Opaline

by WhiteSails

Opaline Chapter 8

It had been a few moons since the sudden unexpected rise of disharmony in Equestria. Ponies of all types had shown higher levels of aggression and hostility than ever before. Unicorns ran around angering Pegasi and Earth ponies to the point where the other two groups began lashing back causing a seemingly endless cycle of hatred and paranoia. Twilight seemed to slowly be watching the crumbling of everything she and her friends had worked for fall all around her. And it hurt her, it wasn’t the first time that she had dealt with something like this. Far from it to be exact. But she dreaded the idea that in almost what seemed like, an instant ponies could simply give up on unity and pave the way for hatred. It was baffling even to her how fast division could spread. Ponies who now would have grown up with her in power could so easily cast her message aside. They hadn't been alive at the time; she was a unicorn to see her and her friend's accomplishments. They had learned and heard about them sure. But had never been around to truly feel their impact. Twilight and her friends had tried desperately to show the ponies of Equestria that she and her group of friends had hailed from all three groups of ponies and that the differences between them had never gotten in the way of their friendships. They would host events, try to help bring different aspects of pony culture together, arrange state-funded trips and relocations allowing ponies to move wherever they pleased, and teach acceptance. But ponies didn't seem to care about this. "That is your friendship, not ours!” they would say in response. Twilight knew once ponies heard something that was either in favor of them or against them it was extremely hard to change their ideas.

Twilight had been perplexed by this sudden influx of hatred it had seeming come from nowhere. Every pony had seemed fine just a few moons before. But then suddenly, they became hostile toward one another. She would spend her nights trying to understand how this could happen. Seeing herself as the only pony that could solve this issue. She had come up with many different theories and possibilities on how it could have started. Was it all by a group of disgruntled ponies unhappy with the current state of Equestria? Could it be a result of a planned attack by enemies of Equestria? Or could it have all originated from a simple misunderstanding? The possibilities seemed endless when it came to a difficult factor like this. When She would be trying to figure out the origin of this disharmony and how its influence was impacting Equestria. One small idea had popped into her head amongst hundreds of others. One that she could seemingly not get rid of no matter how hard she tried. And as more days and nights passed on. This small idea in Twilight's head began to grow louder and louder as if it were some kind of beast Trying desperately trying to get her attention. Could it be that maybe Opaline had something to do with the sudden rise of disharmony in Equestria?

Twilight would cringe at this idea; she would continually try to rule it out. But it just seemed to keep returning to her mind. It had been only recently that Opaline had run away from the princess. Twilight was still trying to cope with the actions and the disappearance of her student. She remembered it so vividly. She remembered how the young pony looked at her. How her Eyes had burned with hatred and anger. It was something Twilight had never seen before, and it scared her. And Opaline’s assault on the princess was something Twilight could have never imagined her student doing. It was as though she was a completely different pony.

The Idea of Opaline would constantly come up in her head even at the most random and unpredictable of times. Twilight would rethink their last encounter repeatedly. trying to figure out if there could have been anything different, she could have done in the situation. Twilight’s feelings jumbled together making it hard to come to a simple conclusion. Had she failed Opaline as a teacher? Had Opaline failed her as a student? This battle in her head would weigh heavily on her conscience. Twilight hadn't even had the heart to tell her Friends, her closest allies, and her family about what had happened between her and Opaline. And she hated it, she hated the fact that she was lying to her friends. Opaline had just left so quickly, she had left before Twilight could even know if it would be the last time, she might see her. She had spent most of her years as the princess of Equestria with Opaline. Opaline couldn’t do that Twilight would tell herself. Opaline was not the type of pony to do something like this she'd say again and again. Trying desperately to Hold onto the version of Opaline that she had met when the pony was just a filly. But the idea just kept eating away at her. Eventually Twilight could no longer take it and the idea manifested inside her head to the extent that it was all-consuming.

Twilight had known Opaline to possess quite a powerful silver tongue. Being able to get ponies to believe in certain things and even lie to get her way. Thinking of the times she had found out about Opaline's actions at the Ponyville market, or the numerous “friends” Opaline would claim to make only for it to just turn out as ponies Opaline had misled in an attempt to prove herself to the princess. Other times Opaline would talk Higley of unicorns to Twilight and the effect that unicorns had on Equestria. Twilight would constantly remind her student that it wasn’t just unicorns that played an important part in keeping Equestria stable. This always seemingly struck an accord within the young pony.

When Twilight would go to areas of Equestria showing the highest levels of disharmony. Angry unicorns would seem to focus on her in particular. She would hear rumors and whispers from unicorns about her. Things like the idea that she was trying too hard to force her ideology on Equestria. Seeing her as too detached from the problems of normal ponies. Twilight had hoped that her presence could simply be enough to help restore harmony. And she also hoped that with her experience of at one point in time of being a unicorn she could help ease tension in the group of ponies. They would seemingly just get more and more upset the longer she would stay there. Twilight seemingly would return back to Canterlot with even more questions than answers to what exactly was going on. As Twilight continued her research, she would eventually learn that apparently, the beginning of disharmony seemed to have all started with the assault of an Earth pony by a unicorn. Twilight was instantly struck by this fact. She wanted to believe that it had nothing to do with her former student and it had been another unicorn that had done it, still trying on to hold on to the smallest bit of hope for Opaline. Any pony could hurt some pony like that she’d think.

Then One day Fluttershy had come to her bruised and battered seemingly attacked for no other reason than her not being a unicorn. Twilight was instantly concerned by the state of her Friend. How could anypony do something like this to such a kind soul as Fluttershy? But what frightened Twilight for the safety of her friend was not just the fact, that the element that was meant to display kindness had been attacked by hate. But who had attacked her, when Twilight asked Fluttershy to describe her attacker she was then frightened to her very core by the pony's response. Twilight Had no reason to doubt Fluttershy even though she desperately wanted to find one. She had to face the fact that it was indeed most likely her former student. It was Opaline that had attacked her. Twilight was now snapped to the gravity of the situation.

Twilight would then try on multiple occasions to capture and put a stop to Opaline before she could do any more harm. But it seemed like now the Princess had met her match not from a threat coming from outside but from one that had come from within. Twilight had sent guards to capture Opaline in any location she had been thought to have been spotted at. But she always seemed to allude to capture. When this didn't work Twilight, herself went after her former student but once again Opaline always seemed one step ahead of the princess. Opaline had proven herself a very smart pony. She had spent her whole life studying Twilight and her friends, so it made sense why she was able to evade them.

Of course, some might ask Twilight if she was the bearer of the element of magic why couldn’t she do something like simply teleport to her and get her that way? But once again Opaline had her former teacher in checkmate. For Twilight to teleport to a pony they must be giving off a weak magical aura, but Twilight knew that with Opaline's lack of magic, this simple factor helped aid Opaline in remaining uncaptured by the princess. And Opaline was free to roam all over Equestria appearing in one area for a few days to spread her horrific ideas and say things that ponies wanted to hear only to disappear before facing the consequences for her actions.