The normal life of Nitpick Bittersweet

by Ryusun

Chapter 26- A talk between old friends.

The mood in the sports field was terrible today. Several pairs of eyes gave me glimpses from time to time and I felt really oppressed right now. No doubt the issue I had with Rainbow a few days ago was prevalent still in some of my classmates' minds. I hated it! I hated to be in this place. The only one who resembled a human being with some degree of empathy was Twilight, who was horribly panting on the floor... Again.

“I ‘pant’ feel ‘pant’ sick!”

“GET UP, SPARKLE! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!” ‘Captain’ Spitfire said in a scolding tone.

That fucker...

“Come on, Twilight! You can do it! Don’t be a wimp!” Said Rainbow Dash with a mixed tone of scolding and encouragement.

Both of those jerks are asking too much from her. I know by now that Twilight is not the athletic type, and that won’t change if you keep pushing her hard like this. She did her best to get up from the floor, but to not avail. I admired her dedication. She always persevered in whatever she focused on since I met her in the academy. She glimpsed at me, locking her sight to my direction.

Should I help her?

“HEY! SOARIN! KEEP RUNNING! I won’t be nice to you even if you just recovered for your injury! Move it!”

Both of them went ahead with the others, giving me a change of helping my little Scientist… Wait.

“You are really bad at this, Twilight.” I told her sarcastically.

“Not the first time I heard that. Thanks for helping me again.” Said Twilight with a tone of relief.

“Just a bit more and everything will be over for today.”

“ALL RIGHT! CLASS IS OVER! YOU KNOW THE DRILL, SO GET GOING!”

The students who weren't part of the soccer team started to leave, and I noticed that a taxi parked near the parking lot of the school fields. It must be Twilight’s driver.

“Could you kindly help me in getting to the car?”

I nodded and brought our belongings with us. As we arrived to the car, she just waved her hand, marking a farewell for today. As for me, I went straight home. Today I would finally hang out with Dancer and Lightbulb to the local plaza at three pm. Although this was a special event, I decided to not take my tac-shirt with me and grab a common one.

I need to get off earlier since my parents had deposited me in a special account my monthly income to pay the bills of the house. Once I took a bath and put some decent clothes, I went straight to the bank to withdraw the money.

I took out my pocket notebook and tickets from my shirt's pocket to make accounts to see how much I would end up paying this month; $294.56 for the water service, $97.03 for the electric service, $18 for the gas service since I don’t use it that much, $100 for phone and the ‘Internet Maximum’ service for my gaming needs, giving a grand total of $509.59 of debts. That leaves me with $990.41 bucks to expend in groceries and other services I needed when necessary on this month and the first days of October. My parents were generous with my economy, I made some calculations and I just needed $720 to survive since I don’t pay rent, emergencies included.

It took an hour and half to make all my payments. It’s a pain to wait in the line, especially when old people tend to complain about a service which clearly was marked in the contracts. BUT OH NO! They needed to bitch long enough until one of the parties involved submitted to the other's argument. I must calm down! I am somewhat frustrated still from recent the events with those girls.

Finally paying all of my house debts, I quickly got back to my house and safeguarded most of the money in my safe box. If I can save money at the rate I was doing it, I will definitely have a good December and enough funds for some presents. But today I will not be stingy, and thankfully, Ponyville had cheap prices in its entertainment department.

Now, I only needed to wait. And nope, they arrived just in time like always.

“Beasty!” Said dancer while hugging me.

“Hey, Dancer.”

“Bro.”

“Lightbulb.”

A bro-fist was soon followed.

“Okay, eat pizza, a movie and go home, okay?”

“Yep, Dancer. That’s the plan.”

We went to the ‘Rancheritos Pizza Express’ local and ate a big sized pizza, one half was vegetarian and the other half was meats, wonderful and tasty meats. We talked for a bit while at it and everything was going really fine, but I can’t say it’s the same as before. Somehow it feels… a little empty. It not that I wasn't enjoying the company, I truly am enjoying it. But something seems off since the Sunset incident. No. It was since the first day we met again.

The cinema was next and Lightbulb quickly went to the bathroom, leaving me with Dancer alone.

“So, how are you faring in being the new hated guy on school?”

“I’ll survive, don’t worry.”

“I know you will. You aren't the type to take things personally for too long.”

“I know you can do the same.”

Silence… this doesn't feel right. Please give me a straight answer like you always did back then!

“I guess so… Anyway, which movie we will see?”

“’'Solid Romance’ and ‘Rising Moon’ are out of the question.”

“Hush!”

We ended up watching ‘Rising Moon’. What a terrible movie! If this is what it meant to have a girlfriend, I didn't want one anytime on the near future. As soon as the movie ended, it was time to go our separate ways to our homes.

“It was fun in the end.” I said positively.

“Next time, we will do crazy shopping in the plaza, okay, Beasty!?”

“Yep.”

“Alright Bro, it is time to go home and-“

His phone was ringing. He excused himself for a moment.

“Aha… ok… I’ll go and get them at the supermarket. See you later, mom.”

“Does your mother need something, Bulby?”

“Yes, I am sorry Choco, but I can't go home yet.”

“It’s okay. The sun is still out and the bus circuit is in service. I can go safely to my home on my own.”

“Do you want company in the way home, Dancer?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I need to go quickly now since my parents and I will go to a wedding at night.”

“Alright, we’ll see you again in school.”

“Here comes the bus. Text me both of you when you get home, okay?”

And she took the bus and went her way home.

“See you later, Lightbulb, I-“

“No, wait! We need to talk. As friends, just you and I!”

Don’t tell me…

“Don’t tell me that phone call was just a ruse to avoid going with her?”

“Guilty as charged. Come! Let’s talk in a place where people of our age can enjoy at the fullest!”

“The arcades?”

“Playing Titaniun Slug and eating a lot of trash food!”

“You are on!”

We got to the arcades and ordered lots of nachos. I didn't like soda so I bought juice instead. This place hasn't changed much since the last time I came here a few years ago. Only that the arcade screens were upgraded to acceptable levels for this modern age. We started our run on the game and spent the first two missions playing in silence.

When mission three started, though…

“Is it me, or the sprite graphics aren't suited for big screens? I haven’t played this one for a while.”

“I think they just made some tweak to the machines and up-scaled the resolution with these new screens, Lightbulb. Obviously the graphics will take a toll for it.”

“They just look a little out of place.”

“It’s better than those little boxes we used to play with a few years ago.”

“At least the resolution was more appropriate for these kind of games. I wasn't distracted on how big the pixels are in reality.”

“You can appreciate the hard work that was put into these beauties!”

“Beauties? They look like shit! I can see and even count the framerate if I took a closer look to the screen!”

“And you say that I am the one who bitches about everything! You fucking moron! It looks fine like this!”

“At least I have the fortune to not being a fucking pain in the ass when it comes to worthless things! Half the school hates you already for the problem you had with Rainbow!”

“Worthless things!? You aren’t the one being persecuted by a school of mostly friend-worshipping assholes! What do you think my patience's threshold is made off? Fucking tempered iron!?”

“At least you could try to be less of an ass and take the pressure like a man for once!”

“Less of an ass and more like a man!? Wise words for someone who is constantly henpecked for the stupidest of reasons in chat with his girl!”

“DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE!?”

“BRING IT ON!”

A silent moment appeared as we met eye to eye. It was tense, it was weird, and it was so fucking hilarious! We started to laugh our asses right away!

“Yes! This is it! This is the right feeling! Speaking the shit out of your mind without ending in a stupid and worthless squabble!”

“I know, right! I missed this kind of burst of rages, Bro! Nobody in school has the willpower to take anger burst without feeling offended and pissed off in the end”

“Do you want to talk while playing?”

“Sure! I still have the touch in multitasking!”

“Well, now that we are alone, can you give me an accurate and unbiased explanation on what the hell is going on in our school?”

“This will be a long tale so I’ll try to short it up. Well, as you know, Choco and I were in the last year of middle school in CHS. Around the last days of August there was the event called ‘Fall Formal’ which is a contest to see who was the best girl of the school. All the girls could participate but only Dancer registered for some reason. Her only competition was Sunset Shimmer!”

“Only Sunset Shimmer?”

“Yes! We didn’t know back then but you must know the reason why we told you to stay away from her: She was the unofficial ruler of the school! A total bitch to be exact! Not even the school committee from back then could raise a finger against her or they would end up receiving a horrible humiliation a few days later! But it was too late for my girl; she was made fun off by her!”

“That explains why Dancer is so defensive at every turn with her…”

“It wasn't only to her. Most of the school received the same treatment. I, like any reasonable human being would do in that situation, just stepped aside and let the thing take its course. It was hard to protect Dancer without you, to be honest… we needed you.”

“I'm sorry…”

“I know that if you were with us back then, you could have put Sunset in her place. If you could make a teacher sign her resignation from the school board, then Sunset would have been easy for you.”

“You know that I didn't do that for a selfish reason… Mrs. Flowershine needed to resign. She was too old for the job, her health was decaying at a fast rate and she deserved her retirement one-hundred percent. Besides, it took me the help of most of the school to make it possible. At the end, she had a big cake and tons of presents from everyone, remember? I won’t forget her tears of happiness...”

“Yes, that teacher was the best… I hope she is enjoying what is left of her life in peace. Even so, maybe things would have been different if you had been there with us at CHS.”

“What made her change, then? She doesn't seem to be the bitch type anymore. I mean, my Sixth Sense doesn't tingle when I am near her.”

“You still have that sense of yours? Cool. It has saved your ass many times before. And answering your question, remember the distant relative of Twilight Sparkle I mentioned before? Well, she crushed her in the Fall Formal of the last year! Choco wished to have been there to see that! Several students and I didn't assist because we assumed that Sunset would win again for the fourth time in a row.”

“I bet there was a cat fight that day.”

“Some of my aquaintances said that there was going to be one but there was a sudden pipe explosion that day and ended up destroying the front door of the school.”

“Ah, I remember reading about that explosion when I was in Philidelphia with my family. I didnt pay attention to it because it was mentioned that there weren't any causalities to worry about. Did they ever discover who the culprit was?”

“No. Principal Celestia and the authorities never found a track to begin an appropriate investigation. It was a mess, but at least we didn’t have classes the first two weeks of August like the gods demanded!”

“The first two weeks of August? But classes in the entire nation starts the Monday of the third week of that month, did you have summer school at the time?”

“No, apparently, someone pulled some strings underwater so classes for CHS started at July 21 of the last year! The students were pissed by the news and something tells me that Sunset was the one behind this.”

“What makes you say that? No normal student possess that much authority or power to make that shit possible!”

“Don't underestimate a babe because she has a pretty face!”

“And those curves, that svelte figure, that...ufff. Forgive me. Then what happened?”

“Twilight’s distant relative, who happens to be named Twilight too, simple banished. She came again during the ‘Battle of the Bands’ event in the final week of classes in December and banished again soon after. I saw her for a moment, but to be honest, I don’t remember why I was in the concert in the first place. It was really weird, even Choco doesn't know how we ended up there.”

“Memory loss?”

“Maybe. It was weird, even the weather was weird during those days.”

“Last year was a weird year in Ponyville, indeed. The weather suddenly became spring for no reason just for a few days instead of being the last days of autumn.”

“There is only one explanation to that: Global Warming! It does weird shit to the world!”

“Uh, right! Go back to Sunset.”

“After being defeated, she just became a pushover. Most of the students simply ignored her while others just gave her the looks. She gained the students favor after the band battle but then the Anon-A-miss incident came and nearly ruined her again. Three girls that call themselves ‘The Cutie Crusaders’ or something were the culprits but Sunset received the full blow and was mercilessly attacked for a time.“

“Karma at its finest.”

“Yeah…”

“I see that you no longer hate her.”

“As a matter of fact, no, I don’t hate her anymore. I knew she wasn’t the culprit but I just didn’t care. No, to be honest, I don’t give a fuck about Sunset and most of the school. But Choco does and I must support her as best as I can, but she simple won’t tell me what really happened in the ‘Fall Formal’. Sunset genuinely apologized to her later but she didn’t forgive her. I know, I just know that something else happened besides the brief humiliation she had. She is been reclusive in speaking her mind since that day.”

“I knew that something was wrong when I interacted with her! I could hear my own thoughts instead of speaking my mind with her!”

“Please don’t hate her for this.”

“Now you are truly saying nonsensical bullshit.”

“Thanks for that.”

“Anything else that may be worth mentioning, Brother?”

“No, Bro. I could tell you of the ‘Friendship Games’ event but it wasn't mandatory to stay for the ones who weren’t participants so we left during the final event.”

“So much for school spirit that the students enforce.”

“To be honest, few students don’t give a crap about the school spirit. That place has become too friendly for my liking! I don’t hate people, I have made some good acquaintances in the recent years but I miss the days when I could be with my girl without somebody putting its nose in something that is not of its business.”

“I understand perfectly what you mean.”

“Now let’s talk about what the hell happened with Rainbow! School practices suddenly became more painful than before since your expected point of view was known to the public!”

“Do you hate the sport class like I do?”

“I despise every single, fucking moment of it! Some students are totally tired of the soccer team’s meddlesome training! But we are afraid of Spitfire and most of the school loves Rainbow Dash, so we are fucked.”

“There isn’t much to say really, she came and told me that I was a bad friend, a bad team member and I just called her a bitch for that.”

“I don’t know what could have possibly angered her.”

“Spare me your cynicism, Lightbulb.”

“Just saying, just saying! Then what happened? Rumors says that Applejack came to you afterwards.”

“Well, she was really civilized. We debated peacefully about our points of view after I made Pinkamena cry and-“

“You made Pinkie Pie cry?”

“I called her a fucker and told her to go and die for being stupid after she played me an annoying ‘buzzer hand’ prank!”

“Tell me how in the world you are still alive, exactly?”

“Hey, I know I was wrong in how I treated her but you must at least understand that her joke was uncalled for.”

“Well, Pinkie doesn’t know when to stop in her burst of laughter and jokes. But believe me, Bro, believe me for real when I tell you that she has the best of intentions.”

“The best of intentions tend to lead to disastrous results when you don’t think well of your actions. Just like yesterday when Fluttershy slapped me and-“

‘PUMP’

“Why did you turn off the arcade? We were starting the final mission!”

“NITPICK! Did Fluttershy actually slapped you!?”

“Yes.”

“The Fluttershy slapped you?”

“Yes!”

“The one with the pink and silky hair, emerald-like eyes and who has a sweet, little voice?”

“YES!”

“This is bad comedy at its finest! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Laugh it up, Brother.”

“OOOH-ohohoho! Burn! Hahahahaha Forgive me! Pffff haaaaahahaha! It’s just... wait, wait… ufff... ah... I’m fine now.”

“I tried to kill a rat from the suburbs during yesterday’s event and she slapped me for that.”

“Bro, she loves animals. Tread carefully with Fluttershy in that particular subject. She is nice and sweet, she is practically kindness at its finest! I didn’t truly know if she was capable of anger. Perhaps you are the first person that has been really close to discover her limits of patience. Choco likes her a lot, so I am glad she left and didn't hear this.”

“I still can’t believe that you invented an excuse to make Dancer go home by herself.”

“I needed to talk to you and see if I was imagining things. I could see how you were dwelling in your thoughts since day one.”

“Same here, but I just noticed something.”

“None of us have reflected in our minds seriously since we started talking for real.”

“Exactly.”

We exchanged a brief chuckle and a bro fist!

“You mentioned you made friends in Cristal Prep. Interesting fellows, I presume.”

“Oh, you will love them! They are bastards in their own right. Obviously all of them have their unique antics and such but I hope I can introduce them to both of you.”

“Sounds nice but if they are badmouthed like us, uhm, what I mean is...You know that Choco-“

“Dancer needs to wake up to reality and accept that you cannot be restricted to the way you want to express yourself. Believe me! None of them will back down in their ways of thinking and if Dancer wants to meet them, then she must accept that fact. Just like the soccer team will eventually notice when the students start to hate them if things keep going on like this!”

“I hope you are right, I hope you do!”

“How we ended up like this?”

“I just know that Sunset was the storm that provoked all this. We don’t even know from where she is. The only people that must know the truth are the rest of the ‘Idol Six’ and probably Twilight too.”

“Mmm…Twilight.”

“For what I saw that day during the gossip incident, she is very fond of you.”

“She is better off without me. Well, you know.”

“Yes, sometimes the cruelest rejection is the best kindness in the end. For her to be the friend of the guy who is hated by her friends would be a bad idea. But I don’t think this is the case. You should befriend her, I don’t know but, she has this weird aura with you and those girls. Dancer says that I am crazy but I know that Twilight is different.”

“I felt the same way. And I think those girls have noticed it too.”

“Anyway, if for some reason you ever start to date her, I will support you, one-hundred percent!”

“Thanks, I doubt that will happen, but thanks. You know that I prefer the bossy type!”

“Sunset is out of your reach, forget about her. Please listen to me, don’t be an idiot. Use your head for once in this kind of matters. Your stupidity in love is beyond inspiring. You always screw up when dealing with the girls you like. I don’t want to see you being rejected again; I still remember how Bookfull Sporty nearly crushed you the last time.”

“Shh! Shut it! I didn’t break in the end. You’ll see!”

“Anyway, you want to play again and beat our old record?”

“Bring it!”

‘PUMP’

“You motherfucker! This shit had a pause feature all along!?”

“I come here from time to time and think about life. I discovered this function a few months ago during a rage burst. Now, let’s continue our game and next we will play ‘Furious racer’. This can make you relax because I can see you are still stressed for all that recent shit you experienced.”

“Pfff I am fine now, I don’t think I can get angered anymore as long as I have both of you in school.”

“Don’t jeopardize yourself now. Just concentrate on the score!”

And so we did. To say that we have a blast was an understatement.

Author's Note:

Chapter rewrote on 31/08/2016

Fanart updated on 12/10/2016. I hope the updated drawing is more pleasing to the eye.