Dear Diary,
I’m sorry, I’ve been forgetting to write in you again. I’m not really sure where to start though…
It’s Thursday now, but most of the week was pretty fun. Sunset and I finished our project together and then played a bunch at recess.
But today, Sunset said something mean to the teacher earlier so she had to stay inside for 10 minutes after recess started. I was playing by myself when those same three girls who told me to stay away from Sunset came up to me.
They told me that Sunset was a Grade ‘A’ Loser and that if I was going to keep hanging out with her, then I would be one, too. I got mad and said that Sunset wasn’t a loser, that she was my friend and she was awesome and fun and I liked her a lot.
That just made them laugh and they started calling me names and pushing me around. I wasn’t really sure what to do about that, but it hurt a lot.
Right when I was about to cry, Sunset showed up out of nowhere like a hero, yelling at them and kicking gravel in their faces. It was super cool, like a scene straight out of a movie.
I guess that’s right when the teacher decided to actually start paying attention, because the three girls all suddenly started crying, and the teacher came over yelling at Sunset and started dragging her away for detention.
I got really mad at that point and started yelling and screaming at the teacher and grabbing on so they wouldn’t take Sunset away for something she didn’t do. I was trying to tell the truth, but I don’t think I said it right, and the girls kept fake-crying, and eventually the teacher got fed up and decided to give me detention too.
I’m real scared. I’ve never had detention before. Does this mean I can’t go to school anymore? I really want to study hard and become the first lady scientist to resurrect a dinosaur or build a lightsaber. But now my future is ruined forever… Mom was real surprised when she heard what happened. She said she wants to talk to Dad before she decides what to do, which means it must be serious.
And I hope Sunset is doing okay.
☹
Twilight Sparkle
Awkward would have been a mild way to describe it.
Sunset idly flicked through her phone, unsure of what she should actually be doing. Twilight was still curled up on the ground, shaking with silent laughter. It had been kind of funny at first, but Twilight had just kept laughing. When the others had tried to help her, to see if she was alright, she choked out that she was fine, and only laughed harder. So it had left the six of them to just sit around, twiddling their thumbs.
It had probably been at least thirty minutes by now. At least she had finally grown quiet, aside from the occasional snort or single giggle.
Flicking her phone off and pocketing it, Sunset hesitantly called out, “Twilight?”
There was another snort and Twilight shook with more laughter, but it quickly petered off and was followed by the sound of a deep breath.
Twilight sat up and met Sunset’s eyes. Her hair was messy, there were grass clippings all over her clothes, her glasses were askew, and she was wearing a dazed smile. It was kind of adorable.
“Alright then,” Twilight said, stretching back and yawning, “done with that.”
“You, uh, feelin’ alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Twilight grinned, standing up and dusting herself off before returning to her seat on the picnic table. “I can’t remember feeling this good in a long time.”
“See!” Pinkie Pie shouted, her eyes growing bright. “Laughter is the best medicine!” After a brief fit of giggles, she added, “Although you should probably be careful not to overdose.”
“You’re right, actually,” Twilight said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Kind of. Turns out lots of endorphins mixed with antidepressants makes for a killer cocktail. I wonder if this is what recreational drugs are like?”
A response like that earned lots of raised eyebrows and side glances from the girls.
“Look, Twilight,” Rarity began, spreading her hands placatingly. “This is all completely insane, I know. Goodness, I certainly wouldn’t have believed any of this a year ago. And, well… it must be hard on you, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’d like to help you out, and, well, be your friends. That is, if you would have us.”
There were murmurs of agreement from everyone, sans Rainbow Dash.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Uh…”
“Why do you want to be friends with me? Because you know my alternate reality counterpart and are friends with her?”
“It’s not like that, Twilight,” Fluttershy mumbled, her eyes downcast. “Sure, Princess Twilight is our friend, but you seem really, um, nice, too, and I’d love to get to know you better.”
Twilight shook her head. “That’s a wonderful sentiment and all, but I’m not buying it. I’m me. Not her. Just like ‘Sunset’ here is her own person… or pony or whatever, and not my…” She shuddered.
Sunset bit her lip. It wasn’t like she had any reason to actually feel guilty, but it didn’t stop that knife from twisting anyway.
“I’ll make myself perfectly clear. You’ve all just told me a bunch of incredible things, about alternate realities, worlds full of magical talking ponies, and probably a bunch of other stuff you haven’t even scratched the surface of yet. I want to understand, and I won’t stop until I can explain and replicate everything you’ve claimed. I’m not looking for friends—I’m looking for test subjects.” Twilight adjusted her glasses, sunlight reflecting off of their surface.
The way Twilight’s eyes briefly flickered to Sunset’s during her speech betrayed something in her, but Sunset couldn’t really tell what.
“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes narrowed.
Twilight blinked. “Excuse me?”
“If you don’t care about being friends with us, why should we care about you and let you turn us into a bunch of guinea pigs? Give us one good reason to help you with your ‘science project.’”
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, then froze. “That’s… actually a good point.”
“And another thing,” Rainbow said. “I’m sick of everyone… wait, what?”
Twilight slumped forward on the table, cradling her head in her hands. “Ugh, I’m a total mess right now. I can’t think straight at all. Look, this research is really important to me. Something this big could determine my entire future.”
Fluttershy leaned over and placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulders. “It certainly sounds important. I know we don’t really understand much of this ourselves, but, um… does being friends with us really seem that terrible?” Her eyes were wide and pleading.
Sunset cracked a smile as she watched Twilight wince. She could practically see her heart melting in real time; Fluttershy was hard to resist.
“That’s…” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“How about this:” Applejack said, crossing her arms across her chest, “We agree to help you with whatever you need for your science stuff, and in return, you agree to make an effort with all of us. Hang out, go to the movies, have sleepovers... friend stuff. I mean, you seemed to be having fun at the fair.”
Twilight’s face turned to a neutral mask, and she stayed silent for about a minute, before she finally said, “What if I just paid you instead? I have a research grant.”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Sure, I’ll take the cash out option, and—hey!”
Applejack kicked Rainbow Dash in the shin, and the two glared at each other quietly for a few moments before Applejack turned back to Twilight. “Ain’t gonna happen. Deal or no deal, Twi.”
“Please?” Fluttershy asked .
“Pretty please with a giant icecream sundae with fudge ripples and angel food cake and oh man we should totally get ice cream after this!” Pinkie shouted, gesticulating wildly.
“...Very well,” Twilight said.
Applejack grinned, then hocked a loogie and spat on her hand, holding it out.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, then repeated the gesture and shook on it, much to Rarity’s chagrin.
“Well, that’s settled,” Twilight said, wiping her hands on a handkerchief Rarity provided. “I should probably get going. I kind of snuck out and I’ve gotten about a dozen text messages since I arrived.”
Sunset winced at the memory of Shining Armor’s verbal tirade. “Is your, uh, family going to be okay with you doing something like this?”
Twilight shrugged. “Probably not, but I already said I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. Look, you guys have school tomorrow, right? I need some time to get everything together, figure out an actual research plan, etcetera. Give me your numbers, and we can meet up tomorrow evening to discuss things.”
“Actually,” Rarity said, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. “Maybe you should just come to the school. There’s a few things you’re probably going to want to see.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “If you insist.”
“Just be careful,” Sunset said, grinning. “Everyone’s going to act like they already know you. We can try to get the word out so you’re not mobbed or anything, but I doubt we’ll get to everyone.”
“And, as a civilian, you’re sure I’m allowed to walk the school grounds freely?”
Sunset nodded. “If CHS has any rules about that sort of thing, I haven’t heard of them. I’m a student there, after all.”
“Right. Remind me to ask you about that later,” Twilight said as she packed up her equipment.
After about five mostly silent minutes, Twilight was on her way.
“I don’t like this,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “We know, Dash. You’re just beating a dead horse at this point, and that’s awfully disrespectful to Sunset’s culture.”
Sunset let out a sigh as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. “Really? Now that we’re done with the she-demon thing we’re upgrading to horse jokes?”
“Ain’t never been one to look a gift horse in the—”
“Let’s be serious now,” Rarity said, placing a hand on Applejack’s shoulder “I must admit, Rainbow Dash has a point; is this truly a good idea?”
Everyone was silent, each looking to the other for an answer. Finally, Sunset spoke up. “I don’t know, but we have to try, right?”
There was a chorus of nods, some reluctant. They would do their best to befriend Twilight Sparkle. It couldn’t be that hard, right?
“Speaking of, I’ll be right back,” Sunset said, then took off at a run. Twilight was still in sight, and it didn’t take long to catch up with her.
“Hey, Twilight,” Sunset called out, panting slightly, “can I talk to you for a second?”
Twilight stiffened, and her eyes widened when she turned around, but her expression quickly forced itself back to neutrality. “Yes? What is it?”
Sunset paused, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. “Look, it’s just… this whole thing, with you, me, and the other Sunset… I dunno. I can’t help who I am, but I don’t want to hurt you because of it. If you would be more comfortable if I just stayed away from you, I’d understand.”
There was a brief flash of something in Twilight’s eyes, but it was gone before Sunset could even be sure it was really there, replaced by a cold anger. “You’re the extra-terrestrial here, Miss Shimmer. Studying you and your homeworld could quite possibly be the most important part of any of this. I couldn’t give up on data like that even if it literally killed me.”
Twilight turned and walked away.
“Twilight,” Sunset called again. Twilight looked over her shoulder, and after a moment, Sunset said, “You’re not the Twilight Sparkle I know. I’m not the Sunset Shimmer you knew. Maybe you don’t take this friendship stuff seriously; I know I didn’t at first. It all sounds super cheesy and unrealistic, but everything starts somewhere. If nothing else, can we at least treat each other as... I dunno, ‘colleagues?’”
Twilight stared at her for what felt like a long time. Finally, her eyes softened slightly and she almost cracked a smile. “Alright, that sounds acceptable. I’m looking forward to working with you, Sunset.”
Twilight closed the door behind her, called out, “I’m home!” and kicked her sandals off.
There was a muffled curse from the kitchen, and Shining Armor poked his head out of the doorway. He looked furious, his phone held up to his ear. “Nevermind, she just walked in. Gimme a second.
“Where the hell have you been?” he demanded as he stormed into the living room. “I’ve got Dad on the phone right now. You can’t just wander off like that, especially with everything that’s already happened!”
Twilight felt her cheeks flush hot but held her tongue, carefully deciding on the right response. “I was meeting up with Sunset Shimmer and her friends.”
Her brother’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. “I… what?”
“Yep. Turns out there’s a dimension parallel to this one with alternate counterparts of everyone we know, including both me and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset claims to actually be a pony who’s been transformed into a human by the process of coming here. I don’t know how true her claim is, but I plan on studying her and documenting everything I can. It’s going to be a lot of work, so you probably won’t see me much for a while.”
Twilight walked over, patted her brother on the shoulder, then headed for the stairs. “I’ll be in my room. There’s a lot I need to get done.”
Shining Armor kept staring at her, phone held limply to one side as her Dad’s voice barked from the speaker.
“Refuge in audacity,” Twilight said out loud, closing and locking her bedroom door behind her. “Works every time.”
She flopped down onto her bed and grabbed one of her pillows, pulling it close to her and squeezing it tight. “Thanks for that one, Sunset.”
On the positive side of things, she was pretty sure she wasn’t insane. On the negative, she was increasingly certain that the universe had left its sense of sanity at the door. Magical talking ponies? She wasn’t sure whether she wanted Sunset’s claims to be true or not.
And for that matter, what the hell was she thinking? She’d spent years surrounding herself with scientific rigor to distract from the pain. Was she really about to apply those same instincts to a living, breathing PTSD trigger? There were plenty of things to be said for exposure therapy, but this was less like looking at pictures to decrease anxiety and more like skydiving from an exploding airplane into an ocean full of spiders.
Yet, the Sunset she had just met… it was uncanny. Pictures didn’t do her justice. Sunset’s voice, the way she moved, the way she talked, the way she smiled, the way she bit her lip when she was unsure, the way she played with her hair: It was all the same as the girl she had once known.
And they wanted her ‘friendship.’ A deep part of Twilight, that naive little girl she had left behind on those cliffs so many years ago, yearned desperately for that kind of acceptance, to cling to the memory of what she had once known, even if it was just a facsimile.
For that matter, was it? This Sunset probably had a different upbringing, one they hadn’t shared with each other. How balanced was nature versus nurture? If her Sunset had lived, how closely would she resemble the one she had just met in personality? Was this ‘Princess Twilight’ a near identical version of herself? Was she a huge nerd, obsessed with science and understanding the world around her? Of course, if she was a princess, it certainly implied a lot of things about her pony half that didn’t come anywhere close to fitting her own description.
If she went ahead and made friends with pony-Sunset, would it be equivalent to pissing all over her Sunset’s grave?
Something wet and slimy dragged its way across her bare feet, and Twilight stiffened, then started laughing.
“Knock it off, Spike,” Twilight choked out in between breaths. She set her dampened pillow aside and picked up her dog, who wriggled in her grasp happily. “What do you think, huh? Does your doggy wisdom have any answers to questions that would probably make Haycartes’ head spin?”
Spike barked and wagged his tail, which was usually the extent of his wisdom. Maybe someday she’d develop a device to translate doggy thoughts into speech, but for now he was already the best assistant anyone could ask for.
“Questions like that are stupid, anyway. We’re scientists, not philosophers. How about we just focus on work for now?”
Spike leapt out of her arms and ran over to her computer, running in circles.
If she wanted to do this right, she couldn’t afford to let herself get distracted.
Knives and forks scraped across plates as they ate, the sound stark against the oppressive silence that otherwise hung over the room.
As Twilight was finishing her last roll and getting up to leave, Cadance let out a long sigh and set her silverware down.
“Twilight,” she began, breaking the silence, “can we please talk?”
Twilight stuffed the roll into her mouth and mumbled, “What’s there to talk about?”
Shining Armor groaned, sinking his head into his palms. “Come, on, Twily, don’t do this. This is serious.”
“How should I know?” Twilight said, swallowing and then reaching for her water. “I’m just a hormonal and moody teenager who suffers from PTSD and a host of other issues, and am thus prone to mood swings and bouts of irrational behavior.”
“Which would you rather we treat you as,” Cadance asked, pursing her lips, “a moody teenager, or a grown woman capable of looking after herself and making her own decisions? You can’t have it both ways.”
Twilight shrugged. “People are complicated. You can’t always fit them into neat boxes and categories like that. Maybe I can be both. Doesn’t mean it’ll turn out well, but it’s certainly still within the realm of possibility.”
“With an answer like that, I’m definitely leaning towards irrationality,” Shining Armor said, rolling his eyes.
“What, exactly,” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes, “about this situation do you think is rational? What in all of your rational and adult wisdom do you think I should do? I gather you two already know something about this, but there’s another Sunset Shimmer out there. Here. In this town. Same age as she would have been if she hadn’t died. She claims to be from an alternate dimension, and is also apparently actually a pony. Can you point me to the bevy of scientific literature or psychology textbooks that provide models for dealing with interdimensional alien counterparts of your dead best friend? Oh, and get this, she wants to be my friend, too.”
Shining and Cadance shared a look, before Cadance finally spoke up, “We just don’t want to see you get hurt, Twilight. I know that’s not a very good answer, but I don’t think there are going to be any easy answers for something this crazy. It’s just…” she paused, sighing and shaking her head. “Look, what is it that you want to do about this?”
“I…” Twilight crossed her arms over her stomach, squeezing tight. “I don’t know. I want to do what I came here to do: science. Whatever else is messed up about this whole situation, there’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained here. I can’t just let that go. It could change the whole world.”
“If it’s so important to the world,” Shining Armor asked, “why is it so important that you be the one to do it? You could simply forward this to one of Dad’s colleagues and I’m sure they’d jump at the opportunity.”
Twilight barked out a short laugh. “Okay, maybe my motivation here is a bit selfish too. I want all the scientific prestige that comes with achievement, I won’t deny that. And, well, maybe I’m also dealing with personal issues that I haven’t really figured out yet. Is that such a bad thing?”
Cadance shook her head. “It’s not, sweetie. But what do you want us to do about it? What would you do if you were in our situation right now?”
“You guys…” Twilight mumbled, lowering her gaze. “I guess I just want… you guys to support me? Maybe it’s too much to ask, maybe I’m taking too much of a risk here, but I still want to do this. And if things get to be too much to handle, then I can always just back out and come home.”
Cadance glanced at her husband and nodded, then she stood up, walked over to Twilight, and leaned down to wrap the younger girl in a tight hug. “If that’s what you want, Twilight, we’ll support you. Just keep us in the loop, okay? We’d worry a lot less if we knew where you were and what you were doing.”
Twilight smiled, then squeezed back, her eyes misting over. “Okay, yeah. I’m sorry for being such a brat.”
Cadance pulled back, then set to work at clearing the plates off the table. “So what’s she like? This other Sunset, I mean. I’d love to meet her someday. Gods, but the two of you were cute together.”
“The same, in a lot of ways. It’s actually pretty uncanny,” Twilight said, her eyes glazing over slightly in a haze of nostalgia.
“I would have mentioned this earlier,” Shining Armor said, one hand rubbing at the back of his hand, “but I kind of met Sunset yesterday, when I went to go question those girls. I got a little overwhelmed and may have kind of told her to stay away from you or else, so, uh, sorry about that.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, then leaned over and lightly punched her brother in the ribs. “Jerk. And thanks for letting me know. Although, considering she met with me today anyway, I don’t think it fazed her much.”
Shining Armor grinned, then ruffled Twilight’s hair. “Yeah, not my best moment. So what exactly are you planning to do?”
“Study her and her friends, of course. There’s a lot they haven’t told me yet, I think, and they want to show me something.”
“What does studying a group of teenagers actually entail, anyway?” Cadance asked, calling from the kitchen.
“Apparently,” Twilight said, grinning, “it involves going back to high school.”
Actually that sounds awesome!
... Aw, Hell no,
UPDATE!!!!
and that is apparently the ONLY damned time they can be bothered to do their damned jobs is when you defend yourself or others which gets YOU to be labeled the bully. It is NOT completely the kids fault that schools are hell holes anymore
It's good to see Twilight managing to laugh again. Distancing onesself from emotions like laughter can really do a number on most people so much so that when they do feel genuine laughter again, it's just pure euphoria.
Happy to see that any situation that can go bad here, didn't. Although this is one of many and the story is prewritten completely... Let's just hope when the time comes for Twilight to experience the portal, she... Actually, would bringing her brother and Cadance be bad? Sans the sudden ponification and meeting their still breathing alternate selves. I'd love to see how that would turn out.
6470398
Shock therapy, I think is the term?
Do you know what this means?
Cue Shopping Montage!
Frankly, I hoped that Shining Armor would be a cop in the movie and married to Cadance. But obviously Hasbro completely shitted on that idea.
I guess you should probably add an AU tag since like you said; this story isn't not canon to the Friendship Games.
6470461 Nah. At the time it was written (And published), the events of this story were just exploring an unexplained gap in canon. You don't have to throw an AU tag on something just because future canon invalidates it. Otherwise half of the stories on this site would need one.
That's different...didn't expect Twilight to just go along with the friend thing...Oh well.
I do like Twilight still thinking she can only see them as guinea pigs though. I also like that Rainbow Dash isn't the jerk of the group unlike most usual Sunset stories. She's actually LOYAL!
Good chapter!
6470425 I agree!
I kinda get why Twilight doesn't want to make friends: She's afraid she's going to lose them like she lost Sunset... mebe?
6470461
We actually dont know his relationship status with Candice. He could very well be married. They said he was an alumni of CPA so hes graduated and is plenty old enough. He could be a cop to. They literally told us nothing about him other than that he once was a student at CPA.
I didn't expect this story to have any similarities, beyond coincidence, to Friendship Games. And I'm not complaining. I just look forward to seeing how it progresses.
6470466
Alright then. Just thought of making a suggestion
6470496
Very true. Either explanations of his relationship status was cut for the TV premier to shorten it to an hour, and that it's uncut in the full version; or that Hasbro and DHX thought it would be irrelevant to the movie and left it out for both screening versions.
...How have I never made any horse jokes in my stories?
Rainbow will need convincing. I'm still not convinced this the best thing mentally for Twilight.
Well, that went better than expected. Of course, this was the relatively easy part. Now things are going to get complicated. But just think of the wealth of data...
Also, your Cadence and Shining are leagues above the ones we got in Friendship Games.
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img13.deviantart.net/b9b9/i/2015/269/f/1/toast_trope_by_jonfawkes-d9b0zpw.jpg
Haycartes may not have been much of a scientist, but his brother Haysenberg and his cervid colleague Deerac were well renowned in the physical sciences, I've heard.
Double period.
One thought kept repeating over and over in my head with her thinking of them as guinea pigs: this will only end badly.
Best-case scenario, she goes to Equestria and Princess Twilight smashes her world view with tiny hammers. Worst case scenario, human experimentation with the flimsy justification of "you're not really human".
I liked Twilight's stance towards things. As she says, the cast mostly just wants to be her friend out of a sense of obligation since they know Princess Twi, but Sci Twi is a stranger to them. Still, she can't pass up this opportunity so she'll compromise. Very fitting for one of her nature.
*counts on fingers*
Yep, time for another chapter. Don't look at the calendar this time, you cheater.
6470585
Not only was the drawn Shining Armor years ahead of this throw-up:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/9/27/988734__safe_equestria+girls_screencap_princess+cadance_shining+armor_spoiler-colon-friendship+games_friendship+games_dean+cadance_alumnus+shining+armor.png
He... he looks like Edward Cullen...
But I'm willing to bet that, if we are treated to an awesome picture of Cadance in one of these chapters, it will look far better than the one from Friendship Games:
orig14.deviantart.net/5157/f/2015/197/6/8/friendship_games__cadence_by_digiradiance-d91l2qo.png
I get their wanting to keep the humans at least partially reminiscent of ponies, but do all of the princesses have to look like they were developed by Dr. Frankenstein?
6470404 Well think of this as an AU where she got into the independent study program early so no bitchy principle pushing her to abuse magic to win the games.
Great chapter!
On one hand Human Twilight raises a good point. On the other hand this issue didn't stop Pony Twilight from making friends with her friends' alternates.
This is a much better introduction of ScienceTwi than the new movie. Much better emotions. The only bit of drama in the movie that didn't feel forced was when Twilight was trying to use the arrow. I could relate to those embarrassed tears.
Even after watching Friendship Games.
I can really see this happening if the situation was in place the same way.
I really love this story, and I can easily separate this from Friendship Games as its own reality :D Thanks again for the story. Can't wait for Twilight to go back to High-School.
p.s. PLZ! instead of 1 chapter a week, make it 2 pls D: all this waiting, I can't stand it D:
Yeah, I definately love this. The fact that it's not effected by canon makes it so much better to me.
6470904 Cadence looks like a walking fish in that movie.
With Friendship Games now an official thing, might be time to use the AU tag, just to keep things clear.
6471312 Yeah, I'd have to agree with this, just to make sure there's no confusion.
Very interesting indeed.
I'm willing to bet that this will be much better than the Friendship Games.
I was wondering when you would update. Did the short break have to do with the movie?
Ugh... I know it's one small piece of backstory, but characters getting picked on with impunity and then somehow falling under authority's notice the instant they defend themselves or someone sticks up for them is about the most contrived, overdone school trope ever. I mean, surely Twilight was able to get the story across better to her parents- and if Twilight was really roughed up as badly as in that sketch, what did that dumbass teacher THINK happened?!
That's done, anyway, and Shining is less of a hard case too. Pity Rainbow is still being a bitch- I mean, confusion and some suspicion is one thing, but it's been at least a day and she's still pretty much on the warpath... Well, at least AJ lampshaded it.
Well, at least she stopped laughing hysterically.
Geeze, no wonder Dash is so reserved about this whole issue.
Hah!
That's what you get for being so boneheaded, Shiny, aggressively ignored. That said, I really appreciate that he both recognized his errors and owned up to them quite rapidly.
"Oh boy a new chapter!"
-Johnny Bravo
6470516 Obviously you haven't horsed around enough.
I'm really liking Shining's characterisation so far.
Twilight Sparkle is fucking metal as fuck.
I'm glad you're not trying to mesh-adapt your story with Friendship Games; this story's developed waaay too far for that to happen without it being messy.
6470398
And imagine if all of the spiders in said ocean had baby spiders inside them that swarm-flooded out when you crushed them by "landing" in them. Ain't that fun?
6470425
I'd like to point out that my high school is different but similarly terrible. The students and teachers both agreed that the rule (among others) was dumb, but nobody higher up seems to care, so it never really changed. The rule boiled down to that if you got into a fight (as in to say, if you weren't the one initiating it) then you got at least equal if not higher punishment than the one who initiated it, because if you were the victim apparently you were the one inciting the situation in the first place. You'd get a higher punishment than the one initiating the fight if you attempted self defense, because apparently you gotta "be the bigger man" and just accept the beating.
6471853
Well, I'd like to point out that most elementary school fighting is dealt with in a similar manner to the rule I described just now... It's not really very contrived at all because there are plenty of real-life stories just like it. Getting the story across to the parents might not matter depending on the parents, and even if it does, it doesn't matter too much unless the parent has some leverage over the teacher. There are plenty of bullies whose parents think their children are angels, and if it's one parent saying their child is innocent compared to three parents saying their children are innocent, who's going to win? And also, unfortunately, teachers (and adults in general) tend to dismiss childrens' behaviors and such. That works great when it's legitimately nothing of concern, but when it comes to problems like these, the brushing-off still happens and everything goes terribly. And in a similar situation to the parents, you have three crying children versus one crying child. Who are you going to believe? If you're the teacher, even if you believe that the singular child might be the one telling the truth, do you really want three to six parents up in arms and at your throat and reporting your "failures" to the higher-ups because their super innocent children came crying to them?
Sorry if that was long-winded and excessive, it's just that the tone of your comment really struck a nerve with me...
Well, at least Twilight is seriously considering, rather than glossing over, the ramifications of Sunset existing and trying to be friends with her.
6471853
No, I agree. It's not that I haven't seen bullies do worse, but when someone draws blood it usually gets adult attention. If they've been bullying Sunset for a long time and getting away with it, I'd expect them to be craftier.
But , like you said, it's a relatively minor thing.
Are the pictures supposed to depict the exact scene that is occurring? Because if that's so, I'm not so sure that a teacher would give detention to Twilight if she had scrapped and bleeding knees, along with a bloody nose and obvious signs of an altercation.
Now, taking Sunset in as the accused aggressor would be a realistic thing, but that then changes the whole story from that point. In a way, at least.
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I was going to throw this in the author's note and forgot, but no. The pictures represent the artists interpretation of a scene based off of my description, and thus might not accurately reflect the exact details of every scene. This one in particular was a little more rough on Twilight than I intended, but I wasn't going to haggle with the artist over the details.
I suppose you could also make the argument that Twilight has a biased perspective and is remembering things as being far worse than they really were.
6473535 Sorry. I'll admit that even in the best of circumstances ( discounting an adult having seen it from the beginning) it comes down to conflicting testimonies. What can I say, though, the scene struck a nerve with me.
I hope you're going somwwhere with little Twilight's diary. I find the events in the present day much more interesting in comparison.
Nice to see the meeting ended in such a positive note and how you showed Rainbow having some street smarts.
The mention of rules of outsiders there made me realize how funny is the thought Pony Twilight won a official popularity contest in CHS without being a student there.
The key of humor is timing, or so I've heard. I love the little serendipity with Spike's little "gift" and I can see Twilight laughing at that.
I'm a bit disappinted not to see Twilight's reaction at having everybody at CHS recognize her.
The mention of Cadance and Shining Armor's support (which I love, by the way) makes me want have Shining accompanying Twilight the moment she inevitably goes to Equestria.
... well inevitable for me. When Twilight learn there's a portal in school campus which can be opened on request and leads to her pony counterpart's home I imagine she'll make everything in her power to go there: there's magic and a whole alien cultire on the other siude of the portal after all.
The only point I'm concerned and even a bit worried about are the story tags: while I'm not much of a shipper I can accept the Romance if it comes well and I think I can see where you're coming from. The Sex tag however, I'm not sure what to make of it. (Just saying; I'mnot actually expecting an answer to this one, as any good answer would need to have spoilers)
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That's a relief. It still sucks that they got away with it, but now it sucks in a much more realistic fashion, so... uh... why was I happy about this again...?
Back to high school we go. Still loving this story.
Sign me up for that!!!!!
Now you're making it challenging.
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i need a way to somehow post my art for this fic
i've only drawn something for the prologue so far, but I will eventually draw more
and attempt to post itbut yay a new chapter! can't wait for the next one!
6476122 Deviantart, or barring that, just uploading something to imgur tends to be the easiest options for art posting.
If you don't feel comfortable releasing it to the public, feel free to PM me.
I only wish I read this story the first time I saw it. It's too good to pass up!