Filly Eyes

by Betty_Starlight

Chapter 14: Misdeeds and Follies: part 1

I stood there, holding the re-roll joint that Ace had made for me in the cleft of my right forehoof while my other three remained planted on the floor and I frowned at the teal unicorn in front of me before muttering, “My best friend is turning me into a drug addict!” and taking, yet another drag from it while narrowing my eyes at the now giggling filly.

She smiles and replies, “Oh, don’t worry about it, Twinkle! Ace is heading out to get more weed, right now! He said he’d eat and be back in a few hours!”

I breathe smoke out and stare at the other filly carefully, “And I’m smoking now, because?”

I take a drag off the joint with my right forehoof while Jessi nods and honestly replies, “Well, because I wanted you to breathe on me again, I’ll admit! But mostly, I was concerned about you!”

I breath out a big cloud of smoke onto the unicorn, “C-concerned? For me?” before bringing the joint back to my snout and eyeing this strange filly carefully, because I’m also aware that she cannot lie right now!

She frowns and looks at me carefully, “Twinkle, you’re my best friend and I love you! Why wouldn’t I be concerned when a creepy draconequus has just stolen you?”

I quickly breath smoke onto Jessi and frown at her, “Golly! I uh, you know, even after all this time, I’m still not used to that?” before bringing the burning stogie to my snout once more.

She frowns back at me, “Well, what’s it gonna take, Twinkle?”

I breathe out onto her and smile as I say, “I don’t know, Jessi? Maybe freaky curse powers will do the job?”

“Shut up!” the unicorn replies and grimaces while I snicker and take another drag to feel the warm smoke roll its way into my mouth.

I mentally count to 5 before exhaling a sizable cloud onto the unicorn and smile as I reply, “It’s like you don’t want power?”

She frowns at me with wide open eyes, “I don’t!”

I eye this other filly carefully because it occurs to me that I was once very different from her, “Uh, golly!” and then, bring my right forehoof to my mouth for one of my last drags.

“What?”

I gulp and then breathe smoke out onto her and she raises her neck to inhale it with her nostrils and smiles as I say, “Jessi, we’re very different, you know that? I mean, I tried to take over Equestria!”

She lowers her snout and stares back at me, “That was over two thousand years ago!”

I nod, “That is correct!” and bring the joint to my lips once more.

Her eyes narrow, “Don’t you think it’s time to let it go?”

I exhale smoke lowly out of my nostrils before turning my head to the table at my right and moving my forehoof to snuff the joint nub out there, and releasing it into the tray as I know I can smoke that later and then, I move my gaze back to Jessi and ask her, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that part of your life is done now, Twinkle! Does it even matter what happened all that time ago?” She raises her neck slightly. “Tell me, do you still crave power and control?”

I frown, “Uh, no not really?”

“So, do you believe you’re still that filly then? The one who tried to take over Equestria? I mean, would you try to do that now?”

I shake my head, “Well, I don’t know? I don’t think so? Uh, no not really...” and stop to stare at her.

She smiles and begins to nod, “So from these things, do you believe it’s a safe assumption that you aren’t Cozy Glow anymore?” before staring at me intently.

“Well uh, no, I guess not?” I reply before hearing a small voice somewhere in my mind say, But I am!

She smiles, “See? We aren’t so different!”

I grin back, “Yeah, but you got gnarly curse powers, now!”

“Shut up!”

Suddenly, a big purple flash of light shines where Jessi stood and her body vanishes right in front of me, before the light goes out!

I stare at this scene with wide open eyes, “Golly! So now it’s my turn to be concerned, huh?”

<*****>

I stood there, on the clear platform, amidst a starry background as I beheld vast colorful nebulae within the swirling fields of shining lights, when I hear a familiar smarmy voice say from behind me, “Hello again, Jessi Trotsky!”

I turn around to see a familiar serpentine body floating over the platform but maybe 20 feet away from me before smiling and say, “Come back for more, I see!”

He raises his right eyebrow over his misshapen receptor, “I just need to know how you’re doing? I see you don’t normally carry the source of your new power with you!”

I respond, “Your mom doesn’t carry the source of my new power with her!”

His eyes widen as his brows grow, “You don’t know anything about my mother!!!!!”

I lower my gaze, “But I know about you, Discord!”

His eyes normalize as his eyebrow raises again, “Oh?”

“Yes! I know you must desperately seek some validation or reason for your godly existence! Otherwise, you wouldn’t feel the need to test Twinkle, the way you did!”

He frowns as his face straightens, “I made a promise to the love of my life that I would protect Equestria, forever and always!”

“But protect it from what, exactly? I mean, Twinkle Shine is pretty harmless!”

His eyes widen, “That filly almost stole all the magic from Equestria and overthrew the monarchy!”

“Yeah, two thousand years ago! What does that have to do with now?”

“You don’t think she could do it again?”

It suddenly becomes apparent to me what I must say as I raise my neck and confidently reply, “As a matter of fact, Discord, no! I don’t believe Twinkle Shine would do that!”

His gaze lowers as he eyes me carefully, “You’re sticking up for your friend! I see you’re learning about friendship!”

I smile, “Yes, Discord! Twinkle gave that to me, and I don’t believe she’s evil!”

He points his eagle talon at me, “But how could you be so sure?”

“How can we be so sure your mom won’t try to take over Equestria?”

He brings his lion paw to his forehead while closing his eyes and lowering his head in irritation, “Oh, would you please just shut up about my mother?”

My brow furrows as my frown hardens, “My point is, anypony could be a potential threat! But why single out Twinkle Shine?”

He lowers his paw and opens his eyes to stare up at me, “But she’s already done that!” and points at me with his eagle talon again. “We don’t know if she’s safe!”

My mouth straightens as another realization comes into my mind, “Actually, no Discord! Twinkle Shine never did those things! That was Cozy Glow!”

His brow furrows as his face and talon lower and shouts, “She is Cozy Glow, you dolt!”

I widen my eyes, “No, she’s not! Her name is Twinkle Shine! And she’s one of the most caring and compassionate fillies I know!”

Suddenly, I’m once again enveloped in blue light and I behold a pink pegasus filly laying in her bed on her stomach, with her head on the pillow and the blankets strewn on the other end.

She raises her head and mumbles something incomprehensible and I raise my neck while widening my eyes to say, “Uh, Twinkle! Are you okay?”

She mutters in reply, “Discord took you, was worried, I smoke now!”

“Uh, I think you’ve had enough?” I raise my gaze at the other filly before mentally forcing the blue blankets to glow an azure color and raise over the bed to cover up the other filly. “That’s okay, Twinkle! You just rest! Don’t give it another thought! Just let Jessi take care of everything!”

<*****>

"Golly!" I hear the wind howl my call as I stare out onto the vast open grasslands before me within the swirling lights…

"GOLLY!" The wind cries louder as I turn to behold a familiar dark alicorn standing there and smiling at me as her cerulean mane dances off to her left.

GOLLY! The wind now cries as a deafening volume and I can’t help but flinch as the alicorn continues to smile down at me from maybe 8 feet away.

I widen my eyes and finally ask out loud, “What in Equestria is that?”

She giggles and replies, “That’s you, Twinkle Shine! Or rather, it was you, once upon a time…”

“Why is it still here, then?”

“Because Twinkle, all aspects of yourself can be hidden, but they’re always there, if not but dormant…”

I furrow my brows, “Okay, it’s Cozy Glow! Well, somewhere?”

She nods, “Indeed! You no doubt know what she wants, yes?”

My brows normalize, “To use Jessi’s newfound power to do bad things?”

Her eyes narrow, “You are very astute!”

I smile faintly, “Well, that’s what I would do if I were an evil filly Tartarus-bent on dominating Equestria!”

“Truly, thou art no ordinary filly!”

My eyes widen as I frown, “Oh gee, you think Luna? I mean, golly! I only tried to take over Equestria twice and ended up frozen in stone for two thousand years! And I woke up later with bucking amnesia! That’s kinda unique, don’t you think?”

Her gaze lowers, “That’s not what I mean!”

I raise my voice and neck, “And just what do you mean, Princess?”

She frowns, “I mean that thou art intelligent… Thou could do so much good for ponykind!”

I frown myself, “Well, maybe? But first, I have to get rid of that pesky Discord!”

She smiles faintly, “Well, yes! That is why I am here!”

My eyes widen, “Oh? Well, then get on with it! What did you have to tell me?”

“You need to know that he need not be your enemy. He actually does have your best interests in mind!”

My eyes widen, “Could’ve fooled me!”

She smiles wider, “Well, of course!”

I normalize my eyes and stare intently at her, “I want to know something, Princess! How is it his place to do these things, huh? Why does he get to test me and my friend like this?”

“It’s really not, but he wants to help you!”

My brow furrows and I shout angrily, “I don’t want or need his help!”

She sighs and gazes longingly to the right, “Well, thou art likely correct!” before back at me. “But you have it, nonetheless!”

I close my eyes into a cringe, “UGH!”

“Listen!”

I open my eyes at the frowning princess.

“You must know that I hold absolute power in the realm of dreams, but Discord does not sleep!”

I lower my gaze, “So what good are you, then?”

Her frown hardens, “But, he can be lulled to sleep!”

I give a startled expression while raising my neck, “Well, okay, by golly! Now we’re getting somewhere!”

She nods, “Yes, but you need to pay close attention!”

<*****>

I take the joint out of my beak with my right claw and breath smoke onto the green filly, sitting on her haunches on the floor in front of me, and say to her, “I don’t know, man? I just never really thought that life had to be that complicated, you know? Just do what I have to do, get paid, buy some herb, and chill! What else does there have to be?”

She raises her neck to inhale the smoke with her nostrils, before staring back at me with her orange eyes, “Well, yeah! I see your point Ace, but now I have power!”

I blink, “Well uh, supposedly you do, right? Have you tried to actually use this power, though?” before taking another drag to taste the earthy smoke rolling into my mouth.”

She frowns, “Well, no, not really. I brought the staff here, though! Sunny wanted to hang onto it, but I can’t go too far from it, or I’m stopped!”

I breathe out onto her again, “What do you mean, stopped?”

She nods, “Well, it’s like an invisible wall is there outside of Maretime Bay and if I go too far without the staff, I just can’t go any further! I smacked into it with my snout! Kinda hurt…”

“That is a bummer! So you gotta take it with you then?” I say before taking another drag.

“Well, right! And Sunny and Izzy already agreed with Discord on the loose like this, me and Twinkle would do better if we stick together.”

I nod, “That makes sense, man!” before bringing my claw to my beak again.

She finally asks me, “Uh, what is this man you speak of? Why do you call everypony that?”

I breathe smoke onto her and reply, “I don’t know? I guess I just picked it up from somewhere?”

Her eyes widen, “But where? I mean, man! What does that word even mean? Where would you pick something like that up?”

I widen my eyes, “Well, I don’t remember?” I giggle slightly, “Life’s just full of mysteries, right man?” before taking another drag of the half-joint held in my claw.

Her eyes narrow as she stares back at me and sighs, “You make my head hurt, Ace!”

I breathe out onto her again, “Sure you wouldn’t rather just smoke directly? I mean, you’re still getting high, either way!”

Her eyes widen, “No! This is uh, better! Yes!”

I nod, “Suit yourself, man!” before looking over to the right at the table by Twinkle’s bed and snuffing the nub out there with my claw. I turn my neck back to the filly, “But the offer’s on the table, if you wanna pick it up!”

Her eyes normalize and she smiles at me, “Okay, Ace! Uh, thanks!”

“Ugh!” We both hear a groaning coming from the bed and I turn my neck right and raise my gaze over the table to witness a stirring pink pegasus filly underneath the covers who until that moment, was snuggling a purple unicorn plushie with a blue mane and tail. She looks up at me while on her left side with her head still on the pillow. “How long was I out?”

Jessi turns her neck to the other filly and raises it, “Uh, about five hours!”

She shakes her head as her wavy mane falls down over her face and stares at Jessi intently with her brown eyes from underneath, “I know how to defeat Discord, now! But you have to listen to me carefully!”

I nod and smile, “Well, right on, man! Hey, after you talk to Jessi, you should smoke with me! I got some killer chronic from my guy, this time!”

Her eyes widen as she raises her sideways neck to look at me, still sitting there in the wooden chair with my wings out to the sides, “Uh, are you sure I should be smoking right now?”

I lower my gaze and smile, “Come on, Twinkle Shine! Let's blaze!”

She gulps, “Well, you drive a hard bargain, Ace! But I need to explain this to Jessi now!”

I widen my eyes, “Well, that’s cool man, cause it’s gonna take me a few minutes to roll another doober anyway!”

(To be continued...)