The normal life of Nitpick Bittersweet

by Ryusun

Chapter 51- New beginning and clearing doubts.

“And that’s the reason why I befriended Twilight Sparkle! So, will you help me out?”

“No.”

“You should consider diagnosing your brain. Unknown injuries from the fist fight you had in the fair must have created several tumors in it. Zap took some photos of it. Also, did you lose weight?”

“My brain is fine, you stupid, little troll. And no! I’m fine! Gily is helping me out with that so don’t worry!”

“I will help you, Bro! Twilight seems like someone who needs help!”

“I fucking knew you would aid me, Lightbulb!”

My name is Nitpick Bittersweet, seventeen years old. I am your average high school student with average looks, messy and average brown hair, eyes and a normal body complexion. My hobbies are videogames, mangas, foreign animation and sleeping in the comfort of my bed. Today in the afternoon, a new friend came to my life: Twilight Sparkle. I gave her my word that I will make everything in my power to make her grow as a person.

I was talking with three of my best friends about it in The Dazzle restaurant, waiting for my friend and his sibling to arrive and have her birthday celebration in a quiet place. Having been granted permission by Twilight herself, I told them about the events that transpired in CHS and how it made me come to this turning point in my life. Gily was massaging her eyes with disbelief and annoyance, Lightbulb approved of my decision and my grumpy friend was looking at me with a cynical, relaxed face. Her apparent lack of emotion is just a masquerade for her inner, smart-ass attitude to prepare an insulting rant for your average person.

“No, no, no, and no! I don’t have anything to make a decent come back at you, Bittersweet!” My grumpy friend told to me while scratching her head. I was in disbelief because this was a first for me in hearing that from her lips. “I told you last time that she is insane! You should stay away from her!”

“Come on, sweet heart! My sixth sense doesn’t feel anything bad on her! I’m sure whatever happened in the games, it was Cinch fault! The blackmailing, combining it with how bitchy we were to her in the academy made her unstable! Now she is just a lost soul looking for answers!”

“There was more than just blackmailing and bitchiness from our part! She practically transformed in a dark, winged demon of midnight while shooting rays of doom everywhere with a magical device!”

“I have been hearing the same thing since the end of the games!” Spoke Lightbulb. “Other dimensions, rainbows of destructive power, winged students! I wasn’t in most of the events but everything points out that Sunset is involved one way or another to the supposed crazy stuff that CHS has been through this past year!”

“That other girl also transformed into a Sun Magical Girl like Pirate Moon! And how can you not been there? Weren’t you supporting your school with the rest of the students?”

“I don’t give a crap about the school spirit! It’s a bunch of nonsense! So the answer is no, I didn’t go to the event, neither my girl nor a less than a half of the school. So I can’t say with certainty if the events you say are true!”

“See? That’s why I gave this guy my good word!” Said Gily with a tone of approval. “He isn’t an obsessive perfectionist with a bullshit air of school spirit like you!”

“Loving the school shirt and its meaning is not nonsense, Heavensbane! Being prideful of where I study and the ideal that Crystal Prep Academy has is something I support!”

“Being the best is fine and all but doing it for a school and not for myself is bullshit! I won’t stand that that harpy of Cinch takes all the glory when we make the fighting for her!” Exclaimed Gily.

“Although I dislike Cinch and her high-handed personality, I get where she comes from! It’s thanks to that negative trait of her and always desiring the best of the best for the school that we get the best teachers, the best courses, the best college options, and most importantly, the best preparation! You get your family money’s worth if you don’t waste it like most of the spoiled rich brats that go there!” Said my grumpy friend with complete justification, but after a brief moment of thinking something in her head, she sighed with regret. “But…”

“You are still disappointed that Cinch was cornered and cheated in the end like CHS did with their magic like you told me last time, uh?” Said Gily empathetic.

My friend started to massage her forehead with disappointment. “Why did she do that? Why did we support her in that stupid decision? Twilight could have easily won the last event of the competition by herself without cheating! Instead, she turned into a magical creature that nearly destroyed the world!”

“Cheating in the end backfired horribly for you, uh?”

“I don’t need your pity, Bittersweet! I was blinded for wanting to balance things out and… aghhh! Damn it all!” She said frustrated to no end while hitting the sturdy fabric of wood of our table.

“You must be really pissed if you use a word like ‘Damn’. But even if she had won fair and square, you still wouldn’t have given a crap because it was Twilight, right?” I said with seriousness.

“No.” She said with her usual lack of empathy towards her. “She was a pain and you know it. I still don’t believe that you befriended her!”

“And I still don’t buy the magic part during the games!” I remarked. “Look, sweet heart! Talking with all seriousness, I don’t think you are crazy. I know you studied hard and took extra classes to make your victory the sweeter but as far as I know, the Idol Six are very resourceful as well. They have their Principal in their good side and can mobilize an enormous quantity of students in a matter of hours. Who says that those weird events you and the rest experienced weren’t planned beforehand?”

“That wouldn’t explain the weird magic vines that appeared during the motorcycle rally! They appeared from nowhere and nearly killed me!”

“Easy to explain!” Exclaimed Gilda. “Remember when Sapphire Shores came during the last Thanksgiving to our school and sang in the gym hall? Don’t you remember that she made something similar as you are saying?”

“Those were advanced, optical illusions inside a stage! We are talking about an open field! And those vines were alive! I swear!”

“Remember that time when Trickster Lunaby came to the academy in January to make a magic show where he used almost realistic monsters and he was moving them around the school fields with the help of just two guys? They used advanced animatronics and believable tricks to do his show!”

“Oh! I have something useful to say!” Spoke Lightbulb. “I know of Trickster Lunaby! It’s the Grandfather of Trixie Lulamoon, and she goes to CHS! Most of her tricks suck but when she does one right, damn, she does them incredibly realistic!”

“I never stumbled upon her, Lightbulb!” I said.

“Better stay that way. She can be annoying sometimes, especially her crazy way to say that she is 'The great and powerful Trixie'! Oh God, how I hate her accent when she spells her own name!” He facepalmed in frustration.

“Maybe she asked to her grandpops a favor to do something cool in the competition and he agreed to help her granddaughter with some tips. Knowing that, we can assume that the so-called Idol Six used that to her advantage and made them win the rally!” Said Gilda with a reasonable answer.

“And what about their transformations? They were flying, for Pete’s Sake!”

“Coloratura did a great deal of costume changes during stage in the winter, singing competition of last year in a matter of minutes! And about the flying stuff, don’t you remember this last summer where Jet Set brought some stunt masters to make a flying spectacle just because her girlfriend Upper Crust had her birthday party?” I asked her.

“What about Twilight? She practically sucks when she doesn’t do something related to raw academics! How do you explain her sudden, crazed attitude and unexpected capability to rip holes to other dimensions?”

“Forgive me for having heard what you spoke all this time and barging in your conversation but allow me to explain the answer you seek, if you will, my dear patron.”

We turned our attention to Adagio Dazzle that spoke while approaching our table. In one hand she had a long plate holding our beverages while the other was making an elegant gesture to place the glasses in front of us. My friend looked at her with a little bit of skepticism.

“Don’t worry. She was a student there before creating this family restaurant. Also, she had a bad time with Sunset as well.” I said.

“What can you say about that place?” Asked my friend with an educated manner.

“Long story short: I and my sisters were singers, we went to CHS to make a little name, and Sunset defeated us with the Magic of Friendship and we ended up here!”

“Tell us the long story, if you will.”

“We managed to convince all the school, even the Principal of that place, to make everything as we wanted in an event called the Battle of the Bands. But eventually Sunset Shimmer outsmarted us. In part, we were at fault for our own demise, but believe me, we were... persuasive, to say the least!”

“I remember you!” Said Lightbulb with surprise. “You were the singer that arrived to the school and made the students have some battle spirit! I don’t even remember why I was fighting with the Eco kids during those days!” He was scratching his head after saying that.

“Because we were magical, my dear patron! And with that, I must say that to all of you the following: Imagine! We were able to mobilize the entire school to make an event far greater than the one that was originally planned in just a day. Even the Principal and the teachers agreed to our demands. Now imagine what Sunset Shimmer can do if she defeated us! Was this Twilight Sparkle alone with Sunset during the games?”

“I don’t know.” Answered my friend. “But she went on her own from time to time, searching things with her magic device.”

“Then we can make a hypothesis from all of this, don’t we?” Spoke Adagio. “It’s obvious that Sunset Shimmer found Twilight Sparkle walking on her own inside the school. Sunset, as persuasive and intelligent as she is, immediately saw the grief and loneliness of Twilight and befriended her. Finally finding someone who accepted her, she opened up with our nemesis, and Sunset talked her way with her…”

“And convinced her to help CHS win against the academy!” I completed her speech.

“There is one more thing I have to say. When we, umm, persuaded Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, well, you could say that we saw that they aren’t your average educators. They may have more resources than they want us to believe they have!”

“You mean something like dirty money?” Asked Gily with a bit of excitement. “Like those old cop movies?”

“Sadly to disappoint you but no, it was all legal. But they are rich! Extremely rich! Why my sisters and I didn’t convince them to give us some of it was beyond me.” Said Adagio with a bit of dissatisfaction, almost regretting it.

“You really are ambitious. No wonder you ended up being defeated.” I remarked.

She laughed coldly but it lacked resentment. “It’s the world of the competitors! You must be ambitious to do whatever it takes! But I can see it’s not the style for all of you… But what about Sunset? Who says that she didn’t organize something to make you have a hard time?”

“And it makes sense in a way!” Replied Lightbulb. “Sunset was a bitch and a manipulative gal! When she was defeated by Twilight’s cousin, she changed! But, did her ways do as well? I mean, we are living the same thing but more ‘friendly’ in CHS. She was running the show with Snip and Snails and now she runs it with her friends. She was a bastard and now she is friend-ho lunatic! The same with a different paint coat!”

“Wait! Did Snip and Snails actually terrorized the-“

“Please, Bro! Don’t finish it! I’m still ashamed of that!”

“Okay, okay! Anyway, if we take in consideration all the information we have come up together, then we can finally agree to my following explanation to all this!” I took a deep sip of my alcohol-less Mocktail and after finally arranging my thoughts, I gave my explanation. “Sunset Shimmer convinced Principal Celestia to do insane competitions hoping for the academy students to lose!”

“But to no avail! Crystal Prep always comes prepared to face any challenge!” My grumpy friend said. “Or so we thought…”

“Yes, sweet heart! That’s why they must have hired Trixie’s grandfather to make ‘adjustments’ to the rally! And if what Adagio said is true, the economic resources of our Principal in question made things extremely easy to do and ended up in fooling you.”

“Not to mention that the school field was closed to all the public when they were building the motocross rally!” Remarked Lightbulb.

“That could have given Mr. Trickster enough time to make something that not even the most observant student could have perceived in the field!” I continued.

“Even adjusting the right places to sabotage the motocross rally!” My friend came to a realization “I nearly fell to my death in that event and those vines appeared in front of Zap and me in a very convenient place and time!”

“And Twilight being an alone and defenseless individual in mind and morale, succumbed to Sunset’s offer and made a realistic choreography with her!” Concluded Adagio.

“What about the hole in the school gardens?” Asked my grumpy friend. “I can accept all the explanations that you gave this far but I saw a crater to another world in there!”

“Exactly where did you saw that hole?” Asked Lightbulb.

“Between the statue and the main entrance of the school. Why do you ask that?”

“One year ago during the Fall Formal, there was a gas pipe incident in CHS that destroyed the front gate of the school and left a big crater in the gardens!” Lightbulb started to search something in his smartphone. “Look! This was just next day after the incident.”

“The size of the crater it’s nearly of the same size as the one that appeared during the games!” Remarked she.

“Perhaps the crater was never filled in its entirety and they retrofitted it to be a normal road for the school! Like in stages where is empty under the performers so they can do various magic tricks! The lights, transformations, destruction of property and so on were just illusions made by professionals behind the stage! The transformed girls must have been stunt doubles all that time using semi-invisible cords to make them fly in the fields!”

“But there is one more thing that doesn’t add up! Cinch knew of Twilight’s device during the games, not before! And she used the device after we convinced her to…uh!”

“I see something clicked on you.” I said with amusement. “Care to share?”

“I remembered what I said about Twilight going alone inside the school before the events started! That backstabbing scoundrel sold us out when she was convinced by Shimmer in joining her cheating performance! They came up with the magic excuse and made realistic tricks to convince Cinch that weird things were happening in the rally! They attacked our pride and weaknesses in the right spot and we felt for it!”

“I don’t think Twilight is someone capable of selling someone out!” I defended her.

“Mmm, yes, you are right! She is spineless!” Said my grumpy friend. “Sunset Shimmer, taking in accounts her past history that you mentioned, must have manipulated her to join her side, making her think that it was the right thing to do.”

“Then we came up with a logical conclusion: They used magic tricks, convinced Twilight to betray the school while at it, something easy to do because she probably hated us, and that made you tie with them!” Said Gily.

“You are right!” Said my grumpy friend. “If we think this thoroughly in a logical manner, they cheated all this time! I knew it! I knew it! I knew that we would never tie or lose against that school of losers in a fair competition. No offense to both of you!” She said the last with fake regret.

“Spare us the bullshit” Said Lightbulb in an amiable way. “At least you now know the truth thanks to our combined efforts!”

“Everything is better when we see things with reason! It’s something you taught us in the academy, remember?” I praised her. “We are not in the world of a kid’s cartoon and our government is not stupid! If weird things have been happening in CHS all this time, the government would have closed down the school by now and conspiracy theories would have emerged since then!”

“And she transferring to CHS was probably an idea of Sunset so Twilight could avoid being morally attacked at your school!” Said Lightbulb.

“And it was good that she did that! When word spread around about Twilight’s incompetence and sudden transfer, more than half of the school started to hate her! She should consider to never showing her face again in Crystal Prep!”

“But Zap and the others treated her nicely in various events in the last few weeks!” I said.

“You know that Zap, Zest and the others are kind-hearted deep inside! Being bitchy against the competitors is only their way of showing up their loyalty to the school… unlike you and Gilda!”

“Hey! Nit and I are wild cards! We are loyal to the ones that believe in us, nothing more! Besides, not all the school is loyal to the academy and you know it!”

“It doesn’t matter now! Whatever truth happened in reality it’s in the past now. Right now, we must convince this idiot to stay away from Twilight Sparkle!”

“Yeah, Nit! Listen to the troll! She speaks reason!”

“I have seen her in the school and she is a normal girl.” Said Lightbulb calmly. “I believe you should be more afraid of Sunset Shimmer than her. Especially after the mess she did with the soccer team… fucking bitch” He mumbled the last part.

“And that’s why I want to help Twilight!” I said with passion. “I don’t want to destroy her friendship with her friends but I want her to accept herself and send to hell to anyone who doesn’t like who she is! Our Princess was right! She can be much more and I know she can be a good friend, even to the people of our club.”

“You are insane! CHS is harming your rational thinking more than I thought! And I will not accept her as our friend, even if she has your good, honest word backing her up!”

“Oh, come on!” I said playfully to her. “Look at me in the eyes! I know now that she is a good girl. Do you think I’m lying to you?” Now I was serious.

She looked at me with a stern look. Carefully locking her eyes with mine, she was trying to find any sign of doubt in me. Although we are friends for barely a year, just like Gilda and the others, we spent quality time together. She knows when we lie or have doubts deep inside us.

“…’sigh’… what do you need from me?” Said she with a genuine disposition.

“Am I imagining things or that really came from your mouth?” Said Gily with mockery-like denial.

“What can I say? I just happen to be empathetic, kind and selfless! I am the pinnacle of camaraderie and friendship!” Said she with complete mockery and a cocky smile.

“Camaraderie? Friendship? You? Seriously? HA!” Gily finished her drink in one swallow. “You are a blunt, cynical and arrogant bitch, Sugarcoat!”

“Heavensbane!” She also took her glass and finished her drink in one go. “When I met you last year, I thought you were a mindless beast incapable of reasoning! But now, I’m truly surprised with your ever-growing capability to mimic human speech and intellect thanks to my efforts! You are becoming really good at this!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I really missed Sugarcoat.

“Why are you laughing, Bittersweet? Do you believe we are your personal clowns?”

“Yes.” I responded kindly. “And you are my favorite, Cookielicious!”

“Don’t call me like that, you shit!”

“Uhhh! Someone is dirtying her correct vocabulary all of the sudden! What’s next? Yelling?”

“Shut up, Heavensbane! At least when I yell, I don’t sound like a drunken harpy!”

”DRUNKEN HARPY? I SOUND LIKE AN EAGLE WARRIOR, CINCH TWO-POINT-OH!”

“YOU DARE TO CALL ME LIKE THAT, BITCH!?”

“DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE?”

“BRING IT ON!”

I noticed that Lightbulb looked to his glass of alcohol-less Mocktail, and he took a deep sip with his usual ‘no-problem’ attitude. “While your friends finish their bitching, let’s talk about how I can help you out with Twilight’s problem on Sunday, Bro! Choco has the day off and we were planning to go out with Lyra and Bon Bon to the plaza in Ponyville! You and Twilight can join us and I will teach her how to reject a guy like Flash properly.”

“HA! Another insane guy trying to be the hero of the day has appeared before me!” Said Sugarcoat with her usual bitchiness while rolling her eyes.

“I’m starting to like your friends, Bro. They are truthful, bitchy and speak their minds out instead of being double-faced hypocrites.”

"Wait until you meet the other two!"

“I also started to like your friends, my patron!” Said Adagio in a pleasant manner. “I like colorful and exciting people! Speaking of colorful, where is the special girl for the occasion? I need to know her time of arrival so Sonata can start cooking the Royal Tacos! After all, you paid good money for them!”

“Bittersweet, did you really asked for tacos instead of, I don’t know, salads, fish or something of her liking? We have an agreement for all of our birthday party foods, you know?”

“Actually, Sug, it was my idea!” Answered Gily. “I came with Grandpops last Monday and we ordered the Royal Tacos out of curiosity…” Gily started to drool a little. “So fancy… So delicious…”

“For you to drool like a dog for simple tacos is something to behold, they must have been the meal of your life.”

Gily took out her cellphone and searched for something in it. Finding what she was seeking for, she showed to us a picture of the tacos in question. They look like real tacos, elegantly arranged in circle.

“Are those artisanal tacos?” Asked Sugarcoat with honest surprise.

“After we won the lottery and started to build our restaurant, my sister Sonata took some private classes with Chef Rufinesse Constanti! She knows real Tenochxican recipes thanks to her!”

“She even taught me how to do Bocoles and Frijoles Charros!” Said Sonata Dusk while quickly coming to her sister’s side. Her big smile and pride on the matter made her keep talking. “Do you want your tacos with Queso Molido or do you want them with the Rojo specialty?”

“Queso what?” Asked Lightbulb.

“It’s a kind of white, grated cheese. A bit salty but delicious!” Responded Gily. “Grandpops ate the Rojo specialty and they are nice too. They are bathed in a special kind of red sauce. Since it’s for our Princess, then the Queso Molido variety with salad would be ideal.”

“What kind of filling you want in your tacos? We have chicken, scrambled eggs bathed in red tomato, cooked potato with scrambled eggs, minced meat, rajas con queso, and we also have some requeson cheese mixed with real, red Chile Habanero in it!”

“Let’s wait for her to- I believe they are coming!” Exclaimed Sugarcoat with excitement.

A shady, elegant limousine parked outside the Dazzle’s, and from it, a shadowy figure got out of the front seat. Said figure opened the back door and two teenagers with the formal suit of Crystal Prep Academy got out of the vehicle. Once they got inside the place, I admired their image. It may have been roughly two months and half since the last time I saw them after they went to their conference, but it felt like an eternity to me.

Their white, fair skin and vibrant, light blue eyes were unmistakable. One was one of the classiest, refined and elegant human beings I have ever seen in my life who had the most gorgeous brown hair that I ever admired. The other one was a pain in the ass with medium-size golden hair, his family star artistically stitched in the shoulders of his suit.

“At last…!” Said my classy friend. Her eyes were full of tender nostalgia finally sated. “It’s been a while, my friends!”

“Indeed!” Said... ‘sigh’ my friend.

Gily, Sugarcoat and I were just there, appreciating our reunion with them. We have a lot of things to say, a lot of things to share, but right now, on this moment in time and space, there was only one thing that all the people attending to event ended up saying.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

We ran into her and hugged her tightly. She released a small giggle and we could feel the warm of being together again. At last, the five of us were reunited! And we spent the rest of the evening living the good life.

Comments

[Guy With No Name]

You're wrong, Nitpick. Magic really DOES exist..... and you can thank Sunset for it!

It'll be REALLY funny to watch if he ever learns the truth about it!