Sometimes They Call Me Super

by KorenCZ11


Finale VII: Forgiveness

Brightness Slate


            “Ah cannot believe some of the shit you’re pullin’, Uncle.” Applejack said as they exited their simulation. I ain’t got nothing but buzzy wings and bad eyes, but being handicapped ain’t an excuse around here, as it turns out. Missing wing, missing leg, can’t fly, being named ‘Blood Orange.’ Doesn’t matter what your deficiencies, you wear the brand, you watch the simulation if that’s what the boss tells you to do.

            The old bastard sighed. “I can’t say I’m all that happy about it, to be honest.”

            My idiot decided to chirp up next. “Well, I’m happy about it. You’re awesome! You know what it’s like to see you in action? It’s like an old broadcast when they would get Red Hoof on camera fighting somepony!”

            It made my stomach churn. I don’t know what was worse. The fact that Dash was right, or the fact that he was the one doing it.

            He tried to fight it, but just the tiniest smile crept up his face. “Well, I don’t know about that. I borrow too much from everypony to fight just like him.”

            Yeah, yeah, you enjoy this, you old piece of shit. A little bit of praise and it goes straight to your lucky ass head, don’t it?

            “I’ll say,” Pinkie chimed, “I never thought I’d be able to run with anypony, but it really is kinda like having a mirror around when we do stuff in tandem at my speed, ya know.”

            Blech. What a word to use. I would call her a dumbass if I didn’t already know her head was this empty all the time. The kid doesn’t think. She’s almost as bad as mine is.

            Prissy was a bit more disappointed than everypony else. “I suppose it is a good thing and all, but I was hoping we might be able to get a little more time out of you. My powers truly are one of a kind.”

            The boss nodded. “You and I both, Rarity. However, this at least tells us that it really is your magic that the virus changed. Maybe it’s little more than a miracle that you can do any other magic at all.”

            “I apologize for not being more useful to you. I really just don’t know what I’m looking at when I try to copy your powers. It’s… something like being handed a map that’s been encrypted. I know how it’s supposed to work, but I can’t make sense of anything on the page.”

            Yeah, more excuses, Blood, keep ‘em up. ‘Nothing to lose, nothing to live for.’ Guess I don’t mean shit, do I? You make me sick. I hope you see your wife at the end of the week. Fuck you.

            “H-having somepony else who could b-break the rules of nature would’ve b-been nice, but I think you’re g-good enough as is. I-it’s one thing to have a second Rarity, b-but a second everypony else is even b-better.”

            I clicked my tongue. High praise from the Beast herself. Not that he even has a grip on her powers. Sure, he can do it, but he moves like a newborn puppy learning how to walk, let alone looking like a rug with legs.

            “I’m just surprised he can copy my power too. What do you do with all the energy once you absorb it? When I would get too much, I always felt like I had to release it immediately. Without a horn to do that, I just can’t imagine…”

‘Princess 3’ managed to convince mother hen to let her back into the party after fighting with her about it for a good couple hours last night. Bright fuckin’ white and nopony notices you, I swear. A castle as big as this one is, and they have to come fight in the library when I’m trying to read. It’s bad enough that I have to burn my brain just to use my eyes, then they have to get all angry and sappy at each other without even noticing me. Must be nice, having somepony who cares about ya like that. I really thought that… after the first time, he…

“It’s… interesting, to say the least. After trying it a few times, I found that whatever has happened to Applejack recently allows her to release the magic within in a sort of… ‘extension,’ would be the best way I can put it. I wish I’d paid more attention when I took that mandatory magic theory class back in college.”

“Oh, I’m sure I could at least give a crash course on it! I’m very familiar with the subject, as you might think,” Princess 3 said, like she’d been waiting for that line to come up all her life. Knows a lot if ya ask her. Naïve as hell though. Not too surprising considering her life story, but whatever. I don’t mind her much. Sweet girl, definitely a good influence on Wings, but man, can she talk when she wants to.

“Ta be fair, Ah don’t really understand how Ah do it either, Ah just, uh… know how. That said, Ah guess the fact that you can do it when ya copy me means that whatever the element did ta me is a permanent change, and not a temporary one.”

I still don’t know what to make of her. She’s her father’s kid, no question about it. Just as crazy, just as reckless, at least a few times as powerful as Red Hoof was, but… I don’t know, I just don’t get her. What kind of pony has the balls to stand up to the boss when she’s about to light everypony up, but cries over a waste of space like Blood Orange? A guy like that doesn’t deserve somepony as good as her.

“Yes, that is another matter we’ll have to look into when we have time,” the boss said, “For now, we’ll call it a day. Two more days remain, and though he has been a boon, Mister Blood is not yet accustomed to the rest of you as you are to him. We need to be a cohesive unit before Sunday, and I’d like to do a few live practices to see how much of this he can stand tomorrow. Eat well, sleep well, and be back, tomorrow, ready to deal with me.”

Snrk. I wonder, if he breaks himself, can he copy Scoots and heal himself? If he can, I guess I won’t have to worry about him dying on me. Not that I…

I let out a breath and silently left the training room. This is so fucking stupid. He’s nothing like the old man. He’s a coward, a loser, a pretender, the fool’s gold prince, and Goddess damn it, I don’t want nothing to do with him! Fuck, maybe I’m the waste of space here. I need some air.


Geez, what a mess. The city has seen better days, I tell ya. ‘Scorched earth’ was always the boss’s tactic in the history books, but I doubt anypony really knew why she was so aggressive when it came to fighting till now. Maybe she always intends to stamp out opposition, and maybe things end up more like last Sunday and she just can’t help but get involved. That famous crater of hers was definitely the latter, I guess.

From Central Park, I made my way out and about to get air, but there was hardly a place to do it when the smell of burning wreckage was still lingering around. Lamp posts aren’t supposed to be that shape, the roads were never this smooth before, there used to be little trees that dotted the sidewalks here, but there wasn’t even a sign of those ever existing, ‘cept maybe the ash you found on blackened soil beds.

It wasn’t weird to see ponies that looked like they survived off caffeine working around Manehattan, there was always construction around these parts, but this was on another level. If I was just trying to find my way around and didn’t want to see the world around me just because, I doubt I’d have much trouble because the anxiety and stress levels in this area were the highest I’d ever seen ‘em.

Even with my eyes working, I’d still get flashes of those colors I know so well, telling me who was about to break and who wouldn’t make it another day. Hard to think that pony you’d grown up your whole life watching from below could destroy your whole world just by showing her true colors. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

A stallion passed me by and I had to do a double take. Brown mane, yellow coat, green eyes, built like a brick house. I turned my powers back to normal just to see, but, of course, this guy was just another regular joe. The real thing was dead and buried in crystal under the castle. And the fake…

I threw my head back and groaned. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch, ain’t it? I can’t believe I’m actin’ like this. Star would laugh at me, Goddess bless ‘em. I… wonder what he’d say if I told him? ‘C’mon, Bright, this is exactly the kinda trouble I told ya not ta get into!’ Or… would he? I mean, sure, the guy is almost twice my age. Nothing about it was ever right, but it’s not like I’m—

“How could a filly like you stop me?”

I slammed my hoof into the ground. “Fuck you, ya old piece of shit! How dare you call me a filly! After everything! After everything I did for you!”

            Chill out, dumb ass! You’re in public!

I took a look around, keeping my eyes down and using my powers to check out the ponies nearby. There weren’t many of ‘em, sure, but all their heads were turned my direction if they were in ear shot. Good Goddess, I’m pathetic.

I shuffled on and tried to head toward somewhere less populated. With power like mine, I can tell the where and what within several miles around me. Hundreds of thousands of ponies in a 3D map like some kinda computer program. Problem is, not only does that make it hard to use any of my other senses, sometimes I forget which one of the fucking dots is me.

I can force my powers out, make them stop and rework them to scan everything that I could normally see, force them to feel what I feel, but the strain of doing that tires me out easily. I was never a pony who could do a lot, or even what was normal for others, but just trying to be… normal in any sense of the word starts to overload my little brain after a while and give me a fever.

My body will shut itself off before it lets me go too far, and that leaves me defenseless and vulnerable to anypony who happens to come across me. Helpless fucking blind little filly! That’s what you are, that’s what you’ve always been, and even when you find somepony to latch onto, you’re an insufferable bitch because you just can’t stand how worthless you are!

Id, thy name is cognitive dissonance.


Before too long, it was starting to get difficult to walk and keep my powers focused at the same time, so I decided to find someplace to take a break. If she wasn’t fucking following me, I’d wish my idiot was around to take care of me. Surely, she knows that I know she’s there, right? She can’t hide from me. There ain’t many ponies who can hide from me if I’m looking for ‘em. And she’s like a sore hoof. I always know where she is. Even when I don’t want to. Like, now, for instance.

Worried about me. Doesn’t think I can take care of myself. Knows I’m just as useless as I feel. At least that jackass didn’t come with her. I wonder… what made me think I could accomplish anything by myself, huh? My only real value is my ability to gather information. Once everypony knows what I know… what am I even here for?

I couldn’t hardly keep myself fed when I was on my own. It’s real easy to steal food when you can wipe memories, but just because they forget in their head doesn’t mean they forget in their heart. Stupid ponies with dumb, easily manipulated hearts will take pity on rats. Even abusive ones. They’ll understand things they don’t know; feel things they can’t see. He was stupid. His daughter is stupid. The boss is stupid. Wings is stupid too, even if it took me beating it into her. All those ponies are stupid like that.

Ain’t nopony stupider than I am, though. ‘Cept, maybe that Star Slate kid. He was so stupid, it rubbed off on me. And all this stupidity has led me… here.

You could hear the sound of the harbor, this far east. Old, abandoned factories littered the place, but a little patch of civilization remained at the edge between a forgotten, dead Manehattan, and the new one that breathed in its place. It didn’t look so run down, anymore.

Probably had it washed recently. Even the sign looks like it’s new. Always had an eye for colors, that one. He loved to play with my mane, since it was so colorful and long. Separate my head into its colors, tie it up in braids and buns so that it looked like the fade wasn’t even there and it was just three solid colors.

When things started to get blurry, he always made it so I could still see my mane, just to know that it was still there. Senses dulled, feelings of regret and guilt that grew in their place up until that fateful October morning. Pure, concentrated stupid. A fatal diagnosis, and worst of all, it’s hereditary.

“You gonna go in?” my darling idiot asked.

“I probably should, all things considered.” There was a dryness to my voice. A tired flavor, a dull edge.

“Yeah, you probably should. Can’t get any more heartbroken, right?”

I clicked my tongue. She knows more than she lets on. How irritating. I take her in for four years, and it’s like she actually knows who I am. Imagine that.

“Sometimes I wish you were as dumb as I like to think you are.”

Dash snorted. “Ha! What even is that? Sorry ass attempt at a compliment, that’s for sure. Get in there.”

She went to push me through the door, but I stopped her. My heart sank a little when I noticed it, but I simply pointed at the sign. “Maybe… not.”

Dash, however, ignored that. “Oh, come on. He’s in there, isn’t he?”

“W-well…”

She groaned. “You’re such a pussy! Let’s go!”

Before I could object, she used her blood to unlock the door from the other side and then shove me through it. A bell chimed and I could hear movement from upstairs. The building, though renovated, was still the one I remembered. The stars were in the same place. I could see the remains of a separation in the floor that was made to look like it kept the front counter separate from the show room, but really used to be where the kitchen started and the living room ended.

You could still see a newspaper here and there with the latest on whatever happened with the heroes in Manehattan. The boss on the front page in that fire form of hers wasn’t exactly reassuring. Clothes that I just couldn’t imagine were made by the same hooves that played with my hair all those years ago lined the walls. Dresses with gems sewn in them, tuxedos and expensive coats, even a few casual clothes that all definitely looked like something he’d make. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they looked like superhero costumes. He always did love to make them.

“Are you ponies blind!? The sign says ‘closed’ in big, bright red neon letters! That door was locked, wasn’t it? How did you even—”

And there he was, comin’ down the stairs as loudly as he could, big motions with his free hooves, eccentric and quick to annoyance. The beard was new. Probably hasn’t shaved in weeks. Never thought he was stallion enough to grow one, but that shows what I know. A shirt with a pin cushion on it, a tricolor tie that was identical to my mane. Memories, yes. Feelings, no.

He stopped as soon as he locked eyes on me. “Geez, talk about insensitive. Sorry, Miss. Um…” The gears started turning in his head. “Do I… know you?”

It won’t be long now. It comes back when they see me. Something about my eyes that cancels the effect. Mine might be empty, but they’re still windows… or, reflections, in my case, to the soul.

With every step he took down the stairs, I wanted to run away even more. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be doing this. If I tell him the truth, if he gets his memories back, what if he tries to go kill Blood? Not that he could, now, anyways, but I don’t want him to! That was the whole reason…

“You’re, uh… Applejack’s friend, right? I saw ya at the weddin’, didn’t I?” He was addressing Dash, sure, but his eyes kept wandering toward me. I could make it happen. Fast forward the process, unlock everything, give it all back. Hell, I could just tell him who I am and he’d remember like that too. Why am I…?

“Oh, yeah, I guess we did meet already. It’s kinda weird, talking to you now. I mean, in this context anyways.”

Star frowned. “How do ya figure? Who is… this, uh…?”

I chewed on my lip. Keep your head down, do as you’re told, don’t make noise, don’t draw attention, hope somepony comes along who can stop this for you. If only I had my… If only I had my…

“… big brother…” It came out as little more than a whisper. A whisper, however, was all he needed.

“B-bright? Bright, is that you?” He grabbed my face with his hooves and forced me to look him in the eyes.

I wanted to scream. To cry, to fall into him, to tell him how much I missed him, to let him hold me because I knew he was there. But I couldn’t. I’d already done that and more for somepony I can’t find it in me to let go of. These stupid feelings, this weak mare’s heart.

Maybe I’ll never move forward. Never grow up. Be forever stuck in this prison, slowly losing my connection to the world, to these powers that eat me alive. If that’s how it has to be… how it will be going forward, knowing full well that the one I want is gone, the one I pushed my feelings onto is needed by somepony more important to him, then at least… I’ll still have you.

“I-I’m home, Star.”


When all the crying was done, all the tears had dried, and my idiot had been there to awkwardly watch it all, Star took us up to the second floor of this old place and showed me a room he’d kept locked for over a decade. Before I left, I found out that I can manipulate images in ponies’ heads that affect the real world the same way they do the memory. For instance, say I wanted to remove all trace of me from a pony’s mind. Not only would I be gone from their head, the only way they could ever see me again is if they saw me in front of ‘em in the flesh.

They don’t recognize me in pictures, they don’t even realize I’m in pictures because that’s how far the wipe goes to take me out of it. Just like unplugging a wire in your head. I don’t exist. Despite all that, Star kept every picture, every article, every little piece of information he could find on me and hid it all in one place.

He’d ask other ponies if they could see me in the old pictures he had and give them discounts if they’d just keep an eye out for me. I was only ever approached once when somepony unrelated to Argent asked for my name, and I made sure they forgot why they asked. Try as I might, Star is the only pony I could never really force to forget about me.

“So, uh… how about a coffee? Do you drink coffee? I know it was hard to get’cha to eat anything that wasn’t just covered in sugar for a while there. I mean, geez, it’s been so long! You’re a… you’re a… a mare, now, I just can’t hardly believe it. Uh… coffee?”

Does he remember? Does he really remember? I was this close to losing him before I left, does he not…?

Rainbow shook my shoulder. “Hey. He’s talking to you.”

I looked up and pulled all my senses back in. “Uh, sure! Yeah, coffee… coffee’s fine.”

Star held his eyes on me for a little longer than he should, but then went into his little kitchen. “Alright then, three coffees! Anypony want anything in it? Cream? Sugar? I uh… I might have some milk here, provided it ain’t spoiled. I always buy it, drink half, and throw the rest away. I always think to buy too much because… because…”

Damn it, Star. Why are you like this? You shouldn’t be alone. Bet he brings a mare home and she winds up finding that room thinking he’s some kinda pedo-creep.

“I’ll take milk if you have it. She wants cream and sugar.” Dash answered for me.

I clicked my tongue in irritation but didn’t bother putting voice to it. She already knows. I don’t have to say anything to her.

“Cream and sugar, huh? I guess things… don’t always change over time, huh?”

Rainbow mane shifted left and right. “Nah, definitely a sweet tooth. When we used to go get groceries all the time, we’d always get some candy or something like that to keep around just because. We’d always get—”

Star took an orange wrapped candy bar out of his fridge and held it up for us to see. “The peanut butter cups, right?”

“Yeah, exactly!”

He took out a few more packs and added them to the tray he was setting up. Of course he has these. Just after we met Citrus, we finally started having the money to buy things we wanted and not just what we needed. I’d always ask, and when he could, he’d always provide.

“I always have these in the house. They were never my favorites, but any time I’d eat through them, I’d always get more just to… have around, I guess.”  He scratched at the back of his neck. “I’m still havin’ trouble parsin’ through all this, ya know? Those pictures, the extra food, the extra clothes, all the things I do for somepony who wasn’t here all make sense to me now, ya know? I always knew you were still out there, but I guess I just… never expected ya to just show up at my door after all these years.”

I still didn’t want to look at him. Too many of the things I’ve done, especially in the recent past are all so… shameful. Try to force my heart on somepony too lonely to say no, and when he finally does, I run back to my big brother for comfort. How sad.

“To be honest, I’d never really thought of when I might ever come back. I… I had to leave. I did it out of necessity, neither of us would’ve made it if I didn’t. One-year passes, and next thing I know, five more go with it. By the time I figured out my powers, I didn’t know if it was even right for me to come back. It’d been so long; I wasn’t sure you’d even still want to see me again. Then all this crap with Argent came up and I knew I couldn’t just… leave it be, I guess.”

Why can’t you say what you mean? Why can’t you tell him what you want to? Why are you so damn allergic to honesty? You sit with her for an hour and the boss has you pegged, even without reading your mind.

“Oh, Bright… you know that I’d never turn ya away, don’t’cha?” Star set his tray down on his kitchen bar for us and passed everything out. “I mean, hell, I’ve been lookin’ for ya all this time! I asked everypony I ever trusted to look for ya. There was even one pony who said they thought they’d seen you, but uh… he never came back after that. Don’t know if he’s dead or he just forgot about me or what happened to ‘em.

“Not that that’s so uncommon in the business these ponies tend to be in.” He eyed my idiot for a moment. “Is she, uh… ya know?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Oh, yeah, sure. Don’t’cha know? That’s the Bloody Crow of Manehattan.”

Star’s lips pulled tight. “Ah. ‘Course. Applejack did say she picked you up, didn’t she?”

I snorted, Wings was offended. “Picked me up? Picked me up!? What in the—” she paused, remembering a certain incident involving a skateboard, “Yeah, I guess that uh… that kinda did happen. But, like, literally! I didn’t hit on her! I’m not into mares!”

Smiling, I sipped on my coffee and leaned against my hoof. “I mean, depending on the definition of words here, you definitely hit on her. Awful defensive, ain’t’cha?”

Wings groaned in irritation. “It was one time! Why is this even a subject? Didn’t you come here to cry on your brother’s shoulder because you got dumped?”

And then she went and said something stupid! Goddess damn it, didn’t anypony teach you tact!? Why are you so useless!? You’re such a good actress when you need to be, what the fuck is wrong with you!?

Star scratched his beard. “Dumped? As in like, rejected by a stallion? That’s what made ya come see me after all these years?”

I went to try and punch that idiot in the face, but it’s not like she couldn’t just stop me in my tracks any moment she wanted. Like she did. “Why are you so fucking stupid!? Why can’t you keep your mouth shut!? You know damn well that’s not why I’m here!”

Tying me up with her blood while sipping on her coffee, Wings shrugged. “Yeah, sure. I believe you.”

Using the only free appendage I had, I buzzed my wings as hard as I could, but again, it didn’t take much more than a thought for Wings to make me helpless. “I swear to the boss herself, you’d better get killed by Silicon before you let me go because the moment you do!”

‘Course, she wasn’t even looking at me as I threatened to kill her. “Can you believe this?”

Star laughed nervously, “Yeah, she always did have that temper of hers.”

“Goddess, both of you!” I wanted to scream, but… I knew I didn’t have any right to.

Wings rolled her eyes. “If you would just spit it out already, we wouldn’t need to be doing this at all. I mean, I know she’s always right, but the boss really got you good the other day, didn’t she?”

“Fuck you!” I struggled against the blood, but there was little I could’ve done even if she’d pinned me down herself. “I don’t even know why you followed me here!”

Yes you do.

“Nopony asked you to come!”

But you wanted her to.

“Why can’t you just let me take care of my own problems!?”

Wings crossed her forelegs. “‘Because you won’t if I’m not here to make you.’ Sound familiar?”

Defeat. Stopped in my tracks, using my own words against me. I didn’t struggle anymore, I didn’t say anything back. Just glaring in resentment.

“Bright, uh… I get it. I know how you were. But, uh, she’s right, ain’t she? You can tell me the truth, can’t’cha?”

I couldn’t look at him. The truth was too stupid. Too shameful. Too… selfish. “I…” I let out a breath and covered my face against the bar. “There’s a lot of truth in that. I did get rejected. I am here because I want to be comforted by… by the only stallion I know I still have.”

I swallowed. “But that’s not the only reason why, okay? It… for years, it’s killed me that I did that to you, ya know? I’ve always been so powerless to do anything, to stop anypony, to save anypony, and it’s happening again right in front of me and I…”

Goddess damn it, why are you crying? You don’t even know if he really remembers what happened back then. I wiped at my eyes and tried to look at Star, but all this emotion was screwing with my powers just as bad as anything else. A colored silhouette of somepony I love half in a haze from two points of view.

“Do… do you remember? What happened, before I left?”

Star put his hoof on my mane and smoothed it down for me. “I’ll be honest, Sis, I’m really havin’ trouble thinkin’ about it. Maybe it’s because you took it away, but it might be just because so much time has passed, ya know? It’s been… twelve years, after all.”

“You… you wanted to hunt him down. You wanted to find him and kill him yourself. Avenge our… our Mister Red Hooves. You started going out late at night, you made yourself a costume, you kept that stupid gun on you everywhere you went, and you wouldn’t listen to me for anything!

“You got in a fight one night and you almost got yourself killed! I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was… I was… I was gonna lose you too, if things kept on the way they were.” Maybe it was faded or gone for him, but I could see the memory as clear as day. Like it was happening right in front of me again. Because… because everything about all this stings just the way it did before.

“If I could make you forget… take away that pony you knew, things would go back to normal, right? I was close. So close. It almost worked. You were still angry, but you put those feelings into work instead of a witch hunt. You stopped going out, you stayed with me.

“But… it kept breaking through. You kept getting the memories back and I couldn’t erase them permanently. After a while I… I figured out that it was me that kept bringing them back to you. I was too tangled up in all those memories, and if I was around, you’d keep getting them back and that rage would return refreshed and ready to destroy you all over again.

“I had to go. It was all I could do to… to keep from losing you too. If I ever came back, I thought it would just happen all over again. We’d go back however many years and you’d just go off to find B— th-the Mirror and lose everything.”

Star was… very quiet. Too quiet. He should’ve said something by now. A soft voice, a pat on the back saying, ‘it’s okay, I’m too something for that now.’ A complaint of some kind. Why?

After a few minutes, Star finally asked, “So… ya know who he is, don’t’cha?”

I could feel it. Everything I’d feared was happening just like I thought it was. That old rage was blooming back to life in his chest and he was radiating it in a way that even Wings was uncomfortable with. I uncovered my face and tried my hardest to focus my powers back on my own senses. Even… even a blind pony could tell just by the look on his face.

“So what if I do!? Th-there’s nothing you could do to him! He’s not the pony you think he is!”

Crossed forelegs, Star started to tap his hoof and nod slowly. “Yeah, I think I’m startin’ to get the picture. I’m not stupid, alright? Maybe I don’t know what’cha think of me now, but I sure as hell know that you’re still actin’ like ya did before ya left. So let’s set some things straight here: first, it’s him, right? The guy who dumped you? He’s the Mirror, ain’t he?”

I bit my lip, but that’s all Star needed to see. “Uh-huh. I cannot even begin to fathom how you ended up fallin’ for a guy like that, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned in all these years of workin’ with heroes, it’s that everything is more complicated than it seems. I’m not a kid anymore. Or an angry teen, at that.”

He let out a breath, turned his head and then started to scratch at his neck. “As much as it pains me to ask this, second, ya gave it to ‘em, didn’t’cha? Your, uh… the V-card.”

I covered my face with my hooves. Any number of ways he could’ve said that, and that’s how he chooses to phrase it?

Star let out a pained chuckle. “Of course ya did. Only took a father figure from us, might as well give ‘em everything else ya had to give, why not.” Star sucked in air as only a disappointed father could and continued, “Fine, whatever. There are things I don’t know, things get complicated in a hurry, and maybe in some… bizarro-world, there’s something about this guy that reminds you of the old man, and you just cannot let go.

“I get that. I guess. Fuck, Applejack’s husband was straight up arrested by her before they got married, so whatever. Goddess bless ‘em, he didn’t even make it week and I’m still comin’ to terms with that. That kid had a future. He was smart, he would’ve made a good dad one day, and I wanted to be around just to see her finally get that family she deserves, and goddess damn it, this world is the bizarro-world, and nopony can ever get the ending they want, damn it!”

Star slammed the table and I flinched. He sighed, and again, gently stroked my mane. “You’re right. I am furious. And now, I have another reason to want to go blow this guy away. But, ya know what?”

The hoof disappeared from my mane, and after a few seconds, I suddenly found forelegs around me. “He got you to find me again. And more important than anything on this earth, is you bein’ back in my life. I love ya, Bright. Ain’t nothin’ gonna change that. So, don’t disappear on me again, alright?”

Falling back into my big brother’s chest, finally, I let go of everything that’d been holding me back. “Star! I’m so sorry! I never wanted to go! I missed you so much! I’m so sorry!”


I told him everything. Everything I could think of, everything Wings reminded me of, everything I knew. So long as the boss wasn’t involved, anyways. That slipped me once, and it will never happen again. So much for burning your tongue off, you’ve gotta have some kind of will power to actually push through the pain to say something coherent enough to be understood. I’ve got forbidden words in my vocabulary now, and each and every one will be circling around in my brain covered in burning thorns. Do. Not. Touch.

Knowing everything I did about Blood changed Star’s mind. Much like me, he couldn’t bring himself to hate him. It’s nopony’s fault, save maybe Silicon, but even he is a victim of his own circumstances. Just another life twisted apart by the cold, cruel world we live in.

If things had been different, and Star had somehow found him on his own, I wonder… if he would’ve been able to do it? We were asked to watch over Applejack and her siblings once or twice back in the day. We knew of Blood Orange. Knowing that those kids were depending on him, could Star have actually done it?

I don’t think he could.

Next week, I’d get everything from my room at Argent and have it moved to Star’s place, provided it survived the fight tomorrow. We’re gonna start over. Try to get back some of the time lost, be a family again. Even if I… lose that stupid old stallion, it would be a mistake to think that I could ever be anything to him. Maybe that isn’t true, maybe he’s just trying to do the right thing by pushing me away, maybe I’m just too… young, dumb, heartbroken to see clearly right now. He’s old enough to be my dad. I shouldn’t feel this way.

Not about him, not about Citrus, not about… that costume I’ve idolized for so long.

Ever since I was a filly, he was everything to me. The stallion who saved me from the hooves of a mob boss, the stallion who took care of me when I needed him most, the stallion I wished would come back for me and make me his bride. The years went by, the loss scarred me deeper, and that strange puppy love turned into a twisted infatuation.

Why did you leave me? Why didn’t you take me home? Why didn’t you make me yours? It’s all I ever wanted to be. Not a hero, not a side kick, just somepony special… to you. A decade and two years and I couldn’t get you out of my head. Silicon’s plans leaked to me, and suddenly, I thought I had a chance to redeem myself in your eyes. I could live up to you. I could be worthy of your praise, even if I’d never get to hear it.

And then… I ran into him. Your stupid little brother. The fool’s gold prince. Nothing more than an imitation of the real thing, a coward without an ounce of manly virtue in him, a pony who lived on trying to fill your shoes when even I was a better fit for them than him. How could this pathetic pretender do you in? Even if you couldn’t fight him, there was no way that he was capable of actually killing you.

He couldn’t do anything. He was worthless. And he knew it. I hated him. And the more I learned about him, the less that feeling became. From hatred to pity, from pity to fondness, and somewhere along the line, a wire got crossed. He looks so much like you. When he stands up, willing to do anything to keep your kids safe, he acts so much like you. Like… Mister Red Hooves.

I knew I’d made a mistake that night. I felt that way about you, not him. But he was so close to who you were. I knew he wasn’t you the whole time. You were better than him. You wouldn’t have accepted me. You looked at me the same way you looked at your daughters. And he… saw me as a mare.

Again and again, I kiss and curse him with the same breath, unwilling to let go, unwilling to forgive, unwilling to say what I feel, my allergy to honesty. I hate him. I love him. I know I can’t have him.

I wish you were here, so that I could be honest. If I was looking at your face, I could tell you the truth and confess all the twisted feelings in my heart and finally let go once you reject me. You were always too good for me. But again, somehow, despite everything, even with the deficiency of being named, ‘Blood Orange,’ he still filled the shoes and did it in your place.

Now that I’m free, there’s only one thing I still need from you. Just… a little sign of approval, if you will. He can do it. He can fill in those heavy, heavy shoes of yours. But I’ll be damned if he doesn’t look the part while he plays it.

So I ask, will you give this imitation, this failure, this pretender, the one and only fool’s gold prince…

Permission to be real, just this once?


“I can’t believe you talked me into this…”

Wings rolled her eyes. “Nuh-uh. You talked you into this. This idea was all yours, and I didn’t have anything to do with it. Even your brother was just shocked the moment you suggested it.”

I chewed on my lip. “Shut up and play along already, damn it! Can’t you see I’m dyin’ here?”

We were almost at the living room. He would be there, and he’d look at me the way he does, somewhere between guilty and happy, and I was about to make him cry, for better or worse. I was gonna cry, that’s just a fact. It’s not a secret here, everypony with a lick of sense knows, so at least all but that dumbass Pinkie.

“Whatever. You’d better be ready. He’s gonna look at you first, ya know? He always does.”

“I know, damn it! Just… just shut up already!” What am I nervous about? What does it say about me that I’ve had him inside me a number of times already and this is what embarrasses me? Good Goddess, I feel like such an idiot, let’s get this over with!

Taking a deep breath, I started to buzz my wings and flew right down the hallway and over the table to him. I landed, and all the noise stopped. Red rings stared me down, confusion written all over them. Say it! Say it already! Spit it out, or they’re gonna keep staring!

“Um… did you need something, Brightness?”

“You’re a fake, damn it!” I yelled in his face. He reared back, dumbstruck. Everypony was confused, of course, what I just said doesn’t make sense to anypony but me and Wings. Spell it out for him!

“A pretender, a fraud, the fool’s gold prince! Your whole damn life is a lie because you’ve been pretending to be somepony else for so long that…!” Come on, spit it out! Do it! Take the shot and get over the allergy!

I took a deep breath. “…that you’re finally starting to look like the real thing. If… if the lie is gonna become the truth sooner or later anyways…” I took the box off my back and held it out for him with my wings. “You might as well look the part.”

Taking it in his hooves, he carefully unwrapped it and opened the lid. He knew what it was as soon as he saw it. And just as predicted, he started to cry. Caught up in his embrace, my heart racing a mile a minute, a familiar feeling racing through me, I joined him, just as predicted.

“Thank you, Brightness.”