The Vanishing Star - NocturneD
Edited by Knotwist, McCabe, and Pearce
Oh, hello there miss. Have a seat. Would you like anything to drink? Or maybe something to snack on? Don't be afraid to ask my cocktail waitresses outside, Hot and Spicy, will be close to take your requests. Comfortable? Those are some fine leather seats you're sitting in right now. We settled in? Alright then.
You know, it's been awhile since the last time I saw you. Ever since the Embassy Incident for the Saddle Arabia treaty, I think a lot of us were trying to get that out of our minds. I never really thought I'd see you again either. *Sigh* Yes, I'm sorry but you have to excuse me. I am a very busy pony making these items to help all ponies everywhere. Okay, okay. That was stupid of me. I'll give you this time for an interview.
You wanted to have an interview with me on how I got my start in life? Though you did ask about my early childhood. I guess I can talk about that, but I will warn you. It's pretty eyebrow raising. It all started about twenty or so years ago. You know me as vice president Fade Away. Or you can call me Fade for short, that's what my friends and family call me.
Anyway, twenty some years ago, I used to live with another family. One that, I often do not like to talk about. I was pretty much the middle child. What does that have to do with anything? Well often the middle child of any family feels left out while the oldest sibling goes on to do great things, and the baby of the family is still learning and having all the support. What does the middle child get? Silence. Just silence towards them. Sure that's not like all families, but for mine it was.
I often got punished for everything. Got hit by my original father over the stupidest things, yelled at, threatened, the works. My mom just stood back and let it happen until her book writing started taking a bad turn, then she started to drink. She couldn’t go without one for a day. My older brother was pretty much a bully to me for a while, and my little sister got away with almost anything, unless you caught her in the act.
Excuse me I need a little something to wet my throat…
Ah... Much better.
Like I said, I used to live with another family. You might have heard of the great siblings Twilight Sparkle; Princess Celestia's prodigy and Shining Armor; captain of the royal guard? Oh you have? You know, I was certain you might have had a class or two with her, or at least met her somewhere since you two might be the same age. Oh yes they fill out their expectancy quite nicely. Pft... Sorry, but this story is not a very happy one.
Yes, I am the brother of both Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor. The middle child. The forgotten one. Why am I forgotten? It was probably for the best that I was forgotten by those ponies. My previous name... was Vanishing Star. There was a lot pain attached to that name. And it made a little sense as well.
So my story begins. I was only two years older than my little sister. I performed excellent at school. Got high honors, and even broke the GPA. I would join a few after school clubs, but those were to only fill the void in my self-esteem because back home... I would often get ignored because of my siblings overnight achievements. Jealous? Yes, and no. No because any foal can do what they did, and yes because they somehow gained celebrity status because of it.
My older brother Shining Armor, you could say he was a quiet one, and very protective of Twilight. He played sports but never did do well enough in school, as he would often come home with C and D grades. Does he get yelled at? I would assume he did from time to time, but I never heard my parents raise a lip. Just proud that he's the one Sparkle family member actually doing a sport. I came home with a B- one time and my parents nearly had a stroke and yelled at me. A little ridiculous don’t you think?
I never really cared for Shining Armor. More preferably, I disliked him quite a bit. You don't give him a brotherly hug, or play his rough housing game. He would always try to tease you. Oh, that's not what you heard about him? Well, go ahead and take whatever side you want. To me, he was a dick. Always plowing stupid jobs on me. Whatever he didn’t feel like doing. But if something were to happen to baby Twilight, then he would try to scoop her up and play the perfect older brother.
I saw through him. Anything to make himself look good. He fooled my parents, he fooled my relatives, neighbors, even Twilight and her friends. You really want to know about him? He would give me a hard time while I'm trying to do projects like making a diorama of the solar system out of candy. Two times he ate the sun. Then I caught Twilight eating Pluto and yelled at her. And of course, I got grounded because I made her cry. I tried to tell my parents that my projects were important but they would not listen. Their precious little Twinkle little Star was too upset that I yelled at her and I got scolded, that I let her spoil her dinner.
Then what happens the next morning? Well the project was due and Shining Armor skipped breakfast and ripped Mars off my project and ran with it. I tried to tell my parents but they told me I should not have left it out to dry in an open area where any pony can get it. At that point all I could do was mutter under my breath.
By now you are probably wondering. Am I demonizing my family? Nope. They really were this unfair. Twilight because she was still a little filly at the time but over the years she really grew into something... Just wait for it, I'll get to it. So anyway. My mother and father; Twilight Velvet and Orion were prodigies in their days. Pretty much what I was like growing up, working for their rewards. But then they practically pass out gifts to the kids that don’t deserve them. Oh what do they care. Son is a royal guard and daughter being taught personally by one of the princess, sure why not bank on those two and ignore the middle child.
Twilight Sparkle... Should I be proud of her success? Yes. But if you lived your early childhood with her you would not be so proud. I practically had the same training as her from tutors that my parents paid good money. Somehow that just so happen to win their attention because she could make a barrier the size of a meatball. Who cares I was doing that stuff ever since I was two. But nope, that made mom and dad go find the acceptance letter to the gifted unicorn school. And that, pretty much wraps it up. My fate was sealed once Twilight got accepted. I never heard the end of it from my family and relatives. For nearly the entire spring and summer, the same year she was accepted my parents would gloat around town how Twilight was a genius. Excuse me, but I broke the GPA every year when I was in school. That is not easy to do.
Starting that year, my parents and I drifted further apart. Not on good terms. I was still so young back then. Mom and dad were never available for my school plays or science fairs. But always for Shining Armor's games and Twilight's orientations and presentations.
Unbelievable huh? Well that's how it was. I tried to get some attention but it would not do any good. No matter how many blue ribbons or trophies I came home with. Still I would never be met with any praise. Often I would have to get a ride home from some friends' parents because mine were so busy with my siblings. I would walk inside my empty house, try to make my dinner, do my homework, get washed and then get ready for bed.
Then that's when my family would come home. Father would say encouraging words to Shining Armor for his eight hundredth loss for the season and mother to tell Twilight to try to remember to speak when asked a question. I just laid there in my bed. Just for once... I wanted some encouragement. I would give anything for it. But no, it's wasted on those hacks. That night, I saw a very bright shining star in the sky just outside my window. I heard my little sister in her room saying over and over to mother that a star was there. Mother said to her to make a wish... I sighed. But made a wish of my own. I wished... to just vanish one day…
I was born in the summer. So on July twelfth, my birthday, I was going to be eight. But that summer it really was not going well with my family and I. My parents were still preparing for Twilight's first day at the academy which won't be until Fall anyway, and Shining Armor was going to go through boot camp for the guards. You would think that would be a great opportunity to bond but no. Not with these ponies. I left hints around the house for an idea what I wanted for my birthday, but still my parents would not come and ask me.
At this point I can tell by the expression on your face you must be confused or not believing this. How can two parents ignore one of their children for the others? I have no clue but you did not live with this family. I was yelled at if Twilight was crying near me, I got punished if I borrowed one of Shining Armor's things for research, I was grounded for standing up for myself and punching Shining Armor back. It was just unfair. I just wanted to vanish out of this family. I was even hit for telling them that they were wrong and blaming the wrong pony. I hated them.
So during the summer. I finally said that I wanted to go somewhere for my birthday. Pony Canyon, grandma and grandpa took me there when I was younger and loved it. The ice cream was good. The rides. The video games. The hikes were fun. Go figure, Twilight heard about this place and wanted to go too. Why not. More chance for me to go.
This is where the story turns sour. Yes even more sour than the beginning.
During the carriage ride we passed a couple of gift stops and it had this one book that Twilight really wanted. My father told her that it was my birthday and she should respect it was my day. And of course, for an entire hour she was acting up in the carriage kicking the seat and pouting. We were almost a half hour away from Pony Canyon and then Twilight threw another fit. My mom begged my dad to turn the carriage around. And to my surprise he did, we went back to that shop and got Twilight the book. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.
Now back on the way to Pony Canyon. Well I thought was Pony Canyon my dad said that Pony Canyon probably would not be good this time of year and said we should go play mini golf instead because Twilight would be too frightened of the rides. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I protested and all I got was chewed out and called selfish. I argued back until we got to the miniature golf place, dad bought five clubs and balls for us all to enjoy. I didn’t play... seriously.
For the entire session I took terrible swings. Probably around the tenth hole I walked away and sat on a bench. My birthday was ruined. My parents called me selfish? My day? And I'm selfish? I was so angry. I was just about ready to cry. I just picked up my golf ball and concentrated on it, wanting it to explode. But... with the right amount of magic, it vanished out of my hooves. I could still feel it yet I couldn’t see it. I gasped in surprise. When I lost concentration, the ball was once again visible. I wondered if this could work on ponies? I used it on myself and looked into a nearby puddle. I could not see myself but I could feel myself. It was awesome, but still that would not heal my feelings.
I asked if we could still go to Pony Canyon. I wasn’t surprised when my parents told me no because they spent three games because Twilight could not figure out the ball was supposed to go in the hole but still wanted to play. I swear... I just told them I had it. And of course, dad had to yell at me saying I had to consider others. I told him back that he ignored my wishes because it was my birthday. The one day out of the year that I can do whatever I wanted but no the two spoiled brats had to play golf and get their wishes.
You’re not going to like this next part. On the ride back home when we had barely left the parking lot. I was still arguing with my dad. And so, he told me he was going to let me out and make me walk home. What kind of parenting is that? It was a challenge, making me want to be good, but instead I stood my ground. I know now all he was going to do is circle the block maybe a couple of times and then finally open the door, but I did not know that back then. So I told him, "Good go ahead!" They never appreciated me anyway. My mom tried to talk my dad into not doing this but he was not going to listen. His face was really red. My siblings started talking about what they were going to do with my room.
My dad left me there on the corner. It was getting dark fast. Also... cold... and scary... So, I tried to run into a near by building, only to find out that it was closed. To my luck, I tried the next few buildings. Nothing. Good. I'll just walk home. How far could it be? Back then I didn’t know, it seemed easy. However my trusty little compass broke after Shining Armor chucked it at the wall. So there I was, wandering around outside of town. I cloaked myself to avoid any suspicion, I didn’t want to attract any nearby weirdos. Wandered maybe ten miles by myself in what was probably the wrong direction. I didn’t have any supplies with me besides my compass. I almost attracted coyotes, I was getting cold and thirsty. But luckily I knew cactus had water inside it, I pierced one and drank out of it. Go figure the one I pick barely had any. For the next three hours, yes, unbelievable I know, I was on the ground crawling. Crying even. I should have stayed on that corner and waited out dad's stupid game.
To my surprise. My savior came along in a limousine that stopped. The owner came out and looked me, trying to wake me up and poured water on my face. He was a big earth pony and talked with a southern accent. I would learn his name to be Big Tex. Along with his earth pony wife; Betsy. The two were so nice. So nice that I wanted to be raised by them after knowing they had no children of their own. But this did not come easily. On no siree. I had to come up with a story and tell them that I was from a different town and had no family. At first, they did not believe me. Why? Well, news travels fast that a unicorn around eight years old was missing. But I heard the news of oh so loving parents trying to discipline their son but made a horrible mistake. That made me so sick. I told Big Tex everything. He felt sick to his stomach as well. Betsy did not feel right but felt sorry for me. What happened next. Well. Let's just say I changed my identity and started living with Big Tex and Betsy. I had a name change because of my talent, maybe dyed my hair. Started to wear contacts instead of glasses. Changed the way how I used to live.
I had everything I could ever want. I did not need to share any of my stuff and it won't come back broken. No jerk brothers or spoiled sisters bothering me. Loving parents that gave me endless praise for my accomplishments. Friends. Big Tex would take me to ball games. Betsy would bake me a cake for every one of my birthdays and other nice occasions. I had a good allowance but Big Tex showed me the important aspect of money. I had tutors. I went to the finest school and once again broke GPA. Big Tex and Betsy were so proud of me. I played for a few teams but only won one championship. I would see them tear up once more once I walked down from that podium on stage to take my degree for finishing school. What was I going to do next? I went to college and got a business degree so I could work along side of Big Tex who was the president of his own company, Big Tech. Strange huh? I started off small working in the mail room. Then slowly boosted my rank every six months or so. It took maybe three years but all that work paid off. I was surrounded by faithful employees. Things are going great for this company. We just settled on a multimillion bit deal with a client. We make wonderful items for the average pony like phones and computers. I had a lot of ideas for products that Big Tech could sell. From a touch screen tablet to record all of your spells on. To the new video game console designs; PonyStation Box 4. Pretty nifty huh? There was just so much that I want to create out there to help the average pony with their ordinary lives. Just to help them.
With my new life. It only got better. I have a really good office. A good house. A great carriage. It paid off. I'm engaged to a wonderful Pegasus; Swan that could put even the princess into jealousy of her looks. You might have met her back there at my party a while ago. But good news, I might be getting the presidential job sooner than I thought as Big Tex was thinking about retiring in a few years. But still, I love the big guy. I show him every day that I appreciate him and his wife for their kindness for raising me and making me feel like I had a real family.
But still, I used to think about my old family. That night I said some pretty hurtful things to my family as they would tell me things back saying I should stop being so inconsiderate. A birthday was to be a day where not only the person was to feel happy, but the ponies around them as well that care. Maybe I was but there was no excuse for what happened. If my dad had any sense in him he would have apologized and said he would make it up to me. Nope. Sometimes I wonder back then if he really meant that he would leave me there on the corner. There was no way a parent would ever do that, not today where there are weirdos out walking the streets praying on the innocent. But still, I knew they missed me. Just wondering... how long did it take them to finally stop looking for me? If I were to just show up again that night would they finally appreciate me? I never got to see my sister grow up and I heard she was doing well and happy for her, never got to see my brother become captain and get married.
Well... I got that wish after all. Wished that I could vanish one day.
I guess I talked your ear off. Made this interview seem more of a rant than a real story. Sorry about that. Though just to answer my question. Would I go back to them today to show them the pony I became? That is a tough one... I had so much hate for them back then that I wanted them to learn lesson if I were to just disappear one day would they miss me? Maybe I got caught up in my own jealously... but still, you get into a school that's fine don't obsess over it like they did.
Guess my last thought would be... even if you're the middle child. Not all families would ignore you. Some are worse than others and if I can offer any advice. Please... Please. Do not ignore any of your children over the other. They have feelings too... It's not easy. But going from middle child to only child has its limits.
Do I regret my decision? Sometimes…
But that's what I wanted. I wished to one day just vanish.
Thank you for your time... Miss uh... Sparkle is it?
Heh…
Think you have the same name as my former sibling. Look a bit like her too…
Oh... please don't cry. Oh where are my tissues?
I'm sorry if I said something.