//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: The Calm before the Storm // Story: True Sight // by Cold Spike //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I walked together down the road to the library. We walked along quietly, and nopony seemed to have much to say. The lack of conversation gave me time to think, but I had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. After all the excitement today, why was everypony so quiet? “So... after we figure out what your mark means, then what do we do?” Scootaloo asked, breaking the silence. I glanced over at Sweetie Belle and noticed that the question had caught her off guard. Startled, she took in a sudden breath, almost a hiccup. Then she blinked. “I’m sorry. What was that, Scoots?” Scootaloo frowned, but repeated herself. “I said, after we figure out your talent, then what do we do about... well, me?” “I’m not sure, but... maybe since it’s just you left, we can focus on your strengths for cutie mark ideas!” She sounded excited for Scootaloo, but I could tell something was off in her voice. “That’s a great plan! I mean, I’m good at doing stunts on my scooter. I guess I never tried to get a cutie mark in that...” “Heh, yeah.” Sweetie Belle smiled at her friend, but quickly fell silent and resumed staring straight ahead. We continued our walk. “So what do you think your door means?” Scootaloo broke the silence again. I was thankful for that. The air seemed just a bit tense. “Could mean a doorway to dreams,” I offered. It would at least make some sense. Sweetie Belle laughed. “Yeah, it could be.” Again, she quickly went silent afterwards. Scootaloo and I shared a quizzical look, but we both shrugged and kept walking. “Oh, I know!” Scootaloo exclaimed, causing us both to jump out of our skins. “It could be the ability to see through doors and walls! That would be awesome!” she cheered and, despite the comic book like explanation, it again made some sense. Sweetie Belle’s cutie mark could still mean anything at this point. “Uh huh, that would be....” It sounded like she was trying for some enthusiasm, but her heart wasn’t into it. “Are you okay?” Scootaloo asked before I could. Sweetie Belle stopped with her right hoof frozen in mid air; she then slowly brought it down. It was then that I noticed that she had been clenching her teeth. “Yes, why?” she asked, a bit sharply. Scootaloo played it down and shrugged. “You just seem distracted, is all.” Sweetie Belle laughed nervously, looking at each of us in turn. I knew she would see nothing. At least, she wouldn’t see the type of things I would see in Scootaloo’s eyes. But she did see concern, and that concern probably scared her. We were all just foals, after all, and we’d always been told that getting your cutie mark is a joyful event. Finding out that your special talent wasn’t what you wanted it to be could be disappointing, or downright devastating, and was rarely ever talked about. Learning to accept your special talent could be really hard, as Apple Bloom would attest. The silence and lack of response from Sweetie Belle was a clear sign that something was up. “Sweetie, I know you are trying to hide something. I was good at doing that too, remember?” Scootaloo said. I had my head turned away from them, but even so I had no doubt about what secret Scootaloo was referring to. I had seen the pegasus filly’s memories of when she had finally told Sweetie Belle the truth. Sweetie Belle had looked absolutely shocked when Scootaloo had told her she had been homeless and living in the Crusaders’ clubhouse. But that Rarity had agreed to take her in. Sweetie Belle had had no freaking clue of her friend’s living status. Even without being able to see Sweetie Belle’s true thoughts, I could tell that she had been simultaneously relieved to hear that her friend was no longer homeless, upset at Scootaloo for not telling her that she was in trouble, and upset with herself for not figuring out on her own that her friend was in trouble. Sweetie Belle sighed, and with a look of defeat, she slumped down on her back hooves. “Look, I just got my cutie mark, and this is supposed to be a happy occasion.” Sweetie turned and looked into Scootaloo’s eyes. “You saw how happy Apple Bloom was, and how happy Applejack was for her sister, right?” “Yeah…” Scootaloo slowly replied, motioning for her to continue. “And you’ve seen how, well, Veritas acts…” “Yep!” I jumped in, with a cheeky grin. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and continued. “No offense, but I don’t want to end up like you.” She looked at me and tried to give me the biggest apologetic face she could muster. I understood her completely, but I think she was still wary of me. She continued, “So, I’m trying to be happy, but I don’t even know what this mark means! If it worked like his, then fine, that’s just how I am, I get that. But why a door?!” She stomped one of her hooves on the ground in frustration. Then her eyes got big as another thought occurred to her, and she snapped at us. “Even if it is like his, how am I supposed to get a job?! True Sight won’t get me work!” She huffed and turned to me as if demanding an answer, and her teeth clenched together again. If you keep grinding your teeth every time you are stressed, you soon won’t have any teeth at all, I mused impertinently. Oh, right. I got asked a question. “Well I, um, I guess I never bothered to worry about that because I have this inheritance.” I knew that saying that would probably make the situation worse, but I had no clue how True Sight was supposed to get you a job. I mean, I’m sure there were ways, but I had never needed to work and therefore never thought about it, and I was simply trying to explain that to her. It didn’t work. “Wonderful for you!” she spat, “Well, we’re not rich!” Tranquility had been thrown right out the window. Scootaloo had flinched several times and had no idea how to respond. I was just waiting for a chance to get a word in edgewise. “And this stupid door! It- it- it makes me look like a peeping tom, like that’s my special talent or something! What a joke!” she finished angrily, but not two seconds later she bowed her head and tears poured down her face. Scootaloo immediately wrapped her hooves around her, and I was glad I hadn’t spoken. I wanted to join in on the hug, but I wasn’t a filly and it just would have been weird. “You are not a joke, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo replied forcefully. “I know that, but it’s just- I don’t want his mark, okay? I don’t want to be like that and just know everything. I don’t…” “I’m sure that whatever your mark means, it’s going to be cool. Even if it is like his, it has to mean something different. Maybe it doesn’t work like his at all, or maybe it’s better,” Scootaloo tried to reason with her. “But Veritas said-” “Forget what I said,” I interrupted. “It was just an idea, Sweetie Belle. My True Sight won’t work on you, so my guess was that you had it too. Your cutie mark does look a lot like mine, sure, but my eyeball is white while your eyeball is blue, and you have that door. True Sight always works differently from pony to pony; at least, that’s what I’ve read. Plus, I’ve never seen that door, so obviously you don’t have what I have. It has to be something different. And if you're so worried about a job, I’m sure you can find another talent! I mean, what the hay does being the Element of Magic have to do with being a librarian?” Even though I was trying to comfort her, I was also being absolutely honest. There were just too many things that didn’t add up. If she did have True Sight like mine, then she would have at least gotten something when she stared into Scootaloo’s eyes earlier, but she didn’t. Even if the ability had barely manifested, she should have been able to see at least one memory clearly. Since she saw nothing, she most likely did not have True Sight. That still did not explain why my Sight wouldn’t work on her, though. It was all very intriguing. Sweetie Belle giggled a bit at that. “Are you sure?” she asked hopefully, desperate for reassurance. “Pretty sure. I’ve been wrong before, but the only way to know is to see Twilight. She can at least help a little.” “Okay.” She smiled a bit, but we could both tell she was still anxious. We reached the library, and, wouldn’t you know it, it was closed. Like that was going to stop us! We were two very anxious fillies and one very curious colt. Trivialities like business hours would barely slow us down. “Twilight!” Scootaloo yelled, as she banged on the door vigorously. I almost told her that we could probably just walk in and explain calmly, but this was just too funny. It got even funnier when Spike opened the door without Scootaloo noticing, and she kept knocking right on his face. She did notice Spike’s shout of protest, though. “Scootaloo, why are you banging on our door?” Spike asked, checking his nose to ensure that he was not bleeding. “Uh, it’s an emergency!” She tried to sound like it actually was, but nopony was buying it. “Uh huh.” His flat tone indicated just how much he believed us. “Well, we’re closed, so unless this is an actual emergency-” “Please, Spike, this kind of is. Can we come in?” Sweetie Belle interrupted, sounding desperate. “Sure...” he sighed. He let the three of us enter, and we found the mare we were looking for upstairs writing letters. “Hey, Twilight. Remember, me?” I called out from the main floor of the library up to her balcony. “Of course you do! I’m sure you also remember the research that Rarity asked you about.” That mare was so easy to tweak, I just couldn’t help myself! She had been extensively researching True Sight ever since I came into her life, and the talk with Rarity had only intensified this research. I smirked as she tried to decide whether to be outraged or pedagogical. Oh, here it comes! “Well, I’ve been-” “Yeah, too bad none of what you’ve found out is gonna help Sweetie. She got her cutie mark but it’s far different from mine, and we don’t know what it means!” I jumped in, interrupting her lecture. Her memories told me nothing of a door, so there was nothing to be gained by it anyway. It was pretty funny to see her eyes twitch like that, but I was sure that the mention of Sweetie Belle’s cutie mark would quickly redirect her attention. “Got her...? Oh, I see! Come up here, Sweetie; let me see it!” Sweetie Belle shrugged, and we all followed her upstairs. Scootaloo and I sat down on some pillows and waited as Twilight inspected the eyeball doored cutie mark. Scootaloo also told her about the odd light show that had heralded its appearance. “I’m stumped!” Twilight finally said. “This is going to take a lot more research. In all the cases of True Sight, it was always a white colored eyeball of some kind. Some were different, but never blue, and there was certainly never a door.” Without giving Sweetie Belle a chance to ask any questions, she started levitating book after book past her as she scanned the titles.“I’ve already looked into any books regarding cutie marks, but perhaps Odd Magical Phenomena through History might help. We can use what happened when Sweetie looked into Scootaloo’s eyes as a clue to start a new line of investigation,” she said to herself distractedly, apparently forgetting about us. We all shrugged. “Is there anything we can do to help?” I asked solicitously. If you can mix it up and keep ponies off balance, the fun lasts longer. Plus, I did want to help Sweetie Belle. Twilight Sparkle looked up, almost surprised that we were there. She considered us for a moment, then smiled and gave us a few other books to study. “Thank you, girls.” Scootaloo got Unicorn Magical Accidents through Time and I got Magical Anomalies Involving Eyes. Sweetie and Twilight were using a series of other books.  We each found a comfy spot and sat down to dig through our books. The ticking of a distant clock in the suddenly quiet room jostled my memory. I smirked silently as I wondered how mad Rarity was going to get at them for being out so late without letting her know. And by them I pretty much meant everypony in this room including Twilight. I almost laughed at the thought of the upcoming fireworks and continued reading. I tried finding any references to glowing eyes, blue eyeball cutie marks, or door cutie marks. The door was the thing that really interested me. While it was true that the same cutie mark with different colors could indicate completely different talents, it was not necessarily the case. It was the door that was the strongest indicator that her special talent might be really different from mine. The peeping tom thing actually made me chuckle; I figured there was zero chance that her talent actually had anything to do with voyeurism. Then again, in a roundabout way it could mean that. If she has True Sight, then she can peep into your soul but not your bedroom—unless, of course, you’ve done something memorable there, I thought derisively. Could it possibly mean a doorway to dreams? Maybe she could see into a pony’s dreams? It seemed like a possibility. I knew that Princess Luna had this power, but it was not her special talent. Still… why a door?! It was definitely starting to bother me, and a quick glance back at Twilight confirmed that I was not alone. “I found something!” Scootaloo declared loudly, scaring the living daylights out of all of us. We all dropped our books and hurried over, though I had already learned the entirety of her new discovery from her eyes. Twilight quickly read over Scootaloo’s shoulder, and her eyes widened. “Well, that actually helps,” Twilight murmured in surprise. I think she surprised all of us, to be honest. No offense intended to Scootaloo, of course. Apparently, magical anomalies involving the eyes did not always have to do with the mind, or even the pony’s mind in question, like we had all assumed. Basically, whatever happened to Sweetie Belle, it was possible that it had nothing to do with her mind whatsoever and instead had to do with something in the magical current of Equestria. It didn’t even have to be related to Scootaloo or her eyes; just that it happened. It even went further on to say that during various accounts through history, these eye anomalies could be traced to the very atoms that make up most objects or matter. It didn't give too many results on what this meant, but there were ponies in history that had moved objects with their eyes, intentionally and without the aid of unicorn magic. Since Sweetie did not do this, I wrote it off as some other magic occurrence, but the magical current thing made far more sense. Now, I’m no genius. I read a lot of fiction because I like it better than this actual science, so science is something that often eludes me. Science fiction is an exception, though. I did know about the magical current. Any third grader would; some knew it even younger. Equestria has magic brimming in its air-the magic is invisible-but it’s there. It’s how magic of any species works, in fact. No magical current, no magic to summon forth, regardless of race. To be honest, this told us very little of the door and what happened to Sweetie; but it did tell us that she summoned a massive amount of magic accidently from the magical current. So much so that it filled her entire body to the point of it begging to be released, which would explain her glowing eyes. Twilight explained it to us, well them, and that it was not painful in the slightest when happened to her as a filly. “So, that’s all we have. She can overexert her magical intake, on accident. Wonderful,” I said after a long awkward silence. We had read through all the books that Twilight could think of, and that was all we had really found. “I think I should write to Princess Celestia. She can possibly give us some insight on this door of yours…” Her eyes flicked up to the clock, obviously wondering if it was too late to send a letter. She jumped. “Gosh, is it that late?! Oh my- I never told Rarity you three were here!” Twilight practically screamed the last part. “She isn’t my guardian; you can change that to two,” I replied smugly. Twilight glared at me before sighing in exasperation. She then hastily wrote out a letter and left to go wake up one baby dragon. “Twilight? Why’d you-” Spike, who had just been woken up by Twilight, was interrupted as three loud knocks came from the door. “That would be her now!” I exclaimed. I was trying to sound funny, but it had no effect. Twilight gave another sigh, this time directed towards me, and used some magic to open the door to find one very angry looking unicorn mare. Rarity. Instead of addressing Twilight, she looked around frantically, until spotting us three. “You- what are you three doing here?! I’ve been looking all over for you, girls!” Spike jumped and nearly fell flat on his face. If there was any doubt in the dragon’s mind that he was awake, that was gone now. “I’m sorry, Rarity, but we got into some research, and, well…” Twilight stammered and looked from Scootaloo to me of all ponies, and sighed in defeat just before… “I got my cutie mark!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as she could muster up. “You what?!” Rarity looked horrified for a second; I understood a split second before Twilight did. “Relax, it’s not like mine. We don’t even know what it is, to be honest,” I told her in a calm manner. Rarity’s eyes kept flicking from my eyes, to my cutie mark, to Twilight’s eyes, to Sweetie’s cutie mark, and then back again. “It- it’s not like Veritas’s talent, is it?” she finally asked, working up the courage to look into Sweetie’s eyes. “No. We’re kind of stumped, big sis. Sorry we made you worry.” “I’m just glad that you're both okay, and I’m very happy that you earned your cutie mark,” Rarity said. She walked up to the two fillies and gave them a quick hug. “Yeah, and Apple Bloom did too! Veritas kind of helped her… it was weird.” “Is that so?” Rarity turned to me, and I just rolled my eyes. “Um, sure... Why not? Well, it’s been fun, but I better head home and get some sleep, so-” “Veritas, according to Spike, you live out in the woods in that old cottage. That’s at least a twenty to twenty five minute walk from here, and it’s late,” Twilight said in a calculative voice. I frowned. Damn dragon, I knew he would sell me out in some way… “It’s just the woods...” I tried to argue. “Those woods are home to many of the same creatures that you find in the Everfree; mostly timberwolves. There’s no way that I’m letting a young colt walk home late at night by himself, and there is no way I’m going with you out there either. I don’t care if you are your own guardian, you will stay here tonight-” “Ooh, ooh! He can sleep over at our place!” Sweetie Belle offered, interrupting Twilight’s little speech. “Why do I get the feeling that a simple ‘no’ isn’t going to work here?” I asked the others, but they ignored me. I hated being ignored when I did want the attention. “I... suppose so,” Rarity muttered while looking thoughtfully down at me. “No,” I stated firmly and started to leave, but Sweetie Belle stopped me with her hoof. “Please? You said you wanted friends now, so please?” I looked into those pleading eyes. I would have given anything at that moment to ensure that she remained my friend. While I would never admit it out loud, I did get lonely. Not being able to relate to anypony was a part of it, but knowing everypony so personally was another. I just hoped that her soul would always remain closed. “Fine.” I mumbled, which turned into a groan of protest after getting a quick hug from Sweetie Belle, and a cheer from Scootaloo. The hug felt far more embarrassing than it should have been, but I shrugged it off. “But, Twilight, this is highly unusual! Not knowing what her talent is?” “Don’t worry, Rarity, we’ll figure this out. I’m already going to have Spike send a letter to the princess, once I write it…” “Twilight,” I called out after breaking away from Sweetie, “do me a favor and try to keep me out of that letter, please?” She snorted. “You’re kind of a big part of the explanation!” “I’m just asking you to try. I don’t want one of the princesses itching to come meet me because of you, because if you do, then you’ll probably blame my spontaneous insanity after looking into her eyes on yourself when you figure out why it happened.” Everybody in the room, including Spike, gawked at my words and stared at me in shock. Before the awkwardness could be dragged on, I had to speak. “Come on! She’s been alive for like five thousand years or something, maybe even longer! I’m pretty sure if I ever looked into her eyes, I would go insane or get hurt or something. I’m not doing it!” Meeting with Princess Celestia, in my opinion, could only end badly. “Okay… I’m still mentioning you but I’ll advise her not to come into contact with you. Happy?” she asked huffily. I managed to keep most of the sarcasm from my voice as I answered. Most of it. “Ecstatic, thank you.” Twilight gritted her teeth the entire time she was writing the message. She was clearly upset. Perhaps ‘upset’ wasn’t a strong enough word. Each and every time she had ever met somepony new who was unique or fascinating in some way, she had invited the princess over to meet them. The princess, as it turns out, was never annoyed by these meetings and probably looked forward to them. But I wanted to keep my sanity intact; it was already in danger by having a sleepover with two fillies, apparently against my will. Pretty sure that’s foal napping in some jurisdictions. We all left the library, with me walking in front with Rarity. I didn’t need True Sight to tell me that she was anxious and very nervous, but not of me. She did not want her little sister getting True Sight because she still felt bitter from time to time even at her own sister and she could never know. Or something like that. The walk was slow, and I glanced back to find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo talking quite loudly, which was perfect. I whispered into Rarity’s ear. “You know, True Sight or not, she is going to find out about those bitter feelings one way or another.” “She never has to know. Just keep it to-” “Myself? Sure, whatever you say; but she will find out, and the sooner the better. What if she finds out at the worst possible time?” “I get it, but this isn’t exactly like admitting a fault or telling somepony that you love them dearly. It’s the opposite, and there is no right way to do it.” Rarity had her head held high while she was talking, away from mine, apparently unable to meet my eyes. “Maybe so, bu-” She cut me off. “I don’t care what you say, little colt.” She practically spat out the last part. “This is my life and I will choose how to live it. If I feel bitter, then I do, and Sweetie will understand that. But until that moment I will spend every waking moment making sure that she feels loved and protected from the likes of my and even her own feelings, understand?” “Yeah.” And I did. She was doing her best to keep those feelings inside and protect Sweetie Belle from ever feeling that way. I guess it made sense, in a way. “And here we are, home sweet home!” Rarity exclaimed, her bitter voice long forgotten apparently. I had nothing to say, but the fillies did. “This is gonna be awesome! A sleepover with my new friend and my new little sister!” Sweetie Belle yelled out. “I’m not that little,” Scootaloo replied ashamedly, and I couldn’t help myself. “Just thirteen months younger! Oh, was that supposed to be a secret?” Scootaloo scowled and looked down. She hated that I knew everything about her, and so did I, but it was not going to stop me from having some fun every once in awhile. “Cheer up Scoots; you’re not that much younger than me! And it means I have a big sis and a little sis now!” Scootaloo smiled and looked back up at Sweetie. “Yeah, you’re right! And a new jerk of a best friend!” “Celestia bless us, everyone!” I cheered and we actually laughed together. Well, I did until I remembered where I was. They had yet to set up a room for Scootaloo, which meant that she was sleeping in Sweetie Belle’s bed. I was on the floor. “Are you sure you don’t want to sleep up here? It’s not that big of a deal,” Sweetie protested. And, to be honest, it wasn’t a big deal at all. We were not sexually active -I have seen plenty of that already...- and thus it was just a few kids sleeping in a bed. It should be no big deal, but I’ve seen so many mature acts that I couldn’t help but think of it as anything but a big deal. I liked Sweetie Belle somewhat, and even Scootaloo. But I did not think of them as that way, and sleeping in her bed made no sense to me even if it did to them. “I’m good, thanks. Uh, good night.” There was a pause, followed by the two speaking in unison. “Night.” But it was never to be that simple. At least keeping myself awake kept me from my dreams. “So, what do we do now?” Scootaloo asked after a long silent pause in the dark. Rarity was asleep, so I assumed she meant what kind of mischief we should cause. “Free food is free food. Does your sister have any snacks or anything, Sweetie Belle?” “Yeah, should be some in the pantry. Could you get us some, please?” “Sure, why not,” I replied tiredly. I had no issues with that, and I was hungry. I gathered up some marshmallows and other things. We didn’t want to wake up Rarity, so cold snacks it was. Give a group of kids full bellies, and they’ll fall asleep pretty easily, even me. Something woke me up some time later, deep in the night. I wasn’t sure what, because when I looked around I saw nothing at first. I stood up and saw that Sweetie Belle was missing from her bed. My first guess was that she had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but when I looked over, there was no light on. Now curious, I got up and explored the house, looking for her. It took me all of five minutes to discover that she was nowhere in the house. I couldn’t be sure, but I was pretty sure I knew where she was. There was a faint memory I got from Rarity of this happening before, and ponies are creatures of habit. I walked outside slowly, as to not make too much noise, and sure enough, I spotted her on the roof. Well, she was outside atop an overhang of some kind, which was connected to Rarity’s room, very high up. Apparently, Rarity was a very heavy sleeper. Sweetie did not spot me, so I hurried inside and entered Rarity’s room. It was careful work, but I managed to wedge open the window and shut it behind me. Sweetie caught a quick glimpse of me and sighed. “Hey,” I offered. “Hey,” she responded. “I thought you said True Sight didn’t work on me, so how did you find me? This is my secret spot!” “It doesn’t, but it does on your sister. And I found one memory of her catching you out here or something… anyway, I can leave ya alone if you’d like.” “No, it’s fine. Just, let’s try and keep it down is all.” She sighed and went back to her stargazing. I shrugged and joined her. “So, do you just do this every night?” I asked, truly curious. She shrugged. “Most nights, yeah. It helps me think, I guess.” “Yeah...” I had no idea what she was talking about! When I need to think I read a book, I don’t stargaze on a three story overhang, but whatever works for her. “Think about what?” “Just things. Sometimes personal stuff, and sometimes events that happen. Like helping out Scootaloo…” She turned to me a sly grin. I tensed up for a moment, before realizing that I sold myself out with that simple reaction. “I thought so. Rarity keeps a lot things from me, but I should have known it was you that helped Scootaloo, in the end…” I looked at her for a long while after that. It was at this very moment that I realized any assumptions I had made about this filly were just thrown out the window. She wasn’t stupid; she wasn’t even close. She was a smart filly that made just as many assumptions as I did. Still, one thing bothered me about her statement. “Did you know about Scootaloo this whole time?” I questioned slowly. Her eyes looked down for a moment as if she was lost in thoughts and she finally shrugged. “We always suspected that something was up with Scootaloo. I guess none of us ever had the courage to talk to her about it, though.” She paused and let out a small chuckle. “Losing your parents and living on your own—it really puts things in perspective, I guess. When I found out my assumptions were real, I was horrified. I love Scootaloo and Apple Bloom as family, or as close as they are going to get. And when I found out that Scoots was hurting that badly, I... It  just makes me feel bad for her, and I don’t want to feel that way… I just want her to be happy and me to be happy.” “Hmm. She has you and Rarity now, so why do you feel bad then?” She shrugged again. “Well, we still have a family—Grandma and Grandpa on my mom’s side. Scoots has nopony except us. Well, actually, she may have other relatives. She hasn’t said so...” She sighed. “I’m pretty sure that Rarity just took her in because she felt sorry, not because she really loves her.” “Oh.” That was probably the saddest thing I’d heard in a long time... I grimaced and began to think through the memories I’d caught from Scootaloo and Rarity. What I found made me smile again. “Does Rarity fuss over her?” “What?” “Does she fuss over her? You know, bother her about school work and keeping her coat clean?” Sweetie Belle tapped a hoof on her chin as she considered. “I guess? Yeah.” “Does she bother her about her homework, like she does you?” “Well... sure, but-” “Then it’s love. Parents are always doing that. It may not be the same love as she has for you, but it’s still love.” Sweetie narrowed her eyes and stared at me for long while. “You know, if you acted more like this around others, then you wouldn’t seem like such a jerk!” she exclaimed before giggling. That giggle... it actually made me feel good inside. I’m pretty sure I cheered her up, just because she needed it. Luna give me strength... I’m becoming friendly. I shook that off. “Right. So, you’re feeling better?” “Yeah, thanks.” But she kept up her stargazing act, causing me to doubt that. I called her on it. “Really? Cause your sudden fascination with the stars says otherwise.” She huffed. “I could have been a singer, you know? Or a dancer, or even good at magic like Twilight. But no, I get to be you or something like you. Whoopie!” For a second, I could have sworn I was conversing with Rarity; that bitter voice was unmistakably hers; or from her mother maybe? “You can still be a singer. A special talent only means what you’re best at, it doesn’t-” “I know, I know. It doesn’t define me; I define me. It’s up to me to be nice or mean, or anything like that; I get it. But why a stinkin’ door? I’m sorry, but this stinks, and there is nothing you can say to change that.” “Would it help if I said that your mark looks better than mine?” That actually got her attention. She looked at me with a bewildered expression as if to say, Really? That’s all you have? “It’s true. Mine looks kind of boring. ...What?!” She broke out in a grin and laughed for a long while, not caring if she woke her sister or not. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?! And I thought Scoots was bad at socializing.” I took offense at that, but tried to keep a level head. “I’m not that bad,” I muttered. “Sure you aren’t… but thanks for trying. It helped a bit.” She went from a teasing voice to a very serious tone at the end, surprising me slightly. “Sure, anytime. I’m going to head off to bed. You coming?” “Yeah, in a sec…” She still wasn’t fine, but at least I could make her laugh.