Author's notes: So far this was the most difficult chapter to write, even if it is fairly short. Angry dialogue is hard! Let me know what you think about it, or what could improve in it. The comment button is your friend!
“You!” Terra pulled away and shoved the pony he was hugging to the ground in disgust. Twilight yelped, more out of shock than pain as the heartfelt embrace was quickly replaced by violence. “Of course it would be you I find in here. Just my luck. The one pony I turn to in this stupid town, the ONE good thing that happens here, and it has to be YOU that shows up to ruin it.” He fumed, pacing around the little table, kicking a stray book clear across the room.
Twilight shirked away, unhurt, but still wanting to put some distance between them. “I’m…I’m sorry? I didn’t know that you’d-”
“Oh there’s a first! The great Twilight Sparkle doesn’t know something! Prized student of Celestia? What a joke,” he snorted still pacing around.
“Augh! That’s it! I’m sick of all these insults! Why? What strange problem is my fault? I had your parents for teachers in school, and they were my favorite professors! But until I found you by that wall I didn’t even know you existed, much less that you were their son! The whole time you’ve been in Ponyville you’ve been staying in MY library! That sandwich you got for a snack there is made with daises I bought!” She turned away, thinking for a moment. “Well, I think Spike did the shopping this week, and I guess it is the city’s library not specifically mine per se,” She re-focused, stomping her foot down for emphasis, “but you get the point! Why in Celestia’s name do you hate me so?!?”
“Why? WHY? I’ll tell you why, Twilight Sparkle!” His words dripped with venom and rage. “Let me tell you a little story. A story about a young colt and his parents. All this foal wanted, more than anything, was to go to school where they taught at. That’s it! That’s all I wanted, was for them to be proud of me as a student! Is that really too much to ask? And everything was great, just dandy, until YOU showed up.” He jabbed an accusing hoof in her direction.
“Hatching a dragon from an egg wasn’t good enough for you was it? That’s all you had to do for that stupid test! But NO, you had to grow the stupid dragon up twenty feet tall too! Thummim was at your little show you put on, and couldn’t stop raving about how great that little Twilight was, how PERFECT that little Twilight was. And you know what? IT DIDN’T STOP! Day after day after day, that’s all I heard about. ‘Oh, Twilight finished all her reading for the semester; it’s only the third day!’ ‘Did you hear? Twilight can already teleport across the room, and she just barely got her cutie mark!’ Believe me, I KNOW you were their student.”
He took a few menacing steps forward. “And you know what else? They were so spellbound, so blinded by how perfect you were, nothing I did could even shine a candle in front of them. Dad quit giving me lessons in magic in the evenings, so he could tutor you more! I didn’t have a birthday that year, they forgot it!” The tears he was crying before started flowing again, causing him to shake them away.
“But you know what? I just tried harder, but nothing mattered! So one year after your little escapade, when it was my turn to take the entrance exam, I went all out to impress them. And they didn’t even show up to watch! The single worst day of my life, when my whole life was ruined, and they weren’t even there because YOU were presenting a practicum. Now do you get it, miss Twilight Sparkle? Does that make sense to your little head?” He panted, eyes burning with an unwavering hatred as she stood there, enthralled by his ranting. For a few moments they stood there, eyes locked and unmoving.
After a while, she spoke up, “That’s it? THAT’S your big reason for hating me? I’m sorry about your parents, but you can’t possibly believe that it’s all my fault! I didn’t even know you! I still barely know you! How can you really blame me for all that?”
Jaw clenched, he tried to hold back the raw emotion from bursting forth. He failed. “SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!” He broke into a charge, tackling the unsuspecting unicorn to the ground. Pinning her down, he raised a hoof and punched down, hard. As he raised up again, a light burst forth from Twilight’s horn, and wrapped his whole body in a pink glow. With a quick telekinetic fling, she sent him sailing towards the bookshelf where he crashed hard. Lying on his back, he struggled to get up when another flash of light burst out, and Twilight teleported over his ragged form. There she stood, mane askew, pinning him down.
She leaned in closer, wanting to make sure he heard every word she said. “Enough! I’ve got just one thing to say to you, Terra Firma-”
“Whoo! Who’s ready to party?”
Pinkie Pie burst through the door, streamers and balloons flying everywhere. She bounced right over to the two ponies, noisemaker blaring.
“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here? And why all the balloons?” Twilight stammered out.
“For the anniversary of Ponyville party, duh! I gave you an invitation before, silly!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You remember! I came over here and gave you the…” she gasped, “Oh my gosh I DIDN’T get you an invitation! I ran out and never got more! Oh I’m so so SOOOO sorry Twilight!”
“I, well, that’s fine Pinkie, but it’s the middle of the night! WHY in Celestia’s name is there a party NOW?”
She bounced back and forth over the two completely stunned ponies. “Well I wanted to make an all day party for this, right? So I had all these super-fun games to play, all ready for the break of dawn! But then I thought, why wait for the sun? We’d be missing out on six hours of prime party-time! So I told everypony the party starts at midnight! And it’s almost midnight now, so who wants to party?” Pinkie did a few more bounces, then stopped one bounce mid-air. She rubbed her chin, looking over one completely disheveled Twilight, pinning an equally unkempt looking Terra Firma. All of a sudden it hit her.
“Oh. Oh! OH! You two were having your own special party right here! Congratulations you two! That’s funny, the story isn’t tagged shipping, but I guess that’s okay! You make a great looking couple! I’ll let you two lovebirds finish up, then the party’s gonna be in the middle of town, right by the giant fountain! See you there!”
“I, WHAT? No, Pinkie we’re not, I mean we weren’t, I mean…” But Pinkie had already bounded her way out the open front door, leaving the two alone. Just stared at the still open door for a minute, completely unsure of what just happened there. They finally turned to look at each other, and stared blankly for a moment. With a grunt, Terra pushed the purple pony off him, and stood up and walked away towards the door himself. Twilight shook her head a bit to try and wrap her head around what just happened. Failing at that, she got up and headed for the door herself listlessly.