//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The Vanished Glass // Story: Twilight Sparkle and the Unicorn Stone // by Lucasnike123 //------------------------------// Ten years later… A pair of lavender eyes slowly open in the dark. Twilight Sparkle yawned as she sat up, stretching her limbs. She searched the tiny room in which she slept. It was hideously cramped given how small she actually was... despite being under the stairs of the house. Suddenly, she heard someone knock on her "bedroom" door quickly. She was a tall woman with deep purple hair, opal eyes, and was dressed in a red sweater, a long black skirt, and a kitchen apron. This woman was Spoiled Rich, Twilight's aunt. "Wake up!" Spoiled demanded "Get up! Now!" She bangs on the closet door just in case, before heading back to the kitchen. Inside the "room", Twilight turned on the small ceiling light bulb, illuminating the small space, and put on some black glasses that were on top of one of the shelves behind her, these had a bit of zeal in the nose area. It was then that a loud commotion was heard upstairs and a spoiled-looking girl started running down the stairs. This girl would be almost Twilight's age, she had light grayish violet hair with white streaks. She was wearing a red sweater, beige pants, and a small toy tiara on her head. This girl was Twilight's spoiled and rude cousin, Diamond Tiara. Diamond was halfway up the stairs when she stopped, she climbed over Twilight's "room" again and started jumping. "Wake up, cousin!" she yelled "We're going to the zoo!" Diamond laughs as she runs down the stairs to the kitchen, and just as Twilight opened the door, Diamond shoves her inside and kicks the door shut. She rushes into the kitchen and closes the door behind her. After recovering, Twilight left her "room" and entered the kitchen. Inside, there was a businessman, with dark gray hair and light blue eyes, dressed in a dark blue suit and red tie. This man was Filthy Rich, Twilight's uncle. Filthy was sitting at the table, while Aunt Spoiled fawned over Diamond. "Oh here's my birthday girl!" Spoiled praised. "Happy birthday!" Filthy said kindly. At those words, Twilight quickly remembered what was happening: today was Diamond's birthday and they planned to go to the zoo to celebrate. Spoiled and Diamond laugh together, while Twilight walks in, dressed in her usual old and tattered pajamas. "Twilight, help me make breakfast" Spoiled ordered "And be careful not to burn anything!" "Yes, Aunt Spoiled" Twilight replied. Twilight quickly sets about cooking breakfast, in this case bacon, while Spoiled covered Diamond's eyes and led her slowly into the living room. "I want everything to be perfect for my little Diamond's special day". Twilight finished preparing the bacon and was now setting the table. "Hurry up!" Filthy ordered "Get me some coffee later, girl!" "Yes, Uncle Filthy". Spoiled finished leading Diamond into the living room and uncapped her eyes so she could see a host of presents. Diamond stared wide-eyed as her mother smiled. "What is it wonderful at, darling?" she asked hopefully. Diamond continued to look at all of her gifts, until she began to narrow her eyes. She slowly she turned to her father. "How many gifts are there?" Diamond asked suspiciously. "Thirty-six" replied Filthy "I've already told you". "Thirty-six?!" shouted Diamond "But last year I had thirty-seven!!" "Yeah, but some are bigger than last year!" "I don't care how big they are!" shouted Diamond. "Wait, honey" Spoiled said calmly. "This is what we are going to do: we will go to town and buy you two more presents. What do you say?" Soon after, the whole family was dressed and ready to go. Spoiled led Diamond toward the car and they both got in, but just as Twilight was about to get in, Filthy stopped her by pointing the keys at her. "I'm warning you now, girl: just one weird thing... just one... and you won't eat for a week" Filthy said threateningly "To the car". They both get in the car and take it out onto the road, heading to the zoo. A few hours later, at the Ponyville Zoo's Reptile House, Twilight and her relatives were standing next to one of the glass cages. The four of them were looking at a large Boa constrictor that appeared to simply be resting along the branch of the tree. Judging by the way the family were hunched over, Twilight could see that they were terribly bored. "Make it move!" Diamond ordered her father. Filthy taps the glass of the cage with a gentle tap. "Move on!" Impatient, Diamond hits the glass harder. "MOVE ON!" shouted Diamond. "She is asleep!" Twilight said. "How boring..." Diamond said, shaking his head and walking away. Twilight watches silently as Diamond and her parents retreat to another enclosure, leaving her alone, watching the snake. "Sorry. She doesn't understand what it's like to be lying there all day, watching people stick their ugly faces on the glass". Then, to Twilight's surprise, the snake suddenly looks up... and winks at her. To say that Twilight was in shock at the time was an understatement. "You are hearing me!" Twilight whispered still surprised. The snake nods its head and stands up slightly, its attention fixed on the girl looking at it. "It's just... I've never talked to a snake" said Twilight starting to engage in a conversation "Do you usually... talk... often with people?" In response, the snake simply shook its head. Twilight reads the small sign in front of the glass before turning to the snake. "You're from Burma, right?" Twilight asked "Is that nice? Do you remember your family?" The snake turned its head towards a sign and Twilight looked in the same direction. The sign read: "Raised in Captivity". "I see..." Twilight nodded, understanding the snake "Then like me. I didn't meet my parents either". With the snake now fully awake, this caught Diamond's attention. She slides into the cage, knocking Twilight to the ground. "Mom, Dad, come!" shouted Diamond "You aren't going to believe what the snake is doing!!" As Diamond placed her hands on the glass wall, Twilight looked at her cousin with a stab of anger. Suddenly something VERY strange happened: before her very eyes, the glass wall disappeared and Diamond began to lose his balance. "Wow! Ah! Ah!!" The spoiled girl fell into the snake's enclosure, landing in a pool of water. At that moment, Diamond, trembling with fear, sits perfectly still, watching the snake pass by her. Once the snake was completely free from her cage, she stopped before Twilight, who watched silently. "Thankssssssss" said the snake. "You're welcome" Twilight replied. And so, the snake began to slide slowly, while Twilight watched. "A SNAKE!!!" yelled a man. It wasn't long before chaos broke out throughout the zoo as the entire area was filled with screams from men, women, and children trying to get out of the way of the snake. The entire time, the snake just slithered into her new freedom while Twilight was in complete shock. Eventually, Diamond got up ready to go... only to find that the missing crystal was back in her place. The shocked girl, now trapped in the ancient snake cage, frantically bangs on the glass. "Mommy, mommy!" shouted Diamond. At the time, Spoiled and Filthy had just returned, but the moment they saw Diamond, they screamed. "Mom, help me!" Diamond pleaded. "My daughter!" shouted Spoiled "How did you get in there?!" But Filthy's attention was not on her daughter at the moment. Instead, her eyes were looking towards a certain girl who smiled and laughed a little at the scene. In the moment, as Twilight saw the anger in her uncle's eyes, her smile disappeared just as quickly. It was a while before everyone returned home. Spoiled had Diamond wrapped in a blanket, while the girl shivered and whimpered from the cold caused by the water in the cage. "Easy, let's take those clothes off right now" Petunia said. When Spoiled and Diamond disappeared around the corner, Twilight and Filthy entered, the latter slamming the door and grabbing Twilight by her hair. “What happened!?” Filthy yelled. "I swear I don't know!" Twilight insisted “There was a crystal and suddenly it disappeared! It was magic!". Then Filthy groaned and shoved Twilight into her "room" down the stairs, slamming the door and bolting it. "THE MAGIC HAS NEVER EXISTED!" Filthy yelled, pounding on the door.