"You're not from around here, right?"
I nodded my head.
"Can tell. Looked like one of them blokes from the capital," the old coot with the scruffy beard chortled. "Hard to miss your face in the paper too, you know that?"
I stifled a smile, holding myself back from throwing myself out of the carriage and impaling myself on the spokes of the wheels. My eyes slowly drifted to the view outside the circular window, all tinted in a melancholic gray of a typical Monday morning, made ever the more dismal with a lengthy schedule of rain. Ponies here always looked frantic in the rain: scurrying along the sidewalk, trying to keep their beloved outfits together, snapping their umbrellas from the occasional gust— one of city life's many shortcomings. Then again, perhaps I had become accustomed to the conditions of living in a town such as Ponyville. Perhaps not too long ago, I looked at rain more as a nuisance, only to have my eyes opened. Have I been that blind? Was I once like them, oblivious to the beauty of the rain?
"Not a very nice story, if you ask me. You and the princess and everything."
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder; I'd say most things are. That's the thing about the different consciences of different individuals, that we all have our different thoughts, our opinions. Like the rain, for example: while the world beyond the window would curse at the gloomy skies, I would admire the soft patters, the evanescent trails running down the cold glass between the aqueous cairns, the quaint smell of moisture in the air and the rush of humid air caressing my coat. I would admire what Twilight once called the symphony of the skies. Really fitting name for the rain, if you ask me. Without her, I may have never opened my eyes. Without her, I may have never realized the scenery I had been missing out this whole time. She would've loved to come back if she could, I find myself thinking. Maybe this time I'll be the one to treat her, perhaps a ticket to one of Bridleway's acclaimed performances. Or perhaps the public library, which I recently learned had a long history attached to it. Yes, that might be nice.
"Ah, sorry 'bout that. I just rambled on without asking if you were fine with it."
"It's okay," I managed a feeble reply, putting on half of my best smile. "I don't mind, really, I don't."
The driver spared me a look of pity; an uncommon sight in the abrasive milieu of Manehattan. The wheels clattered along with the pluvial rhythm as the carriage journeyed down the gravel roads. As we winded about the urban jungle, my gaze fell back to the letter neatly tucked in my folded hooves. Though a little smudged, the words were still clear in my head. Once again, I gave a furtive glance out the window, looking up at the towers of steel piercing the clouds. They loom over us, these monuments, and cast us in an unsightly shadow that censors the sun. I found myself biting my lip at that, just as the carriage slowed to a halt.
"You take care now," the driver said to me as I paid the fee.
"Thank you," I replied, smiling.
"Don't be. You're a nice pony, despite what the others say. Good luck."
Kindness was rare in these parts and rarer in these times. I don't remember how long I stood there and watched as the carriage driver trotted away with a chipper whistle. He would never know what those words really did to me in the end. His wish of good fortune echoed in my head, which turned to face the ominous spire before me. I took the first trembling step through the gilded doors, ignoring the detrimental stares given by the unsubstantially relaxed chatting away in the commons. They were stares that I had toiled through; eyes fueled with the same burning disgust that tailed after me wherever I went. I would be lying if I said I didn't pick up my pace then, quickly finding my way into the elevator.
"What floor?"
The operator's insistent stare made me fumble as I unfolded the letter, despite already knowing the answer in my head.
"Uh... eighteen, please."
The doors closed. The metal walls shook with a frail rumble. I stared up into the solace of the light, only to have my eyes snap shut from a sudden crack rippling from beyond the steel walls. The elevator operator turned to me and mumbled something about maintenance, but I was too busy gazing at the pair of fuzzy lights on the ceiling intertwining in some kind of manic waltz, swiveling like a compass gone rogue. I was cornered, tendrils of black began swallowing my vision. My throat convulsed sporadically, my lungs punctured as I gasped for air. I didn't know when I reeled and fell to the ground to see the welded crosses on the floor like gray locusts poising to strike. My mind rang. My breathing grew frantic. My heart violently shook in its cage and threatened to rip apart my chest. I was drowning in abusive jargon coupled with pleas of burning anxiety, though as I began to claw out of the abysmal pit, everything shook me back down to a cannonading crescendo when the next verbal attack from my memory snapped my jaws sideways.
A loud, agony-rippling scream.
"TWILIGHT!!"
"Calm down, sir, calm down!" a voice pierced through the gray clouds. "Okay, just breathe, alright? Breathe as I'm telling you to. Okay, now breathe in."
I panted for a while, before grasping upon a chance to inhale.
"Now breathe out."
I exhaled.
"Breathe in."
I inhaled.
"Breathe out."
I exhaled.
Air returned to my trachea. The tremors in my bones stopped. The haze around my eyes lifted as I tried to understand where I was. The myriad blur of splotches cleared and provided me with all these strangers' faces, glistening with looks of outright concern. I hastily swallowed ample amounts of air, finally finding myself seated on a red leather couch. The world that twisted and turned just moments ago began to solidify, returning me my balance and my senses. I turned to the side, blinking away the last of my blurry vision as I saw a middle-aged mare wearing a gratifying smile that blossomed with a rare sincerity. By recognition, she was an albino, which was really quite a sight to behold, white coat and everything. Her mane and tail were dyed red, matching the crimson fire seated deep within her sharp eyes. I was sure that if she stared long enough, she could squeeze out all the blood in me. Fortunately, she wasn't one that would take sides.
"You feeling okay now, Flash Sentry?"
"Y-Yeah..." I muttered breathlessly. "I'm... I, you... I was..."
"Hold on to your words first and get your breathing back," she chastised. "I know you're here for me, but that can wait. Just settle down and relax for a moment..."
I did as she was told; she was the expert between the two of us. The room was deluged with sighs and scoffs of relief as I was brought away from the edge of the chasm, mostly in part from the mare before me. Even as the others left, she sat by my side, helping me calm down and even offering a cup of warm coffee. I was grateful to have her there, but I know I would be even more grateful later on. When she deemed me to be functioning once more, she led me to her private office at the back of the room, past the many desks of ponies who stared up and looked at me, some with concern, some with disdain. As I stepped inside, the first sight my eyes caught was the grandiose view of the skyline of Manehatten, with the sun blazing in the horizon and Lady Liberty watching over this magnificent city. I tore my eyes away from the view, smiling when she gestured me to have a seat. The name plate on the desk glistened in Princess Celestia's rays, bearing to me the name of the pony I had been looking for.
Melody 'Red Cry' Mandegloire
Attorney at Law
"Flash Sentry," the scarlet-maned judge said, smirking. "Never thought I'd see you coming here. Thought you'd leave a message before coming in like that."
"Miss Mandegloire, I—"
"Just call me Miss Mandegloire, Red Cry, yada yada. Pick and choose."
"Miss Melody," I revealed my choice, much to her amusement. "Thank you. For what you did."
"Shucks, Flash. Any sound-minded pony would do the same. One hell of an entry performance later and I'm just glad no one got hurt. Still, you and I both know you're not here just for that now, aren't you?" The attorney leaned in with this little glimmer in her eye; I could feel those red eyes burning holes into my skull. "You came to the right pony for the job, Flash Sentry."
"I guess I did."
"Oh trust me, mister," she laughed it off as if it was the most ridiculous statement she had ever heard.
"You know you did."
"You sure you'll be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Twilight sighed for the umpteenth time, chuckling. "Look, I'll be in the room with the rest of the princesses, okay? If anything happens, which I highly doubt anything would, I can handle myself. Plus, I have Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Cadance with me."
"I know, I know... it's just—"
"It's my brother, isn't it?" she ribbed the truth into me, holding back a giggle at my flustered look. "Don't worry about him. I'll find some way to convince him that you didn't skip out on guard duty somehow. He'll understand."
"He'll understand even if you said you saw a flying sheep with rainbow wings."
"I told you we're not like that!"
"For the record, you two are the closest siblings I've ever met! Somepony's bound to get some ideas!"
"Somepony! Anypony! I don't care! As long as it's not you!" Twilight screeched, before we both burst out in laughter. "Okay, now go meet your friends already! Dismissed."
"Thank you, Your Highness," I responded cheekily, to which she stuck out her tongue.
The two of us soon parted ways, with Twilight heading into the Crystal Palace to attend the royal conclave whereas I made my way towards the suburbs. The northern air here felt so strange, so surreal. It was an atmosphere that I had under my wing, only to forget that it was there in the first place. How long has it been? How fast had time flew? I was too caught up in the moment to actually figure out the answer as I skittered down the crystal avenue, glancing around the multi-faceted apartments all around. I reached into my saddlebags, flimsily shoving its contents about before pulling out a postcard I had received back in Ponyville. I took a good, long look at the words scrawled across the pair of lines before looking up at the streets before me. They were streets I had wandered down countless of times in the past, yet never bothered to allow my memory a glimpse of their names. In the end, I had resorted to asking a passerby, who was kind enough to direct to me my destination.
"Flash Sentry? Is that you?"
The house I arrived to was modestly sized in comparison to the others. Appropriately so, considering it served as both the household and workplace to its owner of three months. The pony in question wasn't there to answer the door, however; that was given to a crystal mare, one of an emerald coat who wears a red bandana around her curly locks; whose gorgeous presence was what many in the region would call beauty in simplicity. Being a weekend, it should be expected that she would be at home and he would be out carousing with his merry band of cohorts. Oh, if he only knew how lucky it was to have the presence of a mare right next to you the whole time.
"Hello there, Beryl," I replied, smiling. "Is Pierce home?"
"Not right now, but he'll be back shortly, I'm sure. You know how he is on weekends," Beryl laughed, confirming my suspicions. "Oh, but you should've written to us and told us you were coming! I would've cleaned the house up, you know. Clear out all the dust, let in a little bit of the air."
"You don't need to go that far, Beryl. It's just a casual visit, after all."
"Casual or not, I'm still having a guest over and they deserve all the comfort they need," she asserted. "Ah, to Tartarus with all of that. Just come on in, make yourself comfortable!"
I've never really known Beryl informally, other than the fact that she was the waitress that my foalhood friend Pierce had been constantly ogling at the tavern, that he asked her out on a date that apparently took off, and that they were now living under the same roof. It was a kind of love you'd see in the movies: sweet and innocent, the cosmos swirling around two smitten ponies swooning and fawning over each other. The sun would flush, the moon would blush and the stars would just shamelessly adorn what darkness there may be in a glittering spectacle. I could picture them right now, happily nuzzling each other, though unfortunately, all that crossed my mind was a question.
What hides beneath this glorious view?
"So, what brings you back to the Crystal Empire?"
"Thank you," I muttered as Beryl returned from the kitchen, offering me a cup of tea. "Business, mostly. Princess Twilight's having a meeting with the other princesses at the palace. I was supposed to join her but she insisted that I go enjoy myself instead."
"She's pretty easygoing for a princess, isn't she?"
"A little, yeah," I sheepishly answered. "So I thought I'd come here to catch up with Pierce. You know, see how things are going between you guys. I thought he might be having a hard time over here, what with him leaving the guard and all."
"Oh, far from it, Flash!" Beryl chuckled. "I have to admit, I was pretty doubtful in the beginning as well when he quit the guard, but after the first few cases, everything righted itself in the end. We were faring better than before, if I had to admit, mostly because of the important clients Pierce was dealing with."
"He always had that, you know? That eye for justice."
"He sure does," Beryl mused. "Still, all those clients meant that he would usually be off somewhere, mostly in Manehatten and Canterlot. It can get pretty lonesome here sometimes and the others were always pestering me about where he's off to again. I don't want to blame him, seeing how his job is keeping us both afloat after all, but... it just gets to me sometimes, you know?"
I wouldn't know exactly how that feels. Sure, my parents were always away and I didn't have any siblings to play with, but Mrs. June and the other servants, and the occasional one or two friends that would come over, always kept me company. When I moved to Ponyville, the company around me only grew; when you're in a town where everypony were friends with everypony, it's hard to find some time to be lonely. Being affiliated with royalty only cemented the skyscraper I stood upon in the popularity contest, especially if said affiliation was the Princess of Friendship herself. I don't blame Twilight, though; thanks to her, I had the chance to meet new ponies that I never knew I needed to know. Make what you will of that sentence.
"I'm sure Pierce would find some way to make it up to you," I resorted to vouching for my friend. "Knowing him, he's probably doing it already."
"Oh, I'm sure," Beryl couldn't help but giggle, swooning and swaying. "That would be just like him, wouldn't it?"
"What would be just like me?"
Mr. No-Show had arrived.
"There you are, Pierce," Beryl quickly put up an annoyed front, watching the colt stumble in with a hint of red on his cheeks. "Where have you been? Are you... oh, for the love of Faust, I thought you said you wouldn't go drinking with the boys?"
"I did not!"
"Oh, don't bother. I can smell the alcohol already," she grumbled. "You should at least comb that mane. Look a little more decent for our guest, who had been waiting for you, if you must know."
"Yeah, the boys told me something about that," Pierce said, giving me his lopsided grin that I never thought I would miss. "Why, hello there, royal bodyguard! Should've left me in that last letter that you were coming!"
"Good to see you again, Pierce," I said with a chuckle, standing up and shaking his hoof. "Or should I call you P.I. Swiftwind?"
"Bloody hell, not you too."
"Hey, it's really hard to miss it when it's written in bold. And italicized. On the headlines. With three exclamation marks at the end."
"Running joke of the year," Beryl added, much to Pierce's chagrin. "Anyways, why not you two catch up? I'm going to the tavern, see if I can get them to cook something up. You staying for lunch with us, Flash?"
"Most likely not," I answered sheepishly, ears falling flat. "The princess would probably have a fit, not to mention the captain."
The next five minutes was then filled with incessant teasing from both stallion and mare, to which I could only sit there, cross my hooves and look stuffy. It harked back to the whimsical teasing I received back in the guard when I bumped into Twilight, the thought of it bringing a soft, flurry smile on my face. Looking back, that was a simpler time, one where I would be perfectly happy to even have a little mead at the end of a shift with the rest of the crew, chatting away about the traits of this mare, the habits of that mare, how we each coped with our boredom and other such lax topics. Ponyville had golden conversations of its own as well, no doubt about it, though it just wasn't the same. Nothing would ever compare to the buffoons I met in the guard.
Perhaps Pierce Swiftwind went through the same bout of nostalgia, as he still continued to be a tease even after Beryl had already left. It all felt strange, how we were still a pair of guards in our last meeting and had both strayed from the path in our own ways. Though I strayed unwillingly because of some loophole around the Equestrian laws, Pierce strayed on his own volition. I've always wondered what was the moment that made him wander. What was the key ingredient in the potion that finally made him say: "I've shall now have no more business with the guard!" or whatever dramatic dictum his audacious brain can come up with. I always admired him as a pony who would know behind which door lies his true purpose; perhaps this was finally it. Perhaps this was the time where Pierce Swiftwind would finally shine.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a bit envious of him.
"Why are you here?"
That line snapped me out of my monotonous daydream. "I'm sorry?" I blubbered.
"Why are you here?" he repeated smugly. "Listen, Flash Sentry. You and I go way, way back. One day, some archaeologist somewhere is gonna dig up a stone tablet from the day the three races were united under the Equestrian banner and the first thing they would see is the two of us smiling for the camera. Or sculptor. Hey, I'm not a history buff, so who really gives a damn."
"I see you have not lost your touch, unfortunately."
"Oof! I see you have not lost your sharp edge either, Flash Sentry," he chuckled good-naturedly. "Anyways, point is, you're not that kind of pony who likes to engage in small talk, much less visit an old friend for the very purpose of that. Seeing as you came here looking for me, as Beryl would want me to imply, I believed that you're actually here to request for my services, aren't you?"
I didn't bother holding up the veneer. "Correct," I simply stated.
"That's Flash Sentry for you. All business with his words, no fun at all."
"Can we get on with it? The meeting should be finishing any moment now."
"Okay then, on to business!" he declared proudly, before leaning in. "So then, where do you want to start? Is it something about the princess? Some dark, juicy secret she's not telling you, perhaps, like a romantic affair with somepony else? Or did you just want to learn more about her for the sake of completely winning over her, no strings attached, hmm?"
"None of that, Pierce," I sighed, dragging him out of his quixotic fantasies. "I want you to dig me up some information on a pony."
"Ah, dirty work. You do realize that this line of work don't come cheap, don't you?"
"I did, but I also realized that the pony doing said work still owes me one for introducing him to a certain waitress in the tavern, among other things."
A brief moment of silence.
"Are you blackmailing me?'
"Quite the opposite, mind you," I replied, grinning slyly. "You and I both know how much I had contributed to your life already, Pierce. All I ask of you is to just return it all with a single favor. What do you say, Pierce?"
Pierce looked at me with a raised eyebrow, though a wide smile soon broke out from its chains. "Now, what's the name of this lucky pony?" he asked.
My grin only widened.
"Tabard Camembert Atelier."
"You don't have to do this."
"I'm not fucking asking."
"You're not fucking asking. You're fucking around, that's what this is."
Thunderlane had a manner of self-restraint. The kind of which, in the face of a higher authority or when facing a delicate situation, he would have the courage to stand down. The kind of which, when facing a challenge that he knows would ascertain his downfall, would take a voluntary step back. He was always like that, even back in Cloudsdale Elementary; he was always that kind of pony that gives the bully his lunchbox without any manner of protest for fear of inciting a scene. That kind of act was always frowned upon, especially in the company of pegasi. For that, he was, to say the least, not the most respected pony in school, to the extent where even the teachers treated him with utter disdain. It's a shame, really. For us, I mean. If the rest of us shared Thunderlane's dogma, we would've been better off. I would've been better off.
Shame.
"You don't even know what you're doing this for," he rasped accusingly. "You think you know, but you don't."
"This is for Twilight."
"This was never about Twilight! This was about you! It was always about you! Please, if you just let me speak to her, maybe I can still talk some sense into—"
"And why the fuck do you think she would care?" I snarled, jabbing a hoof into his chest. "She wants me to be out there, not you. She wants to settle this, then I can give what she wants."
"She wants your head, Flash!"
I didn't need to reply to that. This was pointless. This whole talk amounted to a penniless mule's pile of organic crap. I don't know what Thunderlane was thinking, hoping that he could talk some sense into me when he clearly has better fucking things to do. Instead, he's standing up for me. Me, the pony that the papers had labeled as a murderer with a capital M. Me, the pony that had brought down the most resilient princess in all of Equestria. He had stood down so many times before, why stand up now? Why face me now? Why now, of all the fucking times? Why can't he just stay the wimp he already is?
"Would Twilight really want this?"
My ears perked, my lips trembled. The sentence echoed in my head.
Would Twilight really want this?
"Twilight's not here right now," I gave my clear answer to those two voices. "Now, get the fuck out of my way."
Finally, after almost fifteen minutes of bantering, I stepped into the battlefield, garishly trimmed with bulbous clouds of gray, unforgiving spears of rain and the wrathful glares of lightning. I looked up to the accursed sky, feeling the breath of the heavens violently screaming its transparent vulgarities into my face. The thundering war drum pummeled throughout the corners of the world as I marched onward, into the designated location to settle this once and for all. It didn't matter that Thunderlane and his marefriend Cloudchaser was following close behind; I pity them for being at such a loss, siding with a fool. There was no dignity to what I was doing, no grace, no sense of purpose perhaps. There was nothing that should garner such a response from me, yet I complied anyway, because in the end, this wasn't about me. This was about Twilight. This was for Twilight.
It had always been for Twilight.
"You actually came."
Discolored from such a rancid attitude, I wrinkled my snout at the spectrum of blades forming her mane. Her wings were outstretched, feathers ruffled to look a little tougher, though not as ruffled as mine. In fact, I'd say she looked self-deprecating, standing there like that with an eternal snark besmirching her looks. On any other day, I'd admire her heroics, her competitive spirit and most of all, her exemplary representation of what the modern pegasus should be. Now, all that was washed away in the face of the rain backing her, leaving only the narcissist: an arrogant filly who thinks she knows everything that had happened; an ignorant, scrawny filly who thinks she knows better.
"I can't believe it," she sneered. "You actually fucking came."
"I didn't want to disappoint."
"You brought your attitude along with you too huh, chump?" Rainbow Dash growled. "I thought you'll be smart enough to back down, Flash Sentry. Looks like I was wrong."
"As if you made any effort to clarify that to me."
That was the one that made what's left of that repulsive smile of hers vanish. "I believed you, Flash Sentry. We all did. We all believed it. We all fucking believed it. Oh, how stupid we all were, thinking that you will never hurt her again! I should've punched you there and then! I should've kicked you six feet underground back then if I knew this was about to happen!"
I decided to let her yap a little longer.
"Hell, I was going to do it! I was going to make sure you'll never, ever walk again! But then I thought: maybe I'll let that slide! After all, it's not like she's actually getting hurt or anything, right? Fuck me, right? Fuck me for letting you get away with it. However, this time would be different. This time, I'll make sure you'll have something to remember this moment by."
A flash of lightning showed me the hellfire in her eyes, which began burning ever brighter. That should've been a warning, as the moment it flickered, she was already charging at me at full speed, the flash of lightning and clap of thunder accentuated with a loud crack tearing across my chest. I hacked, wind dragged out of me, my diaphragm crumpling in its own weight as I was knocked back, wings splayed and bent at an unsightly angle with mud streaked across my feathers. I slid myself back, struggling to pick myself up as Rainbow Dash began marching towards me. With one hoof reaching down, she immediately hoisted me up by my chest, giving me a menacing snarl.
"Rainbow Dash, stop—"
Without warning, I was suddenly hurled towards the trees, a loud screech ripped from within my shivering vocal cords as my stomach was rammed into the splinters of bark, before collapsing backwards with a splash. The ominous sky howled at me and my misery as I was picked up again, the iron I was tasting in my tongue finally wrenched free in a fickle spray of red as a hoof tunneled its way into my stomach, my mouth torn apart in a silent scream. I fell towards the ground, hanging like a broken puppet with a single string hooked onto my back lifting me up, showcasing the damage for all the world to see.
"Rainbow, that's enough, please—"
"Try me!" she yelled back at Thunderlane, throwing my frail body towards him.
I could only grunt as I rolled across the muddy soil, leaving traces of red along the way. My hoof reached for the soreness resonating from my bladder, my eyes clenching shut as I curled inwards. The warmth of a tear was loosened to join the rain, the adrenaline kick that I had yearned selfishly stolen away from me. Even my own body was crying foul at what I was doing, though that all went away at the sound of sloppy hoofsteps marching this way. I managed a meek, quivering glance up, the burning rage that once tarnished those eyes replaced with a soulless sheen of ice.
"Now you know what happens to those who messes with my friends," she mumbled coldly, raising a single hoof. "Especially if they think they can get away with it."
Almost immediately after she said that, her hoof came swinging down and crunched mine into the ground with a loud snap. An agonizing howl of pain ripped into the skies, my neck jerking up as the floodgates opened in my eyes, streaming down in endless rivulets. The courage I had mustered upon had broken down; I was shaking my head pleadingly by the time she raised a hoof again in preparation for the second strike. She was too far gone to listen, too lost to even give a fuck anymore. The streaming needles of rain traced down her mane and dripped onto my cheeks, my eyes clenching shut as the first inkling of a dark smile showed itself before me.
"STOP IT!!"
A yelp made me open my eyes, just in time to see Thunderlane tackling Rainbow down into the ground, only to receive a kick in the jaw that sent the colt reeling. Hastily, she tried to gather herself back up and began scrambling towards me, only to be reined backwards, scraping across the muddy floor. The two of us look to see her hoof bound in a loop of thick rope, my overwhelming relief welcoming the four familiar faces that quickly joined the chaotic fray.
"Consarnit, Rainbow Dash, snap out of it!"
"Let me go! Let me go right now! I almost had him!"
"Flash, are you alright?" Fluttershy asked right after she hurriedly came to my side. I could only manage a soft gasp. "Oh dear... oh dear Celestia, what did she do to you?"
"Rarity, quickly, that spell!"
"I'm doing it already, just give me a moment—"
"Pinkie, come and help me!'
"Oh Faust..." the party pony gaped, sweating profusely. "Okay, um... um... oh, how do we do this..."
"Fucking hell, AJ! Let me go! I had him, I HAD HIM!!"
"Rainbow Dash, listen to yourself, please!! This isn't like you! You know better than this—"
"Goshdarnit, Rarity, just cast the damn spell! I can't hold her much longer!!"
"I d-don't know Fluttershy! I can't... I can't..."
"Flash, I need you to stay with me, okay?! Flash, just stay with me, alright, stay with me..."
Twilight Sparkle once showed me a word like that.
It was an obscure word like the others; a word that I'd used in this very situation I was facing right now. This feeling... it was unlike anything I had ever felt prior to that moment. It was an unbelievable feeling, being flooded in this strange, disgusting, atrocious form of pleasure. That's right... pleasure. The word, yes, of course. The word that Twilight showed me was a word that rang true to my heart in the chaos unfolding in the rain; a word that was defined as pleasure derived from another's misfortune: schadenfreude. It was a word that resonated in me as my consciousness faded from the pain and the fatigue. That word rung the siren and heralded the darkness into my eyes, bringing a cracking smile to my face. Twilight would've been proud of me, knowing that I've finally experienced it firsthand. She'd probably want to know how the experience was like for me: how I arrived to that moment, how gratifying that experience was and such. It would be like her to write down these notes. Some part of me felt satisfied, knowing that at least one of us would get something out of this.
This was what Twilight would've wanted.
Right?