//------------------------------// // "Make It Stop" // Story: Jukebox Scribbles // by Timaeus //------------------------------// Song Prompt - "Make It Stop," Rise Against Taking a deep breath, Twilight ascended the stairs for the last time. The tears had stopped flowing long ago and she looked on with grim satisfaction that all of the pain was going to end. “Twily, you can’t be serious. This is some kind of joke, right?! There’s no way my little sister could be one of those freaks!” Shining Armor shouted as he grasped at straws. His wife and Twilight’s sister-in-law wore a face of disgust. Twilight ignored her brother and looked to the Princess of Love herself, “Cadance...please, you of all ponies has to understand...” “I’m sorry Twilight, but there are right kinds of love and wrong kinds of love. I cannot support something like this,” she replied coolly, a few tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Now an empty shell of her former self, Twilight took one last longing glance around her home. Though, as her thoughts plagued her mind, she decided that it was no longer a home for her. A home was a place a pony could go to and feel safe from the world, a place where their outside lives wouldn’t trouble them. The walls of words and stacks of books had failed to defend her this time. She wasn’t kidding anypony, this stopped being her home the minute she came out. “B-b-but Princess! You can’t really mean that! Please tell me you can’t mean that! Studying with you is such an important part of my life! You’ve taught me since I was a little filly, you’ve practically raised me! You’re like a second mother to me!” Twilight pleaded, tears openly flowing, her eyes red and bloodshot as her former mentor towered above her with a look of disappointment that Twilight had only seen in her nightmares. No. This was worth that anything than her subconscious could conjure. “There is nothing more to discuss, Twilight Sparkle. You understand, I cannot have a...fillyfooler as my prized student. You will vacate these premises immediately, and unless change is made, you shall not be allowed to return to the castle or make use of its services,” Celestia stated matter-of-factly, donning a mask of indifference over her before clear disapproval. Spike was living in Canterlot at the castle with the princesses. He would be well taken care of. Ponyville could always find a new librarian to replace her, it’s not like it was a difficult job. The princesses had already shunned her, her parents had disowned her, and her friends had all turned their backs on her. Equestria wasn’t in any danger so they weren’t in need of her element. Nopony was going to miss her. Some ponies may be shocked at first, but she’d fade into memory as “that fillyfooling librarian” or “that purple unicorn” soon enough. And then she’d be forgotten. All of the cruel words, all of the mental agony and emotional abuse would end. She looked herself over in the mirror at the top of the stairs. Her mane had been brushed neatly and shone, her coat was clean. She was determined to not look like the mess she had been for the past few weeks when ponies found her. Then she turned to the right to face her liberation. A rope, tied in a hangman’s noose, hung from the rafters of the library. She secured her magic-dampening ring onto her horn. At the lack of oxygen she knew that her body would react and her magic would teleport her to safety in an act of self-preservation. “Twilight, darling, you cannot be serious. A fillyfooler? How...uncouth,” Rarity stated, backing away from Twilight like she carried some contagious disease. “No, not you too girls! Please, not you too!” Twilight cried out in desperation. Her mane was a mess, her coat stained from the number of tears she shed in the past few hours when she got a letter from her parents disowning her unless she straightened out. “Twi’, you gotta understand. It just ain’t right for a mare to love other mares, it’s tradition! Besides, how can ya ever have foals with another mare?” Applejack said. “There are spells for that! It doesn’t have to be a mare and a stallion anymore!” Twilight retorted, her despair getting the better of her as she tried to justify herself to her closest friends. “I’m sorry Twilight, but that just isn’t natural,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, turning to her friend who never failed to make things happier. She only looked down and turned away from Twilight in response. It was enough for Twilight to get the picture. Nopony wanted her around anymore. So that’s what she would give them. She slipped her head through the noose. And after a moment’s hesitation, she jumped. Her eyes shut, she didn’t notice her front door open and a rainbow-maned pegasus enter. “Hey Twilight, you home? I just ran into the girls and they said tha-TWILIGHT!” Rainbow screamed, seeing her friend attempting to hang herself. In a flash, she took to the air, catching Twilight as she fell, removing the rope from around her neck and putting her on the ground safely. “Why did you stop me?!” Twilight shrieked, struggling against the cyan pony who held her in a tight embrace. “What were you doing?!” Rainbows reply came from between gasps and sobs, “Don’t you dare try anything like that on me again, do you hear me Sparkle! Don’t you dare!” “Why not?! Nopony cares! Everypony just wants me gone! I’m a freak!” “...I care,” came Rainbow’s quiet response, “And you’re not a freak. You’re Twilight Sparkle, and fillyfooler or not, you’re one of the most special ponies I know.” By now, Twilight’s body wracked with sobs as she cried into her only friend’s shoulder. “Shh, it’s okay,” Rainbow said soothingly, “I promise I’ll protect you.” “W-w-why?” “Because you’re important to me, and I won’t ever let you fall. I'll stay with you.”