A girl in her late teens pointed her phone towards herself, narrating with energetic intensity the moment she saw her face appear on its screen.
"And... action! This is Juniper Montage, live on the scene at Canterlot High School—the place where dreams are made of and friendship flows like wine!"
She paused, and tilted her head. "Well, not really wine, of course, because none of us are of age," she said, laughing. "Anyway, I'm here with my tour-guide and all-around awesome gal, Twilight Sparkle!" Juniper turned the phone's camera view towards a glasses-wearing violet girl in a purple dress.
Twilight gave a shy wave. "Um, hi! I'm glad Juniper decided to take me up on my tour offer," she said, clutching her books in her hands. "I only hope she has as much fun here today as I do every day."
"That's the plan, Twilight," Juniper said. "So, without further ado, let's get this started! You walk, I'll point." She squealed. "One hundred percent synergy, am I right?"
True to her word, Juniper Montage took in the sights of Canterlot High School with her camera as she walked its halls. Twilight walked beside her, wasting no enthusiasm in pointing out every notable destination in painstaking detail.
"This is our wing of specialty rooms." Twilight pointed towards several doors as they turned into a new hallway. "Over here is Home Economics." Juniper looked to her left and saw students engaging in various cooking and baking activities.
Instantly Juniper's mind went to work, imagining a slice-of-life drama revolving around an elite, competitive cooking school. She smiled dreamily as her brain stormed and ideas assaulted her, as easily as turning a faucet. The school could have teams with different food specialties! A sympathetic protagonist! Cooking battles with real stakes (steaks!), perhaps even the slightest bit of sex appeal to get people really invested—
The brick wall hit her muse. It always did, the moment it sensed she was having fun. With a sigh, Juniper forced her mind to throw out the idea. Seriously, what was she thinking? A concept that insane would never take off. She looked back at Twilight—who fortunately hadn't noticed Juniper's diversion due to her having been narrating the history of CHS for the last couple of minutes—and caught up to her.
"Oh!" Twilight said, perking up and thumbing to the right. "Here are our AV rooms. They get a lot of use, especially since a few of our students are known online video personalities." She turned to Juniper, adjusting her glasses, and looking at her quizzically. "Actually, given your hobbies, I never thought to ask. Are you one as well? Are you a content creator?"
"Not really?" Juniper shook her head. "I mean, don't get me wrong—I’ve shot tons of videos! But..." She slouched. "Meh. None of them are anywhere near my personal standards for public presentation. I don't believe in putting anything out there until I feel it's absolutely pitch-perfect, you know?"
Twilight smiled and giggled. "I feel the same way. About perfection, I mean." She leaned in closer to Juniper. "Sunset hates when I say that. Rainbow too, now that I think about it," she continued in a low voice. "They keep telling me to 'live a little.' Be more 'spontaneous.'" She made air quotes with her fingers.
Juniper smiled and giggled back, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "Augh, the 'S'-word," she whispered back. "No worse one to have in your vocabulary."
"Hah! Tell me about it."
Juniper walked ahead, looking into several other rooms: supply rooms, science labs, bathrooms. All of them looked just like any school's. Given Canterlot High's reputation, Juniper found it a little odd. She stopped, lost in thought.
"Are you feeling alright?" Twilight said as she caught up to Juniper. "You look distracted."
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm totally great," Juniper replied, hand on her arm. "It's just that—" Juniper looked around again, then turned to Twilight, doing her best not to appear too nervous. "Okay, please don't take this the wrong way? Because, seriously, I really like what I've seen of your school, so I don't want you to think..." Juniper trailed off, shifting from side to side.
Twilight shook her head and smiled. "Juniper, it's okay. I'm not going to get angry at you just for speaking your mind. Seriously, if I did that, what ground would I ever have to stand on?"
Juniper tittered. "Well, that's just it. Your idea to let me visit the CHS campus today to help me take my mind off things? Totally great suggestion! I really do like it here! I just thought there'd be, you know, more to it."
Twilight tilted her head. "To the school?"
"Yeah. Wait, no! To me being here. Okay, no, not quite that either. Just—" Juniper clutched her head. "Argh! Why can't I ever find the words when I need them? Seriously, I'll know exactly what to say six hours from now. That's how this always works."
Twilight laughed, reaching for Juniper's wrists and gently pulling them down. "It's okay. I think I understand."
Juniper blinked. "You do?"
Twilight nodded, and gestured around herself. "When I first set foot in Canterlot High, everyone was so warm, nice and understanding towards me. It was the first time I felt like people cared that I existed. And, well, I liked that."
Juniper nodded, and looked away. "Yeah. I can sympathize with that."
Twilight walked back into Juniper's field of view. "That by itself would have been enough. However, even after everything that happened because of me at the Friendship Games, they didn't stop caring. They didn't hate me afterwards. The students, the teachers, Principals Celestia and Luna? Just about everyone forgave me on the spot. It was freeing and reassuring, and it made me so happy." Twilight sighed. "Especially since I was halfway to hating myself for what I'd done."
"Yeah." Juniper nodded again, with a heavy sigh of her own. "I hear you there too."
"Still," Twilight said, "I admit it makes a lot more sense when you consider my background. You see, I transferred here from Crystal Prep Academy, and—"
"Whoa! Crystal Prep?" Juniper looked back up to stare at Twilight, her eyes wide and her self-pity completely forgotten for the moment. "The super-school full of stuck-ups who are amazing at, like, everything?" She paused. "At least, that's what I've heard. I've never actually seen the school or its students up close."
Twilight blushed. "It's under new management, so the attitude's a little different there now. But yeah, when Principal Cinch was in charge, it was every student for themselves. I didn't really understand concepts like friendship or supportiveness until I came here." She kicked at the floor. "I was completely alone."
"Whoa, no wonder you wanted to show me this place," Juniper said. "I mean, when you first started raving about CHS, it kept sounding to me like this amazing scholastic paradise. You know, benevolent royalty for principals, floors lined with gold, whole student body having learned the meaning of life and reached ultimate enlightenment?"
Twilight laughed. "CHS isn't quite there yet, no."
"Oh, nowhere near," Juniper said with a sardonic guffaw. She thumbed behind herself. "I mean, heck, that little girl wearing the crown we passed ten minutes ago? Can't prove it, but I get this aura from her that just spells 'trouble'." Juniper straightened her glasses and looked around. "But yeah, it's... this just a normal school. With students who like being here, and who're treating me like they would any other student here, even though I'm not one.
"For me, sure, it's relaxing, but if I'd transferred from where you did?" Juniper shook her head, awed. "Wow. This has to be heaven for you."
Twilight beamed. "You do get it."
The two smiled at each other in a pleasant, silent moment, before Twilight darted towards another door. "Oh! Here are the theater rooms. Music, drama, that sort of thing. They've got extra seats and stages for holding lots of different types of events. Plays, recitals—"
"Cut!"
The single word echoed through the hall—and through Juniper's mind. Within moments, it took her back to happier times.
It took her back to memories of sitting next to her uncle on his studio's set as she watched him steer countless films towards completion, negotiate with the talent, and sometimes work the camera himself. Always with purpose, always with a smile.
Meanwhile, Juniper had supported the staff, the crew, the actors and actresses, and Uncle Canter himself. She'd delivered all the coffees, balanced all of the lattes, and run all the errands. She'd held screenplays, props, and expensive equipment in her hands that most people in her line of hobbyism would have sold their best friends for.
In exchange for her service, the studio had, for all intents and purposes, been her oyster. Every inch, every prop, every set, had been hers to explore, to play in, to study. To feel as if it was where she belonged, no matter what.
Happier times, indeed—no, her happiest. There was no contest.
With all her effort, Juniper forced herself to stop thinking about them. If she reminisced for too long, she would soon have to explain to Twilight just why she was crying in the middle of the hallway.
Canterlot High School re-materialized around her. Good. CHS was happy, too, in its own way. CHS was what she could, and should, concentrate on.
Right now, it was all she had.
Still, Juniper thought, was she hearing things, or was someone shooting a movie close by? She had to know. She did her best to locate the source of the voice. There was a theater room about ten feet away in the direction she felt it had come from. She walked towards it, and peeked in through the ajar door.
Juniper saw the tripod-standing camera, and recognized its design instantly. It was the latest model of the line of consumer cameras she herself had favored, before she'd been gifted her first studio-grade camera in appreciation for a year of hard work. She smiled as the joy of familiarity washed over her, thankful for the temporary happiness.
Aside from the camera, Juniper saw two girls inside. One of them was a rich bright blue, as if someone had turned up the saturation on a television. The other was also blue, but with a more faded complexion. Juniper envisioned turning her imaginary saturation knob in the other direction.
The faded blue girl stood on stage, wearing a pressed blazer, blouse, and pleated skirt which seemed out of place amidst the casual outfits of the other CHS students. Meanwhile, the bright blue girl stood behind the camera, and wore a black-and-white striped full-length dress that Juniper could only describe as "loud". It was almost as loud as the massive pink-lensed sunglasses she also wore. Juniper tried to imagine what utility those could possibly serve, then stopped herself before her brain shut down entirely.
If nothing else, they absolutely looked like interesting characters. Juniper almost wanted to shoot a movie with them herself.
"What's going on?" Twilight whispered, looking in alongside Juniper.
"Dunno yet," Juniper whispered back. "I just got here."
"No, no, no, Sunny!" The girl with the gaudy glasses yelled just then. "We are not starting over from scratch! Not again!" She stomped her foot.
"But we have to!" The girl in the preppy dress protested. "That take wasn't right either! None of them are!"
Wait, were they arguing? Juniper analyzed their body language as they bantered—trembling shoulders, swaying arms, shaking heads, focused and slightly slanted eyebrows. Oh yeah. This was definitely stock argument scene. But why?
"Oh my gosh," Twilight whispered. "I never would have guessed this would happen."
Juniper turned away from the door, and faced Twilight. "Who are they?" she asked.
"Well," Twilight said, "the one with the glasses is Photo Finish. She's the best photographer in Canterlot High, and probably every school in the Canterlot area! She works wonders with a camera and any subject you put in front of her."
"Huh," Juniper said. "Does the molasses-thick accent play a part in any of that skill?"
Twilight shook her head. "Not that we've seen so far. The other girl is Sunny Flare, Crystal Prep's top thespian. Everyone says she's got a guaranteed spot on Bridleway the second she graduates college. Maybe earlier."
"Another CPA'er, huh?" That explained the out-of-place uniform, Juniper reasoned. She looked at the two girls again, peering at the scene before her through a makeshift screen formed by her thumbs and forefingers. "This scenario's starting to make more sense by the second."
"Actually, Crystal Prep and Canterlot High are on good terms these days—and those two even better," Twilight said. "At least I thought that was the case. They became good friends after we all shot the 'Chance to Prance' music video."
"Ugh, that thing," Juniper grumbled, turning back to Twilight. "You realize that plays nonstop on the Canterlot Mall screens that I have to stare at while at my job six hours a day?" Juniper waved her arms. "Those things used to show trailers! They kept me sane during popcorn cleanup runs!"
Twilight gave Juniper a blank stare. "Uh, sorry? I mean, you’re aware my friends and I don’t exactly have control of that, right?"
"Yeah, well." Juniper leaned against the wall and huffed. "Someone at the mall’s getting a therapy bill. And it won’t be pretty when they do."
Twilight chuckled. "My point is, I've seen Sunny and Photo at Sugarcube Corner more than once discussing plays, and even going on photography runs together. They seemed inseparable! I don't know what could have happened to set them against each other like this."
"Hmmm." Juniper put her fingers to her chin in thought. "Well, we won't find out by chatting with each other. Back to the set it is." She looked back into the room, and saw that very little had changed—both girls were still in each other's faces.
"...and it doesn't help that you keep micromanaging every piece of the performance!" Photo clapped her palm into the back of her other hand repeatedly. "Calling for take after take when every single one is completely fine? It is pointless!"
"To you, Photo!" Sunny retorted, hands on hips. "To you!"
"Yes, to me! The camerawoman who has to look at every moment of footage!" Photo stepped up to meet Sunny on stage. "And if one take was bad? Even if several were bad? I can make edits!" She punctuated each of the last four words with claps of her fingers. "That is literally the thing that separates this from theater!"
Sunny stepped forward, getting into Photo’s face. "Well, excuse me if I care about this production a little more than you do!"
Photo recoiled with a dramatic gasp, hand to her heart. "What are you talking about? This whole thing was my idea!"
"Well, then, maybe you should act like it, instead of leaving all the hard work to 'editing'," Sunny said, with a smug grin and patronizing voice.
"Are you saying I—oooooh!" Photo folded her arms and turned her head to the side. "I, Photo Finish, do not even want to look at you right now!"
"Yeah?" Sunny countered. "Well, that can be arranged for as long as you want, because I refuse to work with such laziness!" She punctuated her sentence with a stamp of her foot.
Photo whirled back. "And I refuse to work with such a fickle perfectionist! Photo is finished here as well!"
Juniper and Twilight ducked back out beside the door again. "This is awful," Twilight said.
Juniper nodded. "It is. I've seen squabbles like this before, though, on my uncle's lot. It happens sometimes when classical actors get cast, and I've had to watch him sort it out with them. It's always ugly before they click, for lots of reasons.
"I..." Juniper began, fighting to not say her next words. She fought to ignore the gears spinning in her mind, and the yearning of her heart. She lost handily. "I think I could help."
"Of course!" Twilight said with an elated gasp. "This situation would benefit greatly from your cinematic expertise!"
"Yeah, well." Juniper shuffled her feet, suddenly feeling tired. "I still don't think I should," she said in a quiet voice.
"What? Why not?"
Juniper didn't even try to stop her heart from twisting into knots. That was a battle she'd already lost, in the weeks following her short-lived magical transformation into the worst, most conceited, and most dangerous version of herself.
She wished more than anything that she could forget. Every time she tried, however, she only remembered more vividly. She remembered the power. She remembered all her desires being magnified, twisted. She'd remembered the fear in everyone's faces, and her own confusion. She had it all now! She was a star! Why were they all running away?
It'd been discouraging. It'd been horrifying.
It had been exhilarating.
No! That's all over now! It's not going to happen again, so stop thinking about it already!
Juniper closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to center herself. To push away the memories. Push away the pain. Push away the shame. All those things would eventually come back, of course. They always did. But at least by the time it happened, she could be alone with them. All she had to do was keep them pushed aside for long enough.
Her fatigue magnified.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, bringing Juniper back to reality.
"Y-Yeah. I'm alright." With a final exhale and misty eyes, Juniper turned to face Twilight. "Look, Twilight. Up until now, being public about my love of cinema has done nothing but get me made fun of, or into trouble. Or, worse, turn me into someone I'm not proud to have been, even before Equestrian magic hit me. I'm not exactly eager to dig any of that stuff back up." She put her hands on Twilight's shoulders, doing her best to make sure Twilight couldn't feel them trembling. "I-I mean, you of all people get me here, don't you?"
A scrunched look of uneasiness lingered on Twilight's face before she finally answered. "Yes and no."
"Wha—" Juniper let go, and stepped back. "What do you mean?"
Twilight folded her hands. "When I transformed into Midnight Sparkle, I absolutely remember my insatiable hunger for knowledge. For discovery. An entire new dimension stood in front of me, ready to scientifically analyze. I didn't just want to, I had to. I couldn't control myself during any of it."
She looked away. "The irony was, all of that came about because being Midnight Sparkle was the first time in my life that I felt I could have real, total control over anything or anyone if I wanted it. I know that sounds awful, but I'd felt so powerless at Crystal Prep. Science was the only thing I could turn to where I felt like it was okay to be myself. It didn't shun me whenever it saw me in the hallways, and it didn't constantly tell me that anything I did wasn't good enough. My love of science encouraged me to always experiment and try new things. It brought me happiness, and got me through that awful place. It didn't hurt me at all."
"You just said all of that science stuff you loved was front and center when you transformed, though," Juniper said. "That's—that's the same thing that happened to me. Just, well, movie-flavored." She put her forehead in her palm. "I'm so confused, Twilight. I have been ever since that day, you know? What do I do? How do I make sense of this?"
Twilight looked back to Juniper, gently pulled her arm down, and held her hands. "I haven't lived your life, Juniper. I haven't had your specific experiences, even if we share a few of the same interests. I get the feeling that pretty soon, you'll have to ask yourself the exact same question I did: was it really the things you love that caused you to do everything you did weeks ago? Or was there something deeper within you, that brought that transformation, that specific side of you, to the surface?"
Juniper looked down at the floor, her mind a hazy blur. "I-I don't know."
Twilight squeezed Juniper’s hands. "And that's okay. It's not a question you'll be able to answer right away. Even now, I struggle with it. But while I do? I use my scientific knowledge, and the desire for more of it, to help the Rainbooms and CHS, and hopefully someday, the world."
Twilight nudged Juniper's face up to meet hers, flashing a smile. "And I'm sure you can do the same with your passions, Juniper. Make others' lives better, I mean. But it's up to you to decide if you want to try. You don't have to force yourself."
Juniper thought for a long time. A latent memory pushed itself to the surface, of the last wrap party she'd attended. They'd ordered catering from Tasty Treat. It had been heavenly. There hadn't been an unhappy face in the building, least of all her uncle's. And knowing that she'd helped make it all happen had been the most satisfying feeling in the universe.
That said, seeing Twilight’s smile, and hearing her words, came close to having the same effect. Juniper made a note to look into Canterlot High's supportiveness courses. They’d clearly worked for the girl in front of her.
"I-I do want to try," she finally said. "I've always wanted to, I think.” She nodded in the direction of the theater room. “But I don't know those girls. What if they don't like me? Heck, what if I make things worse somehow?"
Twilight pointed to the room. "Does it really look like you'd be able to make things any worse than what's happening right now?"
Juniper looked back inside, and watched both girls' faces as they packed their backpacks. Varying mixtures of anger and sadness were present on both.
They look miserable. Boy, have I been there.
Emboldened, Juniper balled her fists and stepped in front of the door. She couldn't bear to stand by and watch any longer.
Just here to help, she repeated to herself as her mantra. I'm just here to help. I just want to help. We're not friends or anything—heck, I don't even know them—but, I don't have to. If I can help, I will.
She gulped.
Emphasis on the 'if'.
Juniper bit her lip, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.