• Published 26th Oct 2014
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My Twilight Facade - axelsempai



Suddenly, I'm Twilight Sparkle and I don't want to be here.

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Berated Elation

It was morning in the nation's capital, where Spike and I stood outside Moondancer's home. It didn't look much better than the previous day, but I wasn't really expecting anything else. Today was the last chance I had before I had to go back to Ponyville. Damned librarian duties...

"Sure you want to stick around for this? Moondancer won't be very welcoming." I warned Spike.

He shrugged. "I want to see where this goes."

As good an answer as that was, he probably wasn't ready for this. I know I wasn't. Still, I had to try. I stepped forward with a deep breath and knocked on the door. The wood chipped a little. I couldn't be sure if it was because the house was just that poorly maintained or if I was stronger than I thought. Note to self: pull your punches.

I waited patiently for an answer to the door. My patience was rewarded when Moondancer opened the door as irritably as before. She rolled her eyes when she saw me and shut the door again.

I knocked.

The door cracked open with Moondancer glaring through. "Take a hint and go away!" She shut the door.

I knocked.

A sigh sounded from the other side. The door opened again. "Hi Moondancer, how's it going?" I asked.

"Just fine until you started bothering me." She shut it again.

I knocked. I wondered how many times we'd have to do this.

A groan. The door was flung open by the seething mare. "Stop bothering me!" She slammed the door.

I knocked. Maybe this wasn't such a good plan.

The door cracked open, just barely showing Moondancer grinding her teeth. "What?"

"You got a minute? I feel we need to talk."

Moondancer took a moment to gather her thoughts. "If we do, will you leave me alone afterwards?"

"Maybe."

She narrowed her eyes. "Fine." She opened the door all the way and stood in the door way. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to catch up on my old friend." Awkward pause. "So how are you doing?"

Moondancer didn't hide her disdain. "Same as one minute ago: fine until you showed up."

"That's good." I said, ignoring the barb. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Studying, which you just interrupted."

"Oh, what have you been studying?"

"Magic."

I paused to see if she would elaborate. Turns out Moondancer isn't the kind of girl to go off on topics of interest. "...What kind of magic? Anything practical?"

"Theoretical."

"Ah, theoretical magic. Where would practical magic be without the philosophers of old, eh?"

"Are you done yet?'

I chewed my lip to suppress any adverse reaction, doing my best to keep an uneasy smile. "Not quite. Did you know that Astral Star's observations of star patterns revolutionized modern divination? Great stuff!"

Moondancer said nothing, just letting the intensifying sneer do the talking.

I sighed. The time for beating around the bush was over. "I'm sorry, Moondancer."

"For what?" She demanded. She wanted me to admit out loud what I did wrong.

My response was solemn. "For leaving you behind. For missing your party. Hurting you."

Moondancer scoffed. "Please, do you really think you alone were so important that I would isolate myself because you missed out on some stupid party? Don't be so full of yourself, Twilight."

"That's when it started, isn't it?" I countered. "It wasn't until I left that you figured you could do without friends."

Moondancer didn't meet my eyes, but conceded. "That's when it became apparent, yes. If you didn't need friends, then why would I?"

"Because I was wrong. Without my friends, life was barely worth living."

Moondancer leveled her gaze at me. "Don't be so dramatic; everything's been just fine since you left. If you haven't noticed, the sun is still shining and Canterlot hasn't burned in your absence. Friendship isn't some magical force that keeps Equestria standing."

"Heh heh..." I wasn't too keen on correcting her about that with how we defeated Nightmare Moon. "Well I guess you're right about that, but it still matters when I hurt someone's feelings."

"Oh really? And you don't have something better to do this time?" Moondancer asked irritably.

"No, this is very important."

"Yeah, and what was so important last time that you ditched me for seven months?"

Fortunately, Spike told me just the other day. "Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration that day. When I left, it didn't even occur to me that I was missing out on time with you. Ever since I got there, time has just been passing me by, and it got harder to come back."

She snorted. "The princess, huh? What a handy excuse for such a precious pony."

"I really should have said something earlier."

"Yes, you should have."

"I'm really sorry."

Moondancer and I held our gazes for a long moment before she sighed. "Fine, come on in."

I smiled at the small bit of progress. "Thank you."

She ushered us inside, but the inside was weird. An entire wall was covered with books. There was no bookshelf. It was just a wall of books stacked precariously against an actual wall. Well, I guessed there was a wall behind the books. It was hard to tell because of how densely stacked the books were. It was admittedly impressive.

There was a table covered in assorted parchment and inkwells. There was only one chair. The other walls that I could see were bare. The only really notable things in there were the wall of books and the messy table.

"Make yourself comfortable. Take a... the seat. Want a drink? I have water." Moondancer offered.

"Uh, I guess I'll take a water."

Moondancer nodded and walked past the book wall. I looked at the lone chair. "You can take the chair, Spike."

"Alright." He hopped onto it. Only his eyes were visible above the table.

I practiced a bit of conjuration and summoned a mostly transparent chair to sit on. With seat taken, I waited patiently on Moondancer.

For about one second before I looked at the wall of books again. Seriously, that thing was wider at the top than at the bottom! How was it standing? I felt like removing a single tome would make the whole thing crash down.

Moondancer came back with a glass and two Styrofoam cups. She passed the cups to us. "What's wrong?" She asked, noticing my examination.

"I'm sorry, but the asymmetry of those books just bothers me." I shot the books one last scrutinizing glare and turned back to the present company. I saw Spike shiver a little.

Moondancer didn't seem to notice when she propped herself against the table. I courteously summoned an extra chair for her. She raised an eyebrow for a question, and I answered with a shrug. She took her seat. "So what exactly have you been doing for all this time?"

"Mostly research." I said. "I'm trying to get a hold of conjuration right now. Summoning things is a pretty handy trick, you know."

"So I see." Moondancer shifted in her chair. "Have you been able to summon anything else, or..."

"This is the best I can do. Unless you need some napkins?"

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself. How about you? Have you done anything interesting?"

She stole a glance at the book wall. "Oh, you know, reading. Mostly." Her head tottered. "Exclusively."

"Did you read anything interesting? At least one of these books has to be good."

Moondancer shot me one of those weird looks. "They're books; they're always good."

"You haven't read Wuthering Heights."

"What's that about?"

"Dicks and idiots. You wouldn't like it."

Moondancer was unsure, but didn't argue. "Okay, but I've been reading about magic and science. Non-fiction."

"What, no sci-fi? You're killing me here."

Moondancer's eyes narrowed the slightest bit at that. "I've never been into fiction. You should know that."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry." Who reads books but never reads fiction? Freaking ponies, man. "I've just found that broadening my horizons has been very rewarding."

"Like moving to a new town?" Moondancer asked bitterly.

"No!" I denied quickly. "I mean, expanding my interests has opened my mind to new things. For one thing, I've really gotten into exercise."

"I've noticed," Moondancer looked down at my forelegs. "But I've never figured you'd get into body-building. Why did you do it?"

"I can lift your table easily; that's its own reward."

"Functionality, huh?" Moondancer's face turned inquisitive. "That's odd, I could have sworn you were more into theoretical magic, like me."

I shrugged through my diminishing cover. "What can I say? I've been getting more active."

"Strange how that became the case when you left." Moondancer noted suspiciously.

She was leading me somewhere, but I couldn't tell where just yet. "I've done a little soul-searching." Sometimes literally. "Things in Ponyville can get pretty hectic, and I needed a change in pace. I guess the change stuck."

"How does it get hectic?"

"Did you happen to hear any news about an Ursa Minor attack?"

"No..."

"Ah, well an Ursa was led into Ponyville one day, and I was the only one who could take care of it."

Moondancer leaned in with interest. "Really? How did you handle it?"

"Sleep spell."

She slumped with disappointment. "That's it? You didn't have some large scale battle, or use environmental variables to lull it to sleep? You just used a single spell?"

"By this point in my life, I just think everyone wants to make things more complicated than they need to be."

"But that sounds like its barely even a nuisance to you! How can that possibly be hectic?"

"Oh, you want something really hectic? How about this time we had to negotiate with a dragon on top of a mountain?"

"What, did you talk things out like adults?"

"Surprisingly, no. That guy turned out to be a douche. I tried giving him an incentive to leave, but he just took my money and threw me against a rock. Joke's on him, I stole a piece of his hoard."

"Then how did you deal with the dragon?"

"I didn't do anything. It was Fluttershy who gave him what for."

"Who's Fluttershy?"

"Oh, Fluttershy is one of my friends from Ponyville."

Moondancer's tone took a turn for the critical. "You made friends in Ponyville?"

"Yeah,"

Moondancer glowered. "You mean to tell me that you left Canterlot to make friends elsewhere?"

Her rising temper caught me off guard. "Wait, Moondancer..."

"I can't believe you replaced me!" She accused loudly. "You ditched me in Canterlot, leaving me alone, just so you could find ponies who were as special as you?" Her horn lit up, picking me and Spike up. "Well if you can ditch me, then I can throw you out!"

True to her word, she threw us out onto her lawn. She didn't really hurt us, but she yelled at us one more time. "And stay out of my life!" She slammed the door one more time, this time for good.

I sighed. It was a mistake to bring up my friends. I was making so much progress, too, yet it was all thrown away.

I was having a great day.

"So, was that why you didn't want me here?" Spike asked.

I chuckled beside myself at the question. "Yeah, that's pretty much it." I stood up and brushed myself off. "I think we're done here. Let's get going."

"Where?"

"I don't know. Maybe an ice cream parlor, maybe a book store. Let's just get out of here."


We stopped at a bookstore first. We checked out with a few comics and a novel I got for myself: Sword of Chaos. How could I resist the lure of a story about dark forces and sword fighting? It could make for a nice fantasy story at least.

Wait, the fantasy genre was always heavy into magic back on Earth. Can it really be called "fantasy" in a world where magic is commonplace, or is it just an adventure story?

I levitated our purchases down the street as we looked for something else to do while we were in town. We found that ice cream parlor I was hoping to find. We wasted no time in going inside to spoil ourselves with mint chocolate chip and birthday cake ice cream. FYI, I got the cake flavor. I dunno, for some reason, I was just really into the taste of cake.

"So, this was quite a day." Spike said after a few licks.

"Yep, nothing beats the healing effect of getting a new action story and something sweet after disappointment." I bit into my ice cream delicately and savored an entire chunk. "Are you sure you wanted a romance comic, though? That doesn't seem to be your thing."

"I got a few superhero comics, too." He protested. "It's not like I'm going soft."

I shrugged. "I know, it's just that you've never gone for it before."

He closed his eyes with a frown. "I just want to try it."

Minutes passed in silence. Between our pre-lunch ice cream and the strained relationship between us, we weren't feeling very talkative.

As we neared the halfway point of our ice cream cones, the door bell rung. We wouldn't have paid much attention to it if the newcomer hadn't approached us. "Twilight, Spike! Fancy seeing you here!"

We turned curiously to the recent arrival. "Oh, hey Minuette. You came for ice cream, too?"

"Nah, I'm here to pass these out." She levitated a piece of paper to me.

I caught it in my telekinesis and looked it over. It was a coupon: ten percent off my next dental check up. "Uh, thanks. You do this a lot?"

"Every Sunday!"

With a nod, I poofed the coupon to wherever I was keeping miscellaneous crap I teleported away. I still haven't checked if it was all going to my basement like I intended. "Sounds like fun."

"It is; I especially like the reactions from the foals." Minuette chuckled. "So how about you? Did you talk to Moondancer, yet?"

"Yeah," I went back to eating my ice cream, hoping she wouldn't press further.

She did. "How'd that go?"

I levitated my ice cream back over the table, keeping it aside for a conversation. "Not very well. She basically had me excommunicated because she's under the impression that I replaced her with new friends."

"That's not true; you came back, after all!"

"She doesn't see it that way." A thought occurred to me. "Hey Minuette, did I use to bring up Princess Celestia a lot?"

Minuette thought well on the matter. "Not really. You only ever brought her up when you were worried something was going wrong. Like this one time, in Alchemy, you accidentally made a sleeping gas potion that put everyone to sleep, you woke up later that day having an episode about having the princess send you back a grade!" Minuette laughed. "That was a good day; we got excused from so many classes."

I smirked at the story. "I can't believe I used to be such a worry-wort."

"Why bring up the princess, though?"

"I just thought that I might have gotten overzealous in trying to impress her and in doing so alienating myself to my peers." I internally laughed about it. Of course Twilight wouldn't be the kind of pony to brag about her connections. "What about Moondancer, though? What was it like being around her?"

"Quiet most of the time. She only really spoke to you, usually about one thing or another from your books."

"Didn't she ever hang out with you or the others?"

"We invited her to hang out a lot, but she never said yes." She laughed sheepishly. "We decided to hang out around her, instead. She warmed up to us eventually. Before you left, she was actually talking to us. She's really nice when you get to know her, you know?"

Gee, thanks for reminding me of the damage I did, Minuette. Still, it's a shame that Moondancer was shutting herself away from others like that. She really should reconnect with her friends, even if Twilight couldn't be among them.

I dropped my ice cream and shot to my hooves. "I got it! I understand what I need to do!"

The other two were startled at my sudden exclamation. "What is it you need to do?"

"Minuette, are the others available?"

"Um, yes, but..."

"Good, it's time to remind her of what she lost." I trotted with determination towards the door.

Minuette called to me, stopping me before I could leave. "Wait, what do we need to do?"

"Get them to Moondancer's house. We need to talk to her one more time together." I pushed to door open.

"Wait, Twilight!"

I turned back to Minuette. "What now?"

"Don't forget your book."

I sighed. "Right, thanks." I returned to the table and observed my book. To my horror, I dropped my ice cream cone on it. "Aw, fuck!"

"Oh, I'm really sorry, Twilight." Minuette said in consolation.

I wiped the cover off with a napkin. The ice cream soaked into the cover. With few options left, I morphed the color of the stains to match the book's original color. I looked over it and sighed with a grimace. "I guess this will do."

"It looks fine; why are you so upset about it now?" Spike asked.

I gave him a sideways look. "Because I'll always know."

Spike winced at the answer, but I had a feeling it had nothing to do with my sharp tone. I sighed again. "Sorry, Spike. Let's just get going. We need to make a quick stop back at the tower."


Spike and I waited by Moondancer's house, seated on a convenient bench that I happened to conjure. Spike was getting impatient. "So what are we waiting for? I thought we were going to be confronting Moondancer again."

"In a moment, we're still waiting on the others." I explained. "If they're here too, that will maximize our chances of success."

"And what exactly are we trying to do?"

"We're trying to help Moondancer."

"You think she'll listen to whatever you're going to say?"

"I hope so." I shifted anxiously, looking down the street.

I saw them approaching. Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine were just a minute down the road. Now was the perfect time to act. I threw on my saddlebag and walked over to the house.

I took a deep breath and knocked. It was do or die.

An audible groan sounded from the other side. "Let me guess..." An annoyed Moondancer mumbled from within. The door cracked open with her predictable frown. "Oh boy, I was right."

She tried to shut the door again, but I shot my hoof out and caught it before it latched shut. "Moondancer, listen."

"I told you to go away, like, five times! I thought you were smart enough to figure that out!" She pulled the door back and slammed it hard against my hoof.

I winced at the impact, figuring it was going to leave a bruise later, but I refused to yield. "We need to talk one last time. After this, I promise I'll leave you alone for good, okay?"

Moondancer glared at me. "You're not going to give me a choice, are you?"

"Sorry,"

She sighed and looked past me. "What are they doing here?"

I looked back and noted that it was the others. Just as I hoped. "Moondancer, I know that we're not friends, anymore. If you won't accept my apology, I understand. But I have a little advice for you: don't give up on friendship. Just because I was a bad friend doesn't mean you can't find somepony better." I pointed back at the other mares. "They are your friends. They stuck with you when I left. Don't you remember what it was like being with them?"

"Yeah! Remember when we were partnered on a presentation together?" Twinkleshine reminded. "We spent all night poring through books and setting up our backboard. We shared carrots and crackers while we worked."

"Oh, or that time we couldn't find that book in the library you wanted! We went to every bookstore in Canterlot just to find it." Lemon recalled.

Minuette chuckled. "I remember when you had that dentist's appointment. You were so nervous about it, so I went with you. You got so self-conscious about your braces that we spent the rest of the day behind the library, finding new books to read together."

I smiled at their recollection of past events. This was exactly what I needed to happen. "You still have three good friends with you, Moondancer. Don't do to them what I did to you. Get some pizza and ice cream with them, go shopping, and spend some time with ponies who will always be there for you."

Moondancer lowered her head in silence. Since she wasn't saying anything, I made one last move. I floated a red box out to Moonancer. "Here, we were going to give this to you before we left. I know it's a little late, but I think you should have it."

Moondancer grasped it in her magic, looking to me for my reaction. I nodded for her to open it. She removed the lid and removed its contents, letting the packaging fall to the ground. There was something about that little teddy bear that caught her attention, keeping her still and staring.

"Well, a promise is a promise. Just think about your friends, okay? If we can't be friends, then at least consider them. Come on, Spike." I waved for Spike to follow me and walked past the others, who stepped aside for me to pass.

"Wait, Twilight."

I stopped and turned back to Moondancer. "Yes?"

She put the bear aside. "Why did you come back, really?"

"To apologize and reconnect with my friends."

I noticed a tiny glint past her glasses. "Even after what you did, you still came to face us?"

"I hurt my friends. I had to come back."

Her mouth quivered. "So you really do care, huh?"

"I do."

She lowered her head again, a wet line trailing down her face. "... I want to go back to the way things were. Could we all really be friends again?"

I faced her fully, squarely set and determined. "Yes we can. It's up to you, Moondancer: do you accept our offer of friendship once more?"

"You won't leave again?"

"No, I won't."

She stood still for a moment of contemplation, inner conflict brewing between old wounds and forgiveness. She made her decision.

She rushed up to me and wrapped me in a tearful hug. "I accept."

I put a hoof over her shoulder. "Do you really want me back?" She nodded silently against my shoulder. I smiled and returned the hug. "I'm glad we could be together again."

I looked around at the others, still standing off to the side. I beckoned them with a wave of my head, telling them to stop watching from the sidelines and join in. They didn't hesitate to surround us and form a group hug, renewing what they thought as an old friendship.

I noticed Spike didn't join in, just standing there with a blank look on his face. "You too, Spike."

The statement seemed to startle him into action. He rushed over and jumped onto my back for the hug.

I was pleased with this outcome. Moondancer actually took Twilight and her friends back, rather than just the others. This was better than I hoped. We had the entire rest of the day to be the best of friends.


The next morning, we all stood outside the train departing for Ponyville. Ponies were piling in, eager to begin the trip back home. Spike and I lingered a bit longer to say goodbye to our Canterlot friends. "Well, it's time for us to go back to Ponyville. I have to work tomorrow, ugh." I forced a disgusted grunt.

"You'll come back, right?" Moondancer asked hopefully.

"Of course." I said with a smile. "We'll stay in touch. I can send you letters with my magic, if you ever feel lonely."

"I'm sure it won't come to that!" Lemon wrapped a hoof around Moondancer in a friendly hug. "We'll be here for you, you know! Still, it would be nice to write some letters back and forth with you, Twilight."

I smiled amicably. "Sure thing."

We came together for a farewell hug before Spike and I boarded our train. It left the station before long, bringing us home after a weekend we're not going to forget. I leaned back into my chair, settling in for a nice ride back.

"That was some weekend, huh Spike?" I looked over at the drake, only to notice him listlessly staring out the window. "Spike, are you okay?"

He didn't turn his head at me when he answered. "Yeah, I'm just a little tired."

My voice inflected my worry. "Didn't sleep well, or something?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Silence passed between us. I reached out and softly patted his shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

"I know."

Only the clatter of the train filled our cabin. The hours passed with Spike barely turning from the window like a drake possessed, and all I could do was rub his back consolingly.

It was going to be okay, Spike. It really was.

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