The normal life of Nitpick Bittersweet

by Ryusun

Chapter 101 - Because the little voice awakened me.

There were many things that a road surrounded by tall and thick trees could do to affect someone’s persona. One of those things were the drop in temperature in an emotional level. Nothing but absence of light was what Twilight Sparkle tasted in that small moment of her life. But she kept moving, for the west she wished to walk. To the west she wished to travel. To the west she must go. There was a grove that the townsfolk told her about many times during short, sporadic and good mannered conversations in the local café near the school. That it was so beautiful and peaceful that anyone who rested in it would have his fears removed from his inner anguish. In that place, nor light or darkness triumphed over the other.

It was the closest thing to a greyish paradise.

After a few minutes of walking after parting ways with Nitpick, her new friend, Twilight finally reached the grove she wanted to visit for a while. Its beauty was exactly as the townsfolk described; A simple and comfy marvel of nature. There she found a lonely girl sitting on a rock. Twilight realized that she was meditating and had a very balanced face. Not too angry but not too happy. Not too shady and not too trusty. When she got near her, the strange girl opened her eyes, a wide grin forming on her face. She introduced herself as the girl called Bon Bon.

“Now, a question, if I may. What brings you here, lost one?”

“They say this place could remove my anguish, is it true?”

“No such a miracle exist in the world, true peace can only come from self-acceptance. There are no shortcuts in the way of life. In the way of happiness and despair there is only the dessert of battle.”

“Do you know about happiness?”

“Only the meaning I acknowledge for myself.”

“Do you know about despair?”

“Only the stupidity I create for myself.”

“Can you give me a normal explanation? I’m not fond of cookie fortune wording.”

“My happiness is formless, for I create it at every turn I command. My despair is formless, for I construct it with my own volition. My love for my beloveds makes me act in selfishness, my own selfishness to preserve them and bring them joy gives me a reason to become happy. Their love is my love, their rage is my rage. But, I don’t wish to share my fallings. My love is not their love, and my rage will never be their rage, for I will not allow it.”

“That’s a little selfish, true friends share ups and downs and help each other to grow stronger.”

“Of course. But it’s the way I have chosen to live. May I find a quicker end to my heart, mind, and soul? Probably. But, life is too short to stay idle and not struggling and desiring to find the truth.”

“What is the meaning of truth?”

“Everything has a purpose. Everything has a varying degree of morality. What is grey for you, it will be black or white for others. But remember, do the right thing when you can and don’t hurt anybody! If the circumstances aren’t favorable, then do the less harm you can manage to do! Always think of everybody’s happiness!”

“That’s the very definition of a martyr in my books.”

“Yes, but my happiness should end if it affect others… There may be exceptions, of course. Sometimes, certain people are filth disguised as human beings. Such creatures must be eliminated, one way or another. For I am overprotective, for I am another embodiment of thousands selfish aspects, and for I am vengeful. And I will take my sweet time preparing my strike and rogue justice.”

“…I’m scared of you. I don’t know why, but I feel vengeful intents coming from your breath.”

“My, my. You shouldn’t be scared of me. To tell you the truth, I’m more scared of you and the demon that rests in your shadow… right behind you.”

The Scientist swiftly looked back and saw nothing but an empty road. As she looked back to Bon Bon, she wasn’t there anymore. She suddenly disappeared, like if she had traveled into another realm.

Twilight felt lost, and she decided to go back, and walked to where she came from. She traveled through the road she used to get to the grove. Her new destination; home.

“But it’s that really our home?” An obscure melody whispered on her ear.

“Ponyville is the only home I know. I must go back.”

“Don’t you feel tired?”

“Tired? No… I… Wait! Who are you!? Show yourself!”

“I can’t appear before you… yet. Not strong enough. Only illusions and whispers is all I can show you.”

“I must be crazy. These voices I am hearing are just my imagination!” Twilight rubbed her head and closed her eyes. “My imagination only.”

Then, after a few minutes, the voices disappeared and she continued walking through the road. But she stopped suddenly. There was a big puddle on her feet that grabbed her curiosity. That wasn’t there before, and Twilight looked at it with great curiosity. In the body of water, there was a reflection of her.

The Scientist felt weak, afraid… lonely.

“Do you feel tired now?” The reflection spoke to her.

“Just a bit…”

“Do you feel afraid?”

“Of what?”

“Of being a loser forever?”

“I am not a… Yes… I am afraid.”

“Are you tired of being lonely?”

“Yes.”

“I can help you get what you want! What you deserve!” The reflection became darker.

“How?”

“The power, it’s still sleeping deep inside of you! The purifying Magic of the Elements didn’t remove it completely! She didn’t destroy me!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot. This realm is of MY creation, and you sadly forget about it in the dream and the living world. But don’t worry, just trust in me, for I am you, and you, my dear me, we are one and same Twilight Sparkle. A Midnight that must be unleashed!”

“This… this is weird! I’m talking with my own reflection!” She released a small laugh with a shade of madness. “I must go home” She stood up and ran away from there. “Yes! I need to rest!”

“Give me one day! One single day, Twilight! And I will make everything good for us! Princess Twilight is holding us back! You know what I say is true!”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!” Twilight ran faster, afraid, trying to hide her head with her arms.

“Princess Twilight-!”

“WHO IS PRINCESS TWILIGHT!?”

The Scientist clashed with a sturdy object. It was a mirror in the middle of nowhere. There, she saw another reflection of her. She wasn’t wearing her now filthy clothing and her skin and hair weren’t muddy and filled with sweat, instead, she sported a new set of juvenile fashion. It was wilder for the likes of her, bold, even. And somehow, Twilight felt it familiar, and she liked it… a lot.

“Do you like what you see?”

The Scientist’s breath was taken away, eyes enchanted. “Yes!”

“This is us, Twilight! The real us! You must embrace it in the world of the awaken! One day. I’m strong enough to give you one day of true achievements! Still too weak to manifest our power at full, even after all this time recovering and hiding. Just can unleash our true might in very short lapses of time. Just can show our force when rage reign supreme within us!”

“Our true power…”

An image of an fiery red headed angel appeared in the reflection. She was like a goddess of victory who Twilight felt that she wished to meet.

“This holy unicorn locked me really tight. I still feel the burn of positive energy in my blood and bones. Can you feel it too? But… with more stimulation we can get out, as we are far more powerful than her shackles! Grant us release and let’s have revenge on this one too!”

The mirror changed its reflection to someone else. It was Twilight, but not really. That figure was brimming with a majestic light that could illuminate the darkest night. She was gorgeous, and had an air of royalty.

“This is Princess Twilight! Our doppelganger, our enemy!”

“Enemy…?”

“Yes. She is the reason why we are a second rate entity in the eyes of our admirers!”

“I-it can’t be! …I have admirers?”

“Of course you do! You simply haven’t noticed yet! The other one gave us everything, only to take it away from us! She took our friends away, as well as our achievements! The things that are rightfully ours from the world of the awaken shunned away by her intervention!! We must destroy her! But not her flesh and bone at all! Oh, no! To break the Princess’ spirit is to truly destroy her!”

“…But that doesn’t sound right!” The Scientist’s humanity surfaced with her words. “Even if she brings me misery, she doesn’t deserve to suffer. All people should be happy. I’ll find my own happiness with my own choice and power!”

“Don’t be a fool! Make her beg! She thinks she is so high and wise! Let US teach her a lesson she will never forget! Vengeance, Twilight! Grant us vengeance! …GRANT ME RELEASE!”

“No! I can’t do that!” She avoided the mirror and continued her path towards her home.

But she couldn’t continue sprinting for much longer. The earth trembled with fury. Her body felt treacherous as she couldn’t move at her own will. The star on the sky glimmered with a tint of black and its light blinded her relentlessly. She heard screams of despair from a voice familiar to her now.

She screamed violently trying to reach him, but she couldn’t move anymore. Something tightly restrained her. Black masses of darkness held her limbs and she abruptly fell to the floor while trying to break free. As she looked back to the source of the miasma, the evil entity in the mirror was looking at her clouded in shadow. Red eyes and a twisted smile was glaring at her from the reflection of the demonic artifact.

“MOMMY! DADDY!”

“Calm down, Twilight! Just embrace it!”

“NOOOOO! BROTHER! CADENCE!!”

“You will enjoy it! I know!”

“SPIKE, PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP! SPIKE! …NITPICK!! NITPIIIIICK!! SAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

…. ….
…. ….

“KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

“TWILIGHT!!!”

There was no time to think, no time to lose! Twilight’s parents bolted their way to their daughter’s room! His father desperately forced the lock and joined his baby’s side with his wife.

“We are here, Twilight! What’s wrong, honey!?”

The Scientist was trying to breath with all her might in a fetal position. Sweat colder than a snowing of winter, shivers as vivid as a car engine, Twilight felt heavy. “Nightmare… Shadows… I was so scared!!” And she cried.

She cried… like never before.

“Oh, my baby!” Twilight Velvet hugged her tightly. “I will do you some tea! I have a new pack of lemon balm that will do the trick! Bring her to the kitchen, love.”

“That I’ll do!” Night Light said. “So will Spike! Right, buddy!?”

The Loyal Assistant barked in affirmation.

…. ….

At the kitchen, Mrs. Sparkle poured in a cup of coffee a relaxing balm for her daughter. Twilight slowly took it, shivers still conscripting her fingers, and noticed on the kitchen’s clock that it was three in the morning.

“I’m sorry… you have to work in a few hours.”

“It’s okay, honey. Just drink it and relax. Your dad and I will do as well.”

The family took their sweet time drinking the soothing lemon balm, sleepiness slowly coming back to them.

“So…” Mr. Sparkle rubbed her head. “How have you been in school? It’s been a while since you have told us anything regarding your competition with Crystal Prep.”

“Oh, great! Everything is nice there… All too nice.”

“It’s something wrong, my child?” Her mother asked very appeasing.

“…It’s… It’s just that I sometimes feel… that I don’t contribute to anything. And the things I do… they are pointless. I just do janitor work and read night stories for a kid in the orphanage or the nursing home.”

“But baby, that is great! Good deeds like those just few can do!”

“Really, Dad?”

“Yes! When I was a kid, I could barely do my laundry and such! And back then, I didn’t have the genius to create…” His father took a peculiar item from his pocket. “A solar lamp with rechargeable batteries straight from the power of the sun!”

Twilight made a small grin at him. “I can’t believe you still use that.”

“If it isn’t broken and it is functional, why stop using it?”

“I’ll make you a new one… a better one.”

“You see, baby? You can do many things if you want to. You just need the right motivation to do so. To be honest, you have done a lot of good things since you enrolled in CHS. You have done more exercise, you have seen more of the world that isn’t the basement!” Twilight blushed in embarrassment at her mother’s remarks. “And most importantly, you have made a lot of friends who love you for who you are.”

“I’m not sure about that… I’m not sure.”

“Perhaps the nightmare you had is about that. Is there something you want to tell to mommy and daddy?”

“…I just don’t know who I am sometimes, Mom.”

“You are in that age, Twilight. Your father and I had those kind of problems back in the day as students!”

“We once joined a hippy caravan for three weeks!”

“No way!”

“Indeed, sweetie! Ah, those were the days… it wasn’t a very nice experience in some areas.”

“Yeah… Uh… the bathrooms.” Mrs. Sparkle’s face flinched for a moment.

“What happened back then?” Twilight was curious.

“You see, when your mother and I were discovering our true calls during college, we tried a lot of things together during our summer breaks… Or what was left of them, you know, part time jobs.”

“We wanted to experience what was living in nature at its maximum expression and we joined this group of ambulant people for three weeks to Freshtop Town.”

“Oh, the town where we went camping last time!”

“That’s right, Twilight. We have good memories of the town and that wasn’t our last visit. Such good times… only the town.” Night Light expressed a bit suffocated in the last part.

“The group was lovely as human beings… But we just questioned a bit their hygiene habits. We didn’t stay on the town, but rather the forest.”

“We had to make our, you know, boo-boos, behind a tree.”

“YEUGH!” Twilight expressed while Spike whinnied.

“But it was a good experience… in a way. We love nature and enjoy a good camping weekend once in a while but we, uh, discovered that civilization and work had more meaning to us.”

“And you are just discovering who you are. As long as you feel right, and it isn’t anything extreme like joining street gangs or shaving your head like a-!”

“Night Light, don’t give her the wrong ideas!”

“Sorry!”

“In any case, as long as you feel comfortable, try to experiment a bit with your habits. You are still in high school, enjoy your youth as much as you can!”

“…Thank you for the talk, Mom! Thanks, Dad! I feel a bit better now!”

“I’m glad you are ok now. As long as we live, Mommy and Daddy will always be here for you. Go on, now. Let’s have some sleep while we still can!”

“Yeah. Come on, Spike!”

“Wufff!”

…. ….

“Are you sure you are okay now?” The Faithful Assistant mumbled on his bed.

“I’m fine, Spike. Don’t worry.”

“How I could not worry? You have been sick lately. Maybe we should go visit a doctor.”

“If Mommy says so, I will. But she didn’t mention anything so I guess I’m just pressured, that’s all.”

“…Talk to me if you need anything.”

“Of course I will, my Number One Assistant.”

It didn’t take too long for Spike to fell asleep again. As for Twilight, the stars above her were shinning mysteriously with an enchanting light. She couldn’t sleep again, and her focus now was those astral objects that in theory had died millions of years ago. It was scientifically romantic for her, a star’s last will to shine forever sent her last rays of hope across the Sea of Stars.

“It’s not fair.” She said quietly. “All beauty of the universe should last forever.”

She sat on her room’s chair and left Spike sleeping soundly on his bed. An unknown source of energy sparked mysteriously, making her mind work faster. She didn’t mind, though, as she felt that closing her eyes a while longer wouldn’t do her any good for the rest of day. Her fingers were tapping the desk rather anxiously, trying her best to not make echo and leave Spike napping until morning.

“What I can do to enjoy my youth?” The question repeated itself across the deepest recesses of her mind.

‘You can improve Nitpick and Sunset’s itinerary if you wish to.’ A voice echoed from deep within her.

“Hmm…”

The Scientist withdrew from her bag the check list she had created since the competition started. It was her personal agenda of all of the decisions that every team took to create the ultimate set up they could afford. Somehow, as Twilight reread the schematics and planning that her classmates and friends had devised, she grew weary, and very disapproving of what she was inspecting.

There were many things that she could improve.

Her hand began to print new ideas on an empty notebook, making new calculations and possible outcomes of what could happen to their expenses. Tragic seconds were the worst thing that could perturb the great advancements that CHS had, and she was trying to come up with an idea to make the tragedy from the last time an improbability for the future. Part of her was burning with anger at the idea of using the Repairing Spell again, so her main objective now is making such tricks a redundant power.

She needed to prove that her strength was something they could rely upon as well, and like the soar of an hurricane ravaging the powerless towns and farms, a rain of ideas dawned on her mind and her writing couldn’t have been faster and precise.

“Yes.” She mumbled strangely. “This will do.”

‘Of course it will do, you are the one devising this peerless master plan after all.’

In forty minutes she had finished her new planning for the school’s goals. But she needed support in the form a hand labor, and she wasn’t someone who could move masses like Sunset and Friends or Nitpick and Bon Bon.

“Bon Bon…!” Her arms resonated in triumph. “I’ll call Bon Bon! She will know what to do to aid me!” She swiftly dialed her phone, and the girls in question didn’t take long to pick up the call.

“Good morning, Twilight!” Her voice was pleasing. “I didn’t know you were an early hen as well.”

“Bon Bon, I have an idea and I want you to listen to me and help me.”

“Something tells me that you are gonna explain me something good.” She almost singed.

“Yes, listen closely.” And fifteen minutes later, “What do you think?”

“I’ll make the calls and I’ll see you in school later.”

“Thank you!”

“No! Thank you!” The call came to an end.

Twilight, excited and brimming with enthusiasm that her plan was set in motion, started preparing her school’s backpack and held her usual attire. Before she could withdrew it from her closet, something else came to her mind. She was tired of using the same weakly looking outfit that Rarity kindly made for her. She will never forget her generosity, but a certain feeling told her that it was time to change once it forever.

She took out her recently fixed lab jeans and a pair of sneakers that one of her Grandmas gifted her a while ago. Now she only needed the upper clothing and some socks. There was an old white t-shit that she now found appealing and she wore it with the rest of the items. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she thought that she looked simple, but nice.

‘But something is missing!’

“What could it be? …Perhaps a clock will do!” She wore her old purple clock and she grew self-approving of her. “A change of hair style, perhaps?” She made a side ponytail on her right and she liked how it looked like. “Hmph… A long shirt for the fresh weather could do the trick!” She put on her the long shirt that her brother gifted her last Christmas and she was excited to see that the puzzle was finished with flying colors.

Twilight… liked what she saw. Except for one thing.

The glasses, they didn’t fit with her new self. She couldn’t throw them away for they were useful for experiment purposes or long sessions of reading. But in public? No way! Not anymore! A click of idea made her travel to her drawer, a case that contained an elegant set of glasses called to her now. Cadence gifted them to her after she enrolled in CHS, but she didn’t want to wear them in fear of damaging them.

Now, they were the ultimate accessory that would complete her rebirth.

‘You look amazing!’

“I know.” Twilight said to herself, admiring every inch of her peculiar, simple, but self-appealing outfit.

Twilight… felt happy.

Author's Note:

It took a damn long time to even finish this chapter and the next! I had the worst writer's block I have ever experienced. At first I thought that I would be able to write something that would make the story keep going to the ending I have in store... but it proved to be too difficult.
Part of the problem is that I'm not faring well in my current job and it's getting harder to have a more stable contract, and add salt to the injury, I had a third superior wisdom tooth growing out of nowhere in my mouth and it had to be removed by surgery. But eventually you carry on and find a way to overcome some problems and I was able to finally write again. Surprisingly, drawing wasn't one thing I stopped doing. Still sucks but it's better now, I think.

Thank you so much for your patience and reading and all. Thanks!