“Happy birthday, my dear!” Kalissa sang as she swept open the bedroom door. She held a tiny box in her hands. Celestia walked over to the bed. I opened one eye. Kalissa saw me and her eyes widened. Had she seen my monster-y eyes? I shut my eyes again. Kalissa shook her head and poked the lump in the bed that was Kristyn. “It is time to wake up! You need to get ready for tonight.”
Kristyn groaned. “Five more minutes.”
Kalissa leaned forward and whispered something in her daughter’s ear. Kristyn bolted upright, yanked on her bathrobe, and raced down the hallway, toward the stairway. I discreetly pulled on my sunglasses and beanie hat and looked up at my aunt. “What did you tell her?”
Kalissa smiled. “I told her that a plate of pancakes awaited her downstairs.”
I surprised myself with a giggle. “Makesss sssenssse. Anyone will do anything for pancakesss.”
Kalissa nodded. She leaned at her waist and looked intently at me. “Be careful, Jicxie.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked toward the door.
“What do you mean?” I called, afraid of the answer. Kalissa looked back.
“You know what I mean.” She left the room.
I bit my lip. Did Aunt… Celestia know about Nightmare Moon, too? It would make sense if she did. I slid out of bed and padded down the stairway. When I entered the dining hall, I saw that it was decorated with pink and purple streamers and balloons. More pink. In the midst of all the décor, I saw Kristyn scraping the last bits of maple syrup from her plate. From the looks of things, Kristyn had just finished her pancakes, or as my goofy dad would say, her “pancakies.” I noticed that another stack of “pancakies” sat at the seat opposite my cousin. I sat down and began eating. When I looked up again after a few minutes, I realized that Kalissa was sitting next to Kristyn.
“I have something I would like to give you, Kristyn,” she said.
I stopped eating. “Oh! Do you want me to give you sssome sssspace?”
Kalissa reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “No, my dear. I want you to be here for this.” With that, she handed Kristyn the tiny box I had seen Kalissa holding it earlier. Kristyn took the box and lifted the lid. I strained my neck, trying to see what was in the box. Kristyn gasped and pulled out a necklace. She sighed with delight.
“It’s beautiful.” Kristyn didn’t even seem to notice that the purple gem hanging on the gold chain was cut in half. I said nothing as Kalissa clasped the necklace around Kristyn’s neck.
“Yes, it is,” Kalissa/Celestia agreed. “Legend has it that this gem, when combined with its companion, will fill the wearer with magic and power beyond even the darkest evil.”
I gulped, hoping no one was looking at me.
Kalissa continued. “If you look inside the gem, you will see…”
“A star?” Kristyn finished her mom’s sentence. She was staring into the jewel. She motioned for me to come and look, too. I came over to my cousin’s side and held the gem in my palm. I felt a jolt of electricity surge up my arm. I saw images and visions in my mind’s eye: six ponies with angry expressions on their faces, a blast of rainbow-colored light, and a white, smiling face. I recognized the face immediately. It was Princess Celestia. Were these things I had read online? Things I didn’t remember seeing? Or were they… no. I decided they couldn’t be. Could they be memories? I shook my head. No. I couldn’t possibly remember those things. They had never happened to me. I shook the thoughts away and looked into the gem. I had seen this picture before.
The glass of the gem distorted the image, but I still could make it out. It was the Element of Magic, the powerful pink, star-shaped gem that had released me from my evil, malignant persona. I shook my head again. I had never been beaten or stopped by a star, Twilight Sparkle’s Cutie Mark. How did I know that, too? And what was a “Cutie Mark?” I looked up at Kristyn. Kristyn was staring at me.
“What?” I asked ignorantly.
Kristyn pointed up at my forehead.
“What?” I repeated. I reached up and felt my forehead. There was a strange, large bump in the middle of my forehead. When I took my head away from the bump and looked at my finger, I saw that my finger had a very faint blue glow to it. Oh, no, I thought. Not another change. I excused myself and ran to the closest bathroom. I ripped off my hat and scrutinized my head. This was the third time this week I’d done so. I rubbed the obscure bump on my head. I knew what ears, eyes, fangs, and claws were, but I had no idea what this was.
No fifteen-year-old girl was supposed to have a large, blue bump in the center of her forehead. Acne was one thing, but this… this was a whole other thing.
I pulled on my hat again, tucked in my ears and new bump, and exited the bathroom. I didn’t go back into the dining hall. Instead, I went upstairs, took a shower, got dressed, and sat down on my side of Kristyn’s bed. I looked at the closed closet door. Did I dare? I stood up and approached the closet. I half-expected Kristyn to swoop in on me and attack me, or that a bunch of booby traps would be activated. I turned the closet’s doorknob and waited. Nothing happened. I breathed a sigh of relief and entered the closet. I closed the door behind me. As soon as the door opened, a long row of pink lights flickered on automatically. I slowly ventured down the pink, carpeted hallway, looking left and right. Where was the crown? All of a sudden, I heard a click, like a light switch. I stopped walking, balancing on one foot. I looked all around. No one was there, but all of the lights flickered out. The whole closet, the whole mall of fashion was pitch-black. The whole closet was dark, except for the end of the hallway. A small, mechanical claw uncovered a small pedestal. I turned to face the pedestal. I held my breath. Sitting on the pedestal was Celestia’s crown. I smiled, no longer afraid of someone seeing my fangs. I yanked off my sunglasses with my right hand and with my left ripped off my beanie. I had no idea why I did this. Maybe it had something to do with Nightmare Moon. I let go of the sunglasses and hat. They dropped to the floor. I walked forward, hands outstretched, like I was in a trance. I was about to grab the crown when a familiar voice echoed in my mind.
Not yet. It was Nightmare Moon. Not yet. You must wait until tonight, when the party has started.
“Um, okay?” I said. “How can you talk to me? I mean, no one elssse isss here, and telepathy isssn’t real.”
I can talk to you because you know me.
“How?”
I am your mother, Nightmare Moon said.
“Huh?” I was confused.
Hundreds of years ago, I, Princess Luna, became jealous with my fool of a sister, Princess Celestia. She raised the…
“Yeah, I know all of that,” I interrupted. “Celessstia, my aunt, raisssed the sssun and you got jealousss. You became a monssster and tried to take over the day. You were sssent to the moon as punissshment. Then, you returned a thousand yearsss later, but were defeated by sssix poniesss. That made you become good again.”
But the DARKNESS is better! Nightmare Moon screamed.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “You’re… right. I’m way better than Krissstyn. It’s my… our time to ssshine.” I reached forward and got close enough to the pedestal for my fingers to brush the tips of the crown. All of a sudden, the other lights flickered on. I blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. I realized that it had been me who had turned off the lights. I had unconsciously clenched my fist when I entered the closet/mall and had put out the lights with my strange “darkness powers.” I whirled around. Kristyn stood at the door. Her finger was on the light switch.
“Jicxie?” she called down the hallway. “What are you doing?”
I thought hard for an answer. “Oh, I’m… I… wassss getting the crown to clean it,” I lied.
Kristyn started walking down the hall. My hand flew up to my ears. The hat had come off. I touched my eyelid. The glasses were gone. Funny, I thought. I don’t remember taking them off. I frantically searched the shelves and floor for my beanie and sunglasses. There, on the floor by my feet. I snatched the hat and glasses from the pink, floral carpet and tugged the hat over my pony ears. I slipped the shades over the dent where my human ears should have been and hid my eyes from view.
“Why do you do that?” Kristyn was now standing directly in front of Jicxie. Without waiting for an answer, she walked over to the nearest rack of dresses and began browsing for clothes.
“Do what, Krisssstyn?”
Kristyn turned around. She held a rose pink tank top in one hand and a salmon pink tank top in the other. “Which one?”
I shrugged. “They look the ssssame to me.”
Kristyn shrugged, too and put both tanks back on the rotating rack. “I mean, you’re always wearing sunglasses and a hat inside. Plus, you seem to always seem to be hissing and growling.”
“I don’t know why, Kristyn.” I bit my lip. “Maybe I’m jussst going through a weird phassse.”
“Okay, maybe you’re right.” Kristyn smiled. “Hey, c’mon! Wanna help me pick the frosting color for my ice cream cake?”
“Ssssure,” I agreed. “What kind of icssse cream?”
“Strawberry,” Kristyn answered matter-or-factly.
“No sssurprissse there,” I muttered. “Pink.”
“What was that?” Kristyn asked. She looked up from the shoe rack she was examining.
“Nothing!” I said quickly. Kristyn smiled and headed for the closet door.
“Let’s go! Matilda can’t keep the cake from melting for long.” Kristyn jogged for the door. I looked longingly back at the crown sitting on the pedestal. It glittered like it was made of melting ice and diamonds. I reluctantly followed my rich, fashion-loving cousin. As I left the closet and grabbed the doorknob to close the closet door, I paused and stared back at the crown sitting at the end of the long, fashionable hallway. I sighed and closed the door. Little did she know that at the end of the hallway, on the pedestal, the crown began to glow. The purple gem set into the top of the crown began to swirl. The purple hue of the jewel began to mix with a black liquid. Little did I know that the darkness growing inside my heart had somehow connected with the magic in Celestia’s crown. Good and evil magic was mingling, a dangerous combination.
Nightmare Moon was awakening.
“Jicxie! Kristyn! You must start getting ready! The guests will be arriving in an hour!” Kalissa called up the stairs. I looked up from my hand of cards. Kristyn did, too. We set down our cards. Kristyn had a hand full of aces, but I had a mish-mash of all different types; a full house.
Showoff, I thought.
“We’d better go, Jicxie.” Kristyn advised. She fingered the gem necklace Celestia had given her. “Party starts soon.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. O slid off of Kristyn’s bed and walked over to the pink ottoman by the door. My duffel bag sat on top of it. I unzipped my bag and pulled out my dress and boots. I carefully refolded the dress around the boots and tucked the bundle at the bottom of my Old Navy duffel bag, so that Kristyn wouldn’t see them. In my opinion, this outfit was fit enough for a queen, especially an awesomely evil one. Like Nightmare Moon. Like me.
Kristyn entered her closet and closed the door behind her. Ten minutes later, she emerged wearing a hot pink dress. The whole torso of the dress was covered in pink, sparkly sequins, and the belt she wore was made of a gold and silver metal braid. The buckle was shaped like a heart. Inside the heart buckle, I saw that a sun was etched into the center of it. I realized that every day, Kristyn wore something with a sun on it, whether it was a purse, a shirt, belt, or even shoes. It made sense, with Kristyn being the daughter of the most powerful monarch ever. I managed a smile.
“Wow, Krissstyn. You look… great.”
“Thanks,” Kristyn acknowledged. She looked me up and down. “But… where’s your dress?”
“Oh, well…” I searched for an answer. “I’m gonna wait until the party actually ssstartsss and thingsss ssstart getting… interessssting. Then I’ll put on my dressss.”
Kristyn frowned, but nodded. “Okay.”
Kalissa poked her head through the door. “Oh, Kristyn! You look beautiful. Can you come to me, please? I wish to tell you something.” She looked at Jicxie. “In private.”
“Oh, sure, Mom! Coming!” Kristyn grabbed her shoes from the table and hopped on one foot as she yanked the pale pink boot on the other. Then, she pulled on the other boot. She walked toward her mom. “What’s up?”
Kalissa gently grabbed Kristyn’s arm and pulled her out of the room. She threw a warning look at me. I bit her lip as Celestia closed the door behind her. I tip toed to the closed door and pressed my ear against it. I closed my eyes and concentrated on what the two Spellans were saying.
“Your new crown…” I heard Kalissa whisper. “Surprise… you. Friends… after dinner… special ceremony… coronation.”
I held her breath and waited for Kristyn’s response. “Oh, wow! Thanks, Mom! You’re the best!” Kristyn burst through the door. I fell to the floor.
“Were you eavesdropping, Jicxie?” Kristyn asked.
“No!” I answered quickly.
“Umm… okay?” Kristyn replied. “So, guess what? Go on, guess!”
“Oh, umm… an evil, power-hungry villain isss coming to your party tonight?” I responded with a wry grin.
“No! Mom just told me that she’s planning a special coronation for me tonight after dinner, when everyone is here!”
“Oh. Joy,” I sighed sarcastically. Now sIhe would have to take the crown directly from the closet, the plethora of fashion. Back to the drawing board.
“Yeah, c’mon! Everybody getcha’ hands in da air!” the DJ cried as he spun the records. Kristyn giggled as she danced hand-in-hand with Susie Lyrica. I stood over by the crystal punch bowl, with a pink, plastic cup of sparkling pink lemonade in hand. I felt so uncomfortable. I looked out into the crowd and saw him. Sam Gronico, my crush. He was perfect for me. All of the “couples” were dancing together, and any single kid was avoiding me for reasons unknown. I had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that I was wearing my sunglasses and a purple beret inside. I shrugged and looked sadly into my cup. A pink reflection of Jicxie Darenesk stared back at me. I sighed and glanced up at the nearest clock. It was 9:00 p.m. In thirty minutes, Aunt Kalissa would be heading up the stairs for Kristyn’s room to get the crown for the spontaneously planned coronation. In ten minutes, I would head upstairs for the crown.
Uh, oh, I thought. Dan and Hannah Favian were coming toward me; two of the “coolest” kids in school. In my opinion, they were two of the most annoying kids in school, aside from Kristyn.
“So, look who decided to show up,” Hannah said scornfully. “Licxie! As weird as always! How are things? Aside from your obvious fashion crisis.” She pointed to my shades and beret.
“Nothing, Hannah. My name’sss not Licxie. It’sss Jicxie,” I hissed. I felt my fists begin to clench. I had to hide my dark magic. I couldn’t reveal Nightmare Moon, not yet. But when I did, Hannah and Dan would be the first to “go” after Kristyn. “Clear out.”
“Umm… no. You can’t tell us what to do,” Dan butt in.
“Ssssure about that?” I said. O took a menacing step forward.
“Ooo! Feisty!” Hannah sighed. “I like it. Oh,” she put a mockingly gentle hand on my shoulder. “I like the attitude, not you, dearie.”
I shrugged away Hannah’s hand. “That’ssss helpful to know.” I looked up at the clock again. It was 9:10. I had to get going. I tried to walk away, but Hannah grabbed my right forearm and Dan grabbed my left arm. They pulled me back to their sides.
“Where’re you going, Licxie?” Dan asked scornfully. He gave me a mockingly sweet smile.
“Oh, jussst going upstairsss,” I hissed. For the first time, hissing seemed natural to me. I yanked harder on Hannah and Dan’s grips, but they only tightened. A white-blue glow clouded my view and I began to growl. I thought I heard Hannah speak, but it sounded like Hannah was speaking from the opposite end of a tunnel. I heard Dan’s low, gurgling laugh as he and his brat sister jerked on my arms. Then all I heard was a yelp. It was Hannah. The blue glow cleared from my vision. I shook my head and looked at Hannah. She had a look of horror pasted on her makeup-covered face. She slowly raised her shaking hand and thrust it in my face. Despite my anger, I gasped. There was a single trail of blood gliding down Hannah’s palm. I stared at my navy-blue-painted claws. They had tiny drops of red blood under them. I clasped my hands and looked at Hannah and Dan.
“That’s what happens when you mess with the daughter of the moon.” I shook my head again. Where had that come from? I turned on my heel and raced for the stairs. It was 9:20. I had wasted ten minutes dealing with the Favian brats. Ten priceless minutes. Ten minutes that could affect my getting the crown or not.
“Wait!” Hannah yelled. “Where’re you going? Come back here!”
I stopped halfway up the staircase and whirled around to face the Favians.
“Messss with the girl, you get the clawsss.” I glared at Kristyn. “Messss with the moon, you get the grief.” Where did that come from? I guessed that Nightmare Moon had something to do with it. For now, I had to worry about Kristyn and getting her crown before Kalissa did. I raced up the stairs and swerved toward Kristyn’s room.