//------------------------------// // Pulsar // Story: Sparkle's Game // by NandatmosNightLurker //------------------------------// “Listen, I’m telling you. This filly is the one. I’ve watched every moment of the last three years through her eyes, heard what she’s heard. If she isn’t the one, we won’t find any better.” “Isn’t that the same you said about her brother?” “Her brother has the same strategic mind she has, but uses it in a defensive manner. She uses it offensively.” “There are… doubts among the Council members. They say she’s too apathetic, too uncaring. Not to mention her power is off the charts. They’re afraid of a loose end, and rightly so.” “Isn’t her apathy self-enforced because of her power? Have you even looked at the filly’s Einfluss system? Simply remarkable. She could probably compare to us in raw energy if not control.” “That doesn’t abate my fears.” “Would you rather have a unicorn with that much power roaming Canterlot?” “So you would subject her to a life of loneliness and desperate infighting amongst other foals? I thought you liked her.” “I’ll look like a saint if the buggers get here.” “Alright, fine. I’ll talk to the Council. Fate of pony-kind and all…” “Oh, and remove the inhibitor’s restrictions, but leave it on her. We’ll see how long it takes her to realize her true power.” <<<<^^@^^>>>> A hoof tousled her mane as she lay down on an infirmary table. The nurse’s nameplate identified her as one Soft Needle. She smiled nicely and said, “Ms. Sparkle, I bet you’re patiently waiting to get that horrendous monitor out. Well today’s your lucky day, because we’ve got orders to remove it. Don’t you worry one bit though, it won’t hurt at all.” Twilight slowly nodded. She wasn’t so sure about that, it not being painful. She considered herself a good judge of character, and she was taught never to lie, but it certainly seemed more convenient, and oftentimes more dependable than telling the truth. After all, weren’t the fiction books she would often console herself in lies? No, Twilight decided. It would hurt. While she wasn’t a medic, she knew how tightly bound her Monitor and Inhibitor were to her Einfluss system. It would most definitely hurt. “Alright, I’m going to stick a small needle into the base of your horn, dear. It’ll numb you and slightly disconnect you from your magic. Don’t try to levitate anything.” When she finished, she left the room with a short farewell, “The doctor will be here soon.” She felt her horn tingle. Ignoring the out-of-place sensation, she thought of not having the Monitor. Was it the Monitor or the Inhibitor that put that buzzing feeling in her magic whenever she cast a spell? She would soon find out. Maybe Shiny wouldn’t hate her anymore. She’d show him that she was just a normal foal like he was. He’d see that the monitor was gone, and he’d be happy that she didn’t make it, just like him. She really wanted her BBBFF back. But it probably wouldn’t ever be the same way again. She had her monitor a whole year longer, and even if he was four years older, she’d probably be as intelligent as he is. Not probably, she thought. No, they’d never be BBBFF’s again. Siblings, maybe. Not enemies at least. Perhaps he’ll just leave her alone, and he wouldn’t force her to play any of those horrible games. No, Shining Armor wouldn’t hurt her, which Twilight knew. But he would play games. ‘I’m practicing my shield spell, Twily. Stand still and let me practice on you. Oh, too busy for your brother? Too smart? Off to go kill some buggers? Well fine. No, I don’t need you. I’ll practice on my own, you little Pulsar.’ “Alright, Ms. Sparkle, this will only be a moment. I just need to disconnect your Inhibitor to get the Monitor out,” the doctor said. Disconnect the Inhibitor? Twilight only barely remembered the last time it was disconnected. She was young and testing for intelligence when a loud crack made her send a surge of energy into an egg. It hatched, but the surges kept coming. Each pulse of raw magical energy had another undesirable effect. Nopony told her what had happened, but when she came to, her parents never looked her in the eye again and she had the Inhibitor on her horn. She nodded meekly, angling her horn towards the doctor. “The Monitor is designed to be removed, with no chance of infection. You’ll feel something tingling, and it might feel like you’re missing something. It’ll be the monitor of course, but you’ll be a little confused for a few days.” She saw the vague outline of an orange glow at the base of her horn before she felt something being ripped out. Her neck tensed as her legs started to spasm. She fell forward and her head hit the table. Twilight could tell that her magic was acting up as well. “Horseapples!” shouted the doctor. “Needle! I need you!” Twi could hear the nurse’s hooves on the marble floor, and a gasp. “She’s pulsing! Put a dampener on the area, Level 8! I’ll get the muscle relaxants!” The nurse entered Twi’s vision as she lurched towards a small metal box on the wall labeled ‘Emergency Dampener’. “Hold her down!” “I can’t, my magic is useless with the dampener—” “Use your hooves!” She felt a needle breach her spine, right on her withers. It burned, but it was a respectable burn. Everywhere it burned, her muscles released her from their hold, and she felt more in control. Her pupils followed the doctor around as he fiddled with her Inhibitor again. He nodded to Nurse Needle and she deactivated the dampener. “Ms. Sparkle? Are you alright?” The burning was in her tongue, so instead she lay there. They huddled around her, doing various tests that she vaguely knew, but couldn’t seem to remember the name or purpose of. Shaking his head, the doctor sighed. He seemed visibly shaken. “They hook a Celestia-damned tumor into their heads, directly into their Einfluss, and leave it there for three years. It’s a wonder more don’t die. Needle, look after her for an hour, and if she doesn’t start responding in fifteen minutes, come get me.” He stormed out of the room muttering, “Could have put her in a coma for Celestia’s sake…” <<<<^^@^^>>>> It wasn’t until there was only a half-hour before final bell that Twilight returned to Miss Whisper’s class. She was still slightly unsteady, nearly tripping over her hooves as she came in the doorway. Her teacher gave her a concerned glance. “Are you alright, Twilight?” She nodded. “You don’t look so good.” “I’m fine ma’am.” Giving her a final once-over, she huffed and told Twilight to take her seat. She started moving forward, but stopped. What was it she was looking for? “Your seat is over there.” Twilight blinked, before sitting down. She found her seat, but she was missing something else. It must not have been important. She heard a murmur behind her, and she turned to see what it was. She was greeted by the gasp of the filly behind her. “Your monitor,” she whispered. Twilight glanced up at her horn, shrugging. She was like the normal foals now. “Her monitor’s gone!” The harsh whispers reached her ears, along with the rest of the class’s. “Guess you couldn’t make it, huh, Sparkle?” asked a colt from somewhere behind her. What was his name? Shining? No, that was somepony else. “You may cease your chattering, Mr. Bolt,” Miss Whisper announced. Bolt smirked. Miss Whisper talked about prestidigitation. Twilight doodled on her PHELP, or Personal Holographic Einfluss Learning Provider, mapping out the entirety of Canterlot, and then displaying it in three dimensions. It was obvious Twilight wasn’t paying attention to the lesson, but Miss Whisper didn’t seem to care. Even if she wasn’t paying attention, Twilight knew every answer to every question she ever asked. It was then that a message popped up on the edge of her display. It moved around erratically, flipping and inverting as it seemingly danced across her two dimensional display, her map of Canterlot fading when the message was received. Twilight didn’t have to wait for it to settle down to know what it said. PULSAR Twilight grinned. Whoever sent the hateful message was simply praising her, because it was her that learned how to hack the network subroutines and send messages anonymously, along with creating the algorithm to make it randomly move. Besides, no matter what the other ponies thought, wasn’t she being a Pulsar worth the risk? For science? How many Pulsars were allowed in general society, let alone got to the level of education which she was at? But now the Monitor was gone. Maybe she would be placed in an isolated area, full of other Pulsars with little to no contact with anypony except her fellow magically-impaired unicorns and the wardens that had mobile magic dampeners on them at all times. The thought made her shiver in her seat. She wouldn’t be able to live like that. But what would the government think? Experiment P-123 designation “Twilight Sparkle” has failed. Let’s now remove her from everything she’s ever known and put her in a place safely away from the ‘normal’ ponies. Monitor or no, Twilight would never be normal. Final bell rang, and the class hurried out of their seats, eager to escape the accursed place of learning. She observed as many of the students took final notes on their PHELPs, transferring data back to their homes or printing out things to share with their friends. Twilight turned back to her PHELP, curious about how it would work if she had been born a pegasus—or perhaps even an earth pony. She felt a distaste grow at the thought. Being a unicorn was truly a blessing. She couldn’t think of what it was like to have an extra set of limbs or having to use her hooves for everything. Of course, there were advantages to both. She had studied up on the different magic that each brand of pony possessed, and some of the things that she found Earth Ponies capable of were truly amazing. But she’d never trade her horn away, dysfunctional as it was. It allowed her access to the PHELP inner network system, something she knew a pegasus or an earth pony could never hope to achieve. Basic usage? That much they could handle. But accessing the purely arcane system? That was her domain. She spent much of her time going through and learning how to shift things this way and that on the network, giving her access to almost anything. It was laughably simple, and it still seemed like she was the only one with any initiative in her class. It certainly gave her something to do as Miss Whisper droned on about magical sleight of hand. Prestidigitation! Twilight learned that by the time she was three. “Twilight, are you okay?” “I’m fine.” “You’ll miss your carriage.” Twilight nodded and stood up to leave. There weren’t any more foals in the room. It didn’t matter though, they’d be waiting. The bad ones always were. She felt exposed without her Monitor, nopony was listening in or watching out for her. It was one of the few advantages of having one, and she would sorely miss it. It was Bolt waiting for her. He was a colt, so he was naturally bigger than Twilight. Even if he was the smallest colt out of all the other foals. Unsurprisingly, he never failed to have his backup. A group of three mares and another colt, all vying to be the ‘in’ crowd. “Sup, Pulsar?” Don’t speak. Keep walking. “Hey Pulsar, we’re talking to you, hey, bugger-lover, Pulsar, we’re talking to you!” Nothing to say that would stop them. Nothing that wouldn’t aggravate them. And saying nothing will aggravate them too. “Flunked out, huh Pulsar? I bet. I bet your momma had sex with a changeling! That’s why you’re a Pulsar, huh, bugger lover? Bet that’s why you love buggers! No more Monitor, huh Pulsar?” “Can I get past?” Twilight asked. “Can you get past? Think she could get past fillies and gents?” They all laughed at that. “Yeah, you can get past. First we’ll pass your hoof through, then your horn through, and then your tail through. Maybe we’ll have a game of pin the tail on the pony after you’re all through!” She felt a hoof push her to the side, followed by Bolt’s pushing her backwards. She fell onto her flanks with a muted thud. “Let’s roll her up in a ball and throw her around!” “Maybe we could have a game of Volley, I know where there’s a net!” This wasn’t going to end well. Twilight decided she would rather not have the unhappiest ending for herself. The next time Bolt’s hoof came close, she swatted at it. She missed. “Oh, it looks like the little Pulsar has a bit of fight in her! What, you’re gonna fight me, huh Pulsar?” The colt grabbed her in his levitation as the mares giggled into their hooves and Bolt walked calmly up to her. “What?” Twilight barked out a laugh. It was forced. “How many of you are gonna beat up on a defenseless mare?” “Please, we’re real ponies, you Pulsar, with that magic-blocker, you’re about as strong as a gust of wind.” She was dropped out of the levitation anyway. As soon as she was, however, her mind raced as she put as much force into a burst of telekinesis as she could, before aiming it at Bolt and letting it do its job. He was sent flying backwards, not taking the fight seriously and most definitely not expecting such a desperate attack. Twilight had the sense not to look surprised at her strength. If that’s what she could do with the inhibitor on… Calmly collecting herself and walking over to where Bolt’s body lay, she sighed internally. She knew what to do and what not to do in a fight, even if she had never been in one. Never hit an opponent while they were down, and never hit them in their most sacred places. She was about to break both of those rules. If she was going to stop them from ganging up on her tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that, she would have to end this fight. All of her fights, with this one colt. He looked up at her with hate in his eyes. She looked down with indifference. She shoved a hoof into his skull, at the base of his horn. She heard a loud crack, and despite internally wincing at the shrieks let out from below her, moved lower as she bucked him with all her might in the chest. The shrieks were cut off by a sound of hacking, and she saw a little bit of blood on the floor. Turning once more, she lifted one hoof and shoved it into his groin, making the colt whimper and curl up even further as tears streamed out of his eyes. She looked to the crowd of bullies. Apathetically speaking, “You might think about ganging up on me. You’d probably hurt me pretty bad. But if you do, you won’t be able to stop thinking about me. How would I get you back? When? Where? Because this isn’t what I'd do to ponies that hurt me,” she pointed a hoof at Bolt. “What I’d do is much worse.” She turned away, heading off towards where the carriages were. Nopony followed her, but she could hear the mutterings of the group behind her. “Man, she kicked his flank. She was thorough.” Going far enough away from the voices, she huddled against a wall until her carriage came, slowly crying her eyes out. Take my Monitor away, and I’m heartless. How would Shining have handled that? Not like me… I’ll never be like Shining…