The next morning, Flash arrived at school on his car, like every other day. He parked it in his reserved slot, removed his keys from the ignition, activated the power lock, and got off with his backpack hanging from his shoulder and his guitar case on his back. He was looking at the ground, walking to the front door in an almost auto-pilot state. His way got suddenly cut off by some feet and a very familiar-looking mulberry puppy who was gnawing on a bone. This made Flash stop and look up to find a cheerful look in Twilight’s face.
“Good morning! Ready for today’s lesson?” she asked, holding up a Chemistry book in front of her.
Flash was left dumbfounded by this. He had barely woken up and now he had to put up with a class even before the day started…
This thought made him look at the clock on top of the school building. “It’s 7:30. Classes won’t start for another thirty minutes…” he said, rubbing his eyelids, which at this time, still felt a little heavy.
“That’s fine, I can finish explaining yesterday’s topic in twenty!” Twilight exclaimed enthusiastically, taking Flash by the arm and almost dragging him to the Wondercolts statue, where they had left the explanation unfinished the day before.
They both sat down and Flash was left with no choice but to roll with it. He yawned one final time and took off the bags he carried. He moved closer to Twilight as she opened the book on the page she had left off, which she marked with her periodic table. Flash took out his notebook and a pencil. He turned to see Twilight and she handed him a traveling mug. He curiously took it and felt it was warm. He removed the lid to smell its content and caught a delightful smell of hot coffee with a touch of vanilla and milk.
“I hope you like cappuccinos…” said Twilight as she drew circles on the lid of her own traveling mug with her finger. “If you don’t, I can give you my espresso… and if you don’t like coffee, I think I’ve got some orange juice in my lunch bag…”
“No, no, thank you, it’s alright… cappuccinos are my favorite hot drink, actually” Flash said with a smile. He took a sip off his cup and swallowed slowly, closing his eyes and embracing the taste of his drink. His eyes suddenly widened as well as his smile. “Oh my god… this is SO GOOD!” he said excitedly, taking another sip and sighing afterwards. “Did you make this?” Twilight nodded and smiled bashfully. “This is the best coffee I’ve ever had!” Flash declared. “What’d you put in it?”
“Well, some cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, ¼ of milk… the secret is to heat it just the right amount of time…” she cut off when she turned to see Flash again and saw how he kept enjoying the cappuccino as if it was the first time he ever drank something warm. He clearly loved it and enjoyed every taste of it with a smile and his eyes closed. She smiled. It felt really nice to see him happy like this…
“I’m glad you like it” she said tenderly.
Flash leaned against the statue and let out another pleasant warm sigh. “I love it! Have you considered selling these? You would make a fortune!”
“Actually, I already sell them. Well, kind of. In the weekends, I prepare the coffee and hot drinks at my parents’ cafeteria. The cappuccinos are, indeed, some of our best sellers.”
“Your parents have a cafeteria?” Flash asked her, interested, after sipping from his mug again.
“It’s actually just my dad’s, but the whole family helps with it. Have you ever visited it? It’s called The Royal Cheval”
“No, I have never been there.” Flash said almost shamefully, scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t actually go to the city that much, and when I do, it’s mostly to some malls. But I’m definitely gonna check it out the next time I go!” he said as he continued drinking.
“Well you’re more than welcome to go whenever you want! All the recipes are by my mom. Her lasagna is just the best!” Twilight said with delight and remembrance in her tone.
“If she cooks lasagna as well as you make coffee, I’m all in!” Flash said, pointing a finger at Twilight, who giggled in response. “So you like Italian food?”
“It’s my favorite!” Twilight said, resting her chin on her knees.
“In that case, you should try my mom’s Chicken Carbonara Linguini. I have literally tasted nothing more delicious so far.”
Twilight snorted softly and smirked at Flash. “It must be delicious but… I don’t know. The Velvet Lasagna is kind of life changing…”
“Trust me on this” Flash said, smirking as well. “Once you tried the Linguini ala Sentry, there is no turning back.”
“We should put our moms’ dishes to the test, don’t you think?” said Twilight, cunningly inclining herself closer to Flash. As she said that, the bell that announced that only ten minutes were left before classes started rang. “Woah, 20 minutes have passed already? We didn’t even study anything!” said Twilight, beginning to put her stuff away.
“Sorry, it’s kind of my bad, for starting rambling about your delicious… delicious cappuccino.” Flash said as he handed her the now empty traveling cup with a longing look on his face.
Twilight smiled as she took the cup and put it away inside her backpack. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have more time to explain you later.”
She got up and began walking to the school, when she stopped and turned at the sound of Flash’s voice. “Uh, Twilight… no pets allowed in school, remember?” he said, pointing down at Spike, who was standing next to him and had an unamused look on his face.
“Oops! Sorry, buddy” Twilight said to Spike with an awkward smile as she knelt down and opened her bag for the dog to get in. “I was kind of waiting for you to come walking behind me, hehe…” Spike rolled his eyes and smiled as he got into his owner’s bag. She then directed herself to the building again, as Flash followed her.
“So, uh…” Flash began, “thanks a lot for the coffee, but… why the kind gesture?”
“Are you kidding? You were so nice and helpful to me yesterday. It’s the least I could do, don’t you think?” Twilight replied smiling and raising an eyebrow at Flash.
“I didn’t do it to gain anything in return, you know?” Flash said, feeling a little embarrassed.
Twilight smiled at him sincerely. “I know that. That’s why I felt like thanking you.”
Flash looked down and a coy smile drew on his face, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Well… you’re welcome then.”
Twilight kept looking at her friend tenderly, and she didn’t notice the school’s front steps in front of her. She stumbled with one of them and let out a gasp as she started to trip over, but luckily for her, Flash had good reflexes and took notice of this in time to grab her by the shoulders and stopping her from hitting her face on the ground.
“Whoa! Careful there!” Flash said when he caught her. She turned to see him as he helped her stand straight and recover her balance. “Gotta watch where your step!”
Twilight blushed, half because of embarrassment, and half because Flash wouldn’t let go of her shoulder and back, even now that she was steady. “Sorry, my bad!” she chuckled nervously. “I’m not very coordinated.”
“That’s alright, just…” Flash then took notice that he was still holding on to Twilight, so he rapidly got his hands off her and put them behind his back awkwardly, chuckling nervously as well and stammering a bit. “…just, be on the lookout for… stairs, and stuff… they’re… there’s plenty of them… here.”
“Yeah…” Twilight said just as awkwardly and nervously. Flash walked up the stairs, leaving Twilight behind. She didn’t notice when the young man slapped his own forehead and called himself stupid under his breath.
Meanwhile, Twilight herself also slapped her own forehead and called herself dumb in a low voice, as her face turned even more red than before. Spike unzipped the bag he was in and talked to Twilight in an almost scolding whisper.
“What are you waiting for?”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked as she began to walk up the steps.
“You were about to ask him out, do it before the moment passes!”
“What? I was not about to do that!”
Flash, who had stopped for a moment waiting for Twilight, turned to see her once she was already inside the building. “Did you say something?”
Twilight let out a fake giggle that accompanied her fake smile. “No, not at all! It’s just that Spike was asking me for a treat and right now it’s not the time!” she finished her sentence angrily and almost between her teeth, giving Spike a scolding look. The puppy dog frowned and got inside the backpack again.
Twilight and Flash walked side by side, quietly and a bit awkwardly, direct to their class. When they were about to enter, Twilight heard a voice coming from her backpack. “Just ask him already!”
She rolled her eyes angrily and whispered: “I’m not gonna do it!”
Flash opened the door for Twilight. She thanked him and got inside the classroom. “Now’s your chance!” Spike insisted from Twilight’s back. “Ask him!”
“There’s nothing to ask!” Twilight grunted.
“Just do it, Twilight!”
“No!”
“Do you want me to do it, then?”
Twilight growled under her breath and turned to see Flash almost too abruptly, quickly putting a forced smile on her face. “Do you have any plans for the evening?”
Flash stood there silent, not expecting this question. He looked around to see that only three more people had arrived at the class and were staring at them. He swallowed before answering: “No, not really… why?”
“We must at least conclude the Chemistry lesson, so… could we stay here after classes finish? It will only take an hour, tops.” Twilight said, maintaining her smile, although it gradually became more natural.
Flash blinked a few times and at last reacted. “Sure… great! That’s… perfect!”
“Cool, so I’ll see you at the statue at three!” Twilight chirped, beginning to walk outside the classroom.
“It’s a date!” Flash exclaimed, making both of them automatically blush. “I… I mean… not that kind of…”
“I know what you mean” Twilight said, holding her hand in front of her. “I forgot my book in my locker, so… be right back!”
Flash nodded with a tense smile as Twilight turned around and walked outside the classroom. In the hall, Spike popped his head out of the backpack. “Well, not what I was expecting…”
Twilight puffed. “Well, don’t ask for more. He offered to be my friend, and I offered to be his tutor. That’s all. There doesn’t have to be anything more between us.”
“But you like him, don’t you?” Spike teased her.
She stopped in her tracks and turned her head to see him. “No! I just met him, Spike!”
“Come on, Twilight! Have you noticed how you act around him? You blush, you get all nervous, you don’t stop smiling… and admit it! We should put our mom's’ dishes to the test? You were about to ask him to dinner at your family’s restaurant!”
“First of all,” began Twilight, as she arrived to her new locker, “all of those reactions are merely because he’s been so nice to me since I got here, and I’m… not really used to it. Second, I was just teasing him and not really thinking what I was saying, that phrase was purely hypothetical. And third…”
Twilight took her Math book from her locker and closed it softly. She led out a sad sigh. “It wouldn’t be smart to go out with him anyways.”
Spike lowered his ears. “Why not?”
Twilight counted with her fingers as she spoke: “He most likely just sees me as Twilight #2, our interests are clearly different, I’m only beginning to learn about friendship, and… it could be… dangerous for him.”
“Dangerous?” Spike asked, tilting his head.
Twilight looked down. “You saw what happened yesterday. Right now, I’m a danger to the people I care for. So I’d rather not develop any bonds that are deeper than friendship until I figure out how to fix this.”
Spike felt bad for pushing Twilight, so like usual, instead of apologizing with words, he stretched to rub his head against Twilight’s cheek. She caught the message and scratched him behind his ears. She turned to see his apologetic smile, and she gave him a forgiving one. He returned inside and zipped the backpack just as Twilight walked in the pre-calculus classroom. While she was gone, a few more people had arrived, including her six friends, the Rainbooms. She greeted them and sat next to Sunset.
“Twilight…” whispered Rarity from the seat behind Sunset, “excuse me if I ask you this but, is it true that you arranged a date with Flash?”
“Rarity!” Sunset scolded her.
“Sorry, I just wanted to verify the information before it spreads any further!” said Rarity with a shrug.
Twilight turned to see Flash, surprised. He was talking to his friend Brawly, who was already in the class when the two of them arrived. She then turned to see Rarity and asked her: “Did he tell you that?”
“Oh no, no, darling” Rarity said, shaking her hand in front of her. “It was Bonbon. She says she saw the whole thing. And since she does love gossip, I wanted to clear things up with you.”
Twilight felt relieved. Having Flash making up fake rumors about them going on a date would’ve made her have a very bad impression of him.
“No, Rarity, it’s not true” Twilight declared, finally. “We’re just going to study for a little while after class.”
“Well…” said Rarity, tilting her head a little. “That is kind of a date… it is a study date…”
This made Twilight’s cheeks turn a bit red. She hadn’t thought of it that way…
“Still, I’m sure that’s not the kind of date Bonbon was referring to” said Sunset, taking out her book and notebook from her backpack.
“Well, in that you’re right! And it’s certainly not the kind of juicy news I expected…”
“RARITY!” Sunset and Twilight said in unison, scolding their friend.
“Sorry, sorry, it slipped!” Rarity exclaimed with a chuckle, flipping her hair and smiling nervously. “I’m not telling anyone, whatsoever!” She then quickly moved beside Twilight and spoke in her ear. “But girl to girl, darling: he’s Sunset’s ex-boyfriend… so you might not want to cross that line, for the sake of your friendship…”
“You’re a terrible whisperer, Rarity” said Sunset Shimmer, deadpan, crossing her arms.
Rarity blushed and grinned apologetically, returning to her seat.
“Just so you know,” Sunset spoke to Twilight, “Flash and I are in really good terms now. Sure, we didn’t have the best breakup, but I’ve changed my perspective ever since, and not so long ago, we agreed to remain friends. So… don’t feel like that should stop you, if you felt worried about that.”
“Trust me” said Twilight, with a mixture of sadness and a hint of irritation, looking down at her notes. “That’s not what I had in mind. My relationship with him isn’t going any further than friends. That’s just it between us.”
Sunset and Rarity looked at each other in slight surprise.
“Well… if that’s what you want, that’s good” said Sunset with a small smile. “Surrounding yourself with friends will do you good. The more you have, the more about friendship you’ll learn!”
Twilight forced a quick smile and nodded at Sunset before looking back down to her open notebook and writing down the date in a corner. Before Sunset could say anything else, Mr. Cranky Doodle, the Math teacher, entered the classroom.
“Ok class, good morning, I’m a little late, but I’m already here, so back to your seats!” he said in a low flat voice as he laid his things on his desk and turned around to write on the chalkboard.
Everyone who was standing, speaking to others, sat back on their desks and quickly took out their material. Twilight turned her head around to look at Flash again, and a thought invaded her mind.
Yes, she certainly felt some level of attraction toward him. But in quite frankly, that was most likely work of her teenage hormones combined with the gratitude the girl felt for both his support and for the fact that he had stopped her from magically blasting off the school the day before.
However, she was an intellectual, educated person. She couldn’t, and shouldn’t allow her mere instincts to blur her reasoning. She had already explained it to Spike, and she was convinced of the reasons why she shouldn’t start a relationship at this moment.
But that was fine, actually. She could use as many friends as possible at this moment, and so far, Flash had certainly done a great job at it.
She still felt as if he saw her as some sort of replacement for the Twilight from the pony world, for whom she knew he had a thing for, as Sunset said to her a few days ago. But she remembered the words that he had told her himself: let them know the real you. He could get to know her for who she was, and not for who her magical counterpart was. And maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to see beyond that as well.
Their gazes met for an instant and they interchanged smiles. Twilight then turned back to look at the board.
Meanwhile, Flash’s head was filled with thoughts as well.
He had received the question of whether he had a date with this girl or not, which he had denied, a bit embarrassed.
He knew she wasn’t in the place for a relationship. She clearly had enough troubles with herself, both adapting to this new environment, getting to know others, and… figuring out how she could control those dangerous outbursts.
And even though he was aware that this Twilight was different from the one he had talked with a few days ago before she walked through the portal yet again, were very different, he couldn’t help but find a memory of Princess Twilight every time he looked at her. She had her same joyful face, her same beautiful aubergine eyes, navy hair with the iconic magenta and amethyst highlights, lavender skin, same melodic voice…
But she wasn’t her. For starters, this Twilight seemed a lot more into science than into magic. In fact, magic hadn’t exactly settled well for her… To avoid getting confused, he would start mentally calling her “Science Twilight”... or maybe just “Sci-Twi”. That was shorter and sort of clever.
But the differences didn’t limit to her likes and interests. Unlike the Twilight he had knew, Sci-Twi wasn’t a secure leader. She was actually well placed in this world. Besides, Princess Twilight was fairly more outgoing and chipper than Sci-Twi, and he could see why. From what he knew, back in her home world, the other Twilight was not only royalty, but also had a wide and varied circle of friends. Sci-Twi, on the other hand, had never had any friends. Flash himself was one of her first friends ever, and he was pretty sure, her very first guy friend.
That was sure to have an impact on both her personality and the way she interacted with others. Sure, everyone enjoys some alone time every now and then, but being by yourself all the time was anything but pleasant. He should know. After all…
“Hey, dude” Brawly Beats whispered at Flash, awakening the guitarist from the trance he was in. “Do you have an extra pencil?”
Flash blinked a few times and found himself back in reality, sitting on his desk with his Math book in front of him, his classmates around him, and Mr. Cranky writing equations on the board. He sighed and handed a pencil to his friend sitting on his left, only to give a blank stare at his notebook and continue daydreaming, thinking of how much he wished Princess Twilight could be here once more.
A whole day of class passed by slowly for our two protagonists. After Math was over, it was gym, then History, English, Art class, and then Chemistry. The last bell of the day rang and everyone grabbed their things and began to walk out of the building.
Twilight bid her friends goodbye quickly and stood next to the school’s front door. Flash was the last one to exit the door, he kept walking forward, looking at the ground. He seemed to be almost in an auto-pilot state, so to speak. Twilight noticed this and walked to him quickly before he got any further. “Hey” she said, laying a hand on Flash’s shoulder, which took him aback and made him gasp. He turned his head to see her.
“Sorry, I got a little lost in thought…” he apologized, rubbing his own forehead with his thumb, coming back to reality. “But I’m ready for our lesson.” He gave her a smile.
Twilight looked up to his eyes and saw a hint of sadness in them. “Are you sure?” she asked him, a little concerned.
“Yeah…” said Flash with a quick shrug, attempting to shake off the thought, “let’s go”. He grabbed Twilight by the hand and walked to the statue. Twilight was taken aback by this and a pale heliotrope blush painted her cheeks. Flash suddenly stopped when he realized how tightly he was holding Twilight’s hand, and blushed himself, in embarrassment. “Sorry…” he apologized bashfully, as he let go of her and rubbed the back of his neck. “Please, go ahead” he said, gesturing for her to walk ahead. Twilight took a good at Flash as she moved in front of him.
“What’s going on, Flash?” Twilight asked him, worried. “You can tell me.”
Flash sighed and looked at Twilight in the eyes. He was about to tell her what was on his mind, but he realized it probably was better not to tell her that he was pondering about her equine doppelgänger. It wouldn’t be prudent and Twilight most likely wouldn’t like it to feel compared.
He looked away from the girl in front of him. “I’m just… worried about the exam. Exams start in three weeks and I need to start to get ready.” He then walked and sat in front of the statue, leaving a spot for Twilight to sit next to him.
Twi may not be the best at reading the emotions of others, but it was too easy to tell that there was more going on inside Flash’s head. But what she could also tell, and more so because she knew perfectly how that was, was that he didn’t want to talk about it. She was all too familiar with the feeling of impotence when something got stuck in your mind and you aren’t able to wipe it off. The last thing you want to do when this happens is to dwell on it, so you try your best to pretend everything’s fine. To pretend the thought isn’t there at all. To distract yourself with any other small or insignificant thing.
She herself had experienced this just yesterday. When she began to sulk in her sorrow, Flash had come to help her clear her mind and concentrate on something else.
So she figured, it was time to return the favor.
Twilight gave him a sympathetic smile and sat beside him. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re working on this now, and not leaving stuff for the last minute” she said, unzipping her backpack.
Spike walked out of it and stretched his front and hind legs, letting out a soft wheeze. He then turned around to look at Flash. “What’s up?” the pup said, pretty chill, scratching his ear with his hind paw.
Flash couldn’t help but get goosebumps, but he immediately cleared his throat and forced a smile. “H-hey, Spike?” he said, attempting to sound as casual as possible, but clearly failing. Twilight giggled a little. “Sorry,” said Flash, turning to see Twilight, “I still need to get used to a…”
“Talking dog?” Spike finished, cuddling next to his owner and finding a cozy position to fall asleep. “We’ve all been there, even me.” He closed his eyes and Twilight smiled, gently scratching his head.
“It’s not so bad. I bet you’ve seen weirder things” Twilight said, turning to see Flash. Although she still smiled, she looked down and Flash saw her eyes turning sad.
Once again, he had to think quickly, so he opened his Chemistry book and pointed at the first random page that came out. “So… how do you do this?” he asked, his words coming out rushed and shaky.
Twilight glanced at the page on Flash’s book. “Antoine Lavoisier Biography?” she read aloud. “I think you just read it and try to memorize a couple dates” she said teasingly, looking at Flash and raising an eyebrow.
Flash smiled nervously. “Wrong page, sorry.” He then turned a few pages considerably slower, until he got to the one he was looking for. “I’m having trouble with this: Precipitation reactions. I never got Mrs. Harshwhinny’s explanation. I mean, Miss Moondancer is doing a much better job so far, but I doubt she’ll come back to this topic.”
“Ah, I see” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. She took a pencil out of her bag. “Let’s see your notebook, I’ll show you an easier method than the one you guys were using.”
Flash did as he was told and opened his Chemistry notebook on the first blank page he found. Twilight began explaining to him a few key tips to determine which compound was soluble and which ones were insoluble. Flash felt relieved when he learned that every time he saw an alkaline metal, it would not precipitate. Since most formulas included one of these, it would make it much easier and faster to write down the ionic equation and net ionic equation. Since this topic was mostly practical, they took a few exercises from the book and solved them together. After Twilight felt that Flash was getting the hang of it, she wrote down a new exercise for him to solve by himself. He took a few moments to solve it, erasing and changing his answer a couple times. He then showed it to Twilight, and she noted that although he got the concept, he had to write down his answer in the proper way, and make sure to be careful with the symbology. He wrote another exercise for him to solve, and this time he got it right.
To reinforce his learning, she decided to test him. She wrote down ten brand new exercises and left space for him to solve them. She even made a space for him to write down his name and the date, as if it were a real test, so that he would start getting an idea for the actual evaluation day.
After a few minutes, Flash gave his quiz back to Twilight and she grabbed a red pen to score the test. Flash tried to peak at the page, but she moved it so he wouldn’t see. Once she finished, she turned around and stared at Flash with a neutral expression on her face. She didn’t say anything for a while, which made Flash get intrigued.
“Well?” Flash asked, with concern. “What is it?”
Twilight adjusted her glasses and maintained her serious expression when she answered. “Well, Flash Sentry” she said, making her voice sound as monotone as she could. “I’m afraid you got…” she turned around the notebook for Flash to see the result written on the page, and he was shocked at the result. “An A-!”
“I DID??” Flash exclaimed, his face light up, his eyes wide open and a big, unbelieving smile on his face. “You mean I only got ONE wrong?”
Twilight nodded and handed Flash the notebook so he could check it himself. “And it was just a small mistake” she said. “You forgot to write the balanced net ionic equation on number 5. I personally would’ve let it slide, but I had to score it as a teacher would.”
Flash looked at her and smiled. “You’re a great teacher, Twilight.”
Twilight looked down and smiled. “Thank you, you’re not a bad student yourself! You’ll see chemistry isn’t as difficult as you think.”
“It probably isn’t, it’s just that…” he said, exhaling and putting his chemistry notebook away. He then snickered softly. "I mean, I've seen pine trees, peach trees, and apple trees, but I've yet to come across a geometry, trigonometry, chemistry, or even a stoichiometry!"
Twilight couldn’t help but facepalm. She contained her laughter and then turned to Flash with a frown and smiled. She softly punched him in the arm. “I should change your grade to D- just for that!”
Flash let out a laugh. “What? I’m just trying to lighten the mood!”
Twilight snorted and rolled her eyes. She turned around to pick up some of her pens, which she had left on the ground. Flash moved and knelt in front of her. “I believe the play’s over, Miss Sparkle. You can stop playing sour teacher now” he teased her.
Twilight giggled at this and grabbed her Chemistry book. “Why, sour you say??” Twilight exclaimed, jokingly imitating Ms. Harshwhinny’s voice. “Well I have never been more offended in my longer-than-I’d-admit life!”
This impression, and how spot-on it was for someone who had only heard Harshwhinny for one day, made Flash burst out in laughter. “But Miss!” Flash exclaimed in stitches, playing along. “That’s not what I meant to-!”
“Not another word, Sentry!” Twilight continued her imitation, attempting not to laugh as she did. “Or you’ll go to Principal Celestia’s office!”
“Uh, I may be wrong, Ms. Harshwhinny” said Flash, shrugging and raising an eyebrow, “but didn’t you quit just yesterday?”
“I may have,” responded Twilight as Harshwhinny, pointing strongly at Flash, “but I’ve still got the authority to yell at little punks like you!”
Both of them starting to laugh so hard that they soon couldn’t breath and their guts began to hurt, but that didn’t stop them from continuing impersonating their bitter ex-teacher and a frightened student for a good amount of time. After several minutes, they let out their last giggles and a couple of calming sighs, until only silence was heard. They looked at each other and smiled. Although they didn’t say it out loud, they were both glad that they could now laugh at something that had made them have such a bad time just yesterday, even though both of them, secretly, had good reasons not to laugh. This made Twilight remember how gloomy and distracted Flash had been when they had exited school and how he wanted to change the topic and avoid conversation as fast as possible.
She thought that, maybe now that she had taught him the lesson he was having trouble with and they had clear heads, she could ask him what had been on his mind. Sure, some things you want to keep to yourself for a while. But deep down she knew that, sooner or later, talking about what bothers you will ultimately make it better.
And if by asking she would eventually have to talk out her own problems too… well, that would be alright. Flash seemed like a good listener and someone who could keep a secret. She felt comfortable speaking to him. And the truth is, she wanted to keep seeing him smiling. His smile made it feel as if, for just a moment, everything was alright and not falling apart. It was reassuring and contagious, so she wanted to do all that was in her might to keep seeing it.
“Hey, Flash…” she began, and the boy by her side turned his head to look at her. She saw him and the smile that was drawn on his face. If she asked this question now, that smile would probably erase for the moment; but if she didn’t, it would only appear sporadically the next days and it probably wouldn’t be authentic, so she took a quick breath and kept on talking. “I wanted to ask you… when classes ended and we came here earlier, were you really-?”
She was interrupted by the sound of a claxon in the distance. Both of them turned to the left, where the sound came from, and saw the bus that would take Twilight back to the city approaching from about a quarter of a mile. Twilight let out a sight and a disappointed look drew on her face, as she grabbed her backpack.
“Uh, wanna finish the question now, or…?” Flash asked hesitantly, pointing back at the incoming bus with his thumb.
“No, no” said Twilight, pulling off a fake smile as she took the half-asleep Spike in her arms and got up. “I… really should get going, before my parents get worried and call me.”
“Oh, okay….” said Flash, scratching the back of his head and standing up next to Twilight. She had taken out her cellphone to check if her parents hadn’t called her already without her hearing it, and the sight of the phone gave Flash an idea that he expressed immediately. “Is it ok if I… give you my number? And you give me yours?” He then took out his own phone out of the pocket of his jacket.
Twilight took a few seconds to take in the sudden answer before answering it. “Uhm… Sure”
They then interchanged their cell phones and typed in their respective phone numbers and saved them as a new contact with their names. Flash was about to give Twilight her phone back when he was blinded by a sudden –literal– flash. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. When his sight recovered, he saw Twilight holding up her phone in front of her face.
She smiled nervously. “Sorry” she said. “I wanted a contact photo, it’s just that I know another guy called Flash and I wouldn’t want to confuse…”
“That’s ok, but, you aren’t Photo Finish, you could at least give me a heads up” Flash said, smiling and raising and eyebrow. He handed Twilight her phone once again. “And maybe, take it from your own phone?”
Twilight realized she had taken the picture with Flash’s phone and felt a bit embarrassed. She grinned awkwardly and blushed. “Right, sorry…”
She finally took her own phone and gave Flash his. She went to her camera feature and held it up. Flash made a natural pose, with one of his hands in the pocket of his jacket. After Twilight had taken the picture and put her phone back in her bag, Flash held his phone like a camera as well. “I don’t suppose you mind?”
Twilight was a bit surprised by this, but figured it was fair for momentarily blinding Flash. She held Spike closer to her with both of her arms and smiled for the camera. Flash looked at the picture he had taken and couldn’t help but smile. “That’s pretty cute…”
He showed the photography to Twilight. She liked it too, especially how adorable Spike looked when he was asleep and how happy she looked holding him. She noticed that her cheeks were particularly roseate, as they still were right now. The bus then stopped in front of them and the driver opened the doors.
“Well,” said Twilight, walking to her transportation, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Twi” Flash said softly, but loud enough for her to hear it.
She gave him a last smile and got inside the bus. The doors closed behind her and she walked to the last seat of the almost empty bus, where she usually sat. She laid Spike on the seat beside her. All the motion began to wake up Spike, but Twilight knew he wanted to rest, so she scratched his head and his back, indicating to him that it was alright for him to keep sleeping, which he did in no time.
A few minutes passed when Twilight received a message. When she saw the name it had, she was surprised to see it was from Flash.
Flash, 5:07 pm: Thanks again for all your help w/chemistry. Would it be ok if I asked you to teach me a few other subjects? It’s ok if u say no…
Twilight couldn’t help but snicker. That last part seemed like a reverse psychology attempt to her, but either way, her answer wouldn’t have changed.
Twilight, 5:09 pm: Don’t be silly! I’ll help you with anything you need :)
She was in the middle of a wide field. She was wearing a white, light summer dress that went all the way down to her bare toes. Her hair was loose and the wind caressed it softly. She took a deep breath of fresh air before opening her eyes again. She saw nothing but the blue sky above her. She looked to the side and saw the soft and fresh grass she was lying on. Twilight smiled to herself. She felt nothing but peace.
She decided to sit up in order to see the horizon that surrounded her, but when she took a look ahead, her smile was wiped away from her face.
Instead of the beautiful landscape she expected to see, she saw herself, smiling diabolically and almost painfully, sporting a darker skin tone, a sheer cyan horn, fire of the same color surrounding her eyes, and enormous dark wings located on her back. The demon began to laugh maniacally and raised both her hands, which began to glow in the same color as the horn in her forehead.
Twilight, terrified, stood up and attempted to run away, but as she did, the ground beneath her feet crumbled disappeared into thin air, leaving only a vast and dark sky in its place. Twilight stopped and screamed, expecting to fall down, but instead she remained in her place, as if the ground had only become invisible. Her chest tightened and she began to hyperventilate.
Her demon self was suddenly in front of her, approaching with her sinister grin. “TRYING TO RUN AWAY?” she asked with her screeching voice. Twilight backed away as her evil version advanced. She suddenly couldn’t move any further, as if there was a wall behind her. She turned to look but there was nothing on her back, similar to how she was standing despite the lack of ground.
“Who are you?” Twilight asked fearfully, but when she looked up to where the demon was, she saw nothing. Before she could feel any relief, the haunting diabolical laugh was heard from an unclear distance, followed by a snarky response: “I feel as if we know each other pretty well already, so you can call me Midnight Sparkle!”
Midnight Sparkle? That’s what the force that so desperately wanted to take over her was called?
“Why do you keep messing with me?” Twilight asked in despair, as her fists clenched and tears began to form in her eyes. “WHAT IS IT YOU WANT FROM ME?”
Twilight suddenly felt a pressure on her shoulders and saw two hands that were grabbing on them. She yelled and turned around to find out Midnight Sparkle once more. She set her cyan eyes with magenta irises on Twilight’s frightful violet pupils.
“From you? Not much, actually” she said, as she began to slowly float in circles around the confused girl. “All I need is your body, so I can let my magic out and head to Equestria!” she exclaimed before letting out another loud chuckle.
Twilight tightened her teeth together. “I won’t let you do that!”
But as she spoke, she felt a pressure on her wrists and a force that began to pull her down. She looked at her hands and saw that they were surrounded by glowing handcuffs resembling the color of Midnight Sparkle’s horn and magic. She was tied up to thick chains of the same color, and when she saw beneath her feet, she was terrified to find she was hovering above a black hole. She could feel its energy dragging her down.
In front of her, appeared Midnight Sparkle once again, and she noticed she was wearing the same chains as she was, and beneath her was another black hole. “Sweet innocent Twilight” Midnight said with a sarcastic tone. “Don’t you see, there is nothing you can do to stop me!”
She began to flap her wings and, as she flew above, Twilight was dragged down, as if they were both attached to the same chain and it was acting as a pulley. She let out a scream as she was submerged knee-height inside the black hole. She noticed that instead of merely a strong force of gravity, this mysterious portal was also some sort of ice-cold pool, for she felt the liquid ascending from her feet up to her waist. She tried her best to return to the surface, but all of her efforts did very little against Midnight Sparkle’s strong eagle wings. Her evil laughter rumbled in Twilight’s eardrums as she kept coming down.
“You may turn me on and off all you want, but it’s only a matter of time until you come across another source of magic! And once you do…” she opened her wings once again and let out a final screeching cackle. “I’LL BE IN COMPLETE CONTROL!”
Midnight Sparkle rose and Twilight was pulled down by her chains, being sunken in the dark and cold water of her own despair.
“NOOOOOO!” Twilight yelled. She sat up and opened her eyes abruptly. Between her wild heartbeats and her hyperventilation, she found herself sitting on her bed. She looked down at herself and, in the darkness, saw that her skin tone was still the same as usual. She wasn’t wearing Midnight Sparkle’s dress, she was simply wearing her pajamas. She turned her neck as much as she could to look at her own back, and was relieved not to find those gigantic wings. Her breath slowly stabilized and she turned on the lantern that stood on her night table, faintly lighting up her bedroom. She looked down at the floor, and saw Spike. He was standing on his dog bed, and he looked at Twilight with concern in his eyes.
“Was it… her again?” he asked Twilight quietly.
The girl sighed and nodded. She got up and started walking to a desk that sat on the other side of her room. She wrapped her left wrist with a band that was connected with a machine she had built herself out of an old computer. With her right hand, she began to type in some data into the small screen. “She told me her name was… Midnight Sparkle” she told Spike, her voice trembling a bit at those last two words.
“Midnight Sparkle?” Spike repeated. “Was the nightmare the same as usual?”
As Twilight checked her blood pressure and adrenaline levels on her device, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before answering softly. “No. Usually, she just stares at me and chases me. This time… she spoke to me a lot more. She told me it was only a matter of time until she takes over.”
Spike walked to Twilight and put his front paws on her lap. “Twilight, are you sure you don’t want to speak about this with you parents or your brother?”
“Why do you think I sound-proofed my bedroom, Spike?” Twilight answered with irritation, taking the velcro off her left wrist and using both hands to type. “I want to keep them as away from this as possible. They already know it happened once. If they found out it’s still happening… it would only make them feel worried and helpless. They’re better off not knowing.”
Spike stood on all fours and looked at how stressed and frightened Twilight was. This made him feel worried and helpless, but he still attempted to reason with her. “You shouldn’t face this alone, Twilight.”
“My friends know about this. They at least have some experience with magic, maybe they can…”
She got cut off at the beeping sound of her device as it printed out her results. She took off the sheet and scanned it quickly. She gasped when she looked at the alarming numbers on it.
“It’s getting worse…” she said under her breath, putting a hand over her mouth and laying her forehead on her desk. She began sobbing softly.
Spike attempted to comfort his friend by petting her knee with his paw. He couldn’t stand seeing her so morose. “Twilight, are you sure your friends can help you?”
“I… I don’t know, Spike.” Twilight answered, weeping and without looking up. “I really don’t know. And even if they can’t… I’ll just have to face this on my own.”
She rose her head and sniffed. Wiping a tear, she looked down at the ground as she scratched Spike’s ear. “I’ve always been on my own anyway.”