If you are reading this after 8:11 PM MDT on September 19, you are reading a HEAVILY rewritten chapter. I'd propose reading it.
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Twilight Sparkle waved good bye sorrowfully to her mentor, then dragged herself out the door. The smooth cobblestone under her hooves was a small comfort, reminding her of her own front walk at home. Keeping her head down, her mane in front of her eyes, she trudged onward towards Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted and Talented Unicorns.
She heard the shuffling of hoofsteps long before she saw the two fillies she had come to dread. Keeping her head down, she prayed to Celestia that she could make it past them for one day. Just one day she could get away from teasing and taunting, so she could go see her friends in Ponyville.
Ah, her friends. The real ones, who she saw at night in her dreams, or even during the day. Her saviors, they were. Pinkie, Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack. Even their names brought a wane smile to her lips. The smile was soon removed as she caught two pairs of hooves, one silver and one golden in front of her. Lifting her head, she was caught in the gaze of the two older fillies.
“Ha, look at little Twilight Sparkle!” teased Platinum Tiara, flipping her long silver mane from her eyes.
“Yeah, look at her!” parroted Golden Spoon, flipping her mane as well. Twilight ignored them, trying to move away. They merely fell in step with her, despite her occasional speeding up or slowing down.
“The little wanna-be Princess,” chirped Platinum Tiara.
“Yeah, the wanna-be,” echoed Golden Spoon once again, just to receive a cuff over the ears from Platinum Tiara.
“I am not a wanna-be!” Twilight finally exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. “And even if I was, what’s it matter? We all know you pretended to dress up like Princesses too!”
“Oh, does widdle Twiwight dwess up wike Pwincesses?” teased Platinum Tiara once again.
“So what if I do!”
“So what if you do? So what if you do? All you do is walk around here like you’re better than us, you foal. We’re two grades above you! We’re smarter than you! You’re just a dumb mule who bribed Princess Celestia! Oh wait, you don’t have enough bits to bribe her!” roared Platinum Tiara in response. Twilight sniffed, then ducked to the ground, crawling between the two ponies and running back to her dorm, leaving tears behind her.
~*~
Princess Celestia wiped a tear from her eye as well as she remembered that, sitting in the white room of Canterlot Mental Hospital. Stroking her student’s mane soothingly, she looked at the young mare below her. The mare who had been here for five long years.
“Twilight,” she whispered, continuing her stroking. “You poor thing.”
~*~
Twilight had gotten back to her dorm with no more problem, and quickly collapsed onto her bed. Shutting her eyes, she imagined Ponyville again, and all her friends. But this time, they were there with her, in her room. Shifting on her grey sheets, she sat up to look at all of them.
“Hey Twilight!” called Rainbow Dash, waving a hoof.
“Hi Twilight! Hi hi hi!” chirped Pinkie eagerly, bouncing like always.
“What-what is it guys?” asked Twilight confusedly, looking around.
“You see darling, we’d like you to join us. If you close your eyes, you can,” urged Rarity, batting her eyes.
“Y’see sugarcube, ya can git away from them fillies out there and come with us,” added Applejack.
“I-if you don’t mind,” squeaked the ever-shy Pegasus.
“Just close my eyes, and I can get away from them?”
“Tha’s right sugarcube. Jus’ close yer eyes,” replied Applejack as Twilight took a deep breath.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course, silly!”
“I can get away?”
“Yeah Twi!”
“Then I’ll do it,” said Twilight confidently, looking at each pony. Taking another deep breath and shifting to a slightly more comfortable position, she closed her eyes. Then reopened them. "Should I?"
"Of course," chirped Pinkie, and Twilight smiled.
"If you say so Pinkie."
~*~
Twilight shifted slightly, and Celestia sighed again. The mare, off fighting her own battles. If only Celestia could see inside her student’s mind. Even magic wasn’t that strong.
~*~
I looked at each of my friends, staring into their eyes. Here they were, or rather, here we were. Each with necklaces, or in my case, a tiara, we stood in an arrow formation. The beast in front of us was just another one for us to fight, another creature we could ‘get’.
“Ready girls?” I call, but I don’t even need to. I can see it in their eyes. Fierce determination, accompanied with a disappointing touch of boredom. I couldn’t have my friends bored. “Let’s do this!” I cheer, then focus. My magic is channeled into the tiara behind my horn, and I feel it building. The girls and I are connected, and we become more so every time we use the Elements. We all feel each other now, we all can tell what the other is doing. More often than not, I’ve felt invisible wings on my back, the euphoria of flying. The others have felt a burst of magic from an imaginary horn, or the pain after a day’s work on the farm. All these thoughts, running through my head as I attack.
I open my eyes, and they are blindingly bright. I can scarcely see, save the rainbow jetting from us to the sky. With a final burst of effort from all of us, it crashes down. A scream of terror and pain echoes from the monster, its grey pony-esque figure twitches, then it falls silent. I know that we drifted upwards as we used the Elements, and our glide downward is comfortable and slow.
“Well I do say,” exclaims Rarity, and I turn towards her in confusion. She was… fading? Then I realized she hadn’t spoken. She had thought.
“I think we’re even more connected,” I ponder, then Rainbow Dash interjects loudly; at least, as loudly as one can when speaking mentally.
“Look at Twilight!”
I feel all of them turning to look at me, then look down at myself. My colors are bright, brighter than ever. Looking at each of my friends, they seem to be a bit more faded, and my colors seem to be mixing with theirs.
“What is this?” I speak aloud, and I hear myself in six voices. “Never mind,” I think, and I feel them nod.
“Ah jus’ righ’ly don’ know,” declared Applejack.
“Me either,” squeaks Fluttershy, and I’m hit with a pang of pity for her, which is reciprocated through all of us.
“I need to study girls. You don’t mind, correct?”
“Of course not Twi! Take alllll the time in the world!” exclaims Pinkie, and we all smile inadvertently.
“Very well then Pinkie,” I tease, then turn to get back to the library. Closing my eyes, I teleport there, just in time to see the rest of them teleport with me.
“Go figure,” muttered Rainbow Dash, and I couldn’t help but snicker.
~*~
Princess Celestia looked out at the sky, the sun slowly, but shakily setting. It was good for Luna, to be doing this. The populace was already trusting her more. As Celestia watched her student, she seemed to brighten up a bit. Her color was most certainly less grey than before. What had happened to her? A question Celestia had pondered every day. Every day since... then. When her student had slipped. She could remember it as if it were yesterday.
~*~
"Princess?" asked Twilight Sparkle, looking up from the cups she was attempting to levitate on top of each other.
"What is it, Twilight?" asked Celestia, settling down next to her.
"You don't mind that my friends sit in, do you? You've never really mentioned it..." she added, trailing off uncertainly.
"Who are your friends?"
"Who are they? They're all right here! Rainbow Dash up there, Fluttershy over there. Pinkie went off to the castle kitchen, and Applejack followed her. Rarity's sitting in your chair," she explained, gesturing around the room as she rattled off each name.
"Mmhmm," mused Princess Celestia, looking at each spot. "Well, I suppose they can stay," she decided with a chuckle.