Dear Twilight,
I got to admit, I thought my first day was going to be difficult. In a way, it was in how I had to face things I never faced before, do things I never did before, even feel things I never felt before. And it’s… nice? I guess? I don’t know. Every good point I find in something, I find something wrong with it. Maybe it’s just my cynicism, or some paranoia on things that are new and different to me.
For instance, as the girls would have told you by now, I already found a few friends, got myself on a date, got a metric fuck-ton of money, found a way to talk to my magic (with the use of a drug, admittedly, but it works.)… And then there’s the stuff I’ve discovered on the date! Octavia is too good for words, and I have a fanbase out there! A bucking huge one too, apparently!
I think I might have a lesson to learn soon. Something on the line of change: Whether it is to yourself or the world around you. I’m doing a lot of it right now, after all. I don’t know how it’s about friendship, but I think I can find how it could be related to it somewhere. Just let me keep working on it a bit more.
So happy to hear I got a sibling. I’d ask you to expand your search to try and look for them, but I feel like you already on it. Let me know if you need another swab of spit.
Keep up the good work on your end!
From A Happy Brother of Someone,
Woundsalt
P.S.
I see Owlo fly away from the tree, with the letter in his talons. I couldn’t tell her that I know what happened to Rain Coat. Luna’s bound to tell her, anyway.
…
You know, I was bummed yesterday when she wrote to me saying that Rain was dead. I wouldn’t call it soul-crushing like that moment last night when I discovered that my life right now would be a horn and a pair of wings away from me being the worst OC imaginable, but still. Last pony alive with CMC. Not a great feeling. But you know what’s worse? Knowing how the last one went out.
But Dry Coat’s right. I should’ve been told this. This is a perfect example of the mental stress of knowing things you shouldn’t, something that could happen to me. What if I knew that somepony was going to die? What if I wanted to stop it? Is it really impossible for me to stop, or was there something Rain missed?
…
Why didn’t Twilight tell me this?
I mean sure, she told me she was dead. But that’s all she did. She didn’t tell me how she died nor that she went cuckoo. She just told me she’s dead. Why? Why would she hold back information like…?
…
Heh. Trust a princess to not tell you the full story, I guess.
I hear a knock on the door. “Hey, Woundsalt! You up?” yells the pony on the other side. Sounds like Rainbow Dash. She sounds a little… grumpy.
“Yeah, come on in.”
She does so. Very loudly. I turn to look at her. She’s angry.
“No… Hangover this morning?” She says with clenched teeth. Oh, I see what this is. She’s getting prepared to slap my muzzle off my face if I say I’ve been drinking. Good thing the truth is different to what she believes.
“Well, it’s kind of hard to get one if I haven’t touched a drop.” I reply. Hopefully some sarcastic humour will break her stern look.
“Oh, really?” She replies. Clearly my humour didn’t do much. “Not confessing that you were in a bar last night?”
… Now how the buck did she…? You know what? Never mind how she knows. I’m still innocent, Celestia damn it!
“Octavia wanted to go there, okay? Besides, I still didn’t drink.”
She’s staring into my soul in silence.
“I swear! All I had was cola the entire night! Bucking hell, Rainbow, I know Twilight wants you to be strict on me with this, but I didn’t expect the Esponial Inquisition!”
The sky-blue pegasus just continues to stare at me until she pulled out a device. “Keep blowing into the tube until it chimes.”
I look at this device. Seems fairly simple, a wooden tube with a green emerald and a red ruby attached. Don’t know where it’s going to chime, but alright. If this thing can prove my innocence…
I blow into the-*ching!* Wow, that was quick.
As I look toward the device, the emerald glows brighter than before. I’m willing to bet green is good. Not by general opinion of the population, but by the stunned look that is now on Rainbow Dash’s face.
“What? You’re clean? How?” Rainbow says, surprised. “I saw you by the window! All those ponies were handing you drinks! You were practically gone! No way you would’ve sobered up by now!”
No-one bought me a drink last night! They sort of figured the fact I got myself soda all evening is as a sign that I don’t want any-Oh… I think I know what happened here. She must have mistook an impersonator for me. I wonder if she actually see me at the right bar?
“Say, Dash… did you see me at the SorriNa?”
“The… Sorri-what? No, you were at the Wind Jester.”
I shake my head. “Nope. SorriNa. You must have followed some impersonator around.”
She continues to look at the device and back to me. “… Seriously? You have an impersonator of yourself?”
“Yeah, apparently there is a bit of a sub-culture in my fanbase that likes to disguise themselves as me to try to get free stuff. Kinda scummy, but hey.”
Silence.
“You… have a fanbase?”
“Yep.”
“… And some of them dress up to look like you?”
“I… don’t get it neither to be honest with you.”
More silence continues as she looks at me in disbelief. The door gets knocked once more. “Woundsalt?” I faintly hear. Must be Fluttershy. “Are you awake?”
“Uh... yeah, come on in.”
The door opens to reveal that it is, in fact, Fluttershy… wheeling in a little red wagon, the contents of which is humongous stacks of books. She lets go of the wagon mouth-le to discover the both of us there.
“Oh! Good morning, you two!” Fluttershy exclaims. “I brought a few books for the library...” She notices the look on her friends face. “Did I walk into something, here?”
Rainbow Dash turns to her fellow pegasi. “Actually, you might help me out here, Shy. Woundsalt says he has a fanbase...”
“Oh, fanbase is putting it lightly.” Fluttershy interrupts. “More like a… movement.”
“… Okay. And in this… ‘movement’ there is a bunch of ponies who try to look like him. Is that right?”
“Oh yes! False Salts! I know a few.” Fluttershy smiles. “They’re nice. Some scam ponies out of stuff, but most just do it for fun.”
Rainbow Dash turned back to me. “Okay… I’m sorry, Wound. I saw that fake in there, cheating ponies off drinks… I even heard him say that you and Twilight were…”
I put my hoof up. I don’t want to hear what he said.
“But… you admit you were in this… Sorreenar? Did I say that right? And you didn’t drink there?” She asks… Well, she seems much happier now.
“You went to the SorriNa?” Fluttershy asks as well.
“Well, it turns out it was Octavia’s favourite bar, so…”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence until both of them jumped on top of me.
“Way to go, champ! I’m so proud of you!” Rainbow Dash squeals as she grabs a hold. “Staying sober in a bar! That is great self-control!”
“And at Blue Curaçao’s!” Flutteshy adds, just as psyched. “You actually went there and faced your old bully!”
I look at the two in a scowl. They both know they’re too close for my comfort. They both realised this and get off me.
“Sorry…” Fluttershy whispers. “So, did you see him?”
“Yeah! He’s…”
“Kind?”
“Well, I was about to say overweight, but… yeah, that too.”
“Uh… yeah.” Fluttershy sighs. “I didn’t say anything at the time I met him, but he should really be concerned about his health, being as big as he is.”
I shrug as I look towards the wagon. “So… what’s with those?”
The two look back at the wagon and then to each other. “Let me guess.” Rainbow dash grumbles. “Your mom wants to donate these books to the library?”
Fluttershy nods. “Don’t worry, Rainbow. These are the ones with the foreword from your dad.”
Rainbow nods back as I go over to pick one of the books up.
“Ironsight Revengance: Call of the Changeling Heart 2 The Final Encounter… By Wordshy; Foreword by Balder Dash.” I read out loud… Okay, I’m missing something here. I know I am. “Why are you giving the library these? I thought pegasi don’t want the world to know about Chariotora and all that shit.”
The two are biting their lip. “Yeah… you didn’t read the paper yet this morning, did ya?” Rainbow finally speaks. “Luna revealed the Chariotora document to the public late last afternoon. Everypony who didn’t know about it does by now.”
Hmm… Luna and not Celestia. I have a feeling I know why. I also have a feeling I shouldn’t say anything about it out loud. But still, that’s quite a huge announcement. Why did she revealed this to the world right now? Because maybe I was right? Because almost a third of everypony knew already? Because quite frankly it was dumb to keep it a secret in the first place?
“So, I guess your mom decided to hand you some books to give out on the land, then? Trying to cash in on this seemingly new discovery?” I ask Fluttershy.
“Yes… Unfortunately.” Flutteshy sighs. “Look, I’m not entirely thrilled about everypony knowing about Ironsight now. The last thing I ever want is a meanie like him being remembered.”
I can understand that. However…
“Historical figures need to be remembered, Shy, especially the mean ones. How else are we to know in future to avoid creeps like him?”
… The jock just took the words out of my mouth.
“Well, I guess that’s true…” the yellow pegasus sighs towards the surprisingly smart cyan one. “I guess it’s never good to keep secrets from anypony anyway.”
…
I can only sigh at that last sentence.
“What?” Rainbow asks. “Something happened at the date?”
“No. It’s just that…”
Wait. Would they know? I gather Twilight told them what’s up. But they wouldn’t say something like ‘never good to keep secrets from anypony anyway’ unless they know they got nothing to make a secret… fuck it, I already opened my mouth I might as well use it.
“I found out that Twilight didn’t tell me the way Rain Coat went out.”
… Oh goddess, the look on their faces. They knew! The buckers knew! Those hypocritical bitches!
“Who… who told you about that?” Rainbow Dash stutters. “Did you dream it? Are you picking up our letters to eachother?”
“No! I mean, yes! I mean…
… So that means this horn’s going to work, isn't it? ISN'T IT?”
Hmm. That’s funny. I ended up with my eyes closed.
… You know, that’s a good point raised by my surge at the end, there. How would we know if the detachable horn Rain was working on is going to-
“TWILIGHT WILL FIND A WAY! SHE ALWAYS DOES! SHE ALWAYS DOES!”
Was that… Fluttershy? It sounded like her, but I never really heard her being this… loud.
I better open my eyes.
…
I better close them and open them again to prove I’m not crazy.
…
No? That’s actually happening? Rainbow Dash is holding back Fluttershy and Fluttershy’s looks like she’s going to break my neck?
…
“Did… did I say something out of line?”
Rainbow turned her head to look at me. “Oh thank Celestia, it was a surge. See, Shy? He didn’t mean any of it. It was just a surge!”
This made her friend calm down… a little.
“Okay...” Fluttershy said sternly. “I… better go and check on my critters. Maybe get started to pack for the Princess Summit. Good-bye, you two.”
I, along with a very nervous Rainbow Dash, waved as the animal lover goes home. Rainbow Dash looked at me nervously.
“What?” I ask her.
“You are so lucky I was here. I never saw her that mad before. She would’ve killed you!”
…
“What the Tartarus did I say?”
“Well, she was fine until you mentioned some dove she used to have.” Rainbow calmly said. “I guess it’s nothing you really know about.”
I think it’s best for me not to answer. Better change the subject.
“So… what’s the plan for us this morning?”
She smiles. “For me? I have a date.”
… “Seriously?”
“Yeah! I found somepony to… experiment with. It’s like you surged: Whether I just keep the world asking or just finally give it an answer, you know?”
Huh… That does sound like something I would say… not surge, but say.
“So, who is she?”
“Thunder Roll.” Dash squeels. “She said she wants to try and find out who she is too in her ad. And she likes long walks on the beach and the Thunderbolts.”
Hm. The lonely heart’s column. Well, she had to start somewhere.
“Well, I hope you two have fun. But what about me? Wasn’t this our time?”
Rainbow Dash cringes. “Yeah… sorry bud, maybe after the Princess Summit. Besides…” She continues as she looks at the books Fluttershy left. “Looks like you’re going to be busy.”
I sigh… maybe a sigh of relief more than anything. I can’t pretend some time to myself is something I feel like I need right now. Maybe I can get some time after all of those to check up on a few things.
“I better get going.” The Dash says excitedly. “I need to pack for the Summit and get ready for this! Oh, and Wound? Can you make sure all of them do have a forward from my dad? We don’t want anypony to think that ghost-ponies of dead dictators are real; especially the one Wordshy came up with. He’s a little… gory.”
“In comparison to what? The one with a wall of unicorn h-KOFF! HACK! KHEEEEEEEEEE…”
And without a goodbye, she’s gone. Figures. Fucking Featherbrain.
Well, looks like I got work to do. Better get started to make sure where they need to be out of reach of foalhooves. Maybe if I read o-Urk! “As fast as you can read, sire, I’m afraid it isn’t physically possible to go through them all in the time you have to yourself today. Perhaps I should give you the crib-notes on this literature in your mind?”
…
Well, if it saves time...
Okay, collecting cutie marks I understand, the occasional heart and unicorn head too; but why does Wordshy’s take on Ironsight have him taking frat-ponies’ spleens so much?
…
Oh, so he can shove all of them down some guy’s throat in the later novel. That’s… beautifully disgusting.
Thankfully, my magic detected all of these to all have Rainbow Dash’s father’s warning. And I do mean warning. I know those two kept calling it foreword, but it’s definitely a warning. This is entirely fiction, blah blah, We’re not related to changelings especially in such an awesome way as the changeling heart, blah blah, most hives would consider this blasphemous, blah Mcblah blah… Clearly, Rainbow takes her dare-devilish ways from her mom.
I hear a knock on the door. Huh. They do know this is a public library, right? If there is anything I learnt from my first day of knocking doors, is that doors of public places should not be knocked.
“Come in!”
I hear the hinges. Better see who that i…
…
Printed Page walks in. To be quite honest, I’m surprised he’s even awake right now. Hell, I’m surprised he’s alive right now.
Okay, I’ve seen that look before last night. Vinyl had it. He’s crying. Even with his shades on and none of those tears, I can tell he’s crying.
“Hey, Page.” I say, quietly. He does not look like he want a loud noise right now. “How’s your first night drink-”
His head turns towards me as he says a single word. A single word that explains why I feel... that I know he’s been crying.
“B…Brother…”