//------------------------------// // The Twilight That Comes // Story: I just wanted to go to Equestria! // by Ditz //------------------------------// Everything was silent. Well, not quite silent, as the muffled sounds of the few vehicles hum from outside, unaware of our existence as the drivers delved into their issues, separate of our own. Wonder what they are thinking about? What’s the context in their situations? Maybe I know one of them! Maybe… “Will you freaking say something!?” Trixie calls out loudly from the front, breaking me out of my deep, inspiring thoughts with such language. “When you told us to come meet you, you never said it would be to ponder quietly for five minutes! Trixie is missing essential sleep!” she complains. I can’t help but sigh with disappointment. “Trixie, Trixie, Trixie. You of all people should know of dramatic tension!” I can almost feel her frustration building up, but Flash decides to talk. “Lemon, you said this was important, you really shouldn’t be joking, considering you woke us up this early.” I nod, grudgingly agreeing with his comment. “Sorry, I figured this was early enough that Sunset wouldn’t be here yet,” to be honest, I’m not even sure I want to bring it up. Would they believe me? I wasn’t even totally sure about the whole thing. I frown as I look at their faces peering to the back seat, and move to Pinkie, who sits silently by my side, asleep, totally unaware of the commotion as she can apparently sleep like a rock, which just surprises me, given how she usually is. Funny how the more time I spend with these people, the more I learn about them. “Good morning!” Pinkie speaks up, suddenly wide awake, almost as if she hadn’t been asleep milliseconds before. “What did I miss?” “A good question,” Trixie points out, leering at me as if I were her worst enemy. Given the situation, I have the feeling that’s exactly her thoughts. “Well? Are you going to talk?” she asks, the look of a kidnapper expecting answers out of her hostage. “Yeah, I am,” I sigh in defeat, taking out my phone, picture at the ready. “Hey, that’s one of the pics I send you!” Pinkie says excitedly, recognizing it at a mere glance, while the two in the front look at each other, likely confused. “Just look,” I explain, zooming the picture to the spot I found before. They all huddle closer, intently investigating the image that’s probably just nothing. Ugh, I already regret everything. To my relief (and horror given how close she is to me) Pinkie gasps. “Hey, that’s the girl I was talking about! She looks sooo familiar! But also she doesn’t! But if I met her, I should remember, I never forget a face! Is she someone you know?” “Don’t you remember? That’s… Twilight,” I remind her, and the memories of that fateful day come flooding back, filling me with sadness, regret, and more sadness, though, it’s strange Pinkie doesn’t remember her by looks alone, given she was there with me when we visited Equus Academy way back when. “Oh! Twilight,” Pinkie repeats the name, falling suddenly silent. As she thinks over it, I turn to the other two. “What about you, Trixie? Flash? I feel you rememb-” I stop short, noticing the blank looks they give me. “Um, guys?” They look at each other momentarily before turning back to the picture. Could it be? “You… guys saw her, didn’t you?” I ask. They nod without a word. “Where?” “I saw her yesterday morning,” Flash speaks up first. “She bumped into me during the first period change, though she didn’t say much,” he explains with a worried—dare I even say downcast—look. “Trixie did too,” Trixie sighs, almost in defeat. “Twilight seemed to be trying to buy a snack, and Trixie bought one for herself before leaving her be. That is all,” her explanation sounded like it was leaving something out, but the way she is struggling to even tell me that, I’m sure it’s not too important. That being said… “What’s with you two?” I ask them, more questions popping into my head like kernels in a microwave. “You acted the same way when you saw her back at Equus, and you are doing it again now! Are you avoiding her? Do you even know her?” I ask, doubtful. To my utter shock, they both nod. Even Pinkie seems surprised at this new information. “Long story short, we went to middle school together,” Flash speaks with a solemn tone. “We were an interesting group back then, given how I was a third year, Twilight was a second year, and Trixie…” “Was a first year, yes,” Trixie finishes the sentence for him. “We were inseparable back then, but things happened, and that’s all you are getting out of us.” Flash seems to confirm Trixie’s statement with a firm nod of his own, bringing a low growl out of me. What the hell is their issue!? It could actually be something related to why Twilight was here! “Come on! Don’t you have anything else? Some weird crap, maybe?” Flash puts a hand to his chin, looking thoughtful. “Well, Trixie and I talked about this yesterday, I guess I can admit that was what we hid from you,” he says, answering that little dilemma. “We talked about having seen Twilight, but we found out we didn’t really recognize her, at least not until you referred to her by name just now, but I can’t be too sure, seeing how she didn’t recognize us either.” “Huh?” the kernels were then swept away by an ever increasing torrent of more questions. How did they not recognize it was Twilight? Why didn’t Twilight herself? Come to think of it, how didn’t Pinkie? Wasn’t she good at remembering people? Maybe that’s why I was having doubts about it? “Lemon?” Pinkie calls out my name, staring with a worried gaze, caressing my face with her soft, pink hand. “You need to relax, Lemon,” she says softly, placing a kiss on my cheek, making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Then, she moves to my… oh my. “I cannot believe this!” Trixie growls, jumping out of Flash’s car. “Trixie!” I call out, carefully pushing Pinkie from going further down my face. Now, I’m up for that sort of thing in private, but here? Now? What’s she trying to do? “Lemon,” Flash calls, pointing towards the stomping Trixie outside. I nod back in agreement, but before I follow, I turn to Pinkie, who is now pouting with a guilty look. I pat her head, and give her a kiss, which seems to be enough to bring out a smile out of her. “Love you, we’ll talk later, alright?” I say, looking at her silently for a few seconds, expecting some response, but she says nothing. “Alrighty then…” After that… awkward silence, I run off, my questions regarding Pinkie left behind for the moment as I make it down the empty lot to catch up to Trixie. It doesn’t take long till I see her form in front of me, her stomping now reduced to a sluggish step on the grass leading to the school. I guess it’s difficult to stomp on grass. “Trixie, wait!” I call once, surprisingly stopping without a second thought, and turning around, seeing an expression far beyond the fury that I expected her to be in. “Trixie?” “Lime,” she whispers my name with a frown. “Why did you follow Trixie? You should have stayed behind with those two.” “I couldn’t just let you go like that. I mean, I know it was weird, but what was up with that?” my question seems to hit its target, as a scowling Trixie huffs, crossing her arms in what I see as a short fit of anger. “I…” she clamps her mouth shut, taking a breath of air. “Look, Trixie said that she was okay with you two, but some things just are… a bit much, you know?” “I know,” I reply understanding. “I don’t know what happened, she has never acted like that in public,” she raises a brow, and I cough once. “Er, the point is that she has never done that stuff out here, and, well, I don’t know what’s with her!” “Pinkie Pie is, just… never mind,” Trixie says, ending whatever that line of conversation was heading towards to. “Look, Trixie has to go help out Fluttershy with something she was forced into anyway, so I have to go. I’ll see you later,” and with her piece said, she walks off. I watch her leave, but I don’t bother calling out her name again; the feeling that it’ll turn violent churns in me, and I like my body not being violently hurt, so I simply stare—at least until she makes it inside and I’m left truly alone. “What is wrong with people today!?” I nearly shout. I pass a hand through my sickly green colored mane, feeling each strand as I do before they meld into the blob of color that passes as my hair. It’s funny that only things like that make me remember that I’m stuck in a cartoon world, because I would argue otherwise with the crap I deal with. I’m starting to get a little tired of it, if I have to be honest. “Bah! I don’t need that! I’ll find out on my own!” I exclaim to no one at all, anyone’s validation be damned! Though I’ll be lonely doing this, having Flash, Pinkie and Trixie not following me would make talking to Twilight a far easier task, and we would be able to have a possible conversation, and we’ll become friends, and we’ll frolic through flower fields and… er, well, I’m doing this just to learn why she is here, obviously. My mind made up, I head into the school building, hoping I don’t bump into Sunset. Really wouldn’t want to get her involved in this. Having a set task in mind, I’m able to focus on certain things, like, how strange it is that Twilight is here: for one, WHY is she here? Does she know we are here? Then again, she didn’t last time. So, is she in cahoots with Discord, maybe? And how come she is actually wearing different clothes? No one ever does. Honestly, I don’t really have the answer to these questions. Though were I asked if she looked better with her hair in a bun, I would be the first to answer with a very biased yes. I arrive at the library, which is open early as usual, catering to those students who rush to finish forgotten homework... and of course, I figure it’s the one place I can get leads from, if not outright find Twilight. I mean, worlds aside, these people are the same characters, I’m bound to get something. I go straight to Cheerilee, who stands by her counter, scanning books with a strangely annoyed look on her face; better thread lightly. “Morning, Ms. Cheerilee.” “Morning! Um, Lemon, right?” she replies, her mood doing a 180, much like a professional would and showing me a big smile. “Sorry, I was dealing with some books. How can I help you?” “Actually, I was wondering about you, ma’am, you look a little down,” I point out, straight to the point. She gulps. “W-what do you mean? I’m perfectly… ” she slumps down in her seat, giving out a long sigh. “I just can't. Is it that noticeable?” I nod once. “It is… is that bad?” “It’s absolutely fine!” she says quickly, a clear attempt to stop me from blaming myself for it. “You see, I had to deal with some things the moment the library opened, is all. I’m just trying to forget about her!” she finishes through gritted teeth, scanning another book from the pile, and tossing it aside, where it will wait for until its shelved, and the library cycle begins anew. Wait… “What do you mean by ‘her’?” I ask curious. Her tired face transforms into a frown, the reminder of that ‘her’ bringing her dark mood back. “I know I’m not supposed to do this kind of thing, but… one of the students was using a computer, and, well…” she trails off, and suddenly shakes her head quickly. “What am I doing? I can’t put one of our students in such a position. I’m sorry, Lemon.” “T-that’s fine, just checking you are okay...” I hold back the urge to scream. It was going so well without even trying! Though, maybe… “Well, do you know where that girl is? “Lemon!” Cheerilee exclaims indignantly. “I know you are young, but you really shouldn't be chasing girls like that,” I gawk at the implication of her words, but I hold back all my words regarding the absurdity of it as she continues. “In any case, I’m sorry to say I’m not sure where she currently is, but I did see her walk towards the lunch room.” “Thank you!” I say quickly, promptly pacing towards the exit as to avoid another strange lecture. “And Lemon?” she calls back suddenly, and I turn back, nodding with feign interest. “Thank you for letting me vent a little, it’s rare for any of the students to ask about my well being,” she says, giving me a sincere smile. “Y-you are welcome!” I reply, holding back a sudden blush (among other mental images) and heading off towards ye olde lunchroom, trying to put aside the thought. I arrive quickly enough, noticing the cliques of students already there eating, talking, or both. I do notice some lonely people on their own, but no Twilight. Crap. “Yo!” a voice calls to me, so I turn to face a sweaty Rainbow Dash, who wears her usual sporty getup. Guess she is off to practice this morning. “Dash! Hey!” I greet her as she ‘nums’ on a granola bar which currently hangs in her mouth, she expertly twirls it around, and pulls it inside. That’s some mouth expertise right there. “So, what’s up?” She gives me a bored look, pointing a finger at my pocket for some reason. “Check your phone, idiot,” she says suddenly. “Huh?” confused, I do as she says, and pull out my phone, only to see various texts; all from Pinkie. “Crap…” I scold myself, having forgotten to raise the volume after our little meeting. “Damn! Thank you, I must have forgotten about it!” “Yeah, so, I’ma head off now,” she says without much care for me. “Just make sure to not forget her again, I have practice to do,” she walks away, leaving me with the option to say thank you, but she is still a jerk so screw her. On the opposite end of that spectrum, I check the Pinkie messages, noticing a very similar pattern of ‘text me back’. Surprisingly, all of them lack her usual spunk, which only serves to worry me a bit. But as my worrying seems to be on top form, one more message buzzes through. But unlike the last dozen ones, this one reads differently. ‘not gonna go to lunch and gonna be busy sry, love you! i’ll see you tomorrow!’ I swallow nervously by the end. Could she be angry? No, that can’t be, Pinkie Pie wouldn’t get angry just like that, that’s not how she works, not to mention that last message didn't seem too angry. She is probably with Rarity, planning for the Formal tomorrow… “Oh, right,” I had nearly forgotten that was tomorrow… that couldn’t be it, could it? A text from Sunset suddenly vibrates into existence, informing me that I’m almost out of time. “Well, that was a pointless search! Dammit! I should have asked for help,” I look at my phone, opening Pinkie’s messages again. “I should’ve gone back to them after I talked to Trixie. Maybe I have time to-” *Riiiing* “… Time to go to class and do this after school. Ugh.” ~~~~~ Ten minutes. TEN minutes, and I already wanna die. But it would be wrong to say that’s how long I’ve been actually walking this damn street. Time has lost all its meaning as the sun; bright, and embracing (particularly the latter) shines down on me with the intensity of… well, more than one sun. Call it exaggerating, I will call it honesty. Because unlike its morning brethren, this one had no mercy. I wouldn’t be in this predicament if ‘daddy dearest’ had been able to show up to give me a ride, but as it turns out, he had to cancel due to him suddenly getting a flat tire while with mom! I mean, what kind of crap is that? What kind of timing? I don’t think he lied about it, but honestly, sometimes it feels like they don’t exist at all. Bitching aside, I finally make it to Sugarcube. Murmurs get louder as I head closer, the sounds of people enjoying a milkshake right after school reaching my ears, and given how early or late I’m usually visiting, it’s an atmosphere I’ve been actually missing. Maybe I’ll buy a milkshake and have an impromptu date of sorts with Pinkie. I’m sure she’ll love the added surprise of seeing me so suddenly there as well. I wipe most of my sweat, attempting to at least seem tiredly cool when I make my entrance. I give it my best smile as I enter the building, and notice the surprise appearance of the mane six, who happen to be there, all huddled up in a booth: Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershiiiiiit… WHAT!? “Huh!?” my eyes widen, my heart races, my legs ache (okay, that was likely from the walk) but that’s her! That’s Twilight! I mean, disregarding the fact that she is wearing a simple blue blouse, and her mane is let loose—but very subtly moving with each of her movements. But then the way she is smiling, the way she laughs… it’s Twilight, that’s for sure, but something is clearly different about her. Anxiety wells up inside me as I make my walk to the group, you could say it’s a spark of the feeling I used to have towards her. Things have changed since then, of course, but even when Twilight wasn’t exactly nice before, there is still some hope in me that she might be this time, I mean, she is sitting with the others with a friendly demeanor. Maybe my suspicions about her are wrong. Maybe she isn’t here, trying to get close with my friends to get to me. Maybe I can go ahead and make a good impre- “H-h-h-h-hi, Twilight! R-r-r-remember me?” DUDE WHAT THE FUCK!? WHY DID I SAY THAT!? The worst part is that no one said a thing. Instead, everyone just stares, giving me the strangest looks, like everyone in Sugarcube has their attention on us. That, however, doesn’t last, as the usual whispering invoked by the sight of a nervous teenager talking to another girl invokes whispers, small conversations. I see rumors in my future. “So, Twilight… you know Lemon, huh?” Rainbow Dash speaks up, cutting the silence short, and snapping me back to the terrible reality where I see the other girls giving me surprised stares. Well, all except for Pinkie, who seems to be more serious about the whole thing... but why didn't she tell me anything? “Pinkie Pie,” Twilight finally speaks, despite having met her twice before, it still feels surreal to hear her talk at all. “Do you have a place where we can talk in private?” Pinkie stares at Twilight for a second, back to me, then finally, nods. With the eyes of about a dozen or so others behind us, we head back outside, and up the familiar stair path to the Cake domicile. It goes by in silence, bar a few coughs from some of the girls. Pinkie opens the door and invites us into her room, and we all head inside, ready for what will likely be a calm, and very collected conversation. “Alright, buddy, how do you know Twilight?” someone says. I say someone because none of their lips have moved. “Down here!” the voice speaks again. I look down, and see Spike the dog, baring his teeth, much like an angry pup would… wait, did h- “Yes, I’m talking to you!” “Spike talks? What the hell!?” the voice of Cathy fills my thoughts, and I nearly tumble backwards, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack catch me easily. “T-thank you, girls,” despite my thanks, they say nothing and continue holding me, which only confuses me. “Um, girls? You can let me go now…” they look at each other, and instead of doing what I told them, they toss me on the bed. Great, now I’m confused, AND partly aroused. I lay there in even more silence than before, this time with only Gummy, who slithers around without a care, much like a Gummy would… okay, no one is saying anything, I should probably speak up now. “What’s going on, here? Why are you doing this?” “Lemon, right?” Twilight says my name, walking near the bed with folded arms, giving me what’s basically a perpetually angry stare. “You knew who I was, and you knew who Spike was. And given how I’m sure you didn’t follow me from home, you have some explaining to do.” “Huh?” is the only thing I can respond with. “What do you mean? W-we’ve met before, right? And I’ve met Spike too!” Her eyes narrow. "I've never met you before! I'm not joking here. Who are you, really?" I'm at a loss for words. "B-but it's true! We've met before, really!" “Darling,” Rarity speaks up. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I don’t believe he is lying.” “Will anyone explain what the hell is going on here!?” I say as loud as possible, avoiding shouting in case we get unwanted visitors. “You ARE Twilight, right? I mean, you don’t have the shriveled look you had before, and I don’t recall Spike being able to talk before…” hold on, could she possibly be… “Oh dear,” Twilight gulps. “I’m so sorry!” as she apologizes, I’m let go by the monsters holding me. “I thought you had followed me from Equestria! I can’t believe I didn’t think it was that you met an alternate version of myself! Why didn’t I think of that!?” “E-Equestria?” I can almost feel my irises shrinking. I look up to her face again, my excitement increasing faster than I can manage it. I mean, could it be? Is this person who is standing here Twilight Sparkle? THE Twilight? Twilight lets out a tired sigh, then gives me a tiny smile. “Aha… I’m so sorry about how I reacted earlier!” she apologizes, bowing awkwardly. “I-it’s okay!” I reply back just as awkward, barely able to hold myself back anymore. “S-so, can you tell me who you a-a-are, then?” “Ah, of course!” she replies quickly, kneeling down and grabbing Spike. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant Spike! And well, I guess I'm kind of a princess from another world... heh, heh...”