Day: Wednesday
Weather: Cloudy, possible chance of sun later
Time: 12:15pmIt has been three weeks since I registered as a student at Canterlot High, and things have been progressing a little slowly when it came to me ruling over the school. Try as I could, I just couldn't find my foothold, and this has left me feeling bitter; this was supposed to have been simple! The students simply ignored me... I guess my attitude during the day of those intramural sports left a bad impression, but I wasn't about to sink to their level. There was a chance for me to turn this around before things became too big of a hurdle to overcome, and it had to do with the Fall Formal, which everyone has been talking about non-stop. I learned from Principal Celestia that the winner is crowned princess of the Formal and could shape events that are to come in the school's future. While it may not be an alicorn princess, this was the next best thing, so naturally, I chose to go for it, but I also heard that there were several others who coveted the crown as well... I couldn't allow them to take what shall be mine, so perhaps a little bit of persuasion was in order? If that didn't do the trick, then I'd have to rely on more severe methods...
The Other Journal
By Ganondorf8
November 10, 2015
Chapter 10: Deception.
" A dance?" Twilight asked, confused by this sudden revelation.
" At first I didn't know what the Fall Formal was, but when I found out about it, I thought it was exactly what I needed in order to begin my quest to rule over CHS and bring both fear and intimidation to everyone who attended. Looking back on it now, after all I've been through, I wish that I had never went for it in the first place. Refusing to go for it would have resigned me into accepting humility... the one thing Princess Celestia said I was lacking." I answered. Holding the journal firmly in one hand, I used the other to flip past several pages, prompting Twilight to ask why I would want to ignore what was contained on those pages. I told her that those pages didn't contribute to what I wanted to reveal. In truth, those pages were just a series of rants I wrote down about my first days at CHS and how the school was inferior to the School for Gifted Unicorns, but my ranting only lasted the first week; my attitude began to change when the Fall Formal drew closer. " My first days were just me having tantrum after tantrum, and I expressed those rages by writing them down into my journal, yet I managed to maintain my demeanour even when I wanted to literally explode with frustration over having been reduced to being a powerless human who lacked any kind of magic."
" Couldn't you have gone back to Equestria?" Twilight asked.
The portal had a strange mechanic which was implemented by Star Swirl the Bearded to prevent anyone from misusing it from either side: the portal only opens once every thirty moons, which is actually roughly thirty months in this world, and it will remain open for the following three nights until it closes again. After that, you have to wait for thirty moons until it opens again. So you see, once I came out of the mirror, I was trapped here for many months until it opened." I answered. I then looked at Twilight with a sad look on my face, and she instantly knew where I was going next with my explanation. She blushed as a sign of embarrassment as she had gotten her answer without any words, but I chose to speak anyway in case my message didn't quite get through to her. " I couldn't return to Equestria... not after the falling out I had with Princess Celestia. To go back would mean to do so with my tail between my legs, and I wasn't about to let her have the satisfaction of making me beg for forgiveness. If I could go back into the past and have a good, long talk with my past self, I would have told her to go back and straighten things out, and I would tell her the horrible things we would do in time, and make her feel immense regret if she were to love the idea of wanting to continue on down that path." I said.
" Is that mechanic still in place?" Twilight asked.
" No; Princess Twilight--the other you--created her own portal by using the journal which Princess Celestia kept--which is how Princess Twilight is able to read all of my Friendship Reports--as an energy source, and now she can come here whenever she wants." I answered.
" And what about you?" Twilight asked. My immediate silence told her without words that it was a subject I would rather not talk about, because while I have become a much better person within the span of the last year, what happened in Equestria between me and Princess Celestia has never been resolved. Because of that, there's this pathological fear I have about facing her after so many years. I really want to see her again, and apologize for everything that went wrong, as it was entirely my fault, but a part of me isn't quite ready to go back to Equestria just yet. " Sorry if I've touched some kind of nerve. I didn't know that you haven't had a chance to go back home." Twilight said.
" Actually, I did tell you a small white lie--" I began.
" What?" Twilight asked.
" I did go back to Equestria briefly on two different occasions." I answered, burying my head into my hands because I had been dishonest with Twilight, yet while I was expecting her to scold me for having deceived her, she merely shrugged her shoulders, and said it was fine; she has done similar things herself. Lifting up my head, and wiping away the tears that were trickling down my eyes, I began to focus on what I needed to share with her next. " The Fall Formal is a dance where everyone attends to, well, dance, but there was another part to it where students vote on a girl to become the princess of the Formal."
" And here I thought it was a gathering of the minds." Twilight said.
When I officially became a student after Principal Celestia had completed the registration process, I remember the words Pinkie Pie said, despite how frantic they were, and inquired as to what the Fall Formal was. Her explanation was pretty mundane, and I ignored most of it, as it was just pointless rhetoric which had no meaning to me, but when she brought up a student being crowned princess, I asked her to tell me more. Students vote on one of their peers to be crowned "Princess of the Fall Formal", but they needed to register with whoever was in charge of the planning committee, and ironically, Principal Celestia was covering it this year as no student had volunteered. That meant not having to speak to any of the other students, which made me feel relieved. I was told that in order to win the crown, I had to get the most number of votes as determined by my fellow students, yet this notion didn't settle well with me at all. I should just be given the crown no questions asked due to being superior to everyone else in this cesspool of a school, but I had to win it in a legitimate fashion. I also learned that four other students were vying for the same thing, and I wasn't going to allow any competition to get in the way. I may not become an alicorn princess through this Fall Formal, but this will have to do until my destiny comes.
Over the next three weeks, I began to do some research about Canterlot High, so that I could become the Princess of the Fall Formal, and while I would have preferred to study up on something really important, if I was to live in the human world, I might as well learn as much about the local customs as possible. According to what I read, to become the princess, I would need to display certain characteristics that the voters were looking for. Already I knew this would be a problem; I lacked those characteristics, or rather, I just didn't care about them. That meant I was guaranteed to lose because I didn't have those qualities, but perhaps there was another approach that could lead me to victory. This whole voting aspect is something Equestria goes through constantly when it came to selecting leaders, barring the monarchy, and from what I remember, if there is only the one candidate left because the others dropped out of contention, the one who remains automatically wins by default.
I had to get rid of the competition so that I would be the only one who could win, but I just couldn't outright eliminate them, as that would expose my true intentions, and I want to avoid that path as long as possible. This required a more delicate approach, which revolved around manipulation, deceit, dishonesty, doing everything in the shadows, and more so that I wouldn't be discovered. When it came to getting what I want, I was willing to do whatever it took, even if it meant having to break a few rules in the process. The day before the Fall Formal was to take place, I had been keeping track of who the students wanted to vote for, and it wasn't surprising to see that I was at the bottom, with no one lending me their support. Soon, however, they would have no choice but to vote for me, as I would be the only one left. My opponents were a mixture of the popular, the fashionable, the smart, and even a student who was relatively quiet, yet I wasn't worried; they each had flaws that were easy to exploit. Even though Principal Celestia was in charge of the committee for the Formal, she had asked one of the students to assist her, and it turned out to be none other than Pinkie Pie. While she had an overactive mind, she also was known for babbling out secrets. She just couldn't keep them.
I needed some information about my opponents, and Pinkie was going to share them. All I had to do was use the proper incentives. Pinkie was sitting down at a table during lunch period, working on various party decorations for the Formal, but she quickly stopped when I sat down on the opposite side. She smiled before offering me a balloon. That took me by surprise, yet I mentally cringed, as she was just acting like an immature child. That was something about Pinkie Pie which always bothered me: her immaturity. Surely, it must be somewhat lacking. Why else would she act like she does? I'm used to it now, and even accept it as part of who she is, but back then it just annoyed me.
" Aren't you one of the students who wants to become Princess of the Fall Formal?" Pinkie Pie asked.
" Yes, and I was hoping that you could help me with something." I answered, pretending to be subtle when in truth I was looking for information. Pinkie Pie then held up her hand to signal that she needed to blow up some balloons she had with her. My response was mumbling to myself over how this was wasting precious time, but she kept holding it up and kept blowing, until she came to a stop and put the remaining balloons to one side before turning her attention to me. She placed her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. Poor Pinkie Pie... she was going to become a pawn in my game, and she was oblivious to it.
" What can I help you with?" Pinkie Pie asked.
" Well, I've been pretty open about how I have described myself as a contender for the crown of the Fall Formal, but I don't think my opponents have been quite as honest. It's like they were hiding some secrets which they don't want anyone to know, otherwise it would ruin them." I answered.
" Really? Huh... I don't recall you saying much about yourself, Sunset Shimmer, but then, you probably might have done so, but I wasn't there to hear it, or I was there and was focusing on something else, so I couldn't hear anything you were saying." Pinkie Pie said, her incessant chatter making me want to just tape her mouth shut permanently, but throttling her would've given me away, so I would just have to endure.
" I know that a lot about me remains unknown, but those are private matters which I prefer to keep to myself." I said.
" Yeah, but you shouldn't keep such things bottled up; the students want their princess to be approachable." Pinkie Pie said. She had no right to say that to me; what I went through before coming to this world is something their minds could never even begin to comprehend, so I had every right to yell back at her. However, I chose to bite the bottom half of my lip, which prompted Pinkie to look at me oddly. " You okay? You look as though you're stressing out!" I told her that I was fine, even though my biting almost caused my lip to start bleeding, given how tense I felt, so she resumed with her chatter, all while looking at me with an expression that could be described with a single word: creepy. That smile of hers looked so unnatural, like someone had given her plastic surgery. No face should look like that, even if they were always cheerful. " Okay, I get that you don't like all of your little teeny tiny secrets to be known, but you may have to share them one day."
" That's for me to decide." I said, growling slightly to let her know that she should just drop the subject of my past before things got worse.
" Well, moving on to the topic at hand, your opponents do have their secrets which they did tell me, but they told me not to reveal anything, because it would just be so damaging to their chances of becoming Princess of the Fall Formal. You don't have anything to worry about, Sunset Shimmer, since you have no such secrets. You're keeping them locked away in a chest somewhere, but everyone else has been on edge. They know that secrets have a nasty habit of biting you when you least expect it." Pinkie Pie said.
" Oh, you can't mean that?" I asked, saying just the right words to trick her into confessing.
" I do mean it, missy, and you wouldn't believe what kind of secrets they are." Pinkie Pie answered.
" Then by all... nah. On second thought, don't tell me about them. They are meant to be kept secret, after all, and we wouldn't want their chances to be dashed a mere day before the Formal is to take place. I mean, it's not like those secrets have the potential to cause that kind of trouble. If they were that serious, they wouldn't have told you, because you're an assistant as dictated by Principal Celestia, and they had to be up front with both her and you." I said, watching Pinkie's reactions very closely. Her cheeks started to swell up, but not because she was suddenly feeling sick. Rather, she was holding her breath, seemingly because she wanted to share those secrets with me. It really was just too easy to manipulate someone who had such a small mind to begin with, yet I needed to goad her further. I needed to know how to take care of the competition. " Those secrets couldn't be that important, Pinkie Pie, so why don't we just change the topic to something more pleasant--" I said.
" OKAY! You've talked me into it!" Pinkie Pie shouted before quickly covering up her mouth when everyone in the lunch hall were looking in her direction, yet she nor anyone else could see the evil smile across my face. She had fallen into my trap without any problems, and now she was about to reveal all to me, yet I will admit this was a little too close for comfort; I don't like the idea of having to get this close and personal just to learn something. " You know how Lemony Gems always wears that pad on her left shoulder, and everyone keeps thinking it's to do with an injury? That isn't really the case; she actually wears it to hide her birthmark, which she's shown me, and if the rest of the students knew what it looked like, she would be humiliated for all time!" Pinkie Pie said.
" Do tell..." I said, making sure to write this information down on a hidden notepad.
" And then there's the secret which Sapphire Shores practically begged to have kept secret; Sassy Saddles would never let her live it down if anyone knew that Sapphire wears false eyelashes, as her real ones are way too small for her liking. Oh, and let me tell you about..." Pinkie Pie said, rattling on about her classmates' secrets. Each word that came from her mouth were music to my ears; this was information that I was going to use in order to get rid of my competition. My opponents would be too ashamed to show their faces upon learning that their secrets were exposed to the student body, and Pinkie would take the fall, since she was the one who blabbed, as opposed to myself, who would do nothing more than spread the rumours, all by slipping them around here and there without anyone knowing I said anything. There was only one problem with my plan, and it didn't involve the plan itself, but rather having to listen to Pinkie Pie go on, and on, and on like she were a broken record. I suppose some sacrifices need to be made in order to become the dominant student...
" I never would have guessed that Pinkie Pie didn't know how to keep secrets." Twilight said.
" It's the one character flaw she says is her biggest liability. Whenever she learns about something, she just wants to spread it to the world, but when she is told that it has to be kept a secret, well... it usually doesn't last that long as a secret, as she just can't help herself." I said, turning the page in the journal where something else fell out, drifting over to Twilight before landing in her hands, allowing her to take a long look at it. " I remember getting that during that particular Fall Formal. I wanted it as a memento, but also to serve as a reminder that I used deceitful tactics to win it. It's no wonder that I hate the old me so much." I said.
" This has your name on it." Twilight said, looking confused as she stared at the small card that had my name printed on it with fancy lettering.
" The winner of the formal is announced by reading the name on the card after opening up the envelope." I said.
" What did you mean by 'hate the old me', Sunset? It sounds like you're viewing your past as a separate entity." Twilight said.
" Back then, I didn't care who I had to hurt so long as I succeeded in my goal of ruling the school. I was just craving attention because of being denied the title of alicorn princess, so I wanted to prove that I could become a princess, and that involved taking advantage of my intellect by using everyone at CHS against one another without anyone knowing about it until I had ascended to my position." I said. My reaction at this moment was to cry once again, but I wasn't upset over what I used to be. No, I was angry, frustrated, appalled, downright furious at what I used to be, so when Twilight noticed what I was doing, and attempted to stop me, I raised my hand indicating that I wanted her to let me do what I was about to do. I first slapped myself in the face with my left hand, using as much force as as I could, leaving behind a really nasty bruise which was bound to get swollen later. I followed this by punching myself in the stomach with my right hand, forcing me to spit out some bile, but I kept pushing my fist into my stomach as a means of punishing myself even more because of who I used to be.
" That's enough!" Twilight said, surprising me by having grabbed my right arm, and pulling it out of my stomach where she proceeded to hold my hand. " You don't need to punish yourself in such a manner, Sunset. All you're doing is just allowing yourself to fall deeper into despair. I know that you've done some horrible things, but there is no need to be so excessive with it."
" Believe me, this isn't the worst of it." I said.
" The demon?" Twilight asked.
" We'll be getting to that." I answered.
" If you want to beat yourself up, then do so when we get to that section; you'd be more justified in doing so. Just don't go overboard. For now, I won't let you hurt yourself in such a foolish manner anymore." Twilight said. There was something in her eyes which made me react to them, as though she were protecting me from my own worst enemy: myself. Her holding my hand felt right, as if she were meant to do it from the start. I had no idea what this feeling was, but it just felt good to me, and surely she felt the same way. " Despite your deceitful manner, you became Princess of the Fall Formal?"
" You sound like you've never been to a dance before." I answered.
" We never had anything like that at Crystal Prep; Principal Cinch felt they were a waste of time. Dances would just distract us from our studies and also weaken the reputation the school was known for, so instead of doing things like that, we just had massive study sessions, seminars, and even the occasional surprise exam, all to keep our grades as high as possible, which in turn made the academy the pinnacle of academia in Canterlot, where only the best would attend." Twilight said. I could tell without even looking at her that she still had some hesitation about transferring over to CHS. She would miss the tests and study habits, since that was what she was interested in, and coming to CHS would mean not having the same experience.
" Still regret transferring?" I asked.
" A little, but while I'll miss the intense study regimen, I feel that Crystal Prep has become far too strict for its own good, and you have Principal Cinch to thank for that. She was determined to bring out the best in her students, at the cost of their humanity. Being at CHS will allow me to feel human for the first time in a very long time, and while my decision may not be approved by everyone in my family, it was my decision to make." Twilight answered. I pondered at what she said. Humanity was something that took me a long time to finally accept. I may be a pony in reality, but in this world I am a human, and I have to embrace that--something I refused to do back then, because I was a fool.
" Which is why the others and I will help you with the transition." I said, taking back the card that Twilight had been holding all this time and sliding it in between the same pages where I had placed the photo taken on the day of the intramural sports event.
Thanks to Pinkie Pie spilling the beans about my opponents' secrets, I had everything I needed to eliminate them from the competition, leaving myself as the only one viable to become Princess of the Fall Formal. Once I finished my conversation with Pinkie, who resumed her activities without realizing what she had done, I began looking over the notes I had taken. Every word made me smile an even crueler smile than before; the possibilities were endless in terms of how I could ruin my opponents' chances. The one thing I was aware of was that I needed to show discretion on where to reveal this information without any of the details coming back to me; exposing myself could potentially get me expelled.
" All of this glorious information I hold in my hands... It feels like I hold a wealth of knowledge, corrupted and dishonest as it may be, but I am here to win no matter what and seal my dominion over this pathetic school. I'll show Princess Celestia that I am worthy of becoming a princess, as all that's really needed is power, determination, and the will to carry out tasks without fear of holding back because of sentimental weakness." I said to myself, lifting the notepad I had used above my head, a sign that things were about to change for the better. For me, anyway, as only I will benefit from it. Throughout the rest of the day, I made sure to hide in inconspicuous places to remain undetected, and I slightly altered my voice every time I spoke, which strained my throat, but I couldn't allow anyone to know that it was me revealing this information. By pretending to be random students, and outright saying these secrets out of view by mentioning Pinkie Pie, other students overheard me and immediately spread it to other students, who in turn would spread it to others, and the cycle would continue, until everyone knew within the hour.
At the end of the day, I paid a visit to Principal Celestia's office, and sure enough, my opponents were all inside complaining that they were being ridiculed, humiliated, laughed at, and more because their secrets had been exposed to the student body. I could hear Principal Celestia trying in vain to calm them all down, but they refused, saying that the idea of them having to divulge all possible details in order to compete for the crown was unfair, yet their anguish was like nourishment to me. Their cries were like a banquet, and I was feasting on their shattered dreams, making sure nothing was left behind.
" I can't believe my secret was exposed!"
" What about me? Because everyone knows about my embarrassing secrets, I can't even show my face around here without being ridiculed!"
" I'm dropping out of the competition!"
" That's what I was going to do! I just can't afford to stay in it any longer!"
" What a horrible way to start my first year at CHS!"
" Yeah? Well, this is my last year, and my legacy has been tarnished forever!"
" I wish I'd never shared my secrets with Pinkie Pie!"
" She ruined our lives by not keeping her mouth shut!" When the four students burst out of Principal Celestia's office, tears streaming down their faces, which were bright red with anger and frustration, themselves wanting to get away as fast as possible, the only expression on my face was sheer delight; I had effectively removed my competition, and taken my first steps towards ruling the school, but I would need to have the authority first before I could truly say that I was in charge. Since Pinkie Pie was the one who inadvertently helped me in my goal, the least I could do for her was spread the blame across multiple fronts, so that the seeds of distrust could begin to spread. I wasn't going to take any chances; you never know when someone might rise up against you.
" This is a disaster--" Principal Celestia began, coming out of her office, her face filled with frustration. " Perhaps I shouldn't have placed so much trust in Pinkie Pie. Her actions have effectively removed all potential candidates to become Princess of the Fall Formal."
" I'm still competing." I said, making sure to pretend that I was ignorant.
" That's right! Because you chose not to divulge your secrets as per the rules and regulations, you weren't affected by what has transpired, so I guess that would make you the winner by default, Sunset Shimmer. That's a first for the school. To think that you have achieved such a high honor here at CHS without having spent any time wanting to make friends, but I suppose it does mean your methods of wanting to focus on your studies do hold much merit." Principal Celestia said. I was thinking that she was going to give me the crown right there and then, which would have resolved things without having to drag them out, but she hesitated for a brief moment before continuing. " The Formal will still go on as planned, as there's no reason to cancel it, despite this unfortunate setback, yet it does mean you'll be receiving the crown tomorrow night. I trust that you are okay with having to wait until then?"
" It's fine with me." I answered.
" I shall speak with my sister about this and make the necessary adjustments so that this doesn't happen again. As for Pinkie Pie... I'm afraid that this does not look good in her records, and she will surely face suspension for what she has done." Principal Celestia said.
" Actually, Pinkie wasn't the one who started this..." I began.
" What do you mean?" Principal Celestia asked.
" Some of the students overheard her accidentally saying those secrets without even realizing it, so they ended up spreading rapidly with no signs of stopping. She didn't mean to cause so much trouble, so you don't need to punish her for making an honest mistake." I answered, pretending to act all innocent so that Principal Celestia would believe my words, and not suspect anything was amiss.
" If that is the case, then Pinkie merely made a mistake. Still, I will speak to my sister about changing the rules so that future formals do not have this issue. If you would excuse me, Sunset Shimmer, I must be going, as there is much to be done before tomorrow night." Principal Celestia said. As she walked off, a sigh of relief in her voice as she was afraid of the worst case scenario, I waited for her to disappear before entering her office, and closing the door where I laughed maniacally because of what I've done. Nothing could stop me from claiming that crown, yet this was just the beginning, and I was only getting started. However, something had occurred to me, and that was that I could have been caught had I not altered my voice, so the idea of doing all of this on my own wasn't a long-term solution. Maybe I could do with some help, using others to do my work for me and allowing them to take the fall, should that situation ever come up.
Better to be safe than sorry, right? By pretending to be friends with these potential pawns, I'd be able to get much more work done in my bid to rule the school, and I could give them the false hope that they would be achieving something good. Who knows? If they were just as deceitful as I am, I may just end up becoming friends with them... until I no longer had any use for them. The question on my mind now was that of who would make for an ideal pawn in this matter? Who truly lacked any common sense and would be easy for me to control without having to rely on anything? Oh, I was sure there were students like that, and all I needed to do was appeal to their lust for power...
" Did you find any students like that?" Twilight asked.
" I did, but they weren't exactly my first choice." I answered.
" Were they really that bad?" Twilight.
" That all depends on how you look at it, but I was desperate by the time I approached them, and it was around this point where I finally figured what this world was when compared to Equestria. My mind had trouble comprehending what I had discovered, and it was a secret no one in Equestria knew, apart from Princess Celestia and Star Swirl the Bearded..." I answered.