t an easy decision, is it?” Twilight asked, addressing Kyubey. The two were sitting on Twilight’s bed, everypony else in the house asleep, or fairly close to it.
Kyubey shook his head. “And considering my position, I can’t rush you into deciding either. Suggesting wishes would be against the rules.”
Twilight sighed. “So that would mean just wishing to become a Magical Filly wouldn’t work huh?”
Kyubey raised an eyebrow. “Is power for its own sake what you truly want, Twilight?”
“It’s not that,” Twilight replied, tilting her head thoughtfully. “…Or… Maybe it IS that… I mean, I’m not very smart, and I don’t have my cutie mark yet. So if I could become someone as cool and wonderful as Pinkie, I’d be more than happy with just that.”
“If you become a Magical Filly, Twilight,” Kyubey replied with a glint in his eye. “You’d be more powerful than Pinkie.”
Twilight’s head snapped around in shock. “Huh?”
“Though, of course,” Kyubey continued “part of that depends on what kind of wish you make. Even I can’t completely gauge how large the Soul Gem you’d create would be. I’ve never met another filly with such enormous potential as you.”
“Oh, come on,” Twilight chuckled. “You’re just teasing me, aren’t you?”
Kyubey shook his head. “No-“
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
“Twilight, are you awake?” Night asked, cutting Kyubey off.
“Yes,” she replied. “What’s wrong?”
***
Twilight quickly walked down the stairs, the sounds of exhausted groans coming up the stairs from below. She arrived on the ground level to find her mother moaning and groaning incoherently on the floor, with her father sitting beside her, a glass of water in his hoof.
“Oh, not again,” the filly groaned shaking her head. “Oh, mom…” her mother’s eyes followed her as she walked over.
“W-water…” Night gently tilted his wife’s head back, pouring the water down her throat. After Velvet’s thirst was quenched, Night lifted Velvet onto Twilight’s back, to take her to her room. “…that balding old coot…!” she muttered as Twilight settled her into bed. “If he wants a drink so badly, he can damn well pour it himself…!”
“Thanks.” Twilight turned to the doorway to see her father silhouetted in the light. “Want some cocoa for your trouble?”
“Yes, please!”
***
“I wonder why she loves to work so much…” Twilight said, deep in thought. “I mean, it wasn’t always her dream to work for that company, was it?” she asked, turning to her father, who was currently sipping his cocoa behind the kitchen counter.
Night sighed, setting his cup aside. “It isn’t so much that your mom enjoys her work; what she really likes is trying her best at something.” Twilight looked at her father, confusion clear on her face. “What I mean is,” he continued. “Even though she encounters lots of trying and unpleasant things, the satisfaction she gets from overcoming those challenges is what she treasures most in this world. So even though working at a company wasn’t necessarily her dream, the way she’s living her life is extremely appealing to her. It’s possible to achieve your dreams that way too, you know.”
Twilight tilted her head, pondering what her father had told her. “So the way she lives her life was her dream?”
Night shrugged. “Different people might have different opinions of that, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s something I love about her. I respect the way she leads her life and am very proud of her. She truly is amazing, isn’t she?”
Twilight smiled as she picked up her cocoa. “Yeah.”
***
Location: Ponyville Amphitheatre, Central Park, Ponyville Central
Pinkie slowly walked between the empty seats, making her way to the stage, her Soul Gem dangling from the chain around her neck. With a tap from her hoof, she returned the Gem to its hair pin form, pinning it in her mane.
“You do understand, don’t you?” Pinkie whirled, finding herself face to face with Fluttershy. “That you’re leading innocent bystanders into real danger?”
“They were chosen by Kyubey,” Pinkie replied with a scowl. “They’re not innocent bystanders anymore.” She stared into the cold gaze of the yellow pegasus, trying to analyze the mysterious filly.
“You’re trying to lead them so that they want that they want to be Magical Fillies,” Fluttershy said coldly. It wasn’t an accusation, it was a statement of fact.
“And you don’t like that, I take it?”
“No, it’s a problem,” the filly turned her gaze away, avoiding Pinkie’s gaze. “Particularly in the case of Twilight Sparkle.”
Pinkie smirked. “I see. So you’ve noticed it as well, have you? Her incredible potential.”
Fluttershy returned her cold gaze to the pink pony. “She is the one pony I absolutely cannot allow to make the contract.”
“Afraid that a Magical Filly stronger than you will get in your way? That’s the way a bullied filly thinks.”
Fluttershy’s eyes sparked with anger, the Soul Gem in her mane flaring in a burst of violet light. “I have no wish to fight you, but…”
“Then take care to ensure that our paths never cross again,” Pinkie said, turning her back on the yellow filly. “Tonight will probably be the last time that we’ll be able to speak without coming to blows.” And with that, Pinkie started walking back to her apartment, not noticing Fluttershy pound the ground in anger, her face changing from its usual stoic glare, to one of determination.