//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Behind The School 
// Story: Behind The Petals 
// by Gboyd 
//------------------------------//

The sound of clanging bells rang for miles. Crowds of people lined up in front of the doors of Equestria's most prestigious academy: Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The sounds of chatter filled the air, with strong excitement along for the ride. Young children flitted around their parents, both eager and scared for what might hide behind those closed doors. 
Twilight Sparkle was one such young unicorn. She twiddled her fingers nervously, biting her lip and constantly alternating between holding her rag doll or her mother's hand. Smarty-Pants looked at Twilight. His red and blue button eyes seemed to regard her with concern, as if asking her if she was alright. She released a slight smile and let go of her mother's hand to  snuggle the doll. Smarty-Pants knew. He always knew. 
"You'll be alright, Twily," said a rather shaky voice. A hand squeezed her shoulder, causing Twilight to look up at her brother with a curious gaze. While Shining Armor's bright blue eyes shone excitement and pride, they also held a note of worry. The kind of worry she usually saw when Cadence came over. Wait. 'Worry' wasn't the right word. She thought for a moment. He was... nervous? Yes! Nervous. He was nervous. She nodded in satisfaction and hugged Smarty-Pants closer. Still though, why was Shiny nervous? He had nothing to worry about. Like what could be hiding behind those royal purple Prench doors with the gold trim...
Feeling another prickle of fear, she backed up until she hit her brother. Shining Amor said something, but she didn't hear it. She was too busy looking at the building that seemed to loom above her. Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was sight to behold, even if one happened to be living there full time. 
The medieval roofs dipped and curved, forming lattice windows and balconies. Two towers perched proudly on either side of the school, one holding the Astronomy Observatory, and the other possessing the lounge. Every window and door was laced over with a gold trim, guarded by the stone gargoyles' balancing on the edges of the roof. The roof's purple tiles curved downward, giving the building an almost royal air. The early morning sun rays shone behind the building, finishing off the entire display in a prismatic aura. Yes, a sight to behold indeed. And fearful one at that. 
Twilight buried her face in Smarty-Pants's gray fuzz, hoping to blink the image away and not look at it again until she absolutely had to. However, while her eyes could see nothing but darkness, her ears were full of something else. 
"....Think about it, Twily," Shining Armor was saying. "Remember the first shield you preformed? The whole neighborhood thought it was incredible! Oh, and the time you lifted the entire house? Ah man... You'll be fine; you're gonna do great," and on and on. 
Twilight had half a notion to roll her eyes. She loved her BBBFF, she really did, but this was too much. He didn't know how she was going to do, and him spurring her on was just making her more nervous. "'Sounds like your tryna' convince yourself more than me, big brother," she grumbled. Shining gawked. 
"Well--I-" 
"Shining, honey, that's enough," said Twilight Velvet gently. "We KNOW Twily's going to amaze those judges in there. That fact that there's still books all over the house proves it," she said, smiling slyly at Twilight. Twilight blushed and hid away in the safe haven that was Smarty-Pants.
"I had to study," she weakly protested. 
"Uh huh. Studying at two in the morning doesn't exactly count, Twily," her mother reminded. Twilight bit her lip and turned away with a pout. 
Twilight Velvet bent down. "Twilight, honey, face me." Twilight begrudgingly did so. "We know you're nervous. We all are. But you know the rules. You needed your rest if you're gonna through with this, right honey?" 
Twilight allowed her amethyst orbs to wander away. "Yes..." she mumbled in response. Twilight Velvet smiled. 
"There's my little girl." Her mother stood back up and continued conversing with Daddy and her BBBFF. Twilight rested her chin on Smarty-Pants head and continued to count the cobblestones that made up streets of Canterlot. As she gazed over the stones and trailed up the walls of Princess's school, it suddenly didn't seem so scary anymore. 
"Velvet, Night-Light, so nice to see you here." A unfamiliar, rather posh voice caught Twilight's attention, and she jerked her head up to see who was talking. 
"Burning Embers," her mother greeted warmly. Twilight relaxed, recognizing the woman as one her neighbors across the street. Then she froze in dread, instantly recognizing the piercing eyes glaring at her from Miss Ember's waist. Dimming Sparks. One of the many people she could gladly live without. Dimming sneered, and took on a look of pure innocence whenever her mother brought her up during the grown-ups conversation. 
"So, you're taking the test, too?" Dimming asked. The sound her voice grated on Twilight's nerves. It was like she was trying to be annoying on purpose. Twilight groaned inwardly. She didn't need this. 
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing," she muttered. Dimming scoffed. 
"Yeah, it is." 
"How so?" 
"Uh, we're going to be in the same room together, genius. You'll ruin my image!" 
Twilight had to try REALLY hard not to roll her eyes. "Right, as if her 'image' could get any worse," she thought. She sighed, and turned to face Dimming. "What do you want, Dimming?" 
Dimming smirked, and opened her mouth. Twilight braced herself. Here it comes. The tirade of nonsense that made up the incredible life of Dimming Sparks. However, before the little lady could open her mouth, a voice shouted. 
"Hey! You!" 
Startled, both Twilight and Dimming looked around to see who had spoken. 
"You! You know, the one who looks like she ate lemon for breakfast this morning!?" 
Now even more confused, Twilight craned her neck to try and catch a glimpse of the welcome intruder. Dimming scowled, clearly offended. 
"I did NOT eat a lemon this morning!" she shrieked. 
"How would I know?" the voice replied offhandedly. "I didn't have anything to eat this morning. But your face looks like you smelled somthin' nasty." Dimming went a shade of red. 
"You--" she started. 
"Who, me?" came the interruption, sounding greatly confused. "I'm sorry, are you talking to ME?" Mock amazement then took its place.  "Whoa.... My dreams have come true....  The great Dimming Sparks has noticed me!" 
Dimming went under another color change. Twilight giggled, now knowing EXACTLY who it was. 
"Wow, you sure can turn allot of colors," the voice observed candidly. "You went from white, to pink, to red, and now you're turning purple. All we need is some yellow and green and you'll be good to go. Although at the rate you're goin' you'll be blue 'fore ya know it." There was a pause. Then, as if to goad Dimming on further, the voice burst into song; a terrible impression of E-Notes Parsley. "I'll have a blue, blue Hearthswarming… without you...." 
"ENOUGH!" Dimming exploded. 
"Don't fake it 'til you can shake it!" the voice chirped back cheerily. Dimming stomped a foot and made a beeline for the direction the voice was coming from. Twilight dissolved into giggles, unable to hold it in anymore. 
"Did you like my performance, my lady?" asked the voice in a mock accent, this time coming from behind her. Twilight turned around to see one of her most favorite people in the world.  He blew a strand of his grey, unruly hair out of his face, brown eyes flecked with gold waiting for answer. Twilight gave a shy smile and nodded. 
The young boy did a smooth one-eighty to face an invisible crowd and raised his hands. "And there you have it, folks. My performance was superb-" he leaned in close to Twilight, "as usual," he whispered with a wink- "Thank you! Thank you very much." He ended the play with a deep bow to his invisible audience and took her hand, whisking them both into the nearby bushes. 
Twilight opened her mouth to shriek in surprise, but a gentle hand on her mouth prevented her from doing so. Looking up, she shot him a questioning look as why he had yanked her away so suddenly. He jerked his head in a direction, and Twilight turned to see Dimming Sparks heading back to where she and her mysterious friend had been standing mere minutes earlier. And although they couldn't hear Dimming from this distance, the scowl on her face was enough to show that she was far from pleased. Twilight giggled at the display. "You're right--she is turning purple." 
The boy leaned backwards, lounging on the bushes' roots. "Told ya," he winked. 
"Thank you," Twilight said. 
"No prob. You looked like ya needed the ticket outta there, anyhow."  Twilight flashed him another smile and picked her way out from the bushes to the other side. Crackling behind her told her he was doing the same thing. Once out of their prickly prison, Twilight plopped out onto the grass. Suddenly feeling shy, she began picking at the strands. "I... didn't think you'd come," she said softly. 
"Are you kidding?" he asked in disbelief. "You should know me by now, Sparkle! I would've never've missed this." Twilight went pink and giggled. "Even if you have to tie balloons to your back and float up to the window to watch--?"
"--Only to get caught by your ever-persistent brother and end up in the dungeon? Yes," he finished. Twilight giggled again, then remembered her parents. She looked away. Her companion clearly noticed her change in mood. 
"Somethin' on your mind, Sparkle?" 
Twilight gave a sigh. "I really need to get back with my parents." 
"But we just got here," he protested. 
"I know. but I gotta get back there so I'll enough time to--"
"Panic about taking the test then study up a storm then panic some more?" He asked. Twilight blinked, then rolled her eyes. 
"Yes. That's exactly what I plan to do," she dead-panned sarcastically. He chuckled softly, causing delightful flutters to run up and down Twilight's body. She blushed furiously. "Clutterstep…" she groaned. 
"What?" he asked. "I know you, and I know you're gonna study until you can study no more." He shrugged. "Don't snap at me. I'm just tellin' them the truth." He turned and threw a rueful look at the innocent bushes. 
"Telling who the truth?" Twilight asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. 
"My invisible audience," he dead-panned. Twilight burst into giggles. "Ha! There, see? I made ya laugh," he countered in a sing-song voice. Twilight, still laughing, shoved him away and then ran pell-mell down the hill. A rush of footsteps behind her told her he was on her heels. His hand caught her shoulder and she tipped, rolling all the way down the grassy knoll. She reached the bottom, and Clutterstep bumped into her. "Oof!" Twilight grunted and stood up, brushing off her dress. She frowned disdainfully at the grass stains blooming on the fabric in various places. She shot a displeased glare at her friend, who lounging luxuriously out on the grass. "You gave me grass stains," she accused. His eyes shot open, and he scrutinized her rumpled dress. 
"Hey, you were the one who chose to fall and roll down the hill, not me."  Twilight merely harrumphed at this, unable to counter. She knew he was right. Still. He got up and eyed her dress. "I think it looks better now," he quipped. 
Twilight scoffed, cuffed him around the head, and darted away before he could respond. Clutterstep chased her down, and she pushed him away once more with a smirk. Laughter rang from the School's garden grounds as the duo ran around and played. Clutterstep took her along pathways and up side-walks. They climbed garden walls and buildings and hid from the guards. Hours passed the duo by, until the sun was getting close to the hills. The two sat on a hillside near the school, in the kinder-garden crisscross applesauce fashion. 
Twilight turned to her child-hood friend. Gray locks played across his forehead, and brown eyes flecked with gold twinkled at her. "Thanks for playing with me," she said shyly. "You made me forget my nervousness." Clutterstep crossed his legs and blushed slightly. His brown eyes flecked with gold faced the sun.  
"Aww," he dismissed. "It was nothin'." As if to ignore her, he promptly sat down and began playing with the grass. Twilight rolled her eyes ruefully at him. 
"Yeah, you're right. It was nothing," she shot at him.
"Yeah!" he cheered weakly, pumping a fist in the air. "Score one for me!" Twilight giggled again. There was a moment of silence as the duo watched the sun sink ever lower. After a while, Twilight broke the silence. 
"How are you doing?" she asked softly, knowing the subject wasn't one he liked to talk about. There was a shrugging reply. 
"Eh, I could be better." Clutterstep continued to pick at the grass. Twilight paused. 
"Something happen?" 
"Well...…" 
Twilight turned her head to face him, suspicious. She knew something wasn't right; otherwise he wouldn't be looking sheepish.
"I know what you said about stealing...." he began. Twilight sat up, her full attention trained on him. Her heart sank. What had he done this time? 
"Clutter.." she warned. He threw his hands in the air and turned to face her. 
"I know! I know. But I was just so hungry! So... I might have..." Clutterstep paused, and turned to face her, a guilty expression in his face. Twilight raised a suspicious eyebrow, waiting for him to finish. He was silent for a couple moments, then released a sigh. "....Yeah, I was kinda hoping you would finish that sentence for me while I pretended to remember the truth," he finished. Twilight blinked, then stretched on the ground, hands under her chin, a eager child waiting for a story. 
Clutterstep slumped. 'I'm not getting outta this, am I?" 
"Nope." There was a pause. 
".... Darn. "
"So....."
"So?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. 
"Ugh! Fine." 

     ***

     
Twilight studied the daisy chin, caressing the delicate petals. Her mind raced a million miles an hour, reliving the story she had been told over and over in her mind. She felt guilty, and sad for him. For someone his age, Clutterstep had it hard. And his tattered clothes and unruly appearance proved it. While some might find him rather repulsive; that 'some' being  the entire the population of Canterlot except for maybe the princess, she liked it. It made for a nice change of scenery. She knew it was hard for some to believe, but one could get tired of seeing nothing but royal purple roofs and gold-plated clothes and knick-knacks along with the type of the people who wore them. Seeing someone who was... well, as real as Clutterstep was refreshing. 
However, as innocent as he seemed, for as long as she known him, she never met his parents, or his siblings. He would never talk about his life, instead opting to try and talk about hers. The only time he ever complied was when she asked a question he couldn't avoid, or when she would remind him of the promise he had made to her.
A promise he had made to always be honest with her. Twilight always felt guilty whenever she reminded him of it, but Clutterstep never seemed to mind it, however reluctant he pretended to be--it was extremely difficult to lie to those big amethyst eyes of hers. But when conversation led to trying times in his life, such as speculating on who his parents were, well....  That's where things tended to get more heated. 
To put it simply, Clutterstep Peace was homeless. The clothes he wore were given to him by either Twilight or some kind soul who took pity on him. The only thing that Clutterstep could truly call his own was, well, Twilight. 
Everything he knew, every physical object he owned was because of her. Heck, he wouldn't even have his cutie mark if it wasn't for her. His name was something he took from the kids living in Canterlot who had christened him that because of his clumsiness. Back then, his name was all he knew, and stealing was the only way to survive. Until he met Twilight Sparkle. But that was a story for another day. 
Which led to his misgivings from the other day. Clutterstep had been wandering through the halls of Canterlot Castle. How he hadn't gotten caught by the royal guard yet was a complete mystery to everyone except him and Twilight. 
He had spotted a innocent goblet sitting unattended on an innocent side table and couldn't resist. He knew stealing was wrong, but his hunger drove him to desperation, and he really needed the money. And he would've gotten away with it too, had it not been for a certain guard. 
"I've never run so fast or so hard! He scared me. Came outta nowhere. I still dunno how I got away either," Clutterstep stressed, throwing his hands out in exasperation.
"Did you give the goblet back?"
"Well yeah. Wasn't really worth stealing if I was going to be run outta town." 
Twilight giggled. There was a long lapse of comfortable silence, and Twilight's smile slowly faded as certain questions came to her.
"Clutterstep?" she began, hesitantly. He didn't seem to notice. 
"Hmm?" 
"Why...  Do you like living here? I mean, don't you get hurt and hungry sometimes?  And cold in the winter?" Twilight's words hung in the air, unwavering. She trembled inwardly, awaiting his answer. 
There was a long pause of silence as Clutterstep contemplated her words. 
"I don't like living here." He turned and took her hands. "I LOVE living here, 'cause it's where you are." Brown eyes flecked with glittering gold met sparkling royal amythist orbs. Twilight smiled.  "Tell me your story again," she requested. "Please?" 
"Which one?" 
"Your life story."  
Clutterstep smiled ruefully and shook his head knowingly. "That one again? Twilight!" he begged. 
"Please!" She begged back. 
Shaking his head, he took a deep breath. 
"Growing up an Earthborn in Canterlot? Not fun. Everywhere I looked, there were people who could do amazing things without effort. Compared to them, I felt worse than little. I felt small." 
Twilight felt a tingle of excitement in her chest. She knew what came next. Clutterstep, seeing her reaction, smiled and continued.
"One day, I tried to help a little girl..... "