Celestial Academy

by RhetCon

Chapter 5- Thanks

Author's Note:

You may notice that this chapter is really short compared to my other ones. I usually write about 5 pages in Google docs, but this one is only two. I'm experimenting with varying chapter lengths to make my stories better. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! ~Conjure

Incident 5-"Thanks"

After a harsh morning, I woke up to the evening light as it shone in through the window. This morning, quite haphazardly, I carried Twilight to our room and passed out on the floor next to her bed. Unlike this morning, my body was back to full strength and in the process of pushing the events of the night before to the furthest reaches of my mind.

Once awake, I proceeded to do what I normally did in the morning. Stretch, shower, and change clothes. I changed into a white patterned wool sweater and a pair of comfy, yet slightly baggy pair of black jeans.

After exiting the bathroom, I could see that Twilight was still unresponsive and Lyra was nowhere to be seen. I assumed that Lyra went to class and was probably being more disruptive than productive.

I walked over to Twilight, who was still unconscious and put my hand over her forehead. She didn’t seem to be ill, but her breath came shallow and she was sweating a lot. I pulled my hand away and forced myself to stop thinking negatively.

“I have to go talk to Fluttershy,” I said to myself. “I never did go see her that last night. She must’ve wondered why I hadn’t showed.” I walked out and closed the door silently behind me.

The walk to Fluttershy’s dorm was silent. And silence made me think. Out of all the people in this world she could talk to about animals, she wanted to talk with me. Maybe it was because I didn’t know too much about animals. I’d never held a conversation with someone as shy as her before, but I had to wonder if her behavior was purely her being shy, or her doing something else.

Arriving at her door, I tried to place those thoughts in the back of my mind. I didn’t need them polluting my head while talking to Fluttershy. I slowly knocked on the door and waited. As normal, there was a bit of noise behind the door before she reached the door.

“Hello?” she asked.

“It’s Aj,” I said putting my hand to my neck in embarrassment. “I wanted to apologize for last night. Being a no-show and all Twilight and I were hung up doing something important”

“Something important…” she repeated. “Was it really that important?”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “It was important, but why do you ask?” She opened the door slightly to pass a phone through it. I took the phone and was met with a large play button in the middle of the screen. After pressing it, a few voices came through.

“Yeah, Twilight, I’m really happy that you came with me,” said the voice, a near perfect imitation of mine. “Beats staying cooped up with that stiff Fluttershy.”

“Stiff is right,” said a good Twilight impersonator. “She’s always being so needy and always depends on others for things she wants. Just because she’s got breasts doesn’t mean she’s queen of the world!”

“Yeah, I almost fell into that trap.” I was crushing the phone in my hand, my palms turning white. “Hmph, almost.” The sound clip ended and the hallway was in total silence. I saw Fluttershy walk out of her dorm, her face stained with dry tears.

“Did you…Did you really say all that?”

“Of course not,” I said in anger. “But it’s gonna be hard to see it any other way, isn’t it? Who gave you this?” I could tell Fluttershy was scared at my anger.

“A-Arct said that he caught this one his phone while out walking,” she said backing up. “H-he sent it to me and said that you were a despicable person for saying it. I… I believe him.”

“In the face of grief, reason becomes null,” I said handing her back the phone and relaxing. “Now that he’s got you thinking this way, I know I won’t be able to pull you out of it. But I might as well try.”

“Try?” she asked. “Try what?” I swallowed all my emotions of embarrassment, pride, anger, fear and left myself with courage. I was going to say it, no matter what.

“I’m going to try to tell you what I wanted to tell you ever since I met you. Back in the human world, people like you are a rare one in a million. Never before have I seen someone with such a kind and gentle nature, or someone who’s so good to others, considerate, caring. I don’t know why you’re so shy. You have absolutely nothing to be insecure about. Not only do you have a good personality, you great friends that you know care about you and want the best for you, like Twilight and Lyra.” I needed to stay confident for my finale, or I’d mess the entire heartfelt situation up. “I wanted to tell you that I like you Fluttershy. And if you want to believe what’s in the sound clip, I can’t stop you, but I want to ask one question. Would someone who’s despicable say all of that to try to put a smile on your face?”

Even I was speechless after that speech. I poured all I’d ever felt for Fluttershy into one long confession, and I still expected her to say “yes, someone despicable would say that” and just break my heart. I took a long breath and waited for an answer.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get one. Fortunately, it was something much better.

It was small, almost unrecognizable, and quick, but I definitely felt the kiss she placed on my lips. Once it was done, I could see tears falling from her eyes once more and her face flush in red.

“Thanks,” was all she said before retreating back into her dorm room. If I could look in a mirror at that moment, I bet I would’ve never seen a dark skinned person look so pink.

“What a turnabout, don’t you think?” said Luna from behind me. As I turned, I realized she wasn’t alone. Standing adjacent to her was the Princess herself, a congratulatory smile on her face. Other than those two, Lyra was standing there, the biggest grin I’d ever seen on anyone face plastered on hers.

“I’d say,” said Princess Celestia. “I don’t normally meddle in the affairs of my students, but I have to admit Luna. This was interesting to see play out.”

“So you guys were just waiting for me to say all.. of that…” I said, realizing all I said had been heard. “Oh god, I really just said all that.”

“Yeah you did,” said Lyra. “In hindsight, don’t you think you should’ve looked around you before you made such an embarrassing confession?”

“It was in the back of my mind, okay?!” I said in extreme embarrassment. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Me and my sister we simply patrolling the halls when we saw Ms. Heartstrings. As we went to confront her, we saw a… peculiar event going on.” I put my hands to my face as if that’d hide what I’d done. “Although I suggested we intervene, Luna said we should wait and see what happened.”

“I need to sleep,” I said moving past them. “I need to think about what just happened… a lot.” I walked quickly towards the room, opened the door, and bumped into something. After falling to the ground, I rubbed my head and looked to see who I’d bumped into.

“Aj?” asked Twilight. She was wearing a purple striped dress shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She looked at me and then looked away. “H-hello.”

“So you’re finally up. What took you so long to rejoin reality?” I asked jokingly. Apparently Twilight didn’t find it very funny.

“I don’t know. The last thing I remember was being dragged out of the dark. After that… I can’t remember. I woke up here, so I guess everything is alright?”

“Everything is fine,” I said. getting up and dusting myself. “Cassandra moved on to the net life, and I carried you back to the dorms. I have to say, you’re comically heavier than you look.” I extended my hand, which she reluctantly took.

“T-thanks,” she said coming up to my level. “Thanks for everything.”

“You seem different,” I said with a raised brow. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I only have a small headache.” She grasped my hand. “Don’t worry about me. I’m more worried about you.”

“Why?” I asked. Her eyes flicked to the left for a second before returning to mine. “If it’s about the Halloween thing, it’s fine-”

“It’s not okay!” she yelled suddenly. I was taken aback by the force of her voice. “What about the thing about your mother? What about almost having your soul ripped from your body? You’re just going to push it all behind you?”

“Listen, Twilight,” I said pushing her inside and closing the door. “I will push it all behind me. If I stay stuck on the same thing through my entire life, how do I do anything but be angry and sad? The sooner you push these things away, the better.”

“No, that’s not true!” she yelled back. “You’re choosing the cowards way out. You have to face these demons because you can’t run away from them. The sooner you face these things the better.”

“I tried facing them,” I said quietly. “It’s not easy. I… I’m too scared to look them in the face. I don’t know where you got this idea that I’m strong, but I can’t do it-” A streaking pain came across my face. After I looked towards Twilight in confusion, she put her hands on my shoulders and brought her lips to my own. I was so confused that I didn’t have time to kiss back. Once she pulled away, her face plastered with pink, she grabbed me in a hug.

“Sometimes, I wonder,” she said. “No one who is willing to give themselves up for others can be called weak. What you did back there baffled me, it almost drove me insane thinking that you could’ve died for me. A single thank you or a thousand, nothing I said would be enough to tell you I’m grateful. So I let my actions speak for me.”

“I… Twilight.” I really didn’t want to tell her that Fluttershy had done the same thing not to long ago, but I’d watched enough movies to know that if I didn’t say anything now, someone would end up hurt. “Twilight, I just told Fluttershy that I liked her. I… I only know you as a friend. I’m sorry.” Twilight hugged harder before letting go. She looked at me with a smile.

“Then I’ll be the best friend I can be,” she said, opening the door and walking out. I stood there in silence for a while, pondering why my sacrifice made such an impact in her mind. Tired and confused, I placed my head on the floor and dozed off.