The Peculiar Tale of Twinkle Shine

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 5: Blank Slate

As Izzy Moonbow used her magic to operate the hacksaw in front of her, on the piece of wood held there on two saw-ponies, she thought to herself that she sure gets a lot of orders for birdhouses during the winter! It must be because of the coming spring, she pondered with a slight frown on her face while her eyes concentrated on the task at-hoof and her horn glowed with a blue color. Her pop music played at a lower volume, but she could still hear the happy cheery noise of the anthem, We’re gonna rock rock rock! And never stop stop stop! We’ll tear it all down! Whao! Whao!

When she hears an excited squeaky voice come from the other side of the hall on her right, “Yeah! Okay! That’s about right!”

The doorknob on Twinkle’s left glows blue and soon swings open as the pink pegasus filly sits on her haunches on top of a closed toilet, as she stares at the vanity mirror before her beyond the sink. She has a pair of scissors held in the clefts of her right forehoof as she lowers them to her side and looks onward, with her wavy bluish-white mane, now with tapered bangs and her once long tail, has been cut as Izzy then notices the hair on the floor. She blinks and looks at the pegasus filly and says, “What are you doing?” before frowning.

Twinkle looks at Izzy on her left and excitedly says, “Oh, I was just restyling my mane and I got rid of some unnecessary length on my tail! No more neat curls for me!” she nods, “Yeah, I’m gonna be redoing a lot of things now!” before smiling and bobbing her head up and down affirmatively.

Izzy blinks and frowns, “Oh-kay?” she looks at the filly on the commode, “You do what you feel is best, Twinkle Shine!” and smiles.

Twinkle turns her head so Izzy can get a look and Izzy can’t help but smile at this adorable, freckled filly with her wavy new manecut and bangs, styled to flow behind her shoulders along with her new neatly cropped tail.

“Wow!” Izzy says wide-eyed with her mouth open, “I love your new look!”*

“He he! Thanks! Um, I decided that since I uh, didn’t wanna be like that other filly I met, that I really should change the way I look! So um, I found these scissors in your workroom and kinda uh, borrowed them… I was gonna bring them back!” Twinkle nods her head, “Honest!”

Izzy grins at this adorable filly, “Oh, I believe you, Twinkle! Uh,” she sighs, “I was just making another birdhouse and listening to music when I heard you in here… You’re a loud little thing, you know that?”

“Well, golly gee! I just like being heard!” Twinkle says with a cute smile on her dimpled face and her head tilted to the left.

Izzy widens her red eyes as she stammers out, “It’s…just…so…much…cuteness!” she blinks, “I don’t know if I can stand it?”

Twinkle straightens her neck and sticks her tongue out slightly with her eyes narrowed.

Izzy widens her eyes, “Okay, that’s it! Time for a doobie!”

At that point, Twinkle brings her tongue in and closes her mouth while scrunching her mouth and widening her eyes as she honestly didn’t expect that reaction!**

<*****>

Izzy puffs the glowing king joint out the left side of her mouth through the brown glass tip as Twinkle looks onward from the left side of the table and asks, “If you normally use disposable joint tips, why do you also own glass tips?”

Izzy exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth before saying, “Well, glass tips deliver a mellower smoke! They’re just more of a pain to roll with and you gotta clean them every so often! So, I go back and forth, a lot of times!” before moving the joint to the front of her pony snout and pursing her lips around it to take a strong drag.

Twinkle frowns as Izzy floats the joint out of her mouth to hover in front of her, “I just keep thinking about what Zipp told me earlier…” she stares forward blankly with wide auburn eyes, “She told me what Cozy Glow did in private and well…” Twinkle shakes her head and blinks while staring forward, “I just can’t picture myself ever doing those things?” she looks up at the unicorn intently, “Izzy! A-am I a monster?”

Izzy widens her eyes while the stogie smokes in front of her and she exhales smoke between the two ponies before saying down to the filly, “No! Why would you say such a thing, Twinkle Shine?”

Twinkle blinks, “Well,” she looks up at the unicorn, “I tried to steal all the magic in Equestria! I” she blinks again, “attacked Ponyville in some sort of epic battle? “she frowns, “Zipp said the details were sketchy on that one?” She looks up at Izzy, “But that doesn’t seem like anything I’d actually do, though?”

Izzy sighs as she finally forces the joint to turn around in mid-air before floating towards the filly’s mouth, “I see…” Izzy eyes this filly carefully, “I don’t really see you doing those things either, Twinkle? Do you think you’re a good filly?” before scrunching her mouth.

Twinkle catches the joint in her mouth before taking a drag with it slightly to the right as she smiles and says, “Well golly gee, I like to think so?” as smoke lightly billows out her mouth with each word.

Izzy frowns and says, “Well, mostly good anyway!” as her eyebrows go up and down.

Twinkle raises her left eyebrow as she makes the joint move towards the center of her mouth with her lips and takes a drag from the joint, making the cherry glow. She raises her right forehoof to signal Izzy as her brown eyes widen.

Izzy lowers her gaze to the filly before forcing the half-joint to glow blue and gently float out of Twinkle’s mouth.

Izzy lowers her gaze and scrunches her brows slightly as the joint flies out of Twinkle’s mouth and stops before her, where it turns around to float the final few inches to her mouth, where she clamps her lips down on the glass tip.

While Izzy inhales, Twinkle finally exhales a massive cloud of smoke between the two ponies, before lightly coughing, blinking, and saying, “From the way Zipp talked, it sounded like this other filly was bad, just for the sake of being bad?” she frowns at Izzy, “But uh,” she blinks, “it just seems like there should be more to it, than just that?”

Izzy exhales a cloud of smoke with the stogie cocked on the left side of her mouth, “Well, you say you can’t remember, right?”

Twinkle looks down and frowns as Izzy works the joint to the middle of her mouth and inhales to make the cherry glow again, “Golly, no! Not really? I uh… I see flashes sometimes, but um,” she frowns deeply as her eyes begin to twitch, “I just can’t remember when I really think about it, you know?” she stares up at Izzy with her brown eyes still trembling somewhat.

Izzy floats the joint before her and exhales before moving the stogie into the ashtray and snuffing it out again. She looks at the filly, “You seem disturbed by this? Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I…” Twinkle stares forward blankly, “Just can’t seem to explain it?” she looks at Izzy, “I mean, Zipp talked to me for two hours!” she widens her eyes, “I know the stories now!” she nods, “I know what Cozy Glow did and I think I understand why they turned her to stone…” she shakes her head, “But why, though? I mean, why did she want power?”

Izzy frowns, “Well, that was a long time ago…” she stares intently at the filly, “It’s probably close to impossible to tell, by this point?” she raises her left eyebrow, “I hate to say it, but it might be better to just let this one go?” she shrugs while correcting her eyes.

Twinkle stares forward expressionless with her mouth scrunched again, “You know, you’re probably right? Besides,” she stares up at the unicorn with open brown eyes, “even if we did know, what difference would it make by this point?”

Izzy smiles, “Right! So uh, blank slate then?” before tilting her head inquisitively to the left with her mouth narrowed and red eyes staring forward.

Twinkle giggles, “Blank slate!” she looks up at Izzy, “Um, go ahead take your other drag now Miss Izzy! Uh, thanks for talking with me!”

Izzy mentally floats the joint to her mouth in a blue glow along with her red disposable lighter in from the lower right and sparks it to ignite before bringing her face forward to burn the end of the joint and ignite it as she inhales, causing the cherry to glow again. She soon exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth and looks at Twinkle intently as the lighter disengages and flies back down to the table before her, and then asks, “No problem, squirt! So uh,” she raises her eyebrows, “You’re Twinkle Shine now, right? Not Cozy Glow?” and then pursing her lips on the joint at the front of her mouth and inhaling again to make the cherry burn red.

The filly blinks her brown eyes, “Well uh, I don’t remember being Cozy Glow?” she frowns, “I only remember waking up in that place and uh,” she shakes her head so her newly styled mane swishes around her head and leans forward slightly before blinking, “I don’t remember doing these things?” she looks down solemnly, “I guess two thousand years makes a huge difference?”

Izzy exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth again before forcing the glowing joint to fly in front of her, and looks to the foal as she says, “Well, right! I mean, think of it this way Twinkle! Let's say you were thinking about things while you were a statue, okay?”

Twinkle stares at the unicorn and frowns, “I don’t really remember ever being a statue, actually! But um, okay…” and nods.

Izzy nods as she finishes floating the roach into Twinkle’s mouth, “Well, let's just say you were a statue and thinking about your life and the horrible things that you did, right?”

Twinkle catches the joint in her mouth as she raises her head and clamps down with her lips before inhaling to make the cherry glow. “Huh?”

Izzy nods, “Well, I know I would!” she leans forward, “Well, at this point, you got a new chance?”

Twinkle exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth, “Huh?”

“You get a new chance, Twinkle Shine!” she stares at the filly with open excited eyes, “Brand new Equestria! Brand new friends! Brand new name! Brand new home!” she smiles, “Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to take it?”

Twinkle lowers her gaze before softly exhaling smoke out the left side of her mouth as her eyes narrow and the filly visibly becomes more intoxicated, “I uh, never thought about it like that?” before moving the joint back to the front of her snout and taking another drag.

Izzy nods happily, “So, what does it matter what happened two thousand years ago?” she stares at the filly, now taking a third drag from the joint before putting the stogie in the cleft of her right forehoof, “You’re here now! You live with me! And we’re both doing alright!”

Twinkle raises her forehoof, so Izzy sees the burnt-out nub there, at the end of the glass tip and she smiles as she floats it from the hoof, while Twinkle exhales long and slow, before finally saying, “Maybe I’m overthinking this and making it more complicated than it needs to be, huh?” she lowers her hoof and raises her neck to stare at the unicorn, “I uh…” she blinks, “Golly!”

Izzy lowers her face with the glass-tipped nub out the front of her mouth as the red disposable lighter floats in from the bottom right and smirks while the lighter sparks and says, “Sometimes, a little bit of herb to take you to the ground level, does just the trick!” before lowering her face towards the flame and igniting the end of the nub while inhaling so it burns up visibly as she takes in the smoke. She suddenly widens her eyes before floating the flaming glass tip to her glass ashtray on the table and snuffing it out there… She soon turns her head left and exhales smoke that direction, before turning to the filly, coughing slightly, and smiling a happy grin.

Twinkle looks at Izzy, grins, and says, “You’re feeling it, huh?”

Izzy stares at the filly wide with a smirk on her face as she giggles and says, “No U!”

Twinkle starts snickering as she smiles happily!

Izzy giggles, shakes her head, and says, “I still can’t believe I’m actually letting you smoke!”

Twinkle smiles wide-eyed as she says, “Aw, but it’s me!” before pouting with her head tilted slightly to the left and blinking so her eyelashes go up and down.

Izzy squints her eyes and narrows her mouth as she says sternly, “I’m gonna get you! You’re gonna pay for that!”

Twinkle gives a wide-eyed start, “What?”

“Oh, you know EXACTLY what, Little Miss Adorable-Pants!”

Twinkle grins and giggles, “He he he!”

<*****>

Twinkle puts the now-empty bowl of oatmeal onto the table before her as she happily licks her upper lip with her long pony tongue with her brown eyes squinted. She looks at Izzy to her right, smiles, and says, “Thanks again for breakfast! Um, you didn’t have to clean up the bathroom floor, you know?” she frowns, “I was gonna do that…” she widens her eyes, “Cleaning up is part of the job!”

“Eh, it only took like, ten seconds! Who cares?” Izzy says while flicking her right forehoof in the air next to her with her smiling face turned slightly that direction. She straightens her gaze at the floating half-eaten buttered toast encased in a blue light in front of her, before opening her mouth and making the toast fly into her snout, where she bites and chews the rest of it. She munches the toast while her eyes narrow, before swallowing, looking at Twinkle Shine, and asking her, “So, did you have another nightmare?”

Twinkle nods, “Oh golly, yes Miss Izzy! You know, I don’t know how sleep every became so exhausting? I was in that cave again and I heard that filly who sounds a lot like me!” she leans forward with wide brown eyes, “She seems so angry?” she frowns, “I wonder why?”

Izzy scrunches her mouth, “Well, what did the other filly say?”

“She said my name was really Cozy Glow and that I wanted power… She said that I was supposed to be doing something?” Twinkle says before frowning up at the unicorn.

Izzy frowns, “What does she say you need to be doing?”

Twinkle blinks, “She said that I need to gain as many friends as possible. She said that since ‘friendship is power’, that it’s important for me to gain as much power as possible, and that my real name will always be Cozy Glow…” Twinkle blinks again, “But, I don’t want to be Cozy Glow?” she shakes her head, “I-I’m starting over now, right?” she shakes her head and stares at the unicorn intently, “You said a blank slate, right? A clean, fresh start?”

Izzy nods, “Right! It doesn’t matter who this Cozy Glow was or what she did! That was two thousand years ago!” she smiles, “You’re Twinkle Shine now!”

Twinkle smiles at the unicorn dimly, “Thanks Izzy! Uh, say! When did they say they’d be over?”

Izzy frowns, “Well, I called Sunny and she said she’d bring Hitch and Zipp said she’d shoot her sister a text and let her know what was up!”

Twinkle nods, “Right! But uh, when were they gonna be over?”

Izzy widens her eyes, “Oh! That! Uh, they said they’d show up at about nine!”

Twinkle sighs, “Okay uh, what time is it now?”

Izzy glances up at the clock just beyond Twinkle’s right shoulder on the counter before back right to the filly, “It’s about a quarter to nine!”

Twinkle narrows her eyes, “So, they’re gonna be here in about fifteen minutes?”

Izzy nods with a smile on her face, “That is correct!” she starts and narrows her mouth with wide eyes, “Oh uh,” her eyes dart down to the filly, “they’ll be here in about fifteen minutes!”

Twinkle stares up at Izzy with wide eyes and a frown, “You don’t say?” she stares forward blankly and normalizes her mouth, “Well um, what do I say to them?” before her eyes dart back to the unicorn.

Izzy eyes the filly carefully, “Just say what you feel! Say that, as Cozy Glow, you once tried to take over Equestria, but you’re not that filly anymore and that was a long time ago!”

Suddenly, there’s a knock on Izzy’s door, behind Twinkle!

Izzy raises her head and asks at a higher volume, “Who is it?”

She hears a masculine voice from the other side of the door, “It’s me! Hitch! I brought Sunny along with me, but I don’t know where Zipp and Pipp are!”

Izzy looks down at the filly, “Looks like we might be starting early!” she eyes her intently, “You ready?”

Twinkle gulps, “Oh golly!”

(To be continued…)

Author's Note:

*This is symbolic of her trying to become another filly. She’s casting off her old identity in this scene.

**Twinkle Shine really doesn’t mean to be cute or adorable. She simply “is” as she goes about her daily life.

Comments

[AllenVth]

Izzy and Twinkle are best friends now. Cozy wanted her to get more friends, and Twinkle will, but for good reasons.

And Cozy is getting real mad, and probably desperate that she can't influence her new self more directly, as Izzy's huge(?) are keeping her at bay like a bad nightmare.