A figure in a hooded cloak raced across the city rooftops. She barely made a sound as she traveled, and her cloak allowed her to effortlessly blend into the night.
As the figure reached the next rooftop edge, she poured on even more speed, then leapt, clearing the distance to the next building with a soft, flawless landing.
Juniper Montage resisted the urge to squeal as she basked in her newfound agility. Peak human speed, alertness, reflexes—she wondered how long it would be before any of it got old. This was exhilaration she could get behind.
She didn't have long to wonder, however, as she saw several silhouettes on the roof ahead of her. Her anonymous tipster had been correct—4th and Main was where the deal was set to go down after all.
She landed behind the next roof's access hatch, once more as gently as a cat. Nobody noticed her. She surveyed her surroundings—aside from the other people, she spied a sturdy metallic pole perched close to them. Perfect for a sneak attack.
She took out her trusty grappling hook from her cloak, and fired. A clank echoed as it took hold of the pole, alerting a couple of burly men amidst the crowd to the presence of someone else.
That couple was reduced to one in short order as Juniper swung with her rope, and slammed into him with a hard kick to his solar plexus. The unexpected force sent him flying backwards, until he landed, rolled across the roof until he reached the edge, and then fell off the building with a scream.
Lights went up as Juniper landed, and she found herself surrounded by several men. Some shrank back. Others approached.
She smirked in anticipation, cracked her knuckles, and went to work.
One man lunged, slow and lumbering. She dodged, leveraged that dodge into a full 180-degree spin, and kicked him in the head, sending him speeding into two of the other approaching men and knocking all three down.
"Anyone else?" she taunted.
Three more ran in, with no reservations about throwing punches. Juniper blocked their limbs as they came with raised arms, then pushed against another incoming fist with her palms. With a whoop of invigorated joy, she backflipped to get some distance.
However, in the mist of her flip, one of the men caught hold of her cloak. Sensing this, Juniper undid its sash, allowing it to slip off without issue, but also causing her true identity to be revealed the moment she landed. In moments, a young woman in a beige archaeologist's outfit stood before the men.
"Aw, poo. Only four of you pre-reveal this time?" Juniper examined her nails—good, none broken. She unclipped her hat from the back of her shirt, smoothed it out, placed it on her head with a flourish. "Either you're getting better at your standard Slow And Clumsy Attacks, or I'm slacking. Probably both, honestly."
"It's Daring June!" one of them said.
"What are you doing so far from home?" another demanded.
"Oh, you mean what am I doing in Tartarus's Kitchen?" One of the men charged. She jumped, and stomped on his head as he approached, causing him to hit the roof asphalt, hard.
She dusted her hands. "Meh. I saw a lack of justice. Came to see what I could do about it." She tipped her chartreuse spectacles, and flashed a jubilant smile to the rest of the men. "Any suggestions?"
The rest of the men hurtled toward her. Daring June fired her grappling hook and swung again. With her other hand, she took out her trademark stun gun. The few who weren't immobilized by electric darts received kicks to the face or gut as she traveled towards her objective.
"How are you even here? You were supposed to have retired!" she heard one of them shout.
"Yeah, I know that's what the world wanted," Juniper said. "But who's got two thumbs, doesn't give up easily, and isn't afraid to use catchphrases from two decades ago? This chick! Who's about to snatch your prize, by the way."
Her goal was coming up fast—a metallic briefcase that had been lying on the middle of the roof this entire time. She grabbed it at the nadir of her flight, then continued to swing, shifting her weight to ensure her return trip would be even faster.
"Hope you don't mind me borrowing this relic indefinitely!" she said, swinging back the other way towards freedom. One final man poured on the speed, and attempted to catch up to her. In response, Daring took off her hat and threw it, beaning him straight between the eyes.
"You can keep that instead," she said as she unhooked her grapple and flew towards the next building over. "I've got plenty!"
She landed on the next roof, then made her escape, running and darting across several buildings, as quickly as she'd originally approached. Once she was half a mile away, she dusted her hands, opened the box, and took out the shining, golden unicorn symbol.
It took several minutes of looking at it for Juniper's natural high to fade. She'd always had her own ideas and concepts of how Daring Do would work in an urban setting, and now she'd lived one of them. She would be lying if she said that it wasn't everything she'd hoped for.
But it wasn't what she was here for. She sighed as the high of fantasy gave way to the truth of reality.
It was nice while it lasted.
"Cut!" she yelled, as loud as she could.
Several parts of the world around her—the skyline, the people on the ground below—fizzled away into sparkles. The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed all around her. Lights far brighter than before powered on above her. Suddenly the rooftop was no longer a rooftop, but a piece of floor surrounded by four plain navy walls, and multiple cityscape props strategically placed in all directions.
A door opened in front of her.
She walked through it, and left the set.
The studio beyond was dimly lit, and unkempt. What little flickering lights there were showed scattered studio equipment, cameras, and lights, many of which were broken. Multiple broken-down trailers peppered the distance as well.
Juniper passed one closed door with a cracked and crooked sign that barely managed to say "Makeup". She saw another open door could close by. She went to it, and looked inside to see another set: an ancient temple which looked to be at home in any Daring Do book she could care to name.
She saw yet another closed door, went to it, and tried the knob. Finding it unlocked, she opened it and slowly poked her head in. What she saw this time made her gasp: a fully functioning mock starship bridge, complete with digital readouts, a massive cockpit view, and all the buttons one could ever want. Most surprising of all, it looked pristine. Clean.
Unused, Juniper realized. She backed away, and noticed a large sign by the door of the starship set, which read "Montage Movies: Release Schedule", at the top. Juniper gaped as she saw the list of titles following below it, with every single entry stricken through in red magic marker.
Juniper spied one final door at the end of the line. She was almost afraid to go towards it, but she did anyway. She opened the door, and looked inside to see an office—the exact office she'd stood in when living through her fear of being blackmailed.
An icepick struck Juniper's heart. Hunch confirmed, even though she wished to heaven it hadn't been.
That was when she heard the sniffling behind her. Juniper turned around to see a familiar drape of green hair over the back of a canvas chair.
The sniffles turned to sobs, coming from the same direction. Starlet was crying. But why? Slowly, Juniper made her way towards her. As she did so, Twilight's words from days earlier replayed in her mind.
"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?"
She thought back to the past few days, where, in multiple instances, she had to change how she acted around other people. With Photo and Sunny. With Twilight herself. Heck, even with the customers at work. She hadn't changed herself, or her true feelings, but she did remember having to temporarily put aside self-centered urges. Her pre-conceived notions of how the world worked.
Only after doing so was she ever able to gain a positive response with the people around her. Only then had she ever able to connect with those people. And in every situation, she'd only been able to connect with them after listening to them. Reading them. Allowing herself to feel how they felt.
It was how certain other people had managed to connect with her, too.
But then again, it never really was about me, was it? Even when I wanted to be Daring Do. Even when was mad at the girls, and at Uncle Canter. Even with my false friends! If I'd only ever looked outside of myself, at any of those times...
Starlet was closer now. Juniper turned her initially slow approach into a determined walk.
I can do the same here. Just like Starlight told me. I can try to understand. And fortunately for both of us, I think I already do.
"I knew it," Starlet said when Juniper was mere steps away. "I knew you didn't really mean to stay. But I didn't want to believe it. You lied."
Juniper shook her head as she stood directly behind Starlet. "Not exactly. Though I admit to leaving out a couple of details."
Starlet shook her head. "You're going to leave me. Forever. I'd say that's a pretty big detail, wouldn't you?"
"If that were my aim, would I have followed you here through the door?" Juniper walked around the chair, and stood in front of Starlet, whose head was drooped in reticence. Juniper reached out, and took Starlet's hand. Starlet flinched, but allowed the contact anyway.
"And I came with you because I'd like to talk," Juniper continued. "Because everything Twilight said about monsters was absolutely right—but she was wrong about something else. As was I."
Juniper tipped Starlet's chin up so that the two met eyes. "You're not a monster at all." She then smiled as warmly as she could. "Hi, Juniper. It's nice to meet you."
Starlet gasped. A faint glow surrounded her. Sparkles radiated, rising above her. At the same time, a pang of hope pulsed in Juniper's chest with an almost crippling intensity.
"You... j-just called me..." Starlet breathed.
Juniper gently tugged, inviting Starlet out of her seat to stand in front of her. She looked over her, feeling a lump forming in her throat, feeling her eyes already burning. This was going to sting a little, Juniper knew. At least a little. But it had to be done.
"Don't be afraid," Juniper said. "Please. I understand what's been going on now. I finally understand what you've been saying to me, telling me, this whole time. I know you've been trying to save me from pain. From sadness. From heartbreak. From the cruelty of the world. If I leave it, if I withdraw completely... it can't hurt me. Right? At least, that's the reasoning?"
Starlet didn't reply.
Juniper shook her head. "You and I really have suffered so much up until now. Because of other people, and because of our own actions. People we thought were friends hurt us. Then we hurt others, and finally ourselves. But when I tried to fix things, I pushed everything I thought I didn't like about myself as far away as possible. And I pushed it all into one convenient image—the image of who I saw on the day I was at my worst. Ironically, on that day, I would have given anything to be that person."
Juniper chuckled, and rolled her eyes. "This is so messed up, you know? I've been, like, obsessing over a desire for friends for so long. Yet in the midst of everything, I forgot the one skill that got me through the old, bad days. I forgot how to be my own friend."
She pulled Starlet closer, and into an embrace, closing her eyes and hugging her as tightly as she could. She spoke with words as soft as her bedroom pillows. "And for that, Juniper, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me? Can... I forgive myself?"
More sparkles emitted from Starlet, surrounding them, and illuminating the studio for several moments. Juniper closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she let go, and stepped away. A mirror image of herself stood before her, with tears in her eyes.
The twin rubbed her eyes and put her glasses on. Juniper felt a rush of warmth, and knew this time that it belonged entirely to her. It'd been a long time since she'd seen herself smile, really, smile, and mean it.
Even in a mirror.
"I forgive you," the twin whispered, with that smile, and a wink to go with it.
Juniper winked back. "The feeling is mutual."
They embraced again.
After some time, they parted, and Juniper took the time to look amidst the dilapidated studio. "So, is this where the magic happens, huh? This is what happens to all my ideas, movies or otherwise?" She wandered around, with her twin keeping pace. "All these memories, fears, even fantasies—all these works in progress." Juniper spied the list on the wall. "But no releases."
The twin shook her head.
"Because, of course we want things to be perfect—" She stopped, and sighed, forcing herself to accept the truth. "No. Because I've been too scared of the response. Of what other people might think if we ever put all of myself into something. Because..." She felt the other Juniper hold her hand, providing just enough support to say the whole truth. "Because we've been burned before."
The twin nodded.
Juniper turned to her. "Is it okay if I ask something?"
The twin nodded again. "Of course."
"Do we really want to be alone forever? That seemed to be the point behind your whole 'cinema premiere' gambit. Which was ultra-cool, don't get me wrong, but wow, talk about your nuclear options."
"Being lonely is fine!" the twin exclaimed, her voice echoing in the empty studio and causing Juniper to gasp. "It’s better than everything else we've ever tried! It's better than giving all those awful, awful people out there any more reason to hate us!"
"But that's just it!" Juniper said. "Who hates us? Twilight? Starlight? Sunset? Uncle Canter and the crew before we betrayed their trust?"
Her twin's voice cracked. "Before them!"
"Yeah, exactly! Let's face it, preteen kids are socially dumb, and Suri was one time! Yet we never let ourselves open up to anyone after that!" Juniper placed her hands on her twin's shoulders. "Don't you see? Way more of this is on us than we ever wanted to think for all these years."
She saw her twin choke up again. Juniper relaxed, giving her a smile, and placing her palm on her cheek. Acting on a hunch, she swiped her other arm outward, and a projection screen lowered from the ceiling. She faced her other self towards that screen as it began playing choice memories from the last three days of Juniper's life.
"Look. You've been here with me this whole time. You've seen the same thing I've seen: a certain massive dork who's been making a really good case for herself all night. Her and her dork friends. Save for our family, I've never seen anybody else go this far for us, or care about us this much. And then you've got Starlight, and Sunset, Photo and Sunny! I can tell: none of them are like the people I used to try to make friends with. I think these might be the real deal. And... I want to take a chance on them."
Her twin sniffled.
"Maybe I'm making the wrong choice," Juniper continued. "I'm scared too, just saying all this. But if I don't try, I'll never have any answers. I'll never really know whether friends are real things I'm able to have." She held her twin's hands. "I'll always be grateful to you for trying to protect my heart, in your own way. But if there's a chance that it's possible for to have anyone around who likes me for me... then I want to take it." She sniffled. "I've always wanted one, you know? Just one."
The twin looked at Juniper, then away in resignation. "I understand."
Juniper shook her head. "Don't even go there," she said. "I don't want to lose you, either."
With a gasp, her other self perked up.
Juniper chuckled. "Seriously, why would I want to lose any part of myself? Certainly not the part that clearly holds my flair for the dramatic." Juniper gestured around the studio. "I mean, look at this amazing place! Look at the sets here? Plus, clearly, you're where my fashion sense has been hiding. And you're really driven, and motivated, and... well, I guess that means I really am all those things, right?" She stared off into space. "Maybe Twilight was right. Maybe I really do bring some things to the table."
Her twin smiled and nodded.
"So, how about it? Can we just have each other? Without the crazy illusions and the 'join me and we'll rule the empire as me and me' stuff?" Juniper said, complete with jazz hands. "I know we're both scared of... everything. But at least if we're together instead of against each other when we put ourselves out there, we can fill in each other's blanks, and have less to be scared about. And in the end, if we really do become a star, it'll mean something."
Juniper placed her hand on her other self's arm. "We can't force people to like us—and you know what? I know that deep down, we still really wish we could. But we can't. What we can do, though, is be aware of the ones who do decide to love us. From here on out, I want to try showing love back to the people who show it towards us. And I want it to be all of me who tries."
Juniper's twin was silent for a long time, before her expression brightened. "On one condition," she replied.
At those words, the studio lit up with what lights were still functioning. Several machines and cameras, buzzed to life. With visibility clear, Juniper saw that the studio they stood in was just as furnished as her uncle's—and it bore quite the resemblance to it as well.
"Put this place to good use," she heard her twin ask. "Help me bring it back. We're not perfect. Which means none of our works will be. But that's also what makes those works... us. Let's make that work for us," she said with a chuckle.
"So that's where I put my love of bad jokes." Juniper nodded, barely holding in her giddiness as she turned to face herself. "But I like how you think. Deal, and then some. Hug on it?"
As both Junipers shared one final embrace, they shone with another ivory light that spread out from both of them. When it faded, only one Juniper Montage stood in the middle of the studio, with an unparalleled feeling of fulfillment and pride. She closed her eyes and exhaled with a satisfied smile.
"That's a wrap," she whispered.
It took several moments for Juniper's vision to return. When it did, she looked around, and sighed in relief as she saw that she was in her room, and back in her bed.
Then she looked in front of herself, and saw Twilight, Starlight, and Sunset staring at her.
None of them looked happy. The events of an hour ago suddenly came rushing back, and she knew she had a lot of explaining to do.
"Or uh, maybe not," she said.