Sunday, September 6, 2015

2015
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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): You'll become closer to someone you care about today, but that closeness will come with a price.

Morning

I'm still tired from last night.

At breakfast, Rarity informs me that she'll have my shirts ready by the end of the day, and if I have any extra clothes I want worked on, she'll still have time to do some of them before Tuesday. I tell her I'll look and see. I have to do laundry first...

Rarity and Pinkie both ask me how I hurt my arm. Twilight seems to be upset that I'm just sidestepping the issue.

There's a new message on my phone.

A better weapon, huh? Sure, I can go for that. I reply, then round up my dirty clothes and head for the washing machines.

Daytime

I decide to read in the lounge while my clothes are washing. Twilight is also in the lounge reading. She's dressed pretty much the same way she was the day I first met her. "Are you ever going to tell me how you hurt yourself last night?" she asks.

"I told you, I just got cut on something," I say. "Accidents happen."

She frowns. "How did you manage to get it bandaged before you came home? You weren't gone long enough to have gone to the emergency room...or even a pharmacy..."

Okay, Twilight, enough is enough.

I think back to last night. The key to battle is to find the enemy's weak point and exploit it. I look at Twilight.

Attack the enemy's weak point...

With a smirk, I get up from my chair and walk over to Twilight. She looks up at me uncertainly.

I crouch down in front of her...and tickle her bare feet.

"H-hey...? Eek!" She squirms, pulling her feet away from me. "C-cut it out!"

I lean in closer and start tickling her belly. She wriggles around, flailing her arms and laughing. "S-stop...! Heheheh...Flash, knock it off!"

After countless seconds of tickle torture, I back off, flopping down next to her. She smooths out her shirt and tosses her hair. "What the heck was that all about?" she asks.

"I can't help it. I see cute bare feet, I want to tickle them."

Twilight lets out an adorable little squeaking noise and whaps me with her book. "Weirdo," she says.

Pinkie comes downstairs, and she looks upset. "Twilight! You've gotta see this!" She's brandishing her phone at us.

"What's up, Pinkie?"

Pinkie holds her phone in front of Twilight. I lean in to look.

It's a video of Twilight at McBurger. It's been dubbed over with pig noises.

Twilight turns pale.

I'm disgusted and angry. "That's sick." I look up at Pinkie. "Who posted this?"

"No idea. It was posted anonymously." Pinkie frowns. "But I'm guessing it was Sunset Shimmer or one of her stooges."

Twilight buries her face in her hands. "Oh God..."

I gently pull Twilight to her feet and wrap my arms around her. "Shh...it's alright." I guide her over to the couch and sit with her for a while, consoling her.

Shining Armor walks in. He spots us and frowns. "What's going on?"

"Someone posted a...very wrong video of Twilight online," I say. "She's really upset."

Shining's expression changes to one of concern and anger. "What kind of video?"

It doesn't take me long to find the video with my own phone. I show it to him. He snarls. "What the hell?"

Twilight buries her face in my shoulder.

"We're pretty sure it was Sunset Shimmer," I say. "She's been bothering Twilight for a long time now. Either she did it herself, or got one of those two guys she hangs out with to do it for her."

Shining frowns. "Snips and Snails? Yeah...I don't like those two. I'll...I'll lean on them Tuesday in gym class." He sighs. "Thanks for telling me about this. And..." He looks away awkwardly. "Thanks for...for being here for Twiley."

After Shining leaves, Twilight looks up at me, sniffling. She wipes her nose with the back of her hand. Her eyes are red and puffy. "Th...thank you," she says.

"You don't need to thank me," I say. "I care about you."

Evening

The mood at dinner is subdued. Twilight is still upset about the video. Rarity has to take Pinkie's phone away from her to keep her from refreshing the view count.

This has to stop before it gets any worse.

"Okay everyone, into the lounge," I say once the dishes are cleared away. "Especially you, Twilight."

"What's up, Flash?" Pinkie asks. Twilight looks at me curiously.

I herd everyone into the lounge, then load up the funniest movie I can find on our streaming service.

After twenty minutes, we're all laughing. Twilight has cheered up considerably. She's sitting next to me on the couch, leaning against me.

"Thanks, Flash," she says. "I...I needed this."

"So you're feeling better?"

She sighs. "I'm still upset over what happened," she says. "And...and on Tuesday, I'm going to have to put up with a lot of teasing at school. But...I know I can count on my friends to help me." She smiles at me.

Later, as I'm getting ready for bed, Shining Armor walks into my room. "Hey Coach," I say.

He leans against the door frame. "I just want to know...is something going on between you and my sister?"

I shrug. "We're friends," I say. "But I want to be more. I really like her."

He nods. "I kinda thought so." He squares his shoulders. "Just...watch yourself around her, alright? If I find out you—"

A pink hand lands on his shoulder. "That's enough of that." Cadance pokes her head over his shoulder and smiles at me. "You can trust Flash. And you should trust Twilight."

Shining sighs. "Yeah. You're right." He turns and leaves. Cadance shakes her head at his back, then looks at me.

"Don't pay any attention to him. That's just what big brothers do." In a quieter voice, she adds, "I heard about what happened. Is she okay?"

"She will be."

Cadance sighs. "Celestia can't possibly ignore this."

"We can't prove Sunset Shimmer had anything to do with this," I point out.

"Yeah..." She looks down. "Well...goodnight."

I have a lot on my mind. It takes a while to get to sleep.