Small dosages of realization came to life as she continued to guide us all through our darkest hour. Our own beacon of hope dissipating the shadows. Princess Twilight took the place of Sunset’s rightful co-worker, and in an obnoxious way, she made several changes to our efforts, including…
“Ok, let’s split into new teams to spice things up! Don’t worry, you’ll still work in the same projects you were doing but with different people!” The Princess said. “As long as there is a seamless transition between teammates, your progress will keep moving steadily!”
“That sound like a great plan! Mixing ideas could give us a new kind of edge!” Sunset said. “Why don’t you and Sci-Twi arrange the teams for the puppet stages?”
“Will do! Golden Hazel and Watermelody will work together on the design of the puppets with Scott Green!”
There weren’t many people gifted with handcrafted skills.
“I don’t know anything about sewing!”
“But you definitely know about fashion, which is needed for the design of two of the rich characters in the third act of the play, Scott!”
“I’ll do my best!”
So a new focus must be found within our new limits.
“Twilight, what about us?”
“Well… does someone of you know how to do color combinations with acrylic paint? We need to make some of the textures for the stages look soft but pleasant!”
“Leave it to me!” Sandalwood said. “But only if we use water-based paint! Acrylic is bad juju for Mother Earth!”
“Then it’s a good thing we haven’t bought the paint yet! Please go with Applejack and ask for the money needed to go and buy it as fast as you can!”
“You got it!”
Although the magic saved the day, there were still doubts lingering in the minds of the students. All the people with a newfound lack of faith tried so hard to help in any way they could. We needed to take back the lost confidence in our chances to win.
Princess Twilight had this area of effect that changed people’s minds, for better or worse.
I was walking with my partner from group to group, noticing the faces of disappointment I saw earlier getting relentless by each passing second. It’s going take a little while for them to understand what really afflicts them in reality. Perhaps they’ll start their gossip in their free time and discuss what happened with obscures intents. Perhaps they will end up praising the other one and put her on a pedestal, joining the rest of the students who adore her. Or perhaps they’ll try to find culprits for what happened to the now-repaired projects, trying to find a reason to believe in accidents.
They always gossip here. It was bothersome acknowledging the new habit formed within the students’ community. It’s not that they have never done so before… it’s just that the frequency and zealously wasn’t as bad as before. When they speak and backstab you with an insidious intent, you felt alone, impotent, and betrayed.
The feeling of betrayal is powerful in the hearts of the common folk. It clouds your judgment and fills you with impulsive fits of rage if you have a sense of pride. It makes you hastier. It gives you reasons to act. It feed you with the intent of getting something you want with all of your strength, whether it is in a fair fashion or not.
But not everyone had this burning will to sustain their mental constitution. Most students at the tender age between the sixth to seventeenth year of life are very vulnerable to the effects of negative feedback.
Rejection.
Those who possess the strength, however, move on constantly and fight every day. Not always is for selfish desires. Sometimes we want the best for everyone and want to reach that goal at any cost. Sometimes you don’t see that you are wrongdoing and going beyond the permitted boundaries because you think that everything is fine. In any case, at the end of the day, if you don’t know when to stop and see what will happen if you make a wrong step, you could end up hurting more people other than yourself.
That is hard for me too, even with all the physical and mental training I received since my fourth year of life.
But I couldn’t wait any longer… The decision that made Sunset Shimmer today will bite her sooner than she expects. It will reopen old wounds. It will make her realize that sometimes a simply apology is not enough for some. There are things that won’t come back with a simple regret turned into an act of repent, and I plan to make her realize that deeply inside her spirit.
I will have my revenge.
“Princess Twilight! Is the drafting designs for the flowers good enough?”
“I believe it looks incredible!”
“Dancer will be glad to heart it!” Mystery Mint said. “Bad luck she is in her job but I’m sure she would have liked to meet you at last!”
“Perhaps it will be another day! For now, let’s concentrate in doing our best!”
She walked away with Sunset and talked on the way to the exit.
“She is so experienced.”
“Yeah…” My partner said with a tint of unpleasantness.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s go and meet with the girl called Trixie. Let’s see if she has what she needs to make her performance better.”
“I don’t think that Trixie needs more resources. Have you heard of Trickster Lunaby? Trixie is his granddaughter and he will surely give her some tips and tools!”
“Yes, I heard of him. He is the most famous magician in the world!”
“See? You don’t have to give yourself the suffering of meeting her for the first time! You and the boss have been so lucky these past few months and I want to make it last as long as it can!”
“I don’t think that Trixie is that bad as all have said!”
“Believe me, Twilight! Is not that she is evil or a troublemaker! She is just… annoying!” I patted her shoulder.
“If you say so, Bon Bon.”
“Come! Let’s make that report that Gilda recommended you to do!”
She made a tiny but sweet grin. “Right away!”
….
The report was ready after an hour of supervision. The trademark competence of Twilight was outstanding, but at the same time, it was unsurprising coming from the best student of all CHS… except in sports and other few subjects. Bittersweet said that she was a good cook in simple recipes as well, though. I glanced at her job and I could clearly see a massive improvement from her first try in making a research for the school.
Where the information she developed for the sport’s team was overdoing the theory and not putting enough examples understandable enough for the common folk, this one looked concrete but easy to digest. She left some blank spaces in some of the pages. She said that she was inspired by his methods of doing nice presentations with objective pictures besides each key paragraph and I thought it was a great idea. Her other work had images too, but they were… bland for the likes of the normal folk like me in this kind of topics.
“What is that, Sci-Twi?”
I could see a faint change of mood from Twilight. Sunset, in all her newfound stupidity since the Princess arrived, didn’t notice it. “A report explaining the progress we made today, Sunset!”
“That’s great! Can I see it?”
“Of course! The blank spaces are for the images that Photo Finish was so kind to take for me. They’ll be ready by Monday morning!”
“This is fantastic, Sci-Twi! You really are making a lot of progress! Twilight, take a look at this!”
My partner flinched for a moment.
“What is it, Sunset?”
“Look!”
The Princess read the contents of Twilight’s efforts. “This is… too simple! Are you sure this is ok?”
“What!?” Twilight and I said in unison with a pinch of surprise.
“I mean, it’s good but I feel that the data is not completely detailed!”
“This is a quick report and it only has the necessary information for everyone to see how things are proceeding! If the students need more detailed data, another report will be made after this one for the committee! Not all students need to see the full-!”
“Now, now, now! Trust me that complete and proven data is the best thing for a report! I have been in charge of an array of events and royal duties and I’m certain that detailing everything to perfection is the best course of action!” She smiled obnoxiously wide.
“But-!”
“Wait a second!”
She withdrew a notebook and started to write several pages worth of information as she walked through the school. No doubt she didn’t want to spoil that document with her horrible, otherworldly handwriting. When she came back to us after inspecting all of our progress, the Princess gave her notes to Sunset and, unsurprisingly, she bootlicked her decision of putting her research on the blank spaces of Twilight’s work.
After some minutes of writing the data that the Princess wrote into Twilight’s report, Sunset made a brighter smile. “This looks so much better and complete. Take a look at it now!”
I dared to take the report from the creature’s hand and I was… completely lost. What once was a simple but straightforward writing, now it was infested with hideous sentences. What the hell is this word!?
“Come, Sunset! Let’s see if someone else needs our help!”
“Good idea! I’ll be with you in a second!” The Princess walked ahead and Shimmer embraced Twilight from the side. “Good work, Sci-Twi! You did great on your own! Keep learning and one day you could be as efficient as Princess Twilight!”
As soon as she finished her speech, that thing joined the other one’s side. Twilight’s eyes felt like deep lake of dying stars… dwindling and worthless. I saw one of her friends walking with a bunch of heavy boxes full of materials.
A little field test was required.
“Applejack, could you come here for a sec!?”
“Yep, partner!” She put the boxes on the floor and removed her sweat of her face with her hand. “What is it, y’all?”
“Could you take a look at this? It’s the report that Principal Celestia will get on Monday. If approved, copies will be distributed on MyStable for all the students to see!”
“Of course! Let’s see… What is this? The proper distribution of resources met the proper criteria to… what? … … … … … … floccinau… floccioir… Who the hay wrote this?”
“Princess Twilight.”
“Ah… I see. I only understood these parts.”
She pointed out to the sections that were there from the beginning. “Twilight wrote those!”
“Oh, great! These are easier! I didn’t understand half of what the Princess said. Twi, what is this word?”
“Let’s see… Ah, floccinaucinihilipilification. It means the action or habit of estimating something as worthless. In this case, I think that… Twilight… tried to say about our habit of estimating that some of our resources are worthless. In this case, our hand labor.”
“… Is something wrong, Sugarcube?”
She noticed?
“No, I’m fine.”
“Come on, Twi. You can tell me, that face isn’t the usual.”
Impressive.
“I’m just… unsure if I can do something right, like… all of you.”
“Ahahaha! You’re kidding, right? You’ve been doing great, sugarcube! Raise that mood and keep kicking this rodeo like a horse kicking his harasser! If Princess Twilight put those there, it must have been for a reason! Keep learning, yo!”
…Such a letdown.
“Right… I can make something good for the team.”
Applejack gripped her shoulders and then patted them with a tender smile. “Don’t lose heart!” She left while carrying her boxes, leaving a reluctant girl behind, unknown to her that she didn’t reach her as she thought. The shadow of impotence was hidden behind those glasses filled with pink tint. I tested several other students, but the results were the same.
They didn’t understand the crap in the paperwork.
….
Around one in the afternoon, after finishing our activities in the school, we journeyed to the city to fulfill our duty in the organizations. Rarity made a stupid and ridiculous disguise for the Princess to hide the fact that another Twilight was walking among the people. A blonde wig and a terrible green dress proved sufficient for her, much to my discreet disapproval. Luckily, the population of Crystal Prep Academy barely memorized the names or faces of my school’s people and the zone was clear for them.
Had Bittersweet and his friends seen her in action, their little show would have been over sooner than they would expect. But it wasn’t the right time for them to meet her yet. I still needed to make my next stage of my plan have a proper base.
….
In the nursing home, Pinkie was searching for a kid named Meg. Much to her anger, the staff said that they couldn’t let her have a visit to her room, saying that under new circumstances, she wasn’t allowed to get in. Not to mention that during her transfer from the orphanage a few days ago, she developed an horrible headache. I overheard that Prince Blueblood was the one who convinced them through a generous sum of money to deny her access to the young kid’s presence.
The residents suddenly had better commodities than I remembered.
“Twilight!” A student approached us.
“Yes?”
“Oh… I mean, the Princess. Where is she?”
Twilight almost clenched her teeth.
“If you are looking for the Princess, she is in the retirement home.”
“Thanks, Bon Bon!”
Seriously, what’s so special about the girl who brought us troubles from her world? In just one hour, at least fifteen students mistook her for the Princess. I could see how uncomfortable she grew with each encounter, hoping to be the one they were looking for, only to end up being another disappointment.
She is so unlucky.
But it didn’t matter for now, we needed to finish our responsibilities. As I saw Pie being useless in a chair, I decided to give her a new purpose.
“Pinkie Pie, could you come here?”
Like a flash, she materialized like a cold mist solidifying into hail. “What is it, friend?” She winked at me with a super sweet dimple.
I will kill her on one of these days.
“Could you help Twilight and me in distributing the medical pills to their respective patients on the east wing?”
“Of course! Sci-Twi, let’s give these people a warm visit!”
Her eyes made a marked twitch. “Right away.”
“What’s wrong with your eye? Did trash fell in it?”
“Ah… yeah!” She rubbed her eye. “All the cleaning and stuff.”
“Hum! I don’t remember doing a cleaning activity today!”
“But we did on school.” I said.
“Oh, that’s right! Anywho, let’s get going! Laaalalalalaaala!”
This was going to be a long afternoon…
….
The bus circuit back to town had to make an emergency stop in the middle of the suburbs and the passengers were either forced to wait for another bus or walk. The choice was obvious for some of us.
“Bon Bon, I’m hungry!”
“I know, Lyra. But just a little bit longer and we’ll have a warm meal in my place!”
“Yay! Your grandma is always so nice!”
“Only when we have visits!”
Although I love her, she became a pain when she met you, my loved friend.
“I for one just want to take a shower! I can’t stand all this dirt!”
You barely did anything useful sans complaining, Drama Queen.
“Oh shoot! You spent all day saying that the garments of the retirement home were ugly!” Applejack said with my same frustration.
Suddenly, a loud claxon barked from the other side of the street. It was Big Macintosh driving the Apple’s truck. By the looks of it, whatever his job was had been completed recently. Dirt and sweat were all over his face. He offered us a ride back to CHS, but there wasn’t enough space for all of us in the truck. I convinced Lyra to take the ride and I told her I would meet her later at my place with some groceries. She refused at first but I managed to convince her to do what I said.
Seriously, one of these days I will do her bidding with no resistance. Cursed be her adorable nature.
Alas, there wasn’t space for Twilight and me. At first, the Idol Six and the Princess decided to refuse the offer and walk together to CHS, but Rainbow Dash received a call from Vinyl Scratch, saying that she needed urgent help for a quick band practice in the school. Twilight in the end played the martyr and told them to go ahead, much to Rainbow’s approval.
I could see the reluctance of the Spike of this world to leave her master behind. I told him that I would protect her on her way back to the school and he assumed a stare of uncertainty. Lyra said that he could trust me and Spike was a little at ease with her words… until the other Spike started to talk. It seems that something happened between those two.
When they left, we began our walk.
Twilight’s phone rang and when she saw the dialing number, her eyes brightened a little. “… …He regained full consciousness!!?” She said with relief and joy. “… … … Oh…” Her face became worried. “… … I understand, Gilda… … … … But he is fine, right? … … … … Tell him that I nee- wish him good fortune… … … … Yeah, ahahaha! I made the report, sort of… … Take care.”
“What is it?”
“Nitty is fine but it seems that he must keep at minimum any demanding activities other than relaxing exercises and try to enjoy himself a bit more!”
Not surprising since he endured more punishment than I expected and some rest is needed if I want him to keep doing his part. He surpassed my expectations in being useful to me.
It was an abhorrent feeling, and I still wondered how did she live with the guilt.
“So no stressful activities for a few days, huh?”
“Yes. He also needs to stop on skipping meals! If Sunset can do it, he can do it too!”
“Yes but remember that Bittersweet doesn’t have magic to recharge him when he is tired or other advantages like the Pony-Up to keep up with Shimmer’s pace, or the rest of you, to be honest.”
She stopped. “Magic…”
Ah… something took my curiosity.
“What is it, Twilight?”
“Nothing.”
“You may have fooled Applejack, but not me. I can see that you are… confused.”
She was about to put her hand on her skirt pocket. No doubt her Rubik cube was there. For some reason, she embraced herself instead. “It just that I’m not sure what to think about her… anymore.”
“What do you mean, Twilight? Ah! You mean Princess Twilight? Why? She is you from another world! Obviously you can befriend someone as great and spectacular as her because in the end, she is you.”
My mouth was melting in acid after saying those words.
“She is spectacular, alright…”
“And she saved CHS numerous times, right?”
Which essentially was her world’s fault in the first place.
“I suppose…”
“You could learn a lot of things from her.”
Like being obnoxious.
“That’s right…”
“Not to mention, imagine all the magical knowledge you could apply in your science experiments!”
“Magic… is not a science.”
Good.
“What did you say?” I asked innocently. “I thought that you used magic science to analyze the magic during the games!”
“It was just an accident. The only constant in magic is that it can be measured in numbers like temperature, but not controlled at will! It is only summoned when you less expect it and it really depends on your state of mind, according to Sunset… just when she and Rainbow Dash… almost used it on the fair against Indigo and Lightning… Oh, nevermind…”
Aaaah! So that’s why Shimmer managed to keep up with Rainbow’s speed back then.
“I see… In any case, the Idol Six look very happy with her arrival! I have not seen them like this since the last time she came to visit during the Battle of the Bands!”
“She also came after… the magic incident happened.”
“Ah, yeah! The games! Those were interesting times!”
“Are you kidding? It was horrible! I almost hurt you all!”
“It was an accident. You took the nice path in the end, thanks to Sunset and her graceful, kind, and benevolent spirit.”
My soul was burning in agony when I finished the sentence.
“Yeah…” She said with a sweet grin and looked to the floor. “She came to rescue me.”
“She is really following the footsteps of Princess Twilight! No doubt that one day you will become JUST like her as well!”
Her pupils diluted for a moment and her motion stopped. She closed her eyes and looked at me with the fakest smile I have ever seen in my life. “That would be great.”
I’m surprised that none of her magical friends had completely noticed what a terrible liar she is.
Glancing at my surroundings to make sure nobody was close, I thought about my word selection for my next delivery. I had a little theory I wanted to test and if something went wrong, the results could be… devastating.
“Yeah… if only we could take those glasses away and brush your hair like hers, you could be a step closer to be like her.” She clenched her hands. “Not to mention, if you could walk a little more confident and smile more frequently, you could give an aura of being like the real deal! And perhaps if your dog is less polite and more straightforward, surely-!”
“Stop.”
“…What’s wrong?”
“Please… stop.”
“But Twilight, I was just trying to give you tips on how you could become like Princess-!”
“I’M NOT PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!!”
Objects started to levitate from the ground, from the smallest pebble to the heaviest trash container. The sky got darker, winds screamed above us like howls in the small alley we were in, and a faint dark aura emerged from what was once her defenceless figure. Her expression became truth. Her presence became authenticity.
Her eyes became pretty.
Now comes the dangerous part.
“Twilight… you are angry.”
“Angry!!? Why should I be angry!!?”
“Listen, I can see what is happening now and I understand how you feel! Rage is a nasty thing, you know?”
“Me, enraged? Mwahahahahaha!!!” Her laugh was arrogant like during the games. “I believe you are confused!”
“Princess Twilight is the reason why-!”
“Don’t mention that name!!!”
Her eyes descended to a vilified state, slowly assuming a reddish, piercing shade. Walking in dangerous waters was too familiar for me, but never have I faced such paranormal brutality at a close proximity. This could end up badly for me if I word my speech wrongly.
“You are raising your voice, Twilight! You are clearly mad!”
“I’m not mad!”
“LIAR!”
“I’M NOT A LIAR!”
The flying objects were bend and crushed in wrath enough to scare the heavens themselves. It was the moment were I realized that she was the one who destroyed the steel structure during the party. Perhaps I was exaggerating… but deep inside I felt a bit of exhilaration and a faint sense of fear.
I felt alive.
“Twilight! Tell me what you feel right now! I’m your friend! You need to trust me!”
“What I feel right now? WHAT I FEEL RIGHT NOW!!? I’ll tell you what I feel right now! Everyone has been incessantly comparing me with that pony called Princess Twilight! That I resemble her! That I’ll be like her! That I’m ALMOST as good as her! Almost! Almost!! ALMOST!!” In the concrete where we were standing appeared small fissures. “That everything she does someday I will do it as well! But what about what I want to do? What about what I want to be!? Why nobody notices me for who I am!? Why suddenly everyone wants me to be someone else!? Am I not good enough!? Am I that worthless that I…I...”
“Twilight, it’s okay!” I took a step forward. “I’m here for you!”
I tried to close my distance but she took several steps back. “Stay away!” Her voice became normal again.
“Listen to me… I’m sorry! I… We didn’t mean to put that baggage on your shoulders! I believe you are great the way you are! Perhaps gaining some courage could make you shine in your own way!”
“N-N-N-Nitty said something similar!” The dark aura got weaker but her eyes, now filled with distress, didn’t stop looking at me.. “That I should try to be more… true to myself…!”
“The boss speaks truth, Twilight! You may have magic ingrained in you now!” Even though you are not aware that you are using it to destroy everything around you. “Perhaps it can awaken if you try to follow their dogma! But that’s not the only way to be happy! You don’t need magic if you find something that makes you unique! Wielding that filth- that power is a lie! A shortcut that slaves you to only one principle! One kind of living! You are more than that!”
“But I’m not special!” She hugged herself and took another step back, her eyes back to her amethyst tone. “I’ll never be as long as Princess Twilight exists!”
“You can be special while she exists! You don’t need to wish her to be gone of your life if you do what I just told you! Find strength and acknowledge your own self! Don’t listen to the people trying to change you at their convenience and shape! Accepting your weaknesses as a human being will make you stronger and will help you find your own identity!”
“But I… I don’t know…!”
What was left of the levitated objects fell brusquely to the ground. They were so unrecognizable and obliterated that my legs were trembling. Even if I my psychological integrity wasn’t showing fear, my primal instincts were telling me to be afraid.
I brusquely pinched my lower limbs, killing the surge of such cowardice.
“Twilight…” I managed to close the distance. She was lost in thought. “If you need help, I can be of use to you! My paternal lineage happens to be from Nippon, and my Father and Grandma are… you could say that they are a kind of martial artists who worked in the shadows before finding a nice job in a curio shop. Mom is from here, our lovely country of Equestria, but she studied Buddhism in her younger years before working for the government. If you want… I can teach some of the teachings that lead to a path of neutrality! Another kind of viewpoint in life! Grandma will pester us but she will agree to help when she sees you!” I smiled.
“…Will you… help me?”
“Of course! But I won’t pressure you to do it now. When you feel ready, when you feel that no one else is nearby to aid you, contact me. But only do it under your own volition!”
“I don’t know…” She completely calmed down. “I don’t even have mastered Sunset’s teachings… what if I disappoint you like I-”
I silenced her with my index finger. “As I said…” My arm embraced her shoulder, and my hand gripped her right arm firmly. “Think about it. I won’t ask you for anything in return. After all… we are friends.”
My brain… no, actually… I wasn’t being an hypocrite when saying that.
“I… No… I’m fine! Thank you so much for worrying about me… But I’m fine.” She managed to find strength to grin. “I don’t need any more help! I’ll manage to keep growing with the help of my friends! The girls, that is! I-I don’t have to be afraid of being lesser than her! Rarity said that I wasn’t a replacement on my first week of class and I believe her! I’m not a replacement!”
Who talked about being a replacement, little girl?
She looked to the floor, unaware of her own weaknesses, arms shaking and small tears falling through her cheeks. “I’m not a shadow!”
“Whatever you say must be the truth, Twilight! Now, come! Your friends await for you!”
She rushed to CHS, and I followed a little behind her. After all, I promised her dog that I would watch over her.
I hate breaking promises.
Now I know a little more of what I was dealing with. It wasn’t sufficient to know about their destructive power. Sometimes the spiritual strength comes into play, and knowing that magic works with a certain state of mind proved my theory that their powers were unstable.
Dangerous.
For the moment, I just watched her walking physically, running away spiritually.
Keep running away, Twilight Sparkle. Escape from all your troubles that haunts you like you have always done before. Let their merry promises fill your mind with images of the Meadows of Heaven and Rivers of Honey. Let them seduce you to a world free of struggles. A world free of all negative aspects of life. A dimension that only exist in a magic world of rainbows and paradise.
Force yourself to meet their expectations.
And when you realize that everything they said wasn’t what you expected, when you see that everything isn’t the shiny rainbow you hoped to see at the end of the road, then you will understand. You will hunger, you will desire, and you will acknowledge the struggles of the world. And you will seek help from those who fight, those who challenge, those who hunger for truth.
Those who live naturally.
For now, give yourself to their desires. Drown yourself in their wishes to make you like one of them. Make them the reason of your new anguish as you desperately seek to fulfill their ideals by sacrificing your identity.
Let them destroy your expectations.
And once you tire of your own falsehood, once your throat fills to the brim of your own infidelity and begs you for release, we’ll be waiting for you with open arms and guide you to your own chosen path.
What a small, pitiful, and innocent lost girl you are.
