//------------------------------// // LCS: True Love Conquers True Stupid // Story: Love Beats Stupid // by chillbook1 //------------------------------// Blake Blaze was not very good at making friends. He was shy, quiet, and generally did poorly in large groups of people. In that way (and many others), he was the exact opposite of his sister. In fact, Bella was the reason Blake had any friends at all. For her credit, Bellatrix did rather well at making friends for her brother. She knew that he was a good guy, if a bit awkward. Blake was the type who preferred quiet and solitude. He’d much rather be reading a good comic than mingling with strangers. Blake always had his nose buried deep in a comic book. He didn’t care if people called him childish. The words of others had never really bothered him, something he no doubt inherited from his “father”. She had taught Blake not to let what people think stop him from doing what he wanted, and what he wanted to do was read a comic on the bus and sip something cold, sweet, and delicious. So that’s precisely what he did. He didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings, occasionally glancing up to make sure he hadn’t missed his stop. He didn’t notice when the person who sat next to him got up, hopped off the bus, and was replaced by someone new. He did, however, notice when the new passenger leaned over and punched him in the shoulder. “Ow!” Blake turned until he was face to face with the pale face of his twin sister. Her eyes were sharp purple, like Aria’s, and they were accented by her bold black eyeliner and the small, five-pointed star tattooed on her right cheek. Her short, spiky hair was normally dyed some color or the other, but today, she wore it with the natural purple and green tips. As she grinned, her spider bite piercings glinted in the light. Her brother looked fairly similar, having the same shade of eye color. His hair was a bit longer and tidier than his sister’s, and it was a simple, dark blue. Blake’s face was devoid of ink and piercings, though he did have a small scar on his chin from when Bellatrix “accidentally” hit him in the face during her fencing practice. Other than that single blemish, Blake’s face was clear and calm, unlike his wild, explosive sister. “Hey, loser. What’s up?” Bellatrix grinned, then leaned over to see what Blake was reading. “Ugh, you buy that rag? Your storylines are much better, and look at that shoddy linework. I could draw circles around this poser with my eyes closed.” “Yeah, but I can’t really read my own comics, can I? And besides, Dad always said to know the enemy,” said Blake with a shrug. “What are you doing here, anyway? You have a car, don’t you?” “Sure do. But, since we’re going the same place and I knew you’d be on this bus, I figured I’d hang with you for a bit,” said Bella. She noticed the cup. “What’cha drinking?” “Peanut butter frappe,” said Blake. “Is it good?” “I’ve had worse.” Bella snatched the cup and took a long, deep sip. She looked at the cup, humming in amusement, then handed it back to her brother. “So, aren’t you gonna ask?” said Bella. Blake just stared silently. “How I knew you’d be on this bus?” “Oh yeah. How did you—” “Twin Force!” “I still can’t believe we named the series after that stupid power,” said Blake with a snicker. “Remember when I got lost at camp and you found me in the woods?” “Duh. You were so scared.” Bella laughed, hugging her brother tightly and making him slightly uncomfortable (Blake never was fond of physical contact). “You were all crying, like ‘Waah, Sis, help me, I’m peeing my pants’! It was awesome.” “How did you find me?” asked Blake. “I was never sure how.” Bellatrix swiped Blake’s cup again, taking another sip and flicking him firmly on the forehead. “Told you, diphthong, it was Twin Force,” said Bella. “I felt that you were in trouble, and I sensed where to find you.” Blake snatched his cup back, annoyed. “You really expect me to believe that you found me through magic?” “Have you met our parents?” “We’re humans, not Sirens,” said Blake, even though he wasn’t quite sure of himself. “We were born on this side of the mirror.” “Under some amazingly dubious and magical circumstances,” countered Bella. “This is uncharted territory, kiddo. Maybe we’re more Siren than you think.” Blake murmured his uncertainty before finishing off his drink. “Think about it. Sirens feed on negativity, right? So they must have some way of knowing when it’s around. Maybe I sensed your negativity in the woods!” Blake highly doubted his sister’s logic. Everything he knew about the world and himself made him certain that any Siren characteristics had been burned out of his DNA through the magical means of his birth. Still, Bella seemed very enthusiastic of the idea that she had a superpower, even a minor one and despite her age. Blake sighed tiredly. Knowing what they were going through, it wasn’t fair of him to take any sort of happiness from her. “Well, it was during lunch,” he admitted. Bella grinned, which coaxed a small smile from Blake. He wrapped his arm around his sister in an uncharacteristically warm gesture. “How come Ash isn’t coming?” asked Bellatrix. “I asked her to stay home. I wanted to do this alone,” said Blake. His sister raised an eyebrow. “Well, not ‘alone’ alone. You know what I mean. I just feel like this should be a family thing.” “Ashley is your family.” “Not yet.” “Seriously, dude, when are you gonna pop the question?” demanded Bella. “I mean, I can’t believe you managed to bag a hottie like her in the first place! You better lock that down before someone snatches her up.” “It’s not that easy,” sighed Blake. “She’s so… She wants more than I think I’m able to give. I don’t know if I’m ready for that level of commitment.” “Bro, I’m gonna level with you. You’re thirty-seven years old. You better be ready, or you’re gonna die alone in the suburbs having done nothing in your life but write comics,” said Bella. “And I know it sounds raw, but that’s the way it is.” “Comics make me happy,” said Blake quietly. “And Ash doesn’t?” Bella let out a frustrated groan. She was supposed to be the stubborn one. Still, she had to admit that she wasn’t being exactly fair. “You know what? Don’t listen to me. We’re about to visit an expert on love and commitment, aren’t we?” “I don’t wanna get there and make it about me. Dad has enough to think about without me adding my problems on top.” Bellatrix wrapped her arm around Blake’s head, locking in a loose headlock. “Y’know, for the smart one of us, you’re kinda stupid,” she said, ruffling his hair. “I think Dad would want to help more than anything.” She glanced up and out the window. “Well, we’re about to find out. This is our stop.” The bus slowed to a hissing, churning stop, then opened its doors to release the passengers. Bella took point, leading her brother off of the bus and forward into Canterlot General Hospital. They stood in line at the reception desk for a bit before they reached the front. “Hey, we’re here to visit,” said Bella. “The patient’s name is Aria Blaze.” Aria lowered her comic as soon as she heard her door open, and she was glad that she did. It took a lot to keep her composure upon seeing her children. She knew it would do nobody any good if she fell apart now, so she did what she did best: she faked being tought. “Oh, here comes trouble,” she said, a small grin spreading across her face. She sat up in her bed. “It’s good to see you, princess. You too, Trixy.” “Ah, the more things change, the more they stay the same,” sighed Blake, pulling up a chair next to Aria’s bed. “Hey, Dad.” “Hiya, Daddy,” said Bella,doing the same as her brother. She peered at the comic that Aria had been reading. “Ooh, reading Twin Force, eh?” “Yeah. I gotta say, you guys, you made a series better than anything I could have,” said Aria. “And to think you based it on G-Force. You took my brooding, angsty emo comic and turned it into pure comedy-action genius!” “You’re too hard on yourself. G-Force had a great storyline,” said Blake. “And fantastic art. It was just really mature. We’re aiming for something a bit more family-friendly. Plus, we never would have thought of Velocity or Inertia as characters if it weren’t for G-Force.” “Pah. Don’t try to butter me up because I’m old. I’m still not leaving you two jack when I die,” chuckled Aria. Her laugh became a cough, which she tried to hide. “Won’t be that far off.” “Dad! You don’t know that!” Bella felt her eyes well up slightly. Aria grinned, and, for just a moment, it seemed like there was nothing at all wrong with her. “Kids, I’m 1,700-ish years old. I’ve lived long enough to know what dying feels like,” said Aria. “Don’t you dare cry about it, you hear me? I lived twenty times the life a normal person does, okay? I’ve done some cool stuff, and some epic stuff. I’ve done some good things, some great things, and some frigging amazing things. I’ve done everything I could have wanted, and a few I never even thought about.” She placed a hand on Blake and Bella’s shoulder. “Having you two falls into that last group. So don’t feel bad for me. At least I’ll get to see Sony again.” A thick, pained silence filled the room. Though it happened nearly four years ago, the twins were still hurting over the loss of their mother. Blake took it especially hard, and it was ages before he even began to return to normal. “You remember when those guys were bullying you in eleventh grade?” said Bella. “And Mom came down and chewed them out?” Blake laughed slightly. “Oh, I thought she just made it worse! But she just lectured them for like an hour!” said Blake. “And they never messed with me again. Hey, what about that time that you and her accidentally entered into a hot wing eating contest?” “That lady had the figure of a frigging twig,” chuckled Bella. “And she ate two hundred hot wings that day! I spent the rest of the week trying to figure out where she put it all.” “She was great. Y’know, I used to think Sonata was stupid,” said Aria. “But she was probably one of the smartest people I ever knew. She was smart enough to know exactly what I needed to hear, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear.” “She was so pretty,” said Bella. “I remember, when I was like six, I tried to do my hair and makeup just like her.” She grinned deviously. “Blake too.” The girls in the room shared a laugh at Blake’s expense, not for the first time. He just shook his head. He was beyond used to it at this point. “She ruined my first relationship in high school. Remember, I was dating… Jessica, I think it was,” said Blake. “And I brought her over to the house for dinner, and Mom was acting really weird the whole time. She just kept embarrassing me. She brought out the photo album.” “Damn that photo album,” snickered Bella. “I’ve failed to bag many a hot guy and girl because of that frigging book.” “Well, turns out, Mom felt there was something off about Jessica. She told me that if I kept going out with her, I’d end up getting hurt. Come to find out, she was cheating on me with my best friend.” “Your mom just knew stuff like that. It was a superpower, I’m telling you,” said Aria. “Amazing woman. Saved my life in more ways than I can count. Probably the only person I ever met that really scared me.” The twins snickered, obviously dubious. “Oh, sure, you two laugh now. All you know is the cutsie ponytail, the big eyes, and the dreamy voice. But Sonata was crazy. One time, she got drunk at a party and, swear to God, knocked out some dude who was flirting with me.” “Okay, your age is seriously getting to you,” said Bella. “You told us that story ages ago, and it was you who punched him.” “No, no, you’re thinking about a different time. We got drunk at parties a lot, okay? Plus, we were both hotter than the sun in the middle of July,” Aria laughed. “Have I ever told you the story of how Sonata told me she wanted to have kids?” “Uh-uh.” “We were locked in a public restroom after a Linkin Park concert,” Aria recalled. Already, the story was going in a different way than the twins expected, but that’s why they loved hearing about their parents. “I was with her cause your mom had a phase where she couldn’t pee if she was alone, it was weird. But, we got locked in, and we had this deep conversation about our past, yadda yadda. Then Trixie Lulamoon opens the door for us, starts going on one of her rants. I punched her in the kidneys, and we ran. After that… Sonata said she wanted to have a baby.” “How’d you react?” asked Blake. “I laughed hysterically, then passed out on the pavement.” Aria laughed, this time losing in her battle against the cough. “Speaking of Lulamoon, she just visited the day before yesterday.” “Really?” asked Bella. Perhaps appropriately, she had always been fascinated with “The Other Trixie”, as she called her. “What was that like?” “Well, I hadn’t seen her in something like forty years, so I was expecting her to have changed a lot,” Aria said with a smirk. “Shouldn’t have surprised me that she’s the same old, same old. Yelled at me for getting sick and forcing her to come visit me. Spoke exclusively in the third person. She called me by that damn nickname again. Jezebel. Four decades of radio silence and she calls me Jezebel Blaze, like nothing changed. We still hate each other to death. Literally, in my case.” Aria noticed how uncomfortable she was making her kids, so she decided to change the subject. “Enough about me. What’s up with you?” “Blake pays me to doodle at work, which is something I’d have done for free anyway,” said Bella with a shrug. “I can’t really complain. Blakey, though, he has a problem.” “Not a problem. A… situation,” said Blake. Aria raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Okay, so… I’ve been with Ashley for five years come this October. She wants me to… She wants me to tie the knot. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. So, what I’m asking, I guess, is… Do you think it’d be a good idea to propose?” Aria nodded slowly in understanding, pulling herself into the wheelchair adjacent to her bed. She wheeled herself over to Blake, taking his hand in her own. “Son, there’s something you need to understand. As far as logic and reason go,” said Aria. “Proposing is always a bad idea. A horrible idea. It’s crazy! Think about what you’re hypothetically asking her. You’re asking her to give up everything she has, everything she is, everything she knows, knew, and will know. You’re asking her to give up any love, past, present, or future, and give it to you. You’re asking her to forget about anyone and everyone that isn’t you, make her whole world around you.” Aria chuckled. “And you’re asking her with a one in a quadrillion chance of her going ‘yeah, I’m down with that’. So, statistically speaking, it’s a frigging stupid idea. “But that’s the thing about love, true love: statistics and reason and logic don’t matter worth a damn! Because love flies in the face of those things. They just don’t matter, because love finds a way regardless. True love is truly stupid. Your problem is that you try to make sense of it. Think about Ashley and how she makes you feel. Could you imagine feeling that way or better with anyone on this Earth? Don’t ask if it makes sense. Ask if it makes you feel right. And if it doesn’t, cut her off now. Stop wasting her time, stop wasting your time. I wish I would’ve understood my feelings towards your mother earlier. Might’ve saved myself the high blood pressure.” Blake didn’t know how to process what he had just heard. Aria had never been known for her speaking prowess, but Blake reasoned that wasn’t because of a lack of oratory skill. Aria managed to take this horrifying, petrifying decision, retain everything that made it scary, and still make it seem beautiful. Blake thought about Ashley, his lovely Ashley. Fear or no, he couldn’t possibly see himself with anyone but her. “I need a ring,” said Blake quietly. Aria smiled, then reached around her neck and pulled up a thin gold chain. Hanging around it was a simple silver band gemmed with a small diamond. She pulled the ring free from the chain and offered it to Blake. “This is the promise ring I gave to Sonata while we were dating. I ended up just using it as an engagement ring, too,” said Aria. “Please, take it.” Blake’s heart pounded in his throat as he stared at the ring. Besides CDs of her songs and a few paintings, that was all Aria had left to remember Sonata by. He reached for the ring once, twice, three times, each time failing to move within a few inches of the ring. “I can’t take this,” he whispered. “It’s all you have left of her.” “Boy, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you.” Aria spoke firmly, despite the tears in her eyes. “Sonata would have wanted to be there for you. This… It’s the next best thing. Take it, and be good to her, and remember everything I’ve told you. Not just today, everything. Pretend there’s a test at the end.” She grabbed Blake’s hand, pressed the ring into his palm, and closed his hand around it. “Thank you,” said Blake breathlessly. Aria wiped a tear from Blake’s face, then thumped him on the forehead with her index finger. “Don’t thank me, ya moron,” she said. “I should be thanking you.” The twins stayed for a few more hours before Aria ordered them out to go live their lives. After that, Aria sat alone for most of the day, with the exception of one last visitor near the end of the day in the form of Adagio Rift. It was nice, seeing some old faces. It made Aria feel as if her life might’ve been worth something. It took Blake a week to work up the courage to propose to Ashley. He spent hours planning the perfect night to ask. He screwed it up in several ways, which added a touch of sincerity to the whole ordeal. They both cried when she said yes. Aria didn’t make it to hear the good news. Despite what he would say, Blake was crushed. He knew that Aria wouldn’t want him to dwell on it for too long, but he couldn’t help it. Ashley was there for him, thankfully, and helped him to work through it all. Blake’s biggest regret was that there wasn’t enough time to hear everything Aria had to say. Most of the stories about her and Sonata had never made it to the twins. On the day of the wedding, Blake’s aunt changed that.