“Is this thing turned on?” Reem appeared on the screen, the device capturing her clumsy expressions and speech. “My intellectual friend? Is this thing functional?”
“That green light over there? Do you see it? I believe it wants to tell you something!” Sugarcoat spitted with playful mockery.
“I will assume that it is working then.” She put her hand on the side of the camera and held it in a not recommended way.
“Oakwood, are you sure you want to use that device yourself? It’s too technological advanced for your destructive hands. You barely know how to use phones and laptops correctly.”
“Whatever you mean, my intellectual friend.” She started walking in circles filming her friends and maid with an innocent curiosity. “With the risk of sounding egocentric, I am the seventy-two best student on the whole Crystal Prep population by my own hand, branch schools included, and you know it. Do you really think I am that nitwit of a human being to not use properly this device with my current qualifications?” She didn’t notice the small bump on her feet and fell to the ground, the camera sliding harshly through the floor. “…Oh.”
The film made a smooth transition, now Reem and friends were near the snack store. She withdrew from her camera’s bag ten of the same accessory, giving one to each of her friends, the leftovers meant for Blueblood’s maids and butlers.
“What are these?”
“According to this manual, this advanced HD camera recorder that mother gifted me is the newest invention of Oakwood Company in the cinematographic branch. It has a function that allow us to record from six different shots through shared Wi-Fi technology, the main source being the camera itself of course. Those accessories are like side cameras connected to the main device.”
“That would explain why that thing is bigger than the average crap.” Gilda commented.
“Indeed. As Rosaline serves as our main camerawoman, we shall indulge ourselves in the pleasure of intriguing common fun. When you feel the need to record from your end, press the little button over here. The camera is powerful enough to record all six angles with voices included at the same time… In paper at least, so we need to coordinate our turns along the way!”
“That sounds like a lot of bullshit.” Gilda pressed the button.
“Excellent, what we needed right now! Being guinea pigs for evil corporations and their defective products!”
Reem closed her hands to Sugarcoat’s face, her fingers moving in a shivering manner. “It seems that you want to be blind for the rest of the day!”
“Very funny. Speaking of fun, how much do I owe you for the golden card, Blueblood?”
The Prince’s skin began to rain. “Nothing! It was a gift bestowed by the kind gentleman from this establishment.” He said with elegance.
“Indeed it was, my brother!”
“Are you telling the truth?” Gilda gave them a piercing, inquisitive glare. “I’m not that poor to accept charity.”
“But of course it was! When have I deceived you before, my mighty friend?”
“Dungeon of References? Sugarcoat’s birthday? My birthday this year!?”
“You will never forget all of those, will you not?” Reem remarked with a pleased grin, eyes particularly vibrant and challenging.
“Forget about that, guys.” Nitpick said. “Don’t you find Twilight weird today?”
“If by weird you refer to her usual demeanor of being an incompetent social fool, then no, I find her perfectly normal, Bittersweet. For now, we should consider joining the other CHS people. We have much to vent today.”
“Little Maiden, these people aren’t that bad.”
“They are our enemies in the end, no matter how nice some of them are.”
“So you are at peace with them in these moments.”
Sugarcoat’s cheeks reddened a bit, her face was stern and prideful, however. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Oakwood.”
“Come on, Sug! Give them a chance and forget the Crystal Prep honor nonsense rivalry and be free like us! Right, Nit?”
The Crystal Champion gave Gilda a twitching glare when walking away towards the CHS group while Blueblood, Rosaline and the other servants were following close behind them.
“Now, my beloved friend. My most important and cherished beloved friend, may we have a private parley?”
Reem made a compact hand gesture and turned off her device. Rosaline understood her Master’s signal and focused the camera once again on the rest of her friends, leaving the brownish haired youngsters behind. Soon they joined the CHS teenagers, Lyra being the undeniable leader and guide.
“Ok, everyone! We have still lots of games and fun to choose around here! Oh! Sugarcoat and company, what do you wish to play with us?”
“Whatever makes us relax, Heartstrings. It’s your tour after all.”
“Perfect! Want to play arcade basketball against us?”
“Bring it!” Gilda stepped up to challenge with Sugarcoat as her pal.
Not wasting anytime, the quartet engaged in ardent competition. Both Lyra and Sugarcoat were equals in speed and technique but Gilda was being overrun by Bon Bon’s swift shots on the net. The griffonian was scoring faster than her partner, but the points were turning against her team’s favor. A claxon roared in the machine, marking the victory of the Golden-Artic eyed duo.
“What the hell was that, Heavensbane?”
“What do you mean, stupid slowpoke!? We lost because your feeble skills were puny and shabby!”
“My skills!? I’m an elite student and I don’t make mistakes!”
“Elite student my ass! I scored more than you, numbers don’t lie!”
“If I didn’t know their quirks by now, I would be worried with those two.” Lyra smirked from afar. “Twilight, it’s your turn to play. Why don’t you team up with Blueblood next?”
“Eh, sure!”
“Okay, Soarin! That means we’re team now!”
“You betcha, Thunderbass!”
One minute later, Blueblood’s team lost by a mile. Twilight was doing everything in her power to score as quickly as possible while the noble’s patience was depleting faster like a bird pooping on a red car. Her hands were feeble when trying to grab the balls in a swift manner, her face clearly showing signs of big stress and fright.
“Miss Twilight, that was the most embarrassing display of skills I have ever seen in my entire life!” Blueblood said with indignation at his defeat.
“Ah… hehehe! I believe it’s not my lucky day!”
“And another thing… Are you fine of your health, Miss?”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t know how to say this but… your arm movement is unsynchronized and, how should I say? It’s like if you have never held a ball before.”
“Oh, I believe Twilight had a small injury yesterday while doing some things with Sunset! Yeah!” Bon Bon quickly said.
“That’s right! We spent time doing homework and I hurt… my wrist!” She smiled awkwardly while holding her hands.
“Hmph… Well, Sugarcoat indeed said that even your genius had a tendency to do careless actions during middle school.”
“Your silly experiment of compound volatility destroyed various windows back in the day. It was a fortune that we didn’t pay for your stupid disasters and you got out of there unharmed.”
“…Uh!?”
“Well, that was the old Twilight, right guys?” The CHS gang nodded in approval at Bon Bon’s words. She then came to a realization. “Where is Bittersweet and her Highness?”
“That’s a good question.” Gilda remarked as she looked around.
The video transitioned to a point where Reem and Nitpick rejoined the group.
“Sooooo… Twilight! Let me get this straight. You hurt your wrist with Sunset, right?” She just nodded to Nitpick’s question with a serious and worried face. By the surprise of all, however, his face turned tender, soft, and forgiving. “Let me have a look. Give me your hands, Twilight.” She heed to his word. In return, he gave her a delicate massage on her wrists. “It’s a good thing that you have taught me this sort of things, my little Twilight. You should be more careful, honey.”
All but Reem spat their drinks as Nitpick continued his noble act, much to Twilight’s surprise.
“…!?”
“Feeling better now?” He smiled super widely and tender.
“Yeah… I guess.”
“Soarin, Thunderbass, my friends!”
“Look man, you are scaring us!” Thunderbass shivered.
“If we did something wrong, please forgive us!” Soarin expressed.
“Why are you saying that? I’m just feeling great today all of the sudden! My medication must have kicked in at last! Anyway, what about Twilight and I challenge you again at basketball? I’m sure she can win this time!” He winked at her.
“Are you sure, Nitpick? What if her wrist injury gets worse?”
“Relax, I’m sure that won’t happen at all under my supervision! What do you say, Twilight? Want to have more fun with me?”
Dubious, but strangely in the mood, Twilight just said, “Sure!”
…. ….
“Twilight, before we start, let me teach you the basics of basketball! First, unlike real basketball, you mustn’t throw the ball barbarically. Use relatively low strength and do the shots more centered! Watch!” He threw the ball and made a modest score. “Now try it yourself!”
“Ok… here we go!” She tried to emulate his motions, making her body move in a weird manner, missing the nest by a long shot. “No good.”
“What? You were great!”
“As a matter of fact, she was worse than Oakwood.”
“I am a not terrible sportswoman!”
“Shut the up, Sugarcoat! Twilight, you just need to embrace your talent and score! Come on, throw and score! Throw and score!”
He repeated his words in a kind of a humming to the point of making Twilight sing alone the catchy tune. “Throw and score! Throw and score!” Her upper body moved with tint of innocence, then, she threw the ball and scored. “I DID IT!”
“Indeed you have! Come on, high five!”
They completed the act of camaraderie rather cutely. After a few minutes of trial and error, Twilight was confident enough to start the match and one minute of endless barrages later, the game concluded, giving the victory to Soarin and Thunderbass. Twilight seemed to have another kind of victory, however, jumping and spinning around in happiness.
“I scored more than once with these!” She looked at her hands with fascination.
“That’s right, Twilight, honey!” Nitpick hugged her then raised her high from her waist. “You can do everything if you work hard for it!” Her smile was a like star shinning in the sky. “Let’s go to another place, guys!” Nitpick glimmered with radiance, perturbing most of the gang.
…. ….
The group was now walking around the Maximus Plaza. People were traversing through the multitudes, some were viewing the store fronts and checking any novelty while others were filming and taking selfies casually. It was obvious that Gilda, Reem, Soarin, Octavia and Nitpick were suffocating with the amount of people in the vicinity, Bon Bon being more dissimulative of the same problem. They came across an electronic store specialized in computer parts, and Nitpick quickly went inside, soon followed by the rest while giggling at him.
“Oh, such beauty!” He was admiring the new T7 processor, four times more powerful than the T5 iteration. “If only I could have four hundred bucks right now! My old generation T3 can barely calculate the IA in Payweek 2!”
“I remember that on your first day in CHS you said that you liked tweaking machines, Nit-Nit!”
He blushed a little. “Wow, I didn’t think you would remember that, Lyra. The more powerful the machine, the better! Optimization to the software is important as well… The first time I played Demon’s Dogma in my console and then on pc was a nightmare thanks to the bugs in the former and my older graphic card on the later…” He mumbled a little grumpy. “Oooooh! That’s right!” He assumed an overjoys face.
“Twilight, come here for a moment!”
“What is it, Nitpick?”
“Look at this! Isn’t that the graphic module you needed for your project?”
Twilight flinched for a second. “I-I think so! Ah, yes! Our library project!”
“Not that one, the other one!”
“The other one!?”
“I see, interesting!” Reem got closer to her, her cheek almost touching hers. “You want to make a three-dimensional projection about time-space scenarios in a hypothetic galaxy like my beloved friend said you did last time?”
Nitpick snapped his fingers in approval. “Yes, Reem, that one!”
“Then what kind of graphic processing card would you recommend me, Miss?”
“…Ah!?”
“Yes! I have longed for a functional personal computer for a while now that may be capable to render advanced processing image for my future videos regarding the necessities of Crystal Prep, and although I may have at my disposal people that could assemble a very powerful computer for me indeed, an expert like you SURELY could give me a second opinion, giving that your brilliant mind and talents are far superior than the average technician! So tell me, which card of these would you recommend for a long lasting computer? I heard that the number of CUDAS and the quality of the GPU unit is important in this choice.”
Twilight was lost in limbo, looking at the hardware with skepticism and doubt. Whatever the reason she was trembling for, two silhouettes at her side were looking at her in marvel; one had a wide grin, making subtle and strange sounds coming from his mouth, and the other just stared at her, the black pupils of the Noble swallowing the confidence of Twilight.
The Impostor wasn’t aware of it.
“I think Twilight can’t give us a proper answer this time!” Bon Bon grabbed Reem’s shoulders. “There are too many options here and the possibilities may be endless!”
“You may indeed be right, Miss Bon Bon! I ask forgiveness for giving you a hard time with such silly question, Miss!”
“No problem! It’s me who should be sorry for not helping you! I’m sure that next time I’ll have a great answer for you!” Her eye twitched a little.
“Excellent, Miss! I can hardly wait for this! Perhaps I should call you later before night falls if you do not mind!”
“Ahahaha, t-today may not be good! When I’m ready, perhaps?”
“I can wait for that!” Reem smiled vibrantly, her eyes had a cold shade of pleasantry.
“Don’t worry, Twilight is a genius and will give you an accurate answer later!” Nitpick said while petting the Impostor’s head, she smiling for the compliment.
…. ….
Inside an extravagant sport store, in front of a plethora of training apparatuses.
“Look at these weights!” Gilda grabbed one of the plates with ease. “Fifteen kilograms is too light for me now.” She said with pride.
Octavia, with sheer curiosity, tried to lift one like Gilda’s. “Pufff… It’s too heavy! My cello is far lighter than this.”
“Never lift what you aren’t used to. Normally a cello shouldn’t weight more than five kilos, that’s why you feel the weight in these.”
“She knows the average weight because she nearly broke mine while touching it.”
“Shut up, you stupid royal asshole! Anyway, Melody, you only carry your cello using it most of your body mass, don’t cha? Using only your arms with a training posture is a different story. If you are interested in lifting, always start with small dumbbells like these ones over here. Go to a good gym and ask about basic techniques if you want to try it.”
“Thanks for the information, I may try it someday.” Melody nodded with a welcoming face.
“Wow! Sparkle! Come over here!”
“Yes?”
“Ok, look! These are the jumping ropes I recommended you last time! Buy it if you can now!”
“Ah… I don’t have enough money to buy it right now, and… I don’t know if I could really use this well!”
“If you want to try one of the equipment you are interested in, this store has a demonstration area where they lend you most of the small merchandise they sell here!” Soarin said. “That way you can test it before you buy it on your next visit!” He smiled.
Twilight was sweating buckets with a twisted, fearful smile.
…. ….
In the demo area, one of the clerks of the store lent Twilight a beaten but functional quality rope. Gilda took it for a moment and jumped with it rather gracefully, slow enough for her non-official pupil to watch her technique. Gilda made the Scientist’s Impostor take the rope and doubtful, she jumped.
It was a miserable demonstration of her skills.
“Sparkle, what’s wrong with you? It’s like you have never jumped before! Not even Reem is that bad!”
“Am I that terrible?” Reem said now doubtful.
“Perhaps she’s just tired of all this walking and fun! After all, Twilight has always been more of a brainpower girl than an athlete!”
“You must be wrong! I know that Twilight has moves, girl! She can get pretty savage when angered!”
“I what!?”
“It’s true, I have almost forgotten about that tale of yours.” Sugarcoat commented. “I have to say that I’m really intrigued about your hidden fighting powers, if it in fact exists.”
Gilda shared to her public what happened on her end last time. Unsurprisingly, some were skeptic about her tale.
“You must have been dead tired that evening.” Bon Bon commented a bit unfomfortable. “There is no way that she could have done something like that, right guys!?” The CHS group nodded in agreement.
Nitpick patted the Impostor’s shoulder with a sweet smirk. “Then why don’t we prove it now?”
“That sounds fantastic! She is the prodigious Twilight Sparkle after all! I am sure she can overcome this insignificant challenge!” Reem said with assertiveness, her palms clapping once.
With a bit of secrecy, Blueblood whispered quickly to Reem, “I don’t know what’s going but this is going too far!”
“Trust me, my people!” She replied with a normal volume, her friends noticing the urge in her tone.
“Excuse me!?” Lyra’s eyes were wide opened at her. “No! She won’t do this madness!”
…. ….
On the gym next door, near a sparring boxing ring.
“I can’t believe you convinced me to allow it, Nit-Nit!”
“Oh, come on, Lyra! Twilight will be fine, it’s just a little spar! Hon, are you ready!?”
From the dressers, the Impostor, Bon Bon and Gilda came out dressed in sport gear, courtesy of Prince Blueblood. The former sported a very cutely looking green long shirt and protective eyewear that had in them progressive lenses. As for the two other girls, they wore very casual grey pants and shirts. Twilight went ahead and rendezvoused with the others, walking like if she was blind, while the last two fighters were taking their sweet time alone.
“So… I can finally have my rematch against you.” Bon Bon didn’t say a word at Gilda as they slowly walked to the ring. “You have been very mindful and protective with Twilight today.”
“I can’t let you pummel this Twilight down.”
“This Twilight? Uh… That’s not my intention.” She clashed her fists. “When I see her, I can only imagine the strong gal she can be with the proper training and mindset. It makes me feel so pumped up to have another sparring mate…”
Before Bon Bon fully got into the ring, she looked at Gilda and said with mockery, “You got the wrong Twilight, friend.”
“Huh?”
Sometime later after they put their gloves, mouthpiece, and head protector, a young and fit adult woman that Gilda knew from a gym near the suburbs offered to play as referee and explained the rules in tidy detail; just two downs will be allowed instead of three during a round, and matches will consist of five rounds with a duration of one minute. The winner will face Twilight if she wishes to. Far more flexible than the tournament held during the fair of the Apples.
At least, that was the idea.
As soon as the referee made the signal, both girls lunged themselves against one another and launched a simultaneous punch. Nothing happened. At the last moment, both dashed two step backwards with a tight defense prepared. Gilda had her arms posture open, but her limbs were in a position where quickly tightening them together for an incoming shot was possible. Bon Bon, on the other hand, had many people in doubt.
“Kickboxing?” Nitpick mumbled.
“Muay Thai?” Soarin said.
“It looks more like the Ninjutsu that Crystal Prep teaches… but more graceful. I dread to think if she actually could use her legs.” Sugarcoat said while inspecting the form. “Heavensbane, don’t rush.”
Gilda didn’t respond, her only focus dedicated to her opponent and only her. Both were steadily moving in circles, the most pressured being Gilda herself. Her friends noticed it. It was painted on her face; the exhilaration and her cautious fighting instinct telling her to don’t screw up. The prideful griffonian was forced to assume a defensive position.
Not even Blueblood was believing it.
In desperation, or perhaps knowing the inevitable, Gilda rushed with her right fist raised and prepared for a straight cross. Bon Bon quickly deflected it with a cross guard and got her way with an uppercut of her own, Gilda barely managing to avoid an instant knock out and retreating far away from her. The Owl Lover didn’t lose her cool and stood immobile on her position, her tactic consisting on making her opponent despair. Having learned from Lightning Dust’s numerous mistakes, though, she decided to formulate a plan instead.
And it failed.
Gilda had received three punches on her left ribs, one hammer-like swing to her right cheek, and suffered three downs across four rounds through well-connected uppercuts. Bon Bon was untouched and their last round was about to begin. Nitpick thanked his truth of the universe for giving Gilda a far resilient body than him, much to Reem’s agreement. Both were at peace tough, not worrying a lot for her.
They knew that in a way she was having fun in the end.
Twilight and the rest of the CHS group on the other hand were somewhat relieved that the Impostor might not be facing Gilda. Even though Bon Bon was proving to be a superior fighter, much to the groups’ amazement, Gilda wasn’t exactly a helpless weakling.
“Come on, Gilda, you can do it!” Nitpick handed her some water.
“I feel like our roles have reversed for some reason…” She was a bit exhausted.
“At least she isn’t a berserk farmer fighting for a bottle of whisky. Now go and beat her at last.”
With a small grin she said, “Heh, I’ll try.”, and then walked to the center of the ring, to her opponent’s presence.
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.” Nitpick mumbled a bit worried.
“She may lose…” Reem said a little gloomy. “But then again, a miracle may happen.”
“Miracles don’t exist.” He said begrudgingly.
“FIGHT!”
The fighters stood still with serious faces, waiting for an opening to appear.
“You know, I’ve never seen Bon Bon being aggressive like this before.” Lyra spoke to Nitpick.
Bon Bon suddenly made a subtle surprised face of concern.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I always knew she was good, but not this good.”
Bon Bon’s face made a small, confident smile.
“I assumed she was a kind of a fiendish beast disguised as a pretty human being.”
Bon Bon’s face took a sudden angered expression.
“You are so mean!”
“Am I?”
Gilda was stepping forward, ready to make an stampede against the Owl Lover.
“Yes, you are so mean sometimes.”
“Well, they say that mean frogs become noble princes when kissed by a pure maiden.”
Lyra giggled. “Have you found your maiden yet?”
With a joking tone and resting her arm around her, Nitpick said, “I’m looking at her now!”
“DON’T TOUCH LY-!”
A pummeling slam resonated in the room, a clean, heavy strike was connected on the Owl Lover’s chin. Bon Bon fell to the ropes and hanged on them, her face having a stupidly funny expression.
“CONCENTRATE ON THE MATCH!” Gilda yelled enraged.
It was of not use. The count reached ten and Gilda won. Her face expression said otherwise, a lucky victory meaning nothing to her.
“I want a rematch, gal.”
Gilda’s gym mate made an inspection on the Owl Lover. “I think she’ll be wasted for a while. Can you stand, girl?”
Bon Bon struggled a bit when talking, Lyra helping her stand up. “Y-yeah.”
The griffonian threw her head gear to the ground. “DAMN IT!”
“That was unexpected…” Nitpick clapped his hands while sighing deeply in relief. “But oh well, Twilight is next!”
“What!? But she could get hurt!”
“It’s okay, Lyra, it’s okay.” The Owl Lover massaged the spot where she was punched. “I was careless and that’s why I got hit. Let Twilight spar with her, nothing bad will happen.” Twilight gulped in fright at Bon Bon’s words.
“But… I-if you say so…”
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Octavia said with Blueblood and Soarin nodding in agreement.
“Twilight, over here!”
“Yes!?”
Nitpick grabbed her arms and made her turn to his direction. “Blueblood, are these glasses working well for her?”
“The Miss is almost as blind as Sugarcoat and their lenses correction is the same.” Reem expressed.
“Shut the hell up, Oakwood!”
“Y-yeah! They are fine!” Twilight added.
“If you say so. Anyway, there’s no need for you to be scared. I can see in your eyes the same fear that once lived in this heart of mine.” His tone was somewhat heroic. “Perhaps you may think that the woman inside the ring is beyond your reach! More than a fighter! More than a war goddess! You may believe that you will die today! But hear me out, Twilight Sparkle! Heed my words, for she is not a goddess nor a fighter! She is like you, a simple woman, searching strength and answers for the single reason of finding her purpose in life! You must summon your inner power like her so you can emerge victorious in a clash of fists with her! Your blood must boil and be spilled on the ring even if it means your end!”
“That sounds absolutely insane!” Twilight said with drowned voice and skepticism.
“Insane!? No, Twilight! Insanity is allowing your terrors to block your courage! I can see the flame buried deep in your eyes that screams for release! Screams for freedom! Screams for the right to burn its fiery fury through your fists! Your soul! Yourself! You are a warrior, Twilight! A warrior princess!”
“Warrior… princess!?”
“Of course you are! How many ordeals have you survived to come this far!? How many tests, humiliations, perils, experiments, battles, struggles, oppressions, and inner-conflicts have you overcome!? Tell me, Twilight, TELL ME!”
“…Many.” She said weakly.
“I didn’t hear you!”
“Many.”
“I DIDN’T HEAR YOU!!”
“Many!”
“HOW MANY!!?”
“MANY!” Twilight’s arms were rumbling wildly.
She was pumped.
“Yes! Can you feel it, Twilight? Can you feel your burning heart boiling your blood and hastening its beats!? The song of life!?”
“YES!”
“That’s the way! I can see it now! Your eyes are burning bright! They are overwhelming! You are the best around, don’t stop now, eye of the tiger! Trust me like before and you’ll win! GO AND CRUSH HER DOWN!”
“YEAH!” Twilight got inside the ring and Nitpick was standing on its edge while grabbing the rope as support. He finally put on her the mouth piece.
“Are you ready?” Twilight nodded vigorously to the referee’s question. “Rules are the same! Fight!”
“TO WAR!”
“CHARGE!”
The film made a dramatic slowness. Twilight, bravely rushing with fist raised high and rightful heart filled with might in high definition, was a scene to behold for ages to come. In slow motion, the Impostor was getting closer to her objective, her opponent, her reason to fight for survival. Her battle cry was majestic, not even the slowed sound that made it deep and silly could hide it for its viewers. She was getting closer, getting faster, getting confident.
Then, the film made a rewind back to the point of start, just before Twilight rushed to attack.
“TO WAR!”
“CHARGE!”
Twilight dashed furiously and Gilda sent her flying backwards.
Horribly, we might add.
“That was pathetic.” Gilda mumbled on her end as she watched Twilight on the floor. “COME ON, SPARKLE! GET UP AND BRING YOUR A GAME LIKE BEFORE! …Sparkle? Hey, Sparkle!”
She and her gym mate inspected her immediately with obvious concern. She was dead cold. If you pay close attention, you could see that three youngsters were giggling while trying to avoid public view.
Bon Bon was the hardest to spot.
…. ….
Twilight awakened while gasping abruptly, the first thing she saw was Reem’s face, then she noticed that she was on a medical room, finally spotting the rest of her friends and acquaintances through the window.
“What… what happened?”
“You were horribly punched in the face and lost consciousness for, let me see, fourteen minutes. We were lucky that this plaza has a competent medical facility inside the gym. Worry not, my acquaintance, for your health is in no danger for you only received a slight concussion, happily reporting that you have a very sturdy face and no bruises manifested. I offered myself to look over you until you awakened.”
“Oh, I appreciate it… I feel a little dizzy.”
“But of course. Water?”
“Thanks.” She was refreshed after drinking the whole glass. “I should tell the others that I’m fine.”
“No, please. Stay in bed. Rest a while until you feel ready. I can see your hands trembling still.”
“You… may be right.” She put herself comfortable again. Suddenly, she was quiet for a long while. “So… for how long you have been Nitpick’s friend?”
“One year, one month and two weeks, the same as my mighty friend… Gilda, if you do not remember. As for my intellectual friend, Sugarcoat, add one month to the math.”
“What do you like about them?”
“They are honest royal pains and the most colorful and entertaining people I have met so far.” Awkwardly, she got over Twilight as she grabbed a slightly wet towel on the cupboard across the bed, then putting it on the forehead of the Impostor. “I hope this helps.”
“Hee-hee, it’s so nice… Mmm…”
“Are you sleepy?” Reem rubbed her right hand.
“Just a little.”
Her hand reached her shoulder. “Comfortable?”
“Yeah…”
“So… What’s that noise?”
The film made a quick transition where Nitpick, Blueblood and Sugarcoat were cheering like savage madmen to Gilda as she was facing Bon Bon in arm wrestling. The rest of the CHS group was almost as lively but saner as the gang. A few seconds later, Twilight was the focus of the filming again.
“They sound lively out there.”
“Indeed, Miss.”
“Uhm… Reem?”
“Yes?”
“Where are you touching?”
“Your navel, of course.”
“…?”
“Belly button.”
“I know what it is but… uh… why?”
“I am just returning the favor.”
“What favor?”
“You gave me a massage on my abdomen last time when I ate a lot of candies and ended up with a terrible stomached. Your hands were really magical, soft, and passionate.”
Twilight blushed a little. “Oh…”
“You know… I loved how gentle you were. It was almost romantic.” She winked somewhat charmingly.
“Ah… ahaha… I just try to be… friendly!” She was getting anxious as Reem’s gesture increased in its awkwardness.
“I have to say it, you are a bit more plump than last week.”
“So I really gained weight…”
“Strange. I can guarantee that you were more athletic last week. You did not have this little but strangely comfortable bump of skin.”
“Could you kindly please stop touching my belly?”
“Oh, how could I be this rude? I ask forgiveness!” She stopped her gesture. “Say, have you talked with your cousin recently? I am still worried about what you told me about her.”
Suddenly, the Impostor’s face became curious and reflective. “No… Uhm…”
“Oh, did you forget about it? Perhaps it was the concussion!”
“Y-yeah! That must be it!”
“Well, you mentioned that she was as good as you at certain things.”
“I… said something like that.” She smiled warmly.
“Then we are on the right track. You also said that you were troubled because of that!”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, having someone who looks like you, talks like you, and thinks like you can be really uncomfortable indeed. There is a reason why doppelgangers in many tales are considered a misfortune. If one does one thing, the other can do the same. Eventually, one will tire of the other, and will try to get rid of it.”
“B-but… but I don’t think that I, I mean she couldn’t do such a thing!”
“How about you, Miss? I have heard many people saying that you are the inferior one! Princess of the Fall Formal, Main Lead of the Rainbooms, just to name a few of her achievements! It is a big shadow to surpass, and somewhat frightful to face! If I were in your shoes, I would feel overwhelmed! There are many things that could happen in a bad way!”
“Like what?”
“There is a movie that I saw half a year ago that is called ‘Me, My other Me, and Irene’, it’s about a man that can have multiple personalities and by a certain plot device, different appearances, even when the body is the same! These personalities are fighting over who should rule their life, and to win, they decided in secret of each other to crush the hopes of dreams of one another though Irene! Suffice to say, there comes a point in the movie where the personality that embodies Pride annihilates the relationships of the others by disguising as the most unexpected man of all; the combined personalities of the man himself!”
“And what happens next?”
“Do you really want me to ruin the ending for you?”
“I don’t think it’s a movie I’ll be seeing soon.”
“The man ruined his friendships, and Pride became a very lonely man, regretting ever pitting against his now forgotten fellows. In search of supremacy, they, no, he ended up ruining his life and lived with the regret for the rest of his days. His other personas were in fact an illusion, a dream that made him talk to himself, distrusting even his own decisions and identity. He loses the main heroine, never to be seeing again by him. Although the plot is not like yours, the context is the same. You and your cousin could end up hating each other if a strong bond and trust does not develop between the two. After all, you only talk to her sporadically. You do not know her in reality, and the same can be said about her.”
Twilight was overwhelmed for a moment. “I didn’t think about it.”
“But the good news is that if you and your cousin have a good relationship, imagine the innumerable mischiefs and mayhems you could cause! Think about it, if you do not want to go to some place that the other one wishes to go, you could disguise yourself and assume other personality to feel the gaps! You only need to know the basics of the situation and boom! All set and done.”
Twilight’s face started to get pale. “I-I suppose so…”
“And it can become an instrument of vengeance when you want to crush your cousin if she does you wrong! All you need to do is disguise yourself as her, hear all of the secrets that her friends had of valor, abuse of their trust and destroy any trace of loyalty towards their friend and bam! Ruining a life could not be more easy! It is a good thing that you would never disguise as your cousin and hear things you are not supposed to know. It is a good thing that you would ask her first before doing anything harsh. After all, you are family… right?”
The Impostor's breath accelerated to almost unhealthy levels, but she then breathed deeply while making a hand gesture, like if she tried to blow away her terrors. Her heavy sweat but a more lively looking skin proved that she was partially successful.
“Yes… uhm… Let’s rejoin the others, shall we?” She stood up from the bed and walked to the door.
“Of course… Miss?”
“Yes?”
“Do not forget your trusty glasses. Here they are.”
Her visage was calm but her eyes were diluted in horror as she put her glasses on. “O-of course, thank you!”
When Reem was all alone, she grabbed the camera device from the desk that was focusing on her angle and said with mischievous smile, “And you never gave me a massage like that before, Miss.”
…. ….
Nitpick was hugging Twilight with a stupidly big smile. “I’m glad that you’re fine, hon. I was worried for you.”
“T-thanks for worrying about me.”
Gilda looked to the other side slightly embarrassed. “Hey, Sparkle… Sorry…”
But the Impostor gave her a warm smile. “It wasn’t on purpose, so there’s nothing to forgive.”
“Aye…”
“You missed the wrestling match, Twilight. I didn’t think that a challenge of arm strength could be so exhilarating to watch!” Octavia said a little exited. “Bon Bon won but it was so close.”
The Owl Lover’s arm was trembling weakly, but a satisfied smile was painted on her face. “It was really fun!”
Gilda smirked in agreement. “Yeah!”
“Well, as much as I want to have more fun, I believe it’s time to go home.” Lyra said. “I didn’t bring enough cash to continue.”
Everyone agreed to her reasons and walked to the exit.
…. ….
On one park of the suburbs, around five in the evening.
“Hey… Thanks again for shopping with me the flour that Pinkie needed for her party at the local store, Nitpick.” Twilight was a little gloomy. “I almost forgot about it and… I think I made you expend money for that emergency stop.”
“It was nothing! I’ll take you to Pinkie’s home now. Sunset gave me the address after asking me to take you there on phone, Midnight.” Nitpick’s eyes twitched.
“Midnight?”
“Oh, sorry, Twilight. Just a mispronunciation. Let’s go, the bus stop is nearby. Say… did you have fun?”
“Not counting today’s accidents… yeah! It was a nice day!”
“I’m glad… Uh… So… I was meaning to ask you something.”
“By all means… What is it?”
“You know… we have been dating for one month now and… I’m still waiting the second kiss!”
She froze completely. “K-k-k-k-k-k-kiss!?”
The face of the young man became soft, dreamy, and blushed. “Pf… T-Twilight… seeing you smile today put my heart at race.”
“I-I’m feeling the same way for some reason now.” Her expression was clearly troubled.
“So it’s mutual, then?” His voice was excited.
“…Aha…?”
“When you chose me over Flash Sentry, it was like a dream come true!” Twilight’s face crumbled in perplexity. “It’s like I said back then, if I had known that you had a crush on me last year on the academy, perhaps… we would be kissing right now. But you told me to wait so that I’ll do!”
“T-thanks…”
“But you were so savage, to be honest! Telling me that he was a creep and totally uncool!”
“She said that!?” Twilight mumbled in horror.
“Did you say something?”
“Nothing!” Her forced smile was breathtaking.
Nitpick sighed in sorrow. “To be truthful, Twilight, I wish we were a little more open about our relationship on school. After the gossip incident, people just pushes us back and judge us like if the idea of us being an item was an amoral thing! I know what are you thinking, I can see it in your eyes! Perhaps in the future when all is over we…” He got closer to her… “We…” He almost put himself on the same height. “We’ll be happy someday…”
Just when he was about to kiss her on her forehead, Twilight pushed him with all her might. Nitpick had a face of stupefaction while lying on the grass.
“You got the wrong person, I'm not who you think I am!”
“What craziness are you saying? You are Twilight Sparkle, the young woman I fell in love with!” Nitpick grabbed her hand like poet would admire her pen. “When I see your eyes, I can see the stars shinning vividly in them! A night with crystalline angels soaring freely! A shadow mitigated by the celestial glimmers of distant suns! You are for me-!”
“No! Please, stop!” She took her hand away. “I can’t do this anymore! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” She ran away towards the main road of the suburbs, to Ponyville.
“TWILIGHT, WAIT! WHAT DID I DO WRONG!? TWILIGHT! … … At least she is going to the town!!!” And Nitpick began to laugh harshly. From the bushes, the camerawoman and the rest of his friends emerged. “It was a good day, wasn’t it?”
…. …..
…. …..
In the screen of the Dazzle's establishment, the word ‘FIN’ appeared, classical music playing its piano as the short-lived credits passed through. A terrible ending for a terrible homemade movie. The viewers were laughing at it, however. It was so badly edited that it was good. Even Twilight Sparkle couldn't resist the urge to giggle in secrecy.
…. ….
On the way to the bus stop of the suburbs, Twilight and Nitpick were walking together, the young man making sure to escort her back to her home.
“I have a question, Twilight.”
“Go ahead.”
“Now that I saw the last part of the video in a bigger screen, I noticed a girl that looked like you from afar looking at us… Was she…?”
The Scientist sighed with a bit of gloominess. “Yes, it was me. Someone called me and told me what was happening… This is why I was… very mad before you showed me the video.”
“Why didn’t you come and faced us?”
“Because I was scared that you had replaced me… I have a question, Nitpick. When did you realize she wasn’t me?”
“From the very beginning.”
“How?”
“Oh, where do I even begin? First off, her cheerful voice. At first glance, you really, but really sound the same. But her tone was so, so, so, so, SO caramelized and laid back. Like if the world was of roses most of the time. Second, the hair. She almost deceived me with her style but this was another gave away.” He touched her side hair and played with it a bit. “Yours is longer and super messy by nature. And you could be thinking, ‘What if I cut my hair a bit for the occasion?’, but you would have told me beforehand the change of looks. Every time you come up with something regarding projects, homework, complaints, you name it, you always call to me to be on the same wave.”
“And what if I didn’t text you because I forgot or deemed it unimportant?”
“Then it comes the more personal things. During the breakfast, she drank pineapple juice and said she liked it, but the Twilight I know doesn’t like pineapple. In fact, she has terrible side effects when drinking it.”
“Heh… That is true.”
“And how we could forget the cheese? You love cheese and your cousin was avoiding it at every turn!” Twilight blushed a little with a smile. “She was also a bit alien when dealing with me. She never corrected my shit language!”
“Language!”
“Exactly! Then, she followed the mood that we settled to her, like if trying to fit but it made her look so unnatural! Tell me yes or no to the following assertions; Gilda has secretly been teaching you training routines!”
“Yes.”
“Sugarcoat has been observing your growth progress during the competition, to the point of helping you without doing it publicly.”
“Yes.”
“Blueblood is a pain in the ass and harsh in his methods but he lends you a hand from time to time.”
“Yes.”
“Reem is very polite and nice when partnering with you, but she is obnoxious half of the time.”
“Yes.”
“Then why she treated them like if we were practically new people for her? Even Reem noticed that her stress antics were different! Your cousin almost deceived Blueblood and Sugarcoat, who put the pieces together after the knock out, and she totally fooled Gilda and the rest of CHS... Except for Lyra. She called her Twilight, and no Twi-Twi, adding more to the suspicion of not being you. I don’t think I need to explain the fake romance thing at the end of the ordeal.”
“No, you don’t. I see why you and Reem saw though her now.”
“And let’s not forget the final piece of proof that she wasn’t you!.”
“What is that?”
“The Rubik’s cube that you have in your pocket.”
Twilight showed him her cube. “…You really pay attention to me.” She was touched by the realization.
“Wha’!? You really thought that I wouldn’t recognize her? I told you that I would recognize you from her! You are my friend, Midnight Sparkion! A great scientist, a good cook, and a terrible pain in the ass! I feel insulted for this obvious lack of faith in me, to be honest!” He said with a fake tone of indignation.
Midnight playfully smashed his arm. “Well, excuuuuuse me, Nitty!”
“That hurt a bit…” He whispered to himself with surprise. “Although I must confess that I was a disappointed of her. As you saw in the video… well, she is terrible at many things, not like the mighty and invincible legend you and your friends told me she was. Well, you too are terrible, but not THAT much!”
“You are so mean! At least I have more brains than you and an amazing puppy!”
“You want to take it outside?”
“…Sure, why not! Bring it on!”
She assumed a fighting position, and a surprised but willing Nitpick did the same. Their faces were funny and couldn’t contain the laughter as they hugged each other. He then separated a little from her. “But seriously… To be honest, part of me feels a little bad for what I did… I’m…” He sighed deeply. “I’m sorry for giving your cousin a hard time. I just felt terribly angry at her, and to some extent to Sunset as well, for trying to do such a thing. No doubt she knew what was really happening, right? I mean, she texted me many times worrying about her!”
“Yes, she did. I don’t mind what you did, really, and to be honest… I think she deserved it. And I’m so glad that you think I am different enough from her, even if she is more popular with people.”
“Pfff, popularity! That crap is for assholes! You don’t want to become another Princess of the school!”
“I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money on the ordeal! You know, being a stingy guy and all.”
“Money is not an issue, don’t worry.” Twilight raised her eye brow in a very skeptic way. “…I owe Reem forty dollars, she offered to give them to me for free but I’m too stubborn to accept money like that. Next week’s deposit from my parents will be short lived.” He almost cried. "I hate debts..."
“That sounds more like you.”
“Very funny today, are we? And now, I’ll finally tell you with absolute sincerity that your cousin can suck my ass for trying to do… What was her plan, anyway?”
“She tried to make you and the rest of your friends as goody-goody as you could be by discovering the source of your bad temper and such! But the original plan was all Sunset’s idea!”
“What did you say!? …That bitch!” He became immensely annoyed by the news. “Sunset can suck my ass! Any possibility she had of convincing me of being like that has been lost. Now I wish it was her that received the sheer pummeling and not your cousin, but since she was part of the plan, as you said, she deserved it as well!” He smiled free of guilt.
“What will you do if Sunset comes and faces you?”
“I’ll simply say that her plan was of terrible taste and that she is more manipulative than she think she is and done! If she thinks that she is the white knight and I am the villain, well, at least we can focus on the competition and be done when it is over since I don’t think she may want to deal with me anymore.”
“…What if she is sorry?” She said with a bit of remorse.
“Well, that will depend on how sorry she is! But know this, Midnight. Remember when I told you that I would do things to help you grow even if you end up hating me? It doesn’t mean that the people that despise me must hate you as well. If you want to forgive them and nothing goes south, then cool for you. Just don’t expect me to be on nice terms with them, ever. I believe you know me well by now that I prefer honesty instead of deception. Doing the little act of earlier was harder at times because, well, I like to complain and face things straightly when I have a real problem with someone. Spitfire, Wind Rider and Dash being clear examples.”
“I know… And I see! Nothing is truly black and white, just like Bon Bon said during the trip.”
“Yeah, nothing – Did you say Bon Bon and a trip?”
“Oh, Nitpick! You wouldn’t believe me how considerate and nice she is! She is just cold sometimes because she can’t express her feelings as people like you or Lyra do, but after spending time with her in a short family trip, she became a source of comfort while I thought that you had replaced me!”
“B-but I didn’t replace you!”
“And that’s great! And it makes sense why she said that you were acting weird during the date! Now that I know your side of the tale, it’s all clear to me now! There is nothing wrong in being a little aggressive and mean sometimes!”
“WHAT!? But Twilight!”
“I think that I have even more friends now! Bon Bon is an incredible athlete as well, and she knows a lot about owls and camping life!”
“Twilight!”
“We should go camping to Camp Everfree this winter with her and the others!”
“Midnight!!”
“Yes?” She asked with a sweet tone.
“I know that I have done a lot of questionable things in the past and sometimes I can be a kind of a giant dick regarding people’s feelings!”
“Yes, what about it?”
Part of him was waiting to be corrected of his language but it didn’t happen. “Uh, the point is… Look, I don’t think Bon Bon is a person that you should befriend! You being my friend is already too much and risky!”
“Oh no, Nitty, no! I know where are you getting at and it’s okay! I too thought that she was secretly evil as well, but if you get some quality time together with her alone, you will see that she is a very friendly and innocent girl! Bon Bon is love, my friend!”
Nitpick’s jaw dropped in bafflement. “What the fuck is wrong with you!?”
“Hahahahaha, very funny! You know what? I’ll do something more daring! You have inspired me to be braver and bold! I’ll go and meet with my other me and face her! Yes! I’ll do exactly that! She wanted to talk with me alone, and if she is sorry, I may consider forgiving her! If not, then I’ll follow your example and speak my mind!”
“That’s a terrible idea!”
“I know, right!? But that hasn’t stopped you ever and you have good friends anyway! I want… to be strong! And this is another step in the right direction!” She ran towards Ponyville. “Wish me luck, Nitty!”
She disappeared from his sight. The wind guided her to her fated destination. As for Nitpick Bittersweet, he sat on the nearest bench he could find. He was analyzing and trying to give a meaning to what just happened.
“Bon Bon is her friend!?”
He was lost at the idea as he was scratching his messy hair. Twilight didn’t know how manipulative that new ‘friend’ was in reality. A puppeteer unmasked, unknown to her puppets but only one knew the truth. But how could this event even happened? How did Bon Bon found a way to make Twilight her pawn in only one single day?
“…She always spoke for the other Twilight during dire moments.” Nitpick mumbled. Instantly, his eyes opened widely as he realized her motives. “BON BON!!!”
Taking out his phone and searching vigorously for his friend’s number, he made a swift call to Lightbulb and asked him for directions. He didn’t know her address but luckily Dancer was with him and she told him where her target lived. After thanking them for the favor, Nitpick rushed to Bon Bon’s house. His face darkened and furious.
He needed to argue with her immediately.