//------------------------------// // prologue // Story: Beyond the borders // by rooks_fanfiction //------------------------------// “Did you truly believe they cared about you?” The snidely venomous voice of Twilight’s doubts whispered to her as she searched the restricted section of the Canterlot archives. As she searched for the book she needed, she could hear the faint noises of ponies repairing what little damage the Changeling invasion had caused and beginning to once again prepare for a royal wedding. She wished the noise was louder, loud enough to drown out the poisonous voice in the back of her head, but it wasn’t, and it couldn’t. “Surely you’ve learned by now, nobody truly wants you. Your B.B.B.F.F.? Sure, he liked you when you were a cute little foal that he could take care of and protect. But forever? We certainly learned how long that it, it was the length of time it took you to stop being that cute innocent foal, at that point he decided dedicating himself to the protection of an immortal and near omnipotent Demigoddess would be a better use of his time. The only reason we saw him again was because he happened to be transferred back to the palace in Canterlot when he was promoted to Lieutenant. Sure, he sent letters, probably just so our parents wouldn’t get upset with him, but the quantity, or lack thereof, certainly showed how much he truly cared.” “No,” Twilight muttered desperately, past the sudden lump in her throat. “He was just really busy with training and getting used to his duties.” “Sure, of course, that must be the reason, it had nothing to do with not wanting to have to deal with a mare who not ever her parents wanted.” Twilight shook her head vigorously. “No, My parents-” “Were overjoyed when Celestia wanted to take you away. You can’t deny that.” “They were just happy for what it would mean for my future. They were proud.” “Were they? Or were they just glad to get a magical monster out of their home? A thing that could turn them into plants at a whim, scare the sox off an entire panel of magical examiners, then proceed to not just hatch a bucking dragon, but also grow it to monstrous proportions. Think about it, how many ponies would have died because of you that day if Celestia hadn’t happened to be nearby to stop you.” “But she did stop me. And she clearly didn’t think I was a monster. She took me in, taught me, cared about me, gave me-” “Oh, come on. You can’t seriously still believe that. She saw you as a tool and shaped you so she could use you. She knew you had the potential to wield the element of magic and she wanted her sister back. As soon as Luna was safe you saw how much she really wanted you as a student, letting you stay in Ponyville was just a way to get you out of her mane, in fact, I bet she had your brother transferred to the palace just so she’d have to spend less time dealing with you. After all, it’s not like anyone could actually like spending time with you.” “That’s not true! My friends like-” “And that’s another thing, didn’t you already learn your lesson about friendship from your foalhood friends? Once they get to know you, learn what you are, nobody actually wants to be your friend. As soon as they heard how you became Celestia’s student, even the fact that you were her student wasn’t enough to keep them from abandoning you. You acted wisely while you were with her, keeping everybody at hoof’s length kept them from hurting you, but your actions in Ponyville, and especially this Foal’s errand, show you truly aren’t smart enough to remember your lessons.” Twilight shook her head violently; tears were beginning to blur her vision and that made scanning the shelves for the book she needed more difficult. Still, she was sure it was nearby. The hope that came from that thought gave her the strength to make a firmer reply than she yet had. “No, my friends simply made a mistake, a mistake their very sorry about, and that’s that. I’m forgiving them, that’s part of what it means to be a friend.” “Maybe, but the point is, they’re not your friends. We’ve just seen how much you truly mean to them. Friends are supposed to trust and care about each other, but not one of them trusted you enough to believe you about Cadance. And as if that wasn’t enough proof, instead of staying and trying to help you through the problem they thought you did have, they abandoned you.” “No, they just had-” “Just had work to do. Of course, and that work was so much more important to them than you were. Just like with your brother and the letters. Who knows, maybe those foalhood friends of yours weren’t actually scared of you, maybe they just had work to do too. Come on, admit it, they aren’t your friends.” “Yes, they are.” “No, they aren’t. Let’s look at them one at a time. Applejack, she was simply raised to be neighborly and helpful to everyone. I mean, she invited a total stranger to a bucking family reunion, all she ever saw you as was a new resident of Ponyville who she had to help settle in. As for why she agreed to help you with this wedding, aside from being a generally helpful pony, this is just a repeat of the Gala on a grander scale. If she was excited about the few bits she hoped to make selling food to people waiting to get into the Gala, it no surprise she was willing to put up with you considering the amount she’ll make catering the entire royal wedding.” “No!” “Pinkie Pie. Well she's obvious, she just enjoys having fun and spreading laughter, it doesn’t matter who else is involved. As far as this wedding, she just couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw such a large a party.” “No.” “Fluttershy. You saw exactly how much interest she had in you before she learned you were caring for an exotic animal. Aside from the fact that kindness is what she is, she simply spent more time with you so as that she could see Spike and Owlowiscious. The only reason she agreed to help with this wedding was so she could show other Ponies how wonderful her animals are.” “no.” “And then there’s Rarity. She’s almost as obvious as Pinkie. You’re from Canterlot, your parents are noble, you’re the princess’s Student, that what drew her to you. Not only are you the high point of culture in Ponyville, you offered her the opportunity to showcase her work not only to the Canterlot nobility but possibly to the Princess herself. Obviously, she didn’t realize you’d already fulfilled the role the Princess had for you. And this wedding? It’s the culmination of everything, the opportunity she so desperately wanted, a chance to show her work to everybody who’s anybody. While it’s possible she’ll want to keep you around as insurance, assuming this second wedding goes well and her work is received the way she hopes it will be I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she suddenly starts spending a lot less time with you, now that she’s gotten what she wanted.” “no.” A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she finally found the book she was looking for, Mind Magic, by Misty Mornings. She rubbed a foreleg vigorously across her eyes, then levitated the book down and began to search for the spell she needed. “And finally, there’s Rainbow Dash, She’s the clincher, and you know it. she’s loyalty embodied, which means there only one possible way she could abandon you like that.” “no.” “As the Element of Loyalty she could never betray someone she was loyal to in the way that she did you, that could only have been possible if she never formed a bond of loyalty with you in the first place.” Tears streamed down Twilights face as she found the spell she was after, Mercurial’s Memory Modifier. As she read the description of the spell, the voice in her head that had been blessedly for the last few moments started to speak again. “Well this isn’t going to work. It says that the spell can be broken, if a sufficiently similar event takes place it can trigger the memories that are being overwritten. Your friends will betray you again, the spell will shatter, and you’ll be even worse off than you are now.” “No.” the firmness had returned to her voice as her plan reached its conclusion. “They made a mistake, and they learned from it, they won’t betray me again.” As she stopped speaking, she finished constructing the new memories she had decided on and drew on her magic. Twilight woke up slowly and blinked the sleep from her eyes. She was in the restricted section of the archive, but why. Oh yes, she'd fallen asleep while researching mind magic, she’d been so afraid that what Chrysalis had done to her B.B.B.F.F. might have lasting effects on his mind that she talked Celestia into letting read up on the subject. while what she’d found before falling asleep had been inconclusive, she’d keep looking. Hope filled her as she remembered the previous day, her friends had trusted her, and they’d saved Cadance and stopped the Changeling invasion together, surely even if there was something wrong with him, together they’d be able to fix it. A smile played across her lips as she got back to her research, her friends had been so embarrassed when she thanked them for trusting her and helping her to save Cadance that she felt it would be best not to raise the subject again. Sunset Shimmer rubbed tears from her eyes as she forced the door to her rundown apartment open. “How could they?” the thought echoed through her head as she made her way to her bedroom. “I thought we were my friends. I thought they trusted me.” Anger filled her as she flung the door to her room open. “clearly I was wrong about that. Of course, they couldn’t really have forgiven me that easily, they just pretended to be my friends because Twilight asked them to. Heck, they were probably doing it as much to keep an eye on me as anything else. I’m almost grateful, at least this Anon-A-Miss taught me what my so-called friends really think of me.” Her anger burned out as she reached her bed and collapsed onto it. Stretching out one arm she reached for a pen and The Book, at least she knew one person who truly was a friend. “Dear Twilight,”