//------------------------------// // The Simple Things // Story: Faith and Doubt // by defender2222 //------------------------------// A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely. -Pam Brown Twilight groaned, wondering if Celestia was being truly petty and making the sun shine through her window just to aggravate the headache the unicorn felt. 'No... not unicorn... alicorn,' Twilight thought. She was startled to find that with Doubt having left her mind she could feel the difference between her thoughts and the ones he helped guide her too. It wasn’t a drastic change, which was rather startling when one thought about it; he had been a completely different conscious, whispering in her ear during her darkest moments. And yet her thoughts now and those she had felt just hours ago were very similar that unless she focused she couldn't tell the difference. It was like sitting on a sofa or a couch: both were soft and supported you but there were tiny differences. 'So... this is what immortality feels like.' Twilight slowly rose, stretched her wings. “…boring.’ Somepony had laid her upon her bed after Doubt had made her fall asleep and looking down at it she was struck by how small it was. Of course, the bed was normal size: it was Twilight who was bigger. She wagered that she was at least twice as big as she had been, rivaling Celestia in size. That made her smirk just a tiny bit. "Ow ow ow!" Twilight grunted, shutting her eyes. "Ok... don't smile like a smug alicorn after a night of drinking. Owie." She focused and with a burst of magic her bed was made. It was interesting to stare at the glow that burst out of her horn; it was a dark purple, mixing her normal magic with her new dark magic. Satisfied with that, she summoned a brush only to realize that her mane was infact made of hair and no longer billowing energy... except the moment she thought of it her tail and mane transformed from their normal purple to black energy with shooting stars sprinkled in. "Ok, that requires further testing." She made a note to ask Doubt about alicorn hair. Celestia had always been close-lipped when it came to her physiology but Twilight got a sense that she would get a straight answer from her... From her what? Doubt had said he was her father, her brother, her son and her husband. 'A little incestual...' Twilight thought to herself. 'So, what is he to me? Is he a friend? A partner? An extension of myself?' Twilight set the floating brush aside and pushed that question to the back burner. There were more important things to deal with. Twilight sighed, centering herself. Now that the alcohol had been burned out of her system and she had actually gotten some sleep (other than the few hours she had spent unconscious after battling the changeling queen she'd been awake for nearly 48 hours) the dark fires within her simmered down, allowing her to think rationally. Oh, that blaze would always be there... if she were honest with herself it had always existed, just buried under layer upon layer of repression. But no longer was it driving and she could actually consider her thoughts on the events of the last day without falling into a rage. She had not forgiven her friends or family. Their continual betrayal still made her grit her teeth and no amount of sleep was going to erase the memories of them continuously talking down to her and trying to make her act like they wanted too. She could still see them turning from her, siding against her and throwing away her friendship for the sake of a wedding. But now with the light of day Twilight could admit that it hadn't been all bad. There had been good times... wonderful times. And yes, they outweighed the bad by amount. Yet those bad times were the blackest of the black and her heart constricted just thinking about them. The question she now faced was if the good times were worth the bad? Could she continue on as things had been, assuming that was even possible? Or was the pain too deep and her soul too scarred to allow her to be around them? She didn't know... and that scared her to death. Shaking herself free of the questions and concerns that buzzed about her brain, Twilight decided to do something was completely not like her: she pushed her worries aside and decided to just have fun. And the first thing she was going to do was go get breakfast. "OW OW OW OW OW!" Twilight looked up at the ceiling, her billowy mane lying on the ground. "Ok... so I need to relearn how to go up and down steps," Twilight grunted, staring at the offending steps she had just bounced down. "You ok Twilight?" The dark alicorn blinked as, of all ponies, Cadence trotted over to her and helped her up. "You know, most ponies put their hooves on steps and not their heads." "Cadence?" Twilight said dumbly. "What are you doing here?" The love goddess smiled. "You said when I was ready to talk to come see you. Well, I want to talk." Twilight's eyes flashed and the pink alicorn hurried to put her friend at ease. "Don't worry... no judgment here. I just want to spend some time with you, that's all. Not going to press you into anything." Cadence turned and began to canter towards the kitchen. "By the way, Spike and I made breakfast. Don't worry, we didn't do anything runny or goopy. Figured your stomach would still be doing flip flops." Twilight stared at Cadence's returned form, wondering if she had slipped into an alternate dimension. She quickly ruled that unlikely and cautiously made her way into the kitchen, where Spike was finishing up with the toast and sliced fruit. "Hey Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, hopping off the stool he had been standing on and running over to give his friend a hug. The dark alicorn smiled, lowering her head to nuzzle him gently. "Wow, when Cadence said you'd grown..." Twilight laughed as best she could with a throbbing skull. "Yeah... bit of a growth spurt." "You look cool. Not that you didn't before!" Spike added hastily. "It's ok Spike... I am not going to bite your head off." She flashed him a dark smile. "Even though I am now big enough to do so in one gulp..." Spike, instead of being intimidated, just waged a finger at her. "Just remember Twilight, I am going to get a lot bigger and now both of us are going to be around forever." The baby dragon flashed his own dark smile. "That means I'll have plenty of time to punish you when I'm big enough to hold you in the palm of my hand." "Not if I use my magic to make myself grow even bigger!" Twilight challenged. "Do I need to leave or are you two going to go get a room?" Cadence teased. The dark alicorn and the baby dragon blushed at the accusation and Cadence giggled. "I'm kidding. Come on; sit down before I eat all this food." She gestured at one of the bowls of fruit Spike had set out, which was already nearing empty. "Somepony had an appetite," Spike stated. Cadence shrugged. "Well, I really haven't had anything to eat but hospital food and whatever the changelings gave me. And before that I was on a diet so I looked my best for the wedding. Well, that didn’t happen so I am going to gorge. If I get fat I get fat." Twilight grimaced as went over to join Cadence. "I am so sorry I didn't think to find you..." The pink alicorn waved her off. "Twilight, it wasn't your fault. You are sorry for that, I am sorry for what I said in the club, so I figure that makes us even." The dark alicorn chewed on a strawberry sullenly. "I shouldn't have accused you of mind rape. And I shouldn't have... done whatever I did to you." "While I didn't enjoy all the dark thoughts I've moved past it, Twilight. I don't think I'll be trying black magic any time soon, no offense, but you did raise some good points and I plan to think about how I use my spells from now on." Cadence glanced over at Twilight. "I hope you do the same." Twilight, to Cadence’s surprise, didn’t snap at the thinly veiled comment. "I will," Twilight said, nibbling on some toast. Her headache wasn't throbbing as much anymore and that was a plus... especially since she didn't want to try a headache relief spell after the changeling queen had used that excuse to explain her actions against Shining Armor. They ate in silence for several minutes, just enjoying each other's company. For Twilight it was a return to normal. After all the stress of the last day and the roller coaster of emotions it felt wonderful to just sit down and have a simple meal. It was connecting her new self to her past self and she felt a peace settle within her. 'Is that because Doubt isn't in my mind?' Twilight wondered. 'I will always be with you.' 'Doubt?' Twilight's mind whispered. 'Where are you? Why weren't you here when I woke up?' 'I made an agreement with your friends, to give them two days with you to make amends. I am using the time away to… get use to myself. I have never had a physical body before and it is... quite strange. I have experienced much through yours and Luna’s eyes but to have my own mind and body… it is quite off-putting. I wish to explore this new aspect of myself and the time apart will be good for both of us.' 'But you'll be back?' 'I will never leave you Twilight. Even if you cast me away I will be ready come to your side... all you must do is think of me.' The mirror alicorn chuckled slightly. 'As for your previous question... for now consider me a guardian... a watchful protector.' 'So... it isn't because you aren't here that I feel so peaceful?' 'No. It is because you are at peace. Nothing more or less. The pains of yesterday are gone and a new day is before all of us. You now have the strength to stand against anything that tries to cage you... and that freedom offers peace of mind. You no longer need me to guide you; you are your own mare, an immortal and a future queen. I now take the role of knight and allow you to set the path. Now... enjoy yourself, my Twilight. I will return to you in two days. We have much to decide then.' The entire conversation took only seconds to occur but Spike and Cadence still noticed how Twilight had zoned out on her. When they stared at her long enough Twilight snapped out of her daze and smiled, tapping her hoof against her forehead. "Sorry... still crowded in there." "Doubt?" Cadence asked. "Yeah. Apparently even with a body he'll always be bouncing around my head." Twilight frowned. “Or I’ll be bouncing around his. It’s kinda hard to tell.” Spike frowned. He decided to not let on that the others had given him some background on the mirror alicorn, figuring Twilight wouldn't be happy with them gossiping behind her back. "Cadence was telling me a bit about him... are his wings really made up of our mirrors? If so, I have a bone to pick with him… I wasn’t able to get my spines straight this morning because all the mirrors are gone!" Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, he took the mirrors. Apparently for an abstract he as a flair for the dramatic." "But he is the reason you now have wings?" "Yeah." "Ok," Spike said simply. Cadence marveled at the ability Spike possessed to accept such a massive change to his best friend without batting an eye. 'Perhaps we all could learn something from Spike,' she thought. The rest of the breakfast was peaceful and Twilight couldn't help but wish it didn't have to end. "Don't worry... I want to stay in Ponyville for a while to recuperate," the love goddess told her friend. Twilight looked down at Cadence (and boy, was that strange) and nodded her head. "Sounds good... just don't stress yourself. I might have had a bad day yesterday but you had a bad few weeks... you never know how that will affect you." "I will adjust. Life is all about adjusting." Cadence paused at the door, gathering her courage. "Twilight... I want to ask you something and I need you to promise to not get mad. If you say no that is fine, but I still want to ask." "It's about my friends and family, isn't it?" Twilight said, her mood turning sour. "Yes. I know they don't deserve it-" Cadence stopped herself from saying 'you think', knowing that it would only piss the dark alicorn off, "-but maybe you should be the bigger pony and give them a chance... if only one chance." Twilight snorted. "Why bother? They wouldn't have given me one." "I think you are wrong there, Twilight. I think all of them would have given you a chance and if you are honest with yourself you'll realize that is true." The dark alicorn rolled her eyes but Cadence could see a flicker that spoke of her words getting through to the alicorn. "Besides... sometimes it is worth being the bigger pony... and in your case you literally are." Twilight managed a weak chuckle at the bad joke. "I don't know if I want to..." "Just think about it. And hey," Cadence actually managed to flash an evil grin of her own, "you can always make them jump through hoops and do embarrassing things as a way to apologize." The dark alicorn did laugh hard at that. "Ok... I'll think about it." “You could get Doubt to make them immortal and have them make it up to you for a few thousand years.” “Who am I, Celestia?” Twilight said with a dark laugh. “I’ll consider it… but no promises. And if they try anything I am going to show them the power of the…” Twilight frowned. “Ok, I really need to figure out what I am the alicorn of. Magic? Darkness? Stars?” Twilight puzzled that one over. "Thank you," Cadence said, giving Twilight a hug before heading out. It was only after Twilight had gone back inside and Cadence knew she couldn't see her that the pink alicorn looked to the sky in prayer. "Please... please let us not waste this last chance." “For the sake of everything, Cadence… let us hope not,” Doubt whispered, Cadence turned just as the mirror alicorn warped away.