//------------------------------// // Chapter 27: Napoleon's Dilemma // Story: Transparent Living // by PinoyPony //------------------------------// -Late March- “She’s so awesome! I didn’t know her favorite ice cream flavor was Huckleberry!” Vertigo hopped alongside Dazzle. Dazzle couldn’t help but snicker. She made friends with a Pinkie Pie. How did Vertigo have this much energy to begin with? Ultimately, Dazzle had Vertigo promise to keep it a secret. Pinkie Promise. Though, it wasn’t too much of a problem since Vertigo talked more about making friends with Silver Spoon she didn’t mention the part where her wings got bound or Diamond got hit by a bolt that ricocheted off Demon’s barrier. “Did she say anything about how she’s doing?” Dazzle asked. “Oh! She wanted me to tell you that she had an outing with the Crusaders! She helped somepony get their cutie mark in the process!” Vertigo said. “Wha-wait! Did somepony say cutie mark?” Bling came to the table and looked at Vertigo’s flank. “Oh, so you haven’t yet.” “Nope!” Vertigo stared down at her blank side and wiggled her flank. “But I’m in no hurry. I’m happy to just fly around.” She tilted her head. “Speaking of which, are you ready for our practice today?” Dazzle marveled at how she directed the conversation like sweeping it under the rug. How did she do that? Maybe that was one of her secret talents- she knew how to keep stuff hush-hush without acting a wee bit suspicious. Or, perhaps it was just her being a little ADHD. “Eeyup.” Bling nodded. “Though it’s going to be tough with the crowds.” Napoleon must’ve caught onto the conversation also. “Preaching to the choir. Some of them are from Baltimare and another east coast city I can’t quite put a hoof on,” he said before sitting down. He pulled a book out of his pack and propped it open on the table. “Fillydelphia?” Bling hinted. “That’s right. Fillydelphia.” Napoleon clicked his tongue and pointed to Bling. “What’tcha reading?” Vertigo asked in a sing-song manner, rocking her head back and forth. “Last minute studying,” Napoleon kept his eyes glued to the book. “Gonna need it for the fair.” “What about me?” Dazzle asked. “Do you need me to prepare also?” Napoleon slid the book towards Dazzle. Once it met Dazzle’s eyes, she whistled. She couldn’t even begin to interpret the charts or the paragraphs filled with scientific jargon. She slid the book back to him. “Wow, I can’t even begin to understand that.” “Oh no, poor things…” Vertigo cut in. She pointed at Bab’s table. As Dazzle turned her gaze, a familiar feeling of dread washed over her. Out at Bab’s table, two ponies, a filly and a colt, were being yelled at by Fancy Gem. From reading Fancy’s lips, Dazzle made out the words ‘the seat is saved! Go somewhere else!’ Dazzle felt a burn inside her. Memories of her mother came to mind and she thought of the many times she’d been scolded. As much as she wanted to retaliate, she really couldn’t. Going over there with Babs at the table was a ticket for disaster. She found it easier to stay out of Bab’s radar. Suddenly, Napoleon slapped his book shut and hopped out of his seat. “Uh, Napoleon, what are you doing?” Bling asked, shifting his eyes nervously between Napoleon and the table. “I’m going to pull a Vertigo-Dazzle.” He winked at Vertigo, and then winked at Dazzle. “Wish me luck.” Vertigo’s jaw hung open. Without another word, Napoleon approached the filly and colt. “Is he crazy? Babs is already mad at him for not joining their table!” Bling pointed towards Napoleon. “Personally, I think she should get over it.” Dazzle kept her eyes on Napoleon. “Napoleon only wanted peace and quiet to finish his book after all.” The filly and colt slowly trotted away with their heads hanging low. Napoleon tapped on the shoulder of the filly. She spun around. Bling continued, “Does anypony else think he’s been acting funny? Usually he’s got his snout stuck in a book, wanting as little conversation as possible. It’s even weirder that he he’s greeting foals from another school.” Bling tapped his chin. “What really stumps me is why would he choose willingly to make a bold move against Babs.” “You’re right.” Vertigo chomped down on her daisy sandwich. “I’d avoid Babs often, after her turning, I became a prime target. That’s why I fly; a moving target is hard to hit.” “Maybe it’s just the science fair.” Dazzle suggested. “I think the stress has pushed him to go out of his comfort zone.” Dazzle pointed to a poster board case sticking out of the filly’s saddlebag. “I think he wants to scout out the competitors so he knows what he is up against.” Dazzle could see a brief exchange, and a change in facial expressions, the three of them started towards their table. “Even so, I know that Napoleon goes to extreme lengths to avoid Babs.” Bling said. “He’d hide behind other groups of chattering foals, time his lunch to make sure he’s not in the same room as them, and even so far as sulk in the library, somewhere Underdog never likes to look even if Babs told him to look for Napoleon there.” “Wow, all that? You must be his fancolt!” Vertigo snickered. “After hanging with Underdog, I notice a few things.” Bling frowned. “But that’s all in the past now.” He said. He finished his sentence just in time as Napoleon motioned to the filly and colt to take a seat first. “Hoi! I’m Vertigo!” Vertigo jumped in, holding out a hoof to the colt. The colt flinched. “Uhm, Dusty Mantle,” The colt answered, reaching out with a shaky brown hoof. Napoleon sat down at the table, to the side of Dazzle. He waved over to a filly who was taking her seat “Everypony, this is Pink Sprinkles. Pink Sprinkles, this is Dazzle, Vertigo, and Bling.” The filly waved her forehoof. “Pleasure to meet you!” She set her pack with the poster board down on the seat. Bling held out a hoof. “I haven’t seen your faces at our school, so I’m assuming you are from out of town. Which school are you coming from?” “Baltimare West Academy of Magic.” Pink Sprinkles said. “Planning to participate in the science fair?” Vertigo asked. “Yup!” Dusty Mantle nodded. “Pink and I want to go to CSGU. This is the best chance we’ve got since Corrosion is rampant.” “I feel the same way.” Napoleon held up a high-hoof. Dusty accepted and slapped his hoof. “Are any of you participating?” “Just Napoleon and Dazzle.” Bling motioned towards them with a tilt of his neck. “Wow, a unicorn and an earth pony teamed up for the competition…” Dusty said. “You don’t see many of those. It seems that most pairs are unicorns only.” “How come?” Dazzle asked. “Beats me.” Dusty shrugged. “Though, comes to think of it, the majority of teams are from Fillydephia’s― an academy for unicorns. I guess that is one of the factors of it.” Dazzle’s mind reeled back to what Yttrium said. For some strange reason, whatsoever it was, earth ponies didn’t gravitate towards hospital work. One of the causes might be the disadvantage of not having wings or a horn. “How hard has the Corrosion hit you school by the way?” Napoleon asked. “Here, as you might’ve heard, unicorns are not allowed to use magic while it’s rampant. I wonder though, how are the unicorn academies fending? “About the same.” Dusty said. “Not much else. We only are allowed to practice at home in the safety of our homes, to prevent spreading. As if an annoying little sister was already hard to deal with.” He looked up at Napoleon. “You got any siblings?” Napoleon turned white as a ghost. “Well, uh no… so. Uhm, sorry, I can’t relate.” “Pfft. You’re lucky.” Dusty said. “I’m kinda thankful I’m spending a week in Mane-hattan so I don’t need to deal with her.” Dazzle picked up on something, a hint of unease, maybe resentment. Napoleon’s face seemed to burn with another emotion, one that she’d hadn’t seen to this intensity before- anger. “What about you?” Dazzle pointed to Pink before the tension could get worse. She decided that the topic was a safe one to be on just as long as Napoleon didn’t get tangled up with Dusty. “I have two older siblings.” Pink said. “A sister and a brother.” She giggled and then pointed to Vertigo. “Your turn!” “I have an older sister who is already off to college.” Vertigo said. She tapped Bling on the shoulder. “You?” “Same as Napoleon. Only child.” Bling folded his hooves. “How many siblings do you have?” Dusty Mantle asked Dazzle, taking a bite out of his daisy sandwich. “I’m an only child.” Dazzle said. “Wow a lot of families with one foal.” Dusty said. “I’m sure you get all the attention.” Dazzle’s ears drooped. Her parents back in Ponyville never really payed attention to her. What made it a change of pace is that Coco listened to her. She wasn’t used to it. Ultimately, she felt bad for Coco. She was like a changeling, draining all the love that Coco had, leaving her exhausted most days. All she could do was model for her. Not much else. “So, what is your project?” Dazzle figured that it was best to cut back to what he was saying before. She also kept watch on Napoleon, just in case he showed any sign of tension. Even in the week following the science fair, he showed a lot of unease. Even now, she noticed him acting weird― greeting the students from another school was certainly out of the norm for him. Dusty started to life. “Oh, we are presenting a spin on Star-Swirl’s elementary shield spell― It’s an experiment of where the shield is weakest, and how the magic aura rotates about an axis to make up for any chips or cracks.” “Very nice!” Dazzle said. “I don’t want to be rude, but―” Bling finished his sandwich with one final bite.“― Lunch is halfway done.” He pointed towards the clock. “Vertigo and I need to practice.” He was right. The clock had passed them by. Only about half an hour left to relax. “Sure thing!” Vertigo chirped. As the two flew off, Dazzle figured it couldn’t hurt that the two join them. Besides, it would allow Napoleon to calm down just a tad. “Hey, wanna come? Vertigo and Bling are excellent flyers!” “Certainly! This will be a treat.” Dusty said. He packed away the rest of his lunch and started for the doors. Dazzle trotted to Napoleon’s side as both of them led the way out. “W-wait!” Pink Sprinkles feverishly packed up and snatched up her saddlebags. As she leapt out of her seat, Dazzle saw her hooves collapse under her. Before Dazzle could react, her lunchbox spilled its contents up, splattering soup all over her coat and saddlebags. Pink scuttled to her feet quickly. She gasped as she stared at the posterboard. Dusty quickly picked up the posterboard and inspected it. He gasped as he stared at a giant smear from Pink’s soup… and from the looks of it, it wasn’t coming out anytime soon. “Pink!” Dusty said. “You ruined it!” “I’m sorry!” Pink cried. “How are we supposed to do the fair now?” He pointed toward the board. Napoleon stepped through and nudged Dusty away. “Uhm, what are you doing?” Dusty asked. Unfazed, Napoleon inspected the poster board. “Hmm, what material is your poster made out of?” “Cardboard?” Dusty raised an eyebrow. “No, I mean, where did the cardboard come from?” “A tree? I guess?” Dusty said. “Why are you asking?” Napoleon took out a bottle of soap from his pack. His horn glowed as he started to rub the soap over the smear. He lifted his water bottle from his pack and unscrewed the lid. He held the soap out to Pink. “Here. Rub this on your coat on the soup marks.” “Why?” Pink asked. “What are you doing?” Dusty said a little louder. Irritation was becoming more apparent in his voice. “Just trust me.” Napoleon said. Pink slowly rubbed the soap on her stained tan and pink coat, froth started to form from bubbles. Napoleon proceeded to splash a tiny bit of water on the poster. The soap foamed up and fizzled. Some of the water rose up as steam, giving off a slight aroma of lavender. Dusty’s jaw dropped. Napoleon levitated his canister towards Pink and poured water onto her coat. She winced at the fizzling. “Sorry, your coat might be a little damp after this. But, it’s certainly better than having food stains on you.” Napoleon said. “Napoleon!” A teacher called out. “Sorry Ms. Lagoon, it was an emergency.” Napoleon said. “He cleaned my board!” Dusty inspected his poster board closer, then turned back to Napoleon. “How did you do that?” “You’re lucky!” Napoleon said. “It just so happens that my project is on soap.” He held up the bottle of soap proudly. “I knew that enchantment would come in handy. Insta-dry. Just in case the judges want to see it in action.” Ms. Lagoon frowned. “Be careful, Napoleon, you don’t want to catch Corrosion.” “I will. Sorry for breaking the rules.” Napoleon said. “No worries. Like you said, it was an emergency.” Ms. Lagoon said. “Well, I got to find a janitor to clean up the rest of the splatter.” “I’m sorry…” Pink apologized. “Don’t worry about it. It was an accident.” Mrs. Lagoon said. She motioned to the clock. “Lunch is almost over. I suggest going to set up your partition in the gym. I was coming to round up the students who are participating.” She smiled “I would before your poster board gets lunch splattered on it again.” Napoleon glanced up at the clock. “She’s right. We should set up.” Dazzle hoped Vertigo and Bling wouldn’t be to upset. She’d was also sure they’d understand, since they would notice the droves of students going to the gymnasium to set up their poster. Carefully, she unfolded it and placed it on the table. It was filled with a couple lines of writing- her very own muzzle-writing, followed by a chart of the results- one that Napoleon explained was the pH graph with the percentage mixture. Another graph was the enchantability scale (Napoleon was especially excited to make this one) versus each percentage. She had to say, it looked a lot like a bell curve. Slap on a couple pictures of their procedure with a couple pictures of them smiling for the camera during mid-experiment, they were complete. Napoleon wheezed. He set down a crate on the floor full of tiny packets. He’d insisted in making a couple samples for the judges. It wasn’t his idea― it was hers. Her father taught her to provide incentive for customers― or judges for that matter. “There we are.” Napoleon said. “You ready for tomorrow? Did you practice your part of the presentation?” “Yup.” Dazzle couldn’t help but snicker. Napoleon wanted to control every aspect of this. “I see judges already going around. Are you sure we present tomorrow? Some of the other foals have are being scored already.” “Yeah, I’m sure.” Napoleon said. “They are just letting the some of the foals from the other school go first since it’s kinda costly to rent a place to stay here in Mane-hattan. Besides, they figured getting the majority done first makes it easier on the judges… Hard part first, easy part later.” He winked. “It makes it so they are easier on judging our project since long days makes anypony crabby.” Dazzle snickered. “Alright. Whatever you say.” Napoleon went to apply the finishing touches. “Napoleon,” Dazzle began. “There’s been something I been wanting to talk to you about.” “Hmm?” Napoleon turned towards her. “You’ve been acting funny as of late.” Dazzle started. “What? Funny? How?” Napoleon asked. “Don’t think it’s not apparent. You’re not your usual self, greeting others, welcoming them to our school, even to the length of shutting the book and walking towards Bab’s table” Dazzle smiled. “Are you nervous about the competition?” “No― I mean yes, kind of.” Napoleon said. He sighed. “Well, if you need a Pep Talk, my mom is surprising good at them.” Dazzle helped him put together the mock setup of the soap preparation. “You should see her when I’m procrastinating on homework.” “It’s not that.” Napoleon said. “The competition is hard enough as it is.” His eyes widened and he covered his muzzle. “Oh? Does it have anything to do with Vertigo?” Dazzle felt a grin spread across her face. “It has to do with my family. I would tell you, but it is my parents’ business.” Napoleon said. “Is something happening with Florin and Montresor?” Dazzle blurted. “Nono! Er… Uhm, I meant yes.” Napoleon face-hoofed. “Dangit! I’m horrible at keeping secrets!” Dazzle recognized the look on his face- it was one she made herself. Was it happening to his family too? Was his family being driven apart by some unbeknownst conflict happening behind the scenes? It didn’t make sense though. On the outside, she would’ve never thought Florin and Montresor would fight since their dynamic was playful, even endearing and cute at times. “Are you okay?” Dazzle said. She related, since nopony asked her how she really felt after everything was said and done- it happened all too quickly. Sometimes, she wished there was that shoulder to cry on when she was at that low point in her life. “I’m fine.” Napoleon looked away. “I’m just scared.” “If it’s something that you want to share, go ahead, if not, then I won’t bother you any more about it.” She stretched her foreleg over his back. “In my experience, though, I think it’s best to get it off your chest.” “If I tell you, do you Pinkie promise not to tell anypony else?” Napoleon asked. She figured it was alright. He was taking caution, as the Napoleon she knew. She’d felt that burn of embarrassment from her family troubles, after all. She kept it hidden, since she could imagine the other school ponies laughing at her if she told anypony. Probably the reason why she didn’t tell the crusaders until her life fell apart. What she’d never expected is that if she told them they would have respect for her private life. The fact that Napoleon was sharing his deepest troubles showed that he had a lot more maturity than her when she was at that point. She mimed through the actions. Napoleon flashed her a weak smile. “Mom and dad told me that I’m going to have a sister.” “What?!” Dazzle shouted. She immediately toned down to her inside voice once Napoleon’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “Shhhh!” Napoleon placed a hoof over Dazzle mouth. “They don’t want anypony to know. If word gets out, the tabloids will be all over it.” Dazzle wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t a dynamic of a family coming apart. It was a family coming closer together by welcoming a filly into the world. “Did they already pick out a name for her?” Dazzle asked excitedly. “Vivienne Rose.” Napoleon said. “Sounds beautiful.” Dazzle said. “I agree. Though, I’m terrified.” Napoleon said. “Terrified? Of what?” Dazzle asked. Napoleon paused. “I’m scared that I won’t be the best big brother that she can have.” “What are you talking about? You’ll do fine!” Dazzle punched him in the shoulder. “How can I be a great big brother when I still got a lot to improve?” Napoleon asked. Suddenly, everything started to make sense for Dazzle. Some signs were that Napoleon was acting funny lately, doing things that he normally wouldn’t. Preparing for a sister pushed him way out of his comfort zone, even more so than what the competition was having him do. He didn’t even so much as talk about the other’ foals projects nor get the jitters when a judge came by. The reason why he was calm about this is because he felt he had bigger fish to fry. However, he wasn’t himself. That worried Dazzle. Her mind wrapped up all the thoughts she was having, tying it in a nice bow. She immediately summed up her thoughts in a couple words. “Just be yourself.” “What?” Napoleon asked. “Just be yourself. I know you feel like you want to be somepony else, but the best pony you can be is yourself.” Dazzle said. “You’re crazy. I can’t make friends with a little sister unless I stop reading for a while. How else did Princess Twilight Sparkle make friends if she didn’t put herself out there to make some friends? How can a little sister like me if I’m not cool like Twilight Sparkle and her big brother and―” Napoleon rubbed his hoof on the gym floor. “What if she doesn’t like me?” “I understand where you are coming from. But this sudden― your parents might even call it dramatic― change in attitude and temperament is worrying everypony.” Dazzle said. “Worrying who?” Napoleon asked. “Vertigo and Bling, to start with. Vertigo and Bling are wondering what happened to the nerdy bookworm colt they knew. Also, I’d be worried about how your parents feel.” Dazzle said. “Have you talked to your parents about this?” “Hmm… Sort of.” Napoleon said. After looking at Dazzle nervously, she knew he felt the guilt of lying under his breath. “No… Not really.” “Talk to them about how you feel.” Dazzle said. “It’s like what your mother and my mother say, ‘Live Transparent’, don’t care what others think- just be yourself.” “You got a point there.” Napoleon said. “I guess that’s a really catchy phrase; 'Live Transparent!'” “Yep, just be you!” She scruffed up this hair. “Go back to the bookworm foal we all know and love!” “Chemistry included?” Napoleon laughed. Dazzle chuckled. “Chemistry Included.” He chuckled “Anyways, I think we should get back to setting up the project, don’t you think?” “There’s the Napoleon I know!” Dazzle smiled and punched him again in the shoulder.