//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Day Before // Story: Twilight's Dawn: Future Imperfect // by Baryski //------------------------------// Paranoia.  Suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence or justification.  Paranoid.  Adjective.  Of, characterized by, or suffering from the mental condition of paranoia. No, I am not paranoid. For all intents and purposes it was just another day in Ponyville.  Nothing was actually different than it had been yesterday.  Then, why did it feel like the sky was just waiting to crumble right on top of Twilight’s head?  Okay, maybe that might have been a little bit of an understatement, but everything still felt, well, off somehow.  This wasn’t the cotton candy clouds kind of off that was easy to figure out.  Instead, it was the kind of off that you see in the corner of your eye and then disappears as you try to focus on it.  Like everypony was wearing a funny hat and took it off the second Twilight tried to look directly at them.  Except Applejack, she was always wearing a hat. “Everything all right Twi?  Ya look like Pinkie just popped out of your tea cup,”  No, everything is not all right.  Actually, Pinkie had done that particular trick on enough occasions for it to no longer affect the lavender mare, but that wasn’t the point.  What was the point, again?  Oh yes, hats. “It’s just.  Actually, I don’t really know Applejack,”  No, not hats.  Twilight mentally kicked herself for getting off track again, “First there was that weird dream last night, then the weird package this morning, now everything just feels wrong.” “Whoa nelly.  Ya want ta take that one step at a time sugar cube?” “Well, no, not really.”  Twilight grinned sheepishly, two things she never did one right after the other.  She never turned down the opportunity to explain something, and she certainly never seemed embarrassed.  But, what was she supposed to say, ‘I don’t remember anything about it, but it’s got me terrified’? “Okay then, Ah’ll just ask the questions,”  Of course Applejack wasn’t going to be that easy, “What weird dream?” Twilight didn’t really want to answer that question.  She even contemplated complete silence until her friend dropped it.  But, this was her friend asking her.  A friend whose eyes only spoke of the compassion of wanting to help these problems, “I don’t really remember much about it.  I just remember the feeling that it was something horrible and like I had failed somehow.” “Well, that’s ah tall order sugar cube, but it was still just ah dream,”  Twilight hadn’t asked for it, but she definitely needed what came next.  Her stalwart friend wrapped those orange hooves around her and comforted her, “Ah know you would never fail us sugar cube.  Ya would do everything ya could, and that’s all we could ever ask.” Twilight wanted to say something.  She wanted desperately to thank Applejack for the reassurance, but nothing would come out.  The only sounds that dared escape were a contented sigh and a few tears threatening to once again mat her fur.  Somehow those words only served to drive home the silliness of her fear. “So, what about yer weird package?” “It’s, it’s nothing,” The unicorn flustered herself through the excuse.  What else was she going to say?  Not that her stalwart friend was going to accept that kind of an excuse. “Twi, ya’ll lie almost as well as ah do,” Her stetson clad friend let out a loud chuckle, momentarily lifting her spirits.  That was, before she crushed them again, “Now, does this have somethin ta do with Rainbow?” “No!”  The exasperated unicorn practically exploded from the rage, ponies for a block in all directions staring at the scene, “Why does everypony always assume it has something to do with Rainbow Dash?” The stares were bad enough, but a crowd was slowly starting to gather now.  Whispers such as, “I bet it’s a lovers spat,” and, “No, didn’t you hear?  Rainbow isn’t like that,” were starting to dominate the silence in the square.  As if Twilight didn’t feel bad enough, she really didn’t want to think about Rainbow right now.  Not, not after that dream. Applejack tried her best to redirect the conversation sheepishly, “Well, shoot Twilight.  Ah just figured, with how you get around Rainbow and all.  It tain't nothin to be ashamed of.” “No, I’m sorry Applejack,” It was true, over the past few weeks Twilight had gone from normal to near blushing just at the mention of the name.  No matter how she had tried to hide it, many of her friends had become more or less aware of her infatuation with a certain cyan pony.  Just, now everything was different, “It’s just, I realize now it was just a silly idea I had.  It’s not like it will ever be returned.  I’m sorry to have bothered you.” Twilight started her way out leaving Applejack amidst even more whispers like, “That Rainbow, she must have really let her down hard,”, “Nah, Twilight isn’t like that.  I bet it was just a phase,” and, “Is this the line for ice cream?”  Not many, if any, of the ponies she walked past noticed the few uncontained tears that had managed to slip past the unicorn’s anger.  Couldn’t she get past one conversation without being reminded of her mounting number of personal problems? “Shoot.  Consarn it Rainbow Dash,” ****** An hour, seven brownies, and four more near explosions later, Twilight found herself in Carousel Boutique.  In all fairness, she wasn’t entirely sure how she had gotten there.  She remembered having a conversation about how muffins were actually from outer space; Pinkie Pie being the instigator of course, where she came to the conclusion that muffins would not, even if they were sentient, ever care about the state of her relationships.  She also remembered thinking about sending a letter to Princess Celestia requesting Pinkie be banished, not a serious banish just something to let her have some better sleep for a few weeks. Still, the fact remained, she was now laying on Rarity’s couch, with that familiar white monster of a cat attempting to make her into a pincushion.  It was nice, Twilight had been here almost half an hour already and Rarity had spent the entire time designing her newest creation, some strange suit made of pegasus feathers.  Rainbow Dash had not made an appearance in their conversation at all and neither had intelligent muffins for that matter. “Opal,” Rarity scolded, picking up the cat in her deep violet glow, “We don’t scratch Twilight.  I’m so sorry Twilight, Opal can have such bad manners sometimes.” “Oh, it’s alright Rarity, really,” Twilight hadn’t noticed until Rarity had brought it up, but Opalescence had actually scratched her pretty decently.  Several large crimson lines now dotted her normally perfect lavender fur.  They still didn’t hurt, she was too preoccupied, “Opal wasn’t bothering me.” “Nonsense.  Look at all these horrible wounds.  I can’t possibly let you go out like this,” The unicorn was in the process of making her way over, Opal already scooped up in the dark blue magic and ushered off to the other side of the room. “Honestly, you just don’t seem like yourself today Twilight,” Before Rarity could finish her trek to the studious purple mare something else seemed to catch her eye, “Don’t tell me...” “NO,” Twilight began to scream, bolting up from the couch before Rarity could even properly react.  Four, four times today her peace had been destroyed by a pony who assumed they knew just what was bothering her.  This time she was going to cut all this nonsense off at the source, “Rainbow Dash did not do something stupid, I most certainly didn’t propose to her out of the blue, and the space muffins did not threaten to blow up Ponyville if Rainbow didn’t leave!  I am just having a bad day, okay?” “...Fluttershy forgot her hat here when she left,” The boutique went deadly silent except for the nervous chuckling from the two ponies.  Neither could effectively broker this silence, especially after Twilight had all but stomped on Rarity trying to avoid the questions. “I’m, I’m so sorry Rarity,” Twilight backed off of her friend, the elegant fashionista doing her best to look like the outbreak had been an everyday occurrence.  It hadn’t been, they both knew that, but appearances needed to be maintained, “It’s just been a really...” “Bad day,” Rarity questioned the poor unicorn.  From their previous positions it was amazing how fast she bounced back and how much she really did care about her friends, “Sweetie, that much has been clear since you came here.  Rainbow Dash caused or not, if you want to tell me about it you will.  Until then, it’s none of my business.” The two sat in a blissful silence as Rarity began to tend to a few of the cat scratches.  They weren’t bad and Rarity was far from a doctor, but she was a miracle with makeup.  By the time she was done, the elegant unicorn had completely covered any of the damage done by the pernicious feline.  Twilight looked like Twilight again.  Well, a worried and deeply troubled Twilight. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right dear,” Rarity embraced her friend as Twilight readied herself to leave the boutique.  Would she be all right? “I don’t really know Rarity,” Honesty felt good, Twilight could see how Applejack was hooked on that type of thing.  But, she couldn’t be completely honest here yet.  Just, she really didn’t know if she was going to be all right, “But, I think I need a good night’s sleep before I even think about talking about it.” “Well, everything will look better in the morning, Twilight.  I’m sure it will.” ******** Twilight had originally intended to go to be as soon as she got home.  After her day she was more than tired enough to head directly to those wonderful sheets.  Unfortunately, that mirror had caught her attention, sitting on the table all innocently, first.  So, curiosity piqued, she had sat at that little work table and inspected the mirror for the better part of three hours.  Half an hour had been allotted to when Spike had brought in dinner, but no larger breaks had been taken since. In all fairness, this entire inspection had just been so the poor unicorn could gather the courage to do the one thing that scared her.  She was desperately trying to work up the courage to open that little letter.  Only hours before the greeting on that letter had instilled such fear that Twilight had completely thrown off her duties for the day.  Now, now she couldn’t even go to sleep without opening this terrifying container. She gulped, louder than she would have liked, and finally tore into the letter.  Seconds later the single sheet of parchment extracted itself with practiced ease and floated up only to be grabbed by the eager claws of the world’s best assistant.  Spike, bless his soul, was right there to eternally help her with something like this.  Even if he should have been in bed an hour ago. “Twilight Sparkle, The most important lesson when dealing with magic is that all magic comes with a price.  You already knew this, but what you must learn is to weigh the price of magic with the price of not using it.  It would be all too easy for you right now for you to give up magic altogether, but I can’t allow you that luxury right now.” “Twilight, what does that mean,” Twilight had been absorbed between the letter and the mirror ever since Spike started speaking.  The unicorn gave no indication of responding to the question of her dear assistant aside from a half hearted shrug. “Whatever, continuing on... To understand what I mean you need to experience the price of not using magic.  Up until now you have not had to understand that price, now you must gain the perspective of real magic.  Perhaps,” Twilight had become completely entranced by the mirror now.  The scrolling of the letter seemed to dance across the reflective surface until Twilight found herself staring a pony that was no longer entirely herself.  The mare that stared back looked distraught and demoralized a completely defeated mare. “In time you will become something more.  Or, be broken by this lesson.” Time no longer seemed to flow normally.  Twilight could no longer remember even moving from the table, but the next thing she could remember, she was asleep. A/N: This chapter undoubtedly feels slow to anypony who reads it. Honestly, it is slow, but I felt it important to allow a bit of everyday life in. Everything is going to start changing rapidly and I like this chapter to allow a contrast of what is going to happen. Don't worry the plot picks up considerably from here on out. Just as a final aside, I am still looking for a wonderful editor. I like to think I don't need much work, but I still want this to be as good as possible. Hopefully somepony feels like helping me out in that regard.