The Peculiar Tale of Twinkle Shine

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 9: Reparations

Twilight looks down at the filly, “Well, because I never knew why you did what you did, Twinkle…” she takes a deep breath through her mouth, “I never knew why you were evil…”

Twinkle looks up at the alicorn and asks, “How long?”

Twilight starts, “What?”

Twinkle narrows her eyes, “How long was it between the time you died, and the time I was unfrozen…” she eyes the princess carefully, “How long did you wait for me?”

Twilight blinks, “Something like, six hundred years?” and frowns.

Twinkle widens her eyes, “Six hundred years?”

Twilight sighs and nods, “Yes…”

Twinkle frowns, “So, you were with me and watching over my statue that whole time?”

“Yes…” Twilight repeats herself before blinking…

Twinkle nods, “Okay, so what unfroze me?”

Twilight blinks, “I don’t know…”

Twinkle shakes her head, “Wait! What do you mean, you don’t know!?”

“I mean just that, Twinkle Shine… I don’t know what unfroze you…”

Twinkle widens her eyes as she smiles psychotically, “GREAT!” she looks down and sighs before looking back up at the princess, “FANTASTIC!”

Twilight stares down at the filly, “Uh, I’m sorry, but I really have no idea!” she sighs and finally asks, “What took you so long to come back here, anyway?”

Twinkle corrects her mouth, “Well, apparently it’s either you or that evil filly…” she leans forward and widens her eyes, “You know, I went back there last night!” she shakes her head and narrows her mouth, “Didn’t work out so great!”

Twilight lowers her gaze, “Surely, you know who Cozy Glow actually is, right?”

Twinkle blinks as she starts and raises her neck, “Of course!”

“And she is?” Twilight asks the filly…

Twinkle stares up at the alicorn, “She’s uh, another version of me!”

Twilight smiles as she giggles slightly, “Yes Twinkle, but what parts?”

Twinkle grins in quiet irritation as she keeps her brown eyes open, “Part of me that needs to just go away, obviously!”

Twilight sighs deeply and frowns at the filly, “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to tell you this…”

Twinkle blinks, “You don’t have to!”

Twilight shakes her head and starts, “W-what?”

Twinkle nods, “You heard me! I don’t want to know why Cozy is here… I don’t need to… That’s in my past now and I just want to continue my life…”

Twilight frowns again, “Are you sure that’s wise?”

Twinkle widens her eyes to the alicorn, “Well, thinking about it only makes me sad, right?”

Twilight lowers her gaze, “That’s true!”

Twinkle nods, “Right! And whatever it is, is over and done now, right? So uh, will any amount of thinking on it change a thing?”

Twilight breaths in and out through her nose, “Well, no. No, it won’t…”

Twinkle nods again, “So, surely you see my point, right?” she leans forward and glares sternly, “I don’t need to know!” she blinks, “Also, weren’t you the one who told me to just forget, in the first place?”

Twilight raises her neck, “I did! Well, at first!” she lowers her gaze, “But now that I see that Cozy Glow is bothering you, I’m starting to think that we need to look at something here?”

Twinkle widens her eyes, “You don’t really know a lot about psychology, huh?”

At this point, Twilight grins slightly while attempting in vain to suppress a snicker, “Alright, you caught me! I actually have no idea what I’m doing!” she composes herself while stammering, “But, I really do want to help you, I swear!”

Twinkle nods, “And the historical record would suggest that you’re not lying!”

Twilight widens her eyes, “Why would I lie to you at this point, Twinkle Shine?”

Twinkle lowers her gaze and smirks on the right side of her mouth, “Well, the other one is obviously lying to me… Why would you be any different?”

Twilight widens her eyes, “I-I protected you for six hundred years!”

Twinkle stares up at the alicorn, “No! You only say you protected me for six hundred years, but I have no way of knowing if that’s true or not!” she fluffs her wings, “I mean, you could be lying, just like the other one, for all I know!”

Twilight lowers her gaze seriously, “Twinkle Shine, I meant what I said… After everything, I really do want to help you!”

“And another thing!” Twinkle bellows out, “If you were really so concerned about me and why I did what I did, why in Equestria didn’t you unfreeze me sooner and just ask me?”

Twilight gulps, “Well, there were political reasons… I mean, I couldn’t just unfreeze you, you know?”

Twinkle raises her neck and frowns with her eyes solidly on the princess, “That’s bullshit, and you know it, princess!”

Twilight blinks… “Y-your right Twinkle Shine… It is a load of crap…” she sighs and looks wistfully to the lower right before adjusting her eyes back to the filly, “I was scared… And I didn’t want to know what I’d find… But now…” Twilight blinks, “Now after all this time, I’m starting to believe that I should’ve done better…”

Twinkle leans forward, “Yeah, I mean! Geez! Two thousand years!” she corrects her neck and stares at the princess, “So, you’re serious, huh? You have no idea what unfroze me?”

Twilight sighs and shakes her head, “I have no clue Twinkle Shine… I’m sorry…”

<*****>

“AAAAAAAHHH!!!!!” Twinkle’s body jerks as she screams in the unicorn’s forelegs!

“AAAAAHHH!!!” Izzy wakes up with a start as the pegasus freaks out!

Twinkle starts breathing heavily in and out through her mouth, as Izzy tightens her grip on the filly to hold her tighter.

“Are you okay, Twinkle?” Izzy frantically asks.

“I-I met Princess Twilight again! Uh,” Twinkle blinks, “she said she doesn’t know what unfroze me… But uh, “she blinks again, “I think I know why my statue survived, while the two others didn’t!”

“Oh?” Izzy asks inquisitively while loosening her grip on the filly, so Twinkle begins to breathe easier…

“Ugh! Thanks Miss Izzy!” Twinkle exclaims while jittering. “Anyway, apparently Princess Twilight was watching over my statue somehow after she died…” Twinkle blinks, “Yeah, the other two statues didn’t make it, but mine was protected!” she nods, “And the funny thing is, I can’t even remember why!” she widens her eyes and chuckles ironically.

“Wait, so Twilight was protecting you?”

Twinkle blinks as she smiles, “Golly yeah! But like I already said, she has no idea what woke me up out of stone!”

Izzy nods, “Okay baby! Uh, you wanna smoke a joint now?”

Twinkle widens her eyes, “Golly yes! A doobie would be really nice! And I’ll make us some cinnamon oatmeal!”

Izzy frowns, “Um, I don’t have any cinnamon!”

Twinkle giggles slightly, “Actually, you do! Uh, remember when you were at the market the other day?”

Izzy looks down at the filly, still held there in her forelegs “Yes?”

Twinkle smiles, “You know, you’re not very observant! Putting stuff in your cart that I wanna buy is pretty easy!”

<*****>

The king-joint floats over the table to Twinkle who grasps it in mid-air with her right forehoof and brings it to her mouth to take a draw and make the cherry glow. She soon exhales out the right of her mouth, “You know, you’re a unicorn! We could smoke pipes pretty easily, too!”

Izzy smiles and chuckles from the head of the table, “Well, right!”

Twinkle smiles and narrows her eyes to inhale and taste the earthy tones of the devil weed, rolling down her throat… She purses on the joint before removing it from her mouth with her right forehoof while pooching out her cheeks, until she eventually exhales smoke between the two ponies again and raises her hoof to signal the unicorn. “Anyway, what were you doing today, Izzy?”

Izzy floats the joint towards her face while turning it around in the air, “You wouldn’t believe me, if I told you, Twinkle Shine!”

Twinkle raises her right eyebrow, “Oh golly! Do tell?”

The joint floats into Izzy’s mouth as she says, “I’m making something!” and then, closing her lips around the tip to draw and make the cherry glow bright red.

Twinkle smiles and giggles slightly, “Lemme guess! Another birdhouse, huh?”

Izzy exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth, “Nope! This one wants a sundial!” and then purses her lips to inhale again from the tip.

“Oh wow!”

Izzy grins as she exhales out the left, “Yeah, but that also means I need a special tool from the craft shop! I was wondering if you wanted to go for curly fries and milkshakes with me?”

Twinkle smiles and nods excitedly so her flowing wavy bangs bounce back and forth, “That sounds yummy, Miss Izzy!”

Izzy inhales again to make the end glow.

Twinkle frowns, “I just keep thinking about it, though? I mean, what could’ve unfroze me?”

Izzy floats the joint over to Twinkle, sitting at her usual chair on Izzy’s left before exhaling smoke to the right and looking down at the filly, now collecting the joint with her right forehoof, “I’m not sure?” she frowns, “I wonder if Cozy Glow’s appearance in your dreams has anything to do with it?”

Twinkle stares up at the unicorn and says, “Oh! Like, the schism that is represented by Cozy Glow’s appearance somehow enabled magic to overtake and reanimate me? That’s an interesting theory Izzy, but you know, you still need an external source of magic for that!” before taking a drag of the joint held in her hoof.

Izzy widens her eyes and scrunches her mouth, “W-what?”

Twinkle giggles while exhaling smoke, “Well, Cozy Glow represents something else inside me, that I would rather not acknowledge. Since she arrived, that naturally creates rift or vortex which will suck in emotional type magic!” she nods, “And so, the question remains! What magic did I suck up that reanimated me?”

Izzy frowns and blinks as her mind tries to comprehend everything this filly just said to her. “Um, I don’t know?”

Twinkle widens her eyes, “Well golly gee! That makes two of us, huh?” before moving her hoof back to her lips for another drag…

Izzy can only stare at this filly and attempt to process all of the information that she just said, before finally stammering out, “Well, what about when Sunny got magic back for all of Equestria? Would that do the job, or?” before lifting her chin and floating the joint from the filly’s outstretched hoof.

Twinkle exhales smoke between the ponies as the unicorn takes a drag from the floating roach, “I dunno? Maybe?” she blinks, “I mean, you just got magic back after all this time, huh? I don’t think there’s any powerful wizards around that we can ask, is there?” before bringing her hoof to her mouth for a last drag as the cherry glows and smoke seeps out from the burning end of the joint. Izzy exhales, before inhaling from the burning joint again.

Izzy sees the burning nub in her mouth where she takes a final drag to burn off the nub and cause a small amount of ash to fall from the burnt tip left in her mouth. Her eyes dart to the burnt-out cardboard piece in her mouth before she smiles and says, “Cashed!” out of the left side.

“Yup!” Twinkle happily chimes. Her eyes narrow, “But you know, it’s important to note that this is all just one theory of what actually happened…” she widens her eyes, “It’s not necessarily the right one!”

Izzy widens her eyes again, “Yeah! Hey! Too bad there’s not a powerful wizard around that we can ask, right?” before raising her eyebrows.

Twinkle smiles and giggles, “Right!” she normalizes her face, “But you know, I think we might be hosed on this one?” before looking up at Izzy with wide eyes.

Izzy looks down at the filly and frowns, “Well, you’re probably right? I uh, “she blinks and sighs, “I’m sorry Twinkle Shine…”

Twinkle smiles up to the unicorn, “Actually, that’s okay Izzy…”

Izzy widens her eyes, “What?”

Twinkle lowers her gaze and takes a deep breath in and out through her nose, “Because it really doesn’t matter…”

Izzy looks down and then raises her gaze back to the filly, “What do you mean?”

Twinkle widens her eyes to Izzy, “Well, golly! I finally get it now, Izzy!” she blinks and stares up to Izzy again, “It’s not about finding out what happened!”

Izzy grimaces deeper than ever as she stares wide-eyed at this preposterous filly, “It’s not?”

Twinkle smiles and shakes her head causing her mane to bounce off her shoulders, “Nope!” she leans forward slightly and widens her eyes, “Think about it! Even if we did know, what difference would it make now?” She chuckles, “I think picking up the pieces is really all about taking what’s right in front of you, huh?” she smiles brighter, “Things like my wonderful Izzy…”

Izzy narrows her eyes and smiles dimly, “Now who’s sappy?”

Twinkle gives a wide-eyed start, “Hey! You started it!”

Izzy smiles wider and giggles, “Did not!”

Twinkle happily giggle-snorts again!

Izzy smiles down at the filly, “So, you ready for curly fries and chocolate milkshakes?”

Twinkle stares up at Izzy blankly while frowning, “It’s nine in the morning?”

Izzy frowns, “So?”

<*****>

The pink filly waddles into Izzy’s living room after her door glows blue and opens, swinging to the left on the inside. She sits on the couch on her haunches, burps, and says, “Oh golly, Miss Izzy! I sure am full!” while the light purple unicorn with the wavy blue mane trots in behind her.

Izzy looks to her right to mentally shut the door and then trots to her red EZ-chair in the room, opposite the door and to the right of the sofa, where Twinkle is. She sits on her haunches there, belches, and says, “Whoa! Excuse me!” before sticking her tongue out.

Twinkle smiles and giggles, “So uh, what do you wanna do now, Miss Izzy?”

Izzy looks at the filly, “Well, I needed to get busy on that sundial, now that I have the special tool I need to make it…” she smiles, “But I got a few minutes! What’s up, little one?”

Twinkle stares at Izzy wide-eyed, “I just keep thinking about Cozy Glow, you know?” she frowns, “She said I needed to gain power through friendship and I just uh, “she widens her eyes, “I don’t really want to! I’m uh, not that filly!” she frowns, “And after all this time, I guess I don’t even have to worry about why I was that filly, huh?” she smiles, “I really get a fresh start!”

And so, Izzy hugs and comforts the filly before retiring to her workroom where she begins using the tool to construct a new sundial with a wooden framework and plaster over it, while Twinkle lazily reads her mush books and sipped lemon tea.

Finally, dinnertime came, and Izzy trotted into the foyer with a smile while Twinkle sat on the sofa, “Hey Twinkle! I ordered Ponese takeout! Do you like mushu egg noodles with cheese and fried rice on the side?”

Twinkle smiles as her eyes light up, “Oh golly! That sure sounds swell! Uh, when did they say they’d be here?”

Izzy eyes the filly, “Well, I ordered about half an hour ago?” suddenly, there’s a knock on the door across from the chair, and Izzy widens her eyes at it, “Actually, that’s probably them!”

<*****>

The filly lifts the noodles using the chopsticks held in the cleft of her right forehoof to her mouth for a small, timid bite, while Izzy moves her face into her bowl and starts ravenously devouring the contents while snarling.

Twinkle giggles at the scene of the hungry unicorn, before lifting more noodles to her mouth with the chopsticks in her right hoof.

Izzy looks up from a now-empty blue bowl and says to the filly, “That was good! Making a sundial sure builds up an appetite!” she licks the top, bottom, and sides of her mouth with her tongue before breathing heavily through her mouth and sticking her tongue out. She corrects her face and looks at the filly, “So, what kind of book did you read today?”

Twinkle takes another bite of the noodles with her chopsticks, “Oh golly! I read a neat story about a mare falling in love with a wolf-stallion!” she blinks and looks onward, “Yeah, they’re normally just stallions, but they turn into big wolf creatures at nighttime if there’s a full-moon!”

Izzy widens her eyes, “Oh wow!”

Twinkle nods, “Yeah! He was really destructive and mean whenever he turned into a wolf, until he got with her! Since she gave him a reason to, he said he found something inside himself… So even when he did turn into a wolf-creature, he wouldn’t destroy things or kill livestock anymore…”

Izzy looks at the filly intently, “So, even though he knew he’d turn into the wolf-creature, he learned to control it… “she blinks, “Because his marefriend gave him a reason to?” she smiles, “That’s a neat story, Twinkle!”

Twinkle looks at Izzy, “You know, there’s a monster in all of us… But that doesn’t mean we have to let it control us…”

Izzy frowns, “You think maybe that’s who Cozy Glow is?”

Twinkle nods, “I think she’s everything bad inside me and that I just need to learn to live with her…”

Izzy blinks, “Well, that makes sense!”

Twinkle smiles dimly as she looks at Izzy, “Uh, Miss Izzy?”

Izzy smirks faintly, “Yes, Twinkle?”

Twinkle gulps, “I know it’s only about nine PM, but uh,” she widens her brown eyes and pouts slightly, “I sure would like to go to bed now?”

<*****>

Twinkle trots through the blue stone atrium once more as she tries to remember where she went.

She hears Cozy outside saying, “Oh, where is the demon child?”

Twinkle scrunches her eyes as she continues to trot forward, off to the right as the other her outside continues.

“If you listen to me, you can have everything you ever wanted!” Cozy frantically says from the outside.

Twinkle sees the light from the ramp leading outside coming up on her right and she hurries her pace to a gallop while frowning determinedly.

“We can use the power, Cozy Glow! All we need to do is talk to the right ponies!”

Twinkle starts to climb the ramp to the outside, still with the overcast clouds and the wide-open grassy field… She emerges on the plain and stops as she sees a pink filly with neatly arranged bluish-white curls for a mane staring back at her and smiling.

Cozy widens her eyes, “Power!”

Twinkle begins to trot towards Cozy…

Cozy widens her eyes, “What are you doing?”

Twinkle stops trotting about 10 feet from the other filly and looks at her as she says, “I tried confronting you…” she blinks, “I tried arguing with you… I tried ignoring you…” she widens her eyes, “I even tried to kill you!” she sighs as her eyes narrow, “But you know, you’re part of me, aren’t you?”

Cozy blinks and stares blankly as she exclaims, “Well, duh!”

“And while I don’t know or need to know exactly what created you… You’re still here, aren’t you?”

Cozy grimaces, “Are you just gonna keep pointing out the obvious?”

Twinkle smiles as she begins to trot towards the other filly again, “There’s really only one thing left to do now…”

Cozy widens her eyes as she stares at Twinkle, who’s still trotting her direction, “Uh, what are you doing?”

Twinkle suddenly embraces the curly-maned filly in a tight warm hug as her own mane falls behind her shoulders. “It’s okay Cozy… That pain is real… You’re real… But it’s almost time to go now…”

Cozy can only stand their stricken in the other filly’s embrace, “W-what are you doing?”

Twinkle disengages her hug to go back to her hooves before the other pegasus. “I’m acknowledging you Cozy Glow… You’re part of me and I accept that…” She smiles, “I understand now… “she widens her eyes and shakes her head slightly while saying, “I can’t get you to go away or kill you or ignore you…” she looks at Cozy intently, “But I can accept you… I mean, you make me do things like put stuff in Izzy’s shopping cart and steal weed, right?” she smiles, “But that doesn’t mean I have to try to take over Equestria…”

Cozy chuckles, “Wow! Well done! Uh, “she looks down to the left before back up at Twinkle, “Since you know who I am and what I like to do now, you can make sure I don’t go too far, huh?”

Twinkle nods, “Well, right!”

Cozy smiles and leans forward slightly, “But we’re still gonna do fun stuff sometimes, right?”

Twinkle blinks as she frowns at the other filly, “Well, you’re here, aren’t you?”

Cozy grins, “Oh please! You know you’d be boring without me!”

(The end…)