• Published 5th Oct 2015
  • 2,032 Views, 264 Comments

The normal life of Nitpick Bittersweet - Ryusun



Meet Nitpick Bittersweet, a painfully average guy who transfered to CHS in his second year of High School. There he will learn the values of life with other people and how to be someone more likable. This is his story.

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Chapter 49- A catalyst.

Twenty minutes before classes started I was already in CHS. Well, to be exact I was in the school fields terraces waiting for the purple genius to arrive. When I told her last night that I would help her in her quest, her screams of joy hammered my ears. She even called me before dawn to tell me to arrive earlier than usual to the school.

In the distance, a luxurious family car was approaching with great speed. It was the car of Twilight’s mom, and wow, she was pushing the pedal a little too hard. She parked at the parking lots of the school and Twilight got down the car, walking towards me until she finally joined my in the seats of the terraces.

“I hope I didn’t make you wait! I was preparing my lunch for school but suddenly I thought about you so I ended up making you seconds!” She withdrew a small toper from her second bag. “I hope you like low-fat bacon in your eggs!”

I didn’t need to open the container to know that it was going to be a delicious lunch. I can smell the pleasantries of bacon in there. The pack was a little heavy so there was a lot of food in there.

“You didn’t have to.” I said a little embarrassed.

“I just wanted to do it. Besides, today will be busy for us and you need the extra energy!”

It’s true. Today she and I will supervise the soccer team abilities to see how we would distribute them in teams. But in reality…

“Yes, Twilight… it will be busy!”

“What’s wrong, Nitty? You’re gloomy today”

Nitty again!?

“Nothing.”

I was just having a struggle with my conscious concerning you but nothing to worry about.

“I’m just sleepy, Twilight. In any case, tell me why did you want to meet here this early?” I asked her with a tired expression.

She gave me a strange gadget with a small screen in it. She explained to me that it can accurately measure the perimeter of the field so we can obtain exact time records through some babblings I didn’t understood to be honest. She said that she’ll explain it to me in detail later.

Damn it. I have been dragged to one of her crazy plans once again.

It is a little windy during mornings now that autumn has come with full strength so I did my chore as quickly as I could with her device. Once we were finished, we walked inside the school and some students were already walking through the corridors exchanging greeting and good wishes to their friends.

“We will do our part to improve the school, Nitty!” Suddenly said Twilight with confidence. “I’m sure of it! You and I will make the soccer team an even more united force!”

You and I… you and I… You… In a sense, whether I used her as a scapegoat or not, I would be still using Twilight to spy and later destroy the farce of teamwork in the school. Am I doing the right thing? Or I simply was following the wishes of others again? No! I'm doing the right thing! I'll give the students the power to speak their minds! I'm like a lonely hero of sorts and Twilight will be my unsung sidekick!

“Yes, Twilight!” I carefully rested my arm on her shoulders while we were still walking. “Together we’ll make the soccer team stronger than ever!”

“NOW THOSE ARE THE WORDS I WANTED TO HEAR, SCHOOLMATE!”

I could never confuse that voice no matter what. Raspy, cocky and annoying as hell, I turned my back around to see-

“…!”

It was Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkamena and Rarity walking together like if they were the rulers of the place with a new change of looks.

Rainbow Dash was using a vibrant red sports vest with her favorite insignia over a white T-shirt and she was wearing sport shoes with a blue sports pants. Pinkamena was using a formal, short-sleeved white T-shirt with a loosed tie and a pink skirt that matched it with some boots that were her usual blue but with party like feel to it.

Fluttershy looked like a girl of purity with her beautiful, long hair braided wearing a tiara and accessories that had the form of butterflies. She was wearing a pink-like shirt with a green camisole over it with small, pink dots in it, using a matching skirt to complete the set. Her pink socks and those strange, stripped shoes were fitting to her style.

Rarity... damn... those... that… as I was thinking! She was wearing a modern set of business like clothes. Her spencer coat and pants were of the same light magenta tone, highlighting her fair skin and white collared shirt. Her black shoes fitted her style.
So these are their new seasonal clothes. They halted in front of us and Rainbow Dash pointed my finger at me.

“Welcome to the team! You’re officially twenty percent cooler!”

Oh shit, did she really say that?

“Girls, you look fabulous!” Said Twilight with admiration.

“Ohohoho! Twilight, darling! It’s just our new seasonal attires! We only look amazing!” Said Rarity with a justified arrogance.

Your humility on the praises you received is inspiring.

“With the exception of Rainbow, all of you look too fancy for mah taste, yo!”

Applejack arrived with Sunset Shimmer at her side. Ironic for her to say that! Although she wasn’t wearing the long coat, she had her new attire with her… And was that the hat that I gave her during the fair? What happened to the old one?

“It doesn’t matter! What really matters is what our new Wondercolt in the making just said!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash while giving me a quick succession of pats on my back.

“What did he said!?” A sudden enthusiastic Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Nitpick agreed to help me in supervising the sport classes so we can organize with efficiency the groups!”
Sunset just gave me a cozy expression… but there was something that bothered me to no end. That smile of triumph.

“Oh, how wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that!” Said an over pleasantly Fluttershy.

“I never lost fate on you, darling!” Rarity lovely winked at me after saying that.

“You are one of us now, my new friend”

AAAAH!!!!! STOP CRUSHING ME WITH YOUR HUGS!!

“Pinkie Pie! Put him down!” Scolded Rarity to Pinkamena.

“Sorry! EEEEEEEEEE!”

…I hate you!

“Well, Sugarcube…” Applejack started to play with her fingers. “I’m glad you’re starting to feel at home with us! We should go to Sugarcube Corner in one of these days… together!”

Why is my sixth sense tingling in a subtle way? Why are you hiding part of your face behind your hat? You have recently been acting weird around me, Apple!

Thankfully the bell rang and everyone rushed to their classrooms. The girls chattered cheerfully on their way to the chemistry class with renewed energy about their school committee jobs. As for me, I took my time in my walk to the class. An arm was locked with mine all of the sudden, making me company on my trip to the classroom.

“I knew that you would see how nice things are around here.” Said Sunset with a comfortable voice. “But I didn’t think it would be this fast. I bet Twilight’s good spirit was the reason you changed your mind so quickly.”

“…You could say that”

She released me from her side and stood in front of me.

“I knew you would choose the right path in the end. You just needed to open your mind to the greater picture of things.”

Right path? Big picture? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?

“You only need to apologize to Pinkie and everything will be alright for you!” She took a deep breath with a peaceful face. “I can feel the inner change dwelling within you!”

I can feel the rage dwelling within me.

“I can sense the struggle between good and evil in your mind!”

I can sense the struggle between yelling or not at you in my mind.

“You will do a lot to better the school!”

I will do a lot to better the school… in my way.

The second bell marking the beginning of classes rang.

“We better get into the classroom now! Let’s see how well we faired in Chemistry!”

“Yeah…”

I’ll destroy that arrogance of yours even if the whole school ends up despising me!

I fared well in the test of Chemistry. All those times when Twilight opened her mouth during the lab experiments gave its fruits in the form of a ‘B minus’. I was pretty happy with it and the class felt a little lighter than usual. Lunch break eventually came and it was a little haven for me all of the sudden. The crispy bacon and the eggs cooked to the sweet spot was a great bliss to eat, combined with the fresh apple juice of today, it was a relaxing breakfast. Twilight and Spike were sharing my spot with me but I didn’t mind their company.

Thinking this thoroughly, this was the second time she brought me lunch.

She started to talk non-stop on her working methods and eventually we were discussing about her data sheets for the team’s organization. She withdrew her Monsterware laptop and it made me a little jealous because that’s a godlike gaming machine… who I’m kidding? I’M FUCKING JEALOUS!

I don’t know if this was way too overkill or that organizing a team was way too complicated. Records, stats and more were taken into account in a custom program that she made during her free time. Twilight was fired up in doing her best for the school. Seeing her face and motivation was touching.

It came upon us the hour of truth, a time for her to show her dedication to the school. The sport team was training the class of today once again. I could see Bon Bon, Lyra, Lightbulb and Dancer exercising with the rest of the students of this session. The middle school students just arrived to the training and I could see the Crusaders there.

By the Truth that rules all, the sport team was as bitchy as always. Shouts of passion, effort and complain were heard through the field and I could see the faces of hypocrisy that Bon Bon mentioned during dinner last night.

Even if it’s from the minority, I have never seen faces so resentful and impotent to the current situation. It’s not perceivable to the untrained eye but I have seen ton of shit during my time on the academy and those guys were really good at dissimulating when something really pissed them the hell off. Except Sour Sweet… that foul beast. On the other hand, the CHS students were more crystal clear than the Crystal Prep community in comparison.

Looking at my partner, I wondered if…

“Twilight, don’t you notice something strange with the students?”

“Something strange, you say…?” Asked Twilight while trying to notice the anomaly that I mentioned. After a moment of observation, she gave me her honest answer. “Not really, they look as hard-working as always. Do you see anything that I don’t?”

“Don’t you notice that some of the students look… unhappy?”

“Unhappy?” She looked again to see if what I was seeing was true to her eyes. “No. Perhaps it’s just the extra effort that Spitfire is exerting to them. Once we collect enough data, we’ll present it to her so adjustments can be made.”

“That sounds nice.”

But useless! I need to find something to give me a motivation to ignite a war.

Talking with Spitfire face to face was… exhilarating. Twilight was hiding behind my back while I was transmitting all her hypothesis from earlier to the ‘Captain’ of the soccer team. I could see that she disliked me but I’m not afraid of her. The fashionista had a scarier face when angry after all.

“So, you want to track time records to see who is fitter and who needs a slashing on the ground, huh? “

“Yes.”

“I’ll talk with the team so they assist you in your nonsense. If Dash believes you can help, then I’ll trust her judgment. But don’t screw things up with the teams moral. ARE WE CLEAR WITH WHAT I SAID, WIMPS?”

“Yes.” I lazily replied.

Douche.

“Of course, Spitfire! We’ll do our best for the Wondercolts’ soccer team!”

“I hope your brain is better at sports organization than in the actual field, egghead. Now get moving and stop wasting my time.”

Deep inside me… I wanted to crush her.

Some members of the team helped us in organizing the students. Taking notes in her sheets and checklists, Twilight was supervising the track record of each athlete in different activities like power sprints, push-ups and many more activities.

The guy called Soarin was the only one on the team who was helping me out with the equipment. I can see in his face that he is one of those likeable guys that happened to end up in a bad place for the likes of him. He also gave me a track of the previous field records from the last month and I gave it to Twilight so she could compare them with the new records.

She was given her best; taking notes, measurements and complex mathematics on her notebook that showed the current capabilities of the team. How she was able to research such things in a short light was always an amusement for me. But I could see why Spitfire would have skepticism about her methods. Twilight Sparkle was more a ‘by-the-book’ woman instead of a field tester in the training methods.

She was the ideal girl to tell the ‘Captain’ about her current progress… but I always did the talking instead. Not once she talked straightly to one of the sport members or the students. Always writing, always observing and always behind my back. Like a child under the shadow of her parent, like a bird taking refuge under the warm of the tree, Twilight Sparkle barely did eye-contact to the people.

Why?

Eventually this day ended and I couldn’t find anything of interest. Besides the usual harsh treatment of its members, the sports team was acting nicer than usual. Did Rainbow Dash talked with Spitfire to be less angry with everyone or perhaps the tension was finally getting off? Nevertheless the faces of discontent were there still. Even Bon Bon gave me a subtle glance telling me to hurry things up. But how could I hasten my steps if I don’t have anything solid to use against them?

On the next day, we repeated the same pattern from yesterday with the students of Wednesday. Flash and his friends were the only people that I recognized in there. Unexpectedly, the cool guy tried to talk with Twilight but she only excused herself and walked behind me. I see that she hasn’t talk to him about his unrequited feelings for her. Bah, I’ll just do my work.

“Twilight, please go with Spitfire and tell her that we need the records of this group.”

“Uh… I-I’m busy fixing this sudden bug in the database of the sport team.” Said Twilight while suddenly opening her laptop and typing quickly in it.
“’Sigh’ I’ll go then. Wait right here.”

“Come back as soon as you can.” Twilight smiled while saying this and she started to work.

My second talk with Spitfire was… short. I asked from her the records of the students and she pointed out where I could get them in the terraces. Getting the item mentioned, I was walking my way back to Twilight and-

“Do you need some help with something, Twilight?”

“N-no thanks, Flash. I’m fine!”

Flash was pestering her.

Sitting nearby Twilight, the cool guy talked with her in a pleasant manner. Attentive, charismatic and good spirited, Flash Sentry could make most of the girls fall for him. Ill-feelings and insidious motives weren’t part of his self and it was refreshing to see that. However, I’m getting really pissed right now. Not at him, but at Twilight and her lack of bravery on the matter.

Better let them be and hope for something to happen between them. Soarin waved his hand at me with a bottle of water in his hand. I understood the signal of offering and I soon found myself approaching him until someone stumbled on my back.

“Why did you abandon me back there?” A somewhat angered Twilight asked me.

“Abandon you? I didn’t want to barge in your chatter, Twilight.” I said honestly.

“You know I’m scared of him…”

“And you are also scared from Spitfire, the soccer team and most of the school!”

“I’m not!”

“Then go and tell Spitfire that we need more drinks for the students.”

“But there is plenty enough over there!” She desperatly pointed out where Soarin and three lonely water bottles were.

“Because three bottles of water will sate the thirst of fifty-seven students.”

“Oh Cheeseburger… Fine! I’ll talk to her!”

Finally.

“Good.”

The wind soared with grace and elegance through us. What was once a defiant face suddenly became a doubtful one.

“…now?”

I face palmed to her lack of commitment.

“No, Twilight! When the planets align in harmony under fury of the sun! When the sea of stars becomes astral desserts! THAT will be the time when you need to ask Spitfire to buy more beverages for the students!”

“Very funny!” Said Twilight in an sarcatic-like tone.

“Oh, you understand sarcasm after all! Now go!”

“B-but-!”

“What!?”

“I’m scared of her… she is noisy!”

“…you!” Clenching my fists with annoyance would be a massive understatement. “’Sigh’ let’s go together!”

“I’ll be right behind you!” Said Twilight with a sense of relief.

Where is Rainbow Dash!? I want to quit from this job.

Luckily for her, the class was over and our work ended with it, for now. I accepted Soarin’s offer anyway and drank my water with a bit of frustration. I didn’t get anything useful today either.

On the next dat, In the space where the heat ascended with the rays of the sun pouring down on the school fields, there was a group of six girls now taking the ropes of the horse. Finally my mission was over, but at the same time I didn’t achieve my real objective.

“Pity.”

I turned around to see that it was Bon Bon who spoke to me.

“If you are referring to my lack of progress, don’t worry! I still have today and tomorrow to think on something.”

“I’m not talking about the soccer team. I’m talking about her!”

She pointed her finger to-

“Twilight?”

“Haven’t you noticed, yet?”

Twilight was surrounded by her friends and she was talking with everybody in a friendly demeanor. A little different from her usual antics around me but it is obvious that it was like that. A girl like her will always rely more on her group of friends than being with a male.

“Aside from her usual self, nothing!”

“You’ll see the truth soon enough!” Said the strange girl from the other day. “She is so pitiful… I should go! Lyra is waiting for me!” This was Bon Bon talking now.

“Right.”

“Hey, Dancer! Bulb!” Greeted Bon Bon to our friends while joining Lyra’s side.

“Sup’, Bon Bon!” My two friends said in unison.

“Hey, Bro! How is it going?”

“Before you say anything… I appreciate what are you doing, Nitpick! I’m so sorry for not telling you about my job sooner... many things happened.”

“Well… to be fair-” I gave a quick look to Lightbulb and understanding my intentions, I finally spoke. “-that day after our hang-out was over, Lightbulb and I were to the arcades without you, so no hard feelings. Besides, you told me yesterday already, remember?”

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew that you would go there in the end! But it’s okay! I forgive you!”

Such a relief she is taking this in the good way.

“Now my answer to your question; Bad! I don’t have anything! The team is acting unusually nicer than before!”

“I bet that once this new schedule is completely approved, everything will go back to the usual scolding until their tournament is over.” Said Dancer a little grumpy.

“I’ll find something today! I’m sure of it!”

Or so I hoped…

With the girls running the show, my presence was pointless. I didn’t have purpose anymore in this place besides my own stubbornness in the matter.

“Nitty! Everything is ready!” Said Twilight with an overjoyed expression.

“What is ready?”

And don’t call me Nitty.

“The student distribution on separated groups! Look!”

She gave me a custom made agenda with the most detailed statistics, average time records and profile pictures of each student at the school I have ever seen. This work… this feat! In just two days! Like her cousin during that Fall Formal that everyone keeps talking about!

“Twilight! You’re fucking brilliant!” I singed her praises.

“Tee hee! Thank you, Nitpick!” Said Twilight while blushing and looking to the side of the street. “But-!”

“Yeah, language! I know! But just this once!”

“…ok! Just because is a kind of a compliment!”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go and give your creation to Spitfire! Your friends are here and the team depends on this! Go and do it!”

I returned her creation to those hands of hers. Looking at each other’s eyes, I could see an inner light coming from her pupils. She was motivated. The fires of hope started to ignite on those beautiful, purple eyes.

“You’re right! I can do it!” She turned around and raised her fist to her heart. “I will do it!”

And she began her short journey to Spitfire’s side, making me come to a bitter conclusion: Destroying the team’s efforts would transcend to a higher tragedy! Wasting Twilight’s effort, passion and work for the sake of a selfish reason is not worth it. Even if it’s for a friend, I can’t harm such virtuous heart like that.

“I can’t do it…” I whispered to myself. “…I won’t” I said in resignation.

You won, Sunset Shimmer…

“WHAT DOES THIS EVEN SAY!?”

Spitfire thundered the fields with her shout and Twilight was the victim of it. I quickly got nearby but there was a commotion forming already. Everyone gathered around the two girls of interest and the Idol Six quickly intervened to the discussion.

“Chill out, Spitfire! What’s the problem?” Asked Rainbow in a cool manner.

“That we were wasting our time with foolish nonsense instead of training hard on the field. Half of the stuff in here looks completely useless! Why do I want to see statistics on the athletes when we already know we need to train harder!?”

“Whatever Twilight came up to, I know that it’ll be useful to the team!” Assured Sunset.

“Perhaps my information wasn’t detailed enough!” Said Twilight in a weakly manner. “I’ll do a better job-“

“NO! I don’t want a better job on that useless math! I need people training for the game! Not doing basic routines to see how pathetic we are doing!”

“But with this we can distribute all the students in fair groups matching their abilities!“

“Why divide in groups when can train them to do the same thing!? The slowpokes will catch up with the rest if we pushed them hard enough!”

“But the data says-!”

‘Slam’

Did that bitch just slammed Twilight’s agenda to the floor?

“Calm down, yo!” Applejack got between them. “That wasn’t nice!”

“NO! What she did was pointless and worthless! She should be training like the rest of-!

”What did you say about her efforts, you little bitch!?”

Silence… As I walked through the multitude and making Applejack step aside with my presence, Spitfire and I were locking our eyes with furious intent.

“How did you call me, wimp!?”

“Bitch!”

‘Gasps from the students’

“Do you know the trouble you’ll get from saying things like that right here?”

“Do you know that in this moment I don’t give a shit about the rules or you for the matter, you piece of shit?”

“Sugarcube!… Calm… down!” Applejack tried to appease our wrath. “Let’s just breath slowly-“ She looked to both of us. “-and forget this happened, ok?”

“Forget this happened? Forget this happened!? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Don’t you see that your friend right here was just insulted? Do you know how much effort Twilight put into this data recording and team efficiency? Do you think that she would do a half-assed job as this worthless captain of the soccer team is claiming?”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME BEING WORTHLESS, SUCKER?”

“Nitpick! Calm down!” Twilight was grabbing my arm and as I looked upon her face, little tears were forming on those purple stars of hers. Amazingly enough… it had that warm smile. “It’s okay! I’ll just do it again with more simple methods!”

“But Twilight!” I firmly grabbed her arms. “In no way I’ll allow you to cheapen the value of your job! Just because this ape doesn’t know how to read a cake chart-“

“AAAAHHHHH!”

“WAAH!!

In an instant I found myself on the floor. Spitfire’s charge was a force to be reckoned! But compared to Braeburn, her strength was lacking. All I have to do is raise my fist and guard the hell of her incoming punch because I can’t retaliate against her!

Cursed be the Gentleman’s Oath!

Luckily a pair of hands stopped her fists of fury. Dancer, with the angriest face I have ever seen from her in my life, was grabbing Spitfire’s wrist. For the looks of it, she is hurting her.

“Enough already!” Rarity intervened. “This isn’t how a pair of ladies should act!”

“Spitfire, a lady?” Asked Dancer. “Charging my friend by surprise and trying to hit him on the floor makes her unworthy of that claim, Rarity!”

“Are you siding with him!?” Exclaimed an angered captain of the soccer team walking straight to her.

“Siding? I’m giving him full support! I’m tired of your rude attitude towards us!”

“Me too!” Lightbulb stepped up in front of Dancer to defend her. “I’m sick and tired of all this bothersome training you are making us get through! I’m starting to hate the soccer team meddlesome bullshit during normal classes!”

Some students started to whisper to each other in shock for what they just heard. Twilight quickly aided me to get up and she allowed me to use her as a kind of a clutch.

“How dare you to say something like that?” An angered Rainbow Dash rushed to Spitfire’s side to help her in the sprouting argument. “We are making training better!”

“That’s right!” A random member of the team said.

“BETTER!? Don’t you see that some of us hate it!?” Exclaimed Lightbulb

“I don’t believe you! You are saying that only to defend Bittersweet because he is your friend!”

So much for being one of the team now, uh Dash?

“No, Rainbow Dash! They aren’t the only ones that hate the soccer team interference! And I won’t allow you to scold my friends like that!”

Bon Bon!

“We are tired of it too, y’all!”

The Crusaders ran quickly to our side.

“Sweetie Belle!” A shocked Rarity exclaimed in disbelief.

“Forgive me, Rarity! But I don’t like how things are getting! They are rude to us!”

“Applebloom!”

“They aren’t the only ones that hate this, sis! I’ve heard kids in our grade complaining about this too!”

“Scootaloo? Is this true?” A shocked Rainbow Dash asked to her little fan.

“Nobody likes to be called wimps in a meanie manner!” Said Scoot’s with a weakly voice. “This was supposed to be fun and challenging! Not a punishing chore!”
“A chore!? B-but!” A surprised Spitfire started to talk. “Don’t you want to win the tournament?”

“Aren’t we training because we wanted to keep winning?” Another member of the team spoke, her teammates supporting her motion by standing beside her.

“You and the soccer team want to win the tournament! There may be students that also want to help but we have our lives when classes are over! I have a part time job to do so I can help my parents with money and your sudden change to the schedules ruins my routine!” Said Dancer with the usual maturity she has most of the time.

“I go to cram school after classes are over in a mechatronic research center in the city and this new schedule ruins my study plans!” Micro Chips spoke his mind.

“I teach how to play the cello to the little kids that enjoy playing music in the Music Club with Vinyl Scratch!” Said the girl who owns a cello… who was she? “Besides, I like to watch soccer but I dislike playing it like a barbarian!”

One by one, every student that opposed the training regime spoke their opinions. Some of them were afraid and others suddenly took a defiant posture. What Bon Bon said was true! The school wasn’t that united in the first place! They were all excited to keep winning that they awoke the fighting spirit of those who truly wanted to excel in life!

The Idol Six were making damage control between the students and the soccer team. It started as a little discussion but it quickly grew to an exchange of curses, ill-words and revelations that they would end up regretting later. Behind me, Twilight was sobbing quietly looking to the floor and trying to appease herself with a Rubik cube. That was a sight that I disliked immediately so I just partially embraced her, giving her my best smile in the process. It was a success because it calmed her a little so it was fine for now.

Looking back at the commotion and then focusing my sight on little Twilight, the only thing I could think right now was a bitter revelation: I ended up playing as the catalyst to enrage the students instead of being the hero. They were already on the edge and I just gave them a push to talk for themselves.

Perhaps… I wasn’t even the hero from the start.

Author's Note:

Well, I hope you enjoy my choice of attires for the rest of the main six. I haven't decided if give Sunset and Twilight a new outfit or not. As you know, feel free to express your opinions.

Also, next chapter will be as laborious as the one about Sunset's date. It will take time.

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