Friday, September 25, 2015

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Cherish every precious second of your day today. You don't know how lucky you are to be alive.

Early Morning

I haven't slept a wink all night. It's four in the morning. My door opens.

It's Cadance.

"Hey," I say.

"Oh good, you're awake." Cadance frowns. "I thought you probably would be. Couldn't sleep?"

I shake my head.

"I think Twilight's awake too," Cadance says. "I saw a light on in her room."

I get up. "Let's go check on her."

We head down to Twilight's room. Cadance quietly opens the door and peeks in. "Twilight? Can we come in?"

"Yes," Twilight says from inside.

We walk in. Twilight is sitting up in bed, her bookpad in hand. She looks up at us and smiles. "Hey Cadance, hey Flash."

In the basket at the foot of her bed, Spike pokes his head up, looks at us, then puts his head back under his tail and goes back to sleep.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

Twilight sighs. "Tired," she says. "But I can't sleep. I just...what happened last night was too..."

Cadance sits on the foot of Twilight's bed. I pull up Twilight's desk chair.

Twilight looks at me, then at Cadance. "What was all that last night?"

Cadance explains Zodiac, the Shadows, and Persona. I pitch in a few things I've seen. When we're done, Twilight looks thoughtful, upset, and afraid.

"So...that thing...it was there to kill me?"

"Yes," Cadance says. "I'm sorry, Twilight."

Twilight shudders. "Why would...why me?"

"I used to think it was just random...the past victims didn't seem to have any connection with each other," Cadance says. "But last night...was different."

"There's someone or something at work here," I say. "When...when we got pulled into Zodiac last night, I saw messages that were...directed at me rather than about me. There's..." I take a breath. "Whatever's going on, whoever or whatever's controlling the Shadows...it knows about me and Cadance, it knows we've survived being hunted. That's...that's why it went after you."

Twilight looks down at her lap. "But...who would want...?"

"I've been thinking about that myself," I say. "I have a hunch, but..." I shake my head. "It's...I could just be projecting. I don't see how it could be..."

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight suggests.

"Yeah," I say. "I know, it's stupid, right?"

Twilight shakes her head. "It's not very likely, but I can understand why you'd think that. Especially after what she said to us at the party."

Cadance frowns. "I know Sunset Shimmer hasn't been..." She shakes her head. "We shouldn't accuse anyone of trying to kill us without solid evidence. Especially since there's no way we can prove it."

Cadance is right. We have to find evidence if we're going to find out who tried to kill us.

Twilight sighs. "So...when you were in the hospital for three days, that was because of this Zodiac stuff?"

I nod.

She looks thoughtful. "And...that night you went for a walk, and then came home injured?"

"Yeah," I say. "Cadance and I went to the school so we could go into Zodiac and train." I pause, then add, "That morning we went to run errands together, we also went to Zodiac."

Twilight nods. "Alright, that clears up a few things I'd been wondering about." She pauses. "And that night you were gone so long taking out the trash?"

Cadance and I share a look. "Uhh..."

Cadance sighs. "No, we didn't..." She shakes her head. "I had a fight with Shiny that night, and I needed somebody to vent to. I ran into Flash outside..."

"Oh." Twilight nods. She frowns. "You had a fight with my brother?"

Cadance shifts uncomfortably.

"Just tell her," I say. "Hell, you told me."

"Yeah, but you're not my husband's sister," Cadance says.

"Cadance? Please..." Twilight looks upset. "Please...trust me?"

Cadance sighs. "Shiny doesn't..." She frowns. "I mean, he hasn't..." She wrings her hands.

She's never going to spit it out.

"He hasn't made love to her in weeks," I say.

"Yeah, that," Cadance says.

Twilight turns red. "Oh." She frowns. "Well that...sucks?"

Cadance stands up. "We'll talk some more later," she says. "You need to get some rest now. I'll excuse you from school today." She looks at me. "I know you probably want to stay here today and look after her, but..."

"No, I'll go to school today," I say. "As long as Twilight promises to stay in bed and rest."

Twilight yawns suddenly. "I uhh...don't think that'll be a problem," she says sleepily.

A little while later, after a shower, a shave, and a change of clothes, I head downstairs. Pinkie's already en route to the kitchen. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?" she asks.

"Not really."

"I'm not surprised," she says. She frowns at me. "What really happened to Twilight?"

"She fainted," I say. "Like Nurse Cadance said, it's a period thing."

Pinkie makes a face. "Yeah, I'm not totally buying that, even if Nurse Cadance says so," she says. She shrugs. "Oh well. It's just...really funny that you and Twilight both ended up passed out on your birthday." With that, she heads into the kitchen to start breakfast.

Unfortunately, Pinkie isn't the only one who thinks it's strange Twilight and I both collapsed on our birthdays. Rarity in particular has a singularly unpleasant take on it.

"Flash, dear," Rarity says as she presses some scrambled eggs onto a piece of toast, "is Twilight pregnant?"

I nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee. "Dammit, Rarity! No! We're not—we haven't—!"

"I was just curious," Rarity says.

"Umm...she had her period," Pinkie says. "I was there."

"Ew," Applejack says, making a face.

"You know what I mean!"

"Not usually."

After breakfast, I take a plate of food and a glass of juice up to Twilight, then walk Spike alone. It takes forever for him to get around to doing his business; he keeps sniffing me, then looking back at the dorm and whimpering.

When I take him back upstairs, Twilight is still eating, much more slowly than usual. "I'll come straight home after classes," I say.

Twilight frowns. "You have tennis today," she says.

"I'll skip."

"No, don't," Twilight says. "You've already skipped once this week. Besides, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired." She smiles. "Come home right after tennis practice, okay? I promise I won't faint or explode or anything until you're back."

I roll my eyes. "Okay, okay. Just...stay in bed, okay? You've got that new bookpad, so just...stay in bed and read."

"I will," Twilight says, smirking.

I head back to my room, change shoes, grab my laptop and my tennis racket, then head off for school.

Morning

The fatigue from last night's battle, combined with a restless night with no sleep, finally gets to me during second period. I fall asleep in class. The teacher lets me off with a warning, but I feel embarrassed.

It's so hard to concentrate on school today...

Lunch

Several girls come up to our table at lunch.

"Flash, we just heard...we're so, soooo sorry."

"Yeah, it must be...it must be so hard for you."

I frown. "Heard what?"

"We heard...your girlfriend is dying."

"Yeah, we heard she collapsed and now she's on her deathbed."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you even bothered to come to school today."

"Oh, good grief," Applejack mutters.

I bury my head under my hands and take a deep breath to calm myself before I look up at the girls. "Who's spreading that ridiculous rumor?" I ask. "Is it Sunset Shimmer?"

The girls look at each other. "Well...we don't..."

"Really...know who started it."

"It's just...what everybody's saying..."

"Of course it is," I mutter. "Look...Twilight's fine. She just fainted last night."

"She's having a rough period," Pinkie supplies. "You girls know how that is, right?"

One of the girls flushes brilliantly. "Uhh...y-yeah..."

"She's just resting at home today, she'll be back on Monday," I say. "Now, will you please stop believing every bullshit rumor you hear at this school?"

The girls hastily scurry away. "Dumb little bi..." I catch myself before I say anything that'll piss off my friends.

"Really, the gossip at this school is simply out of control," Rarity huffs. "I mean, I'm all for juicy gossip, but things have just gotten ridiculous!"

"It's all that bitch Sunset Shimmer's fault," I say. "It has to be." I look at my tray and sigh. I don't really want any of it. "Screw this, I'm going for a walk." I leave the cafeteria.

One of the connecting halls of the school has the windows open, letting in the autumn breeze. I lean against the windowsill.

"Shouldn't you be having a nutritious, barely edible school lunch right about now?"

I look to my left to see Juan the Janitor standing next to me, his yellowish eyes twinkling with amusement. "I needed some air," I say.

"Ah, yes," Juan says, nodding. "Understandable, given what you've been through lately. One of your closest friends put in the hospital, your girlfriend fainting..." He studies me for a moment. "The terrible rumors that are already going around."

I sigh. "Yeah."

"I don't know which is more ludicrous," he says. "The one where she's dying, the one where she's pregnant, or the one where her brother raped her."

"What?!"

"I know. The imaginations children these days have...it's truly frightening." Juan shakes his head. "I'm certain Twilight Sparkle is quite well, is she not?"

"Yeah, she's fine, she just needs rest. She's not pregnant or...or anything else stupid."

"Now, now...being pregnant is hardly stupid. I'd wager you'll want her to be pregnant...someday." He frowns, tilting his head. "Oh, that's right...you're going back to Seaddle at the end of next summer, aren't you?"

I'd actually almost forgotten that.

"Honestly, you'd think the one starting all these rumors would know that being a teenager is chaotic enough. I should know." Juan sighs. "Well...it's almost time for next period, and I'll have quite the mess to clean in the cafeteria, as usual. Some days, it seems like I've been cleaning up messes for Celestia for as long as I can remember...I do so tire of it, but it's my lot in life, I suppose."

Juan leaves. I'm so lost in thought I almost don't hear the bell.

After School

By the time tennis practice rolls around, I'm in a spectacularly bad mood.

"Well well...look who decided to grace us with his presence," Suri says, smirking haughtily at me as I emerge from the locker rooms. She tosses her hair. "Try to show up for practice once in a while if you want to stay on the team, mmkay?"

"Hey! He missed one practice," Pinkie says. "And that's only because a friend of ours got put in the hospital by a couple of creeps!"

"That's hardly an excuse to miss practice," Suri says. "Keep up like this, and you'll be picking up balls with Coco."

I've had just about enough bullshit today. I pick up a ball and serve it right at Suri's face.

"OW! Hey! What's your problem?!"

"You're my problem," I say. "I've had it with your snotty attitude and the way you bully Coco. She deserves to be on this team a hell of a lot more than you do!"

The coach runs up, blowing her whistle. "Hey, HEY! What's going on here?"

"Flash Sentry just assaulted me!" Suri screams. "I want him off the team!"

The coach looks at me, hands on her hips. "Explain yourself!"

"It isn't his fault," Coco says suddenly, so quietly we almost don't hear. She rushes up to stand next to me. "She...she was giving him a hard time for missing...for missing practice the other day to visit a sick friend."

The coach frowns. "Yeah, Sentry and Pie messaged me about their friend. She was gonna be the soccer team's captain until those two jerks took her out." She looks at Suri. "It was an excused absence. And it's not your place to reprimand team members for missing practice. It's mine."

Suri scowls. "Of course."

The coach looks at me. "Now, you...work on that temper." She claps her hands twice. "Okay people! Let's all settle down and get some work done here, alright?"

After practice, I walk over to where Coco is collecting balls. "Hey, thanks," I say.

She smiles at me. "I...don't know what came over me," she says. "I just...I saw she was about to get you in trouble, when it was really her fault..." She looks down.

I pat her on the shoulder. "You're standing up to that bitch," I say. "That's good." I smile at her. "Now, keep it up!"

Suri stalks over, her face twisted in rage. "You. Manager." She gets right in Coco's face. "If you ever speak out of turn again..."

Coco shrinks back, but I put a hand on her shoulder. She takes a deep breath, then stares right into Suri's eyes. "If you ever threaten me again, I'm going straight to Vice-Principal Luna."

Suri's eyes widen fearfully. She takes a step back, pointing a shaking finger at Coco. "Just...mind your own business from now on!" She turns on her heel and stalks away.

I stare at Coco, impressed. "Wow, Coco! That took guts!"

Coco lets out a shaky breath. "M-my knees were shaking...I felt like I was going to throw up..."

I help her finish, then get cleaned up and changed to go home.

Evening

I check in on Twilight as soon as I put my things away. She's asleep, with Spike curled up on her stomach. Spike looks up at me, lets out a snort, then lays his head back down. I smile and head back to my room, determined to get in some guitar practice.

A little while later, Cadance pokes her head in. "Hey," she says. "I'm taking the girls to the hospital to visit Rainbow Dash. We're all just going to eat out tonight...do you want to get something and bring it back for Twilight? Or...there's still a lot of leftover pizza in the fridge. It might be a better idea to heat that up and eat it..."

I nod. "I think me and Twilight'll eat leftover pizza."

"Okay." Cadance nods. "Oh, and Shining Armor'll be here. I think he's picking up some of Twilight's favorite ice cream. He's...been pretty upset all day."

"Him and me both," I say. "Please tell me he didn't hear that one rumor."

Cadance tilts her head. "Which one rumor? The pregnant one?"

"The rape one."

Cadance cringes. "Oh God...there's a rape rumor?" She frowns. "They think...they think you raped...?"

"No, they think he did."

"GAH!" Cadance looks like she's about to throw up. "No, I know he hasn't heard that one. He hasn't killed anybody. Please, please don't tell him they're saying something like that."

"Are you kidding? Why would I say something that stupid to him?"

"Okay. Well...we'll be back later."

"Tell Rainbow Dash I said hi."

A few minutes later, I head down to the kitchen and turn on the oven. I rummage around in the refrigerator. There's enough leftovers to make a whole pizza and then some. I arrange most of it on a baking sheet, then stick it in the oven. While the pizza is heating, I line the inside of one of the empty pizza boxes with aluminum foil, then round up some paper plates, napkins, and a couple of sodas from the fridge. Once the oven timer dings, I take the pizza out, then arrange it in the foil-lined box. I carry everything up to Twilight's room; it's a bit of a fumble to get the door open, but I manage.

Twilight must've smelled food, because she's sitting up in bed, sleepy-eyed and bedheaded. Spike is sitting at the foot of the bed, wagging his tail. "Dinner time," I say as I drag Twilight's desk chair to the side of the bed with a foot. I get everything more or less arranged, shooing Spike off the bed so I can put the pizza down without him diving right into it. He makes a very annoyed noise at me, then curls up in his basket to sulk.

"Mmm, smells good," she says.

"It's leftovers from yesterday," I say.

She giggles. "I liked yesterday's pizza, so I'm sure I'll love this."

I serve both of us, giving her some napkins and a drink. "Your brother'll be coming in a little later," I say. "Until then, we've got the dorm to ourselves."

"I think I'm good here," Twilight says. "How was school?"

"Eh...I was too exhausted to pay attention," I say. "And there's more rumors going around. As usual."

Twilight makes a face. "I'm getting so tired of the gossip at school."

"You and me both." I look down at my lap. "Twilight...I'm sorry you got mixed up in all this. I really am. I...I had hoped...when I found out what was going on..." I take a deep breath. "Somehow, I...I knew you'd be the one Libra would go after. I hoped like hell I was wrong, but..."

Twilight sighs. "If you're right, and...and somebody's controlling all this..." She toys with her napkin. "We need to figure it out before anybody else gets hurt."

"We have some time," I say. "There won't be any more attacks until Scorpio."

"That's so weird, that these Shadows are...are tied to astrology..."

"I wanted to ask you to check your birthday horoscope yesterday, but..." I sigh. "I really should have just asked."

Twilight shakes her head. "I probably wouldn't have. I never believed in all that stuff." She frowns. "But if...if the Canterbook horoscope app is somehow connected to all this..."

"Anybody who gets that creepy birthday horoscope is a target," I say. "Cadance and I already figured that out."

Twilight nods shakily. "Well...by the time...by the time there's another attack...I'll be ready to fight."

"Twilight, no...! You don't have to—"

Twilight places a finger on my lips. "I want to," she says. "I...I want to help you. You can't do this all by yourself."

There's a knock on the door.

"We'll talk about it more later," she says. "Come in!"

Shining Armor walks in. "Hey, Twily. Oh...hey, Flash."

"Hey Coach," I say. "Want some pizza? There's still a slice or two."

"Err...no, but thanks," he says. "I...just wanted to check in on..." He looks down at a carton in his hands. "Oh, and I bought you some ice cream, Twily."

Twilight smiles happily. "Can you put it in the freezer for now, please?" she asks. "I'll send Flash down to bring it up when I'm ready for it."

"Sure thing," Shining Armor says. He looks like he wants to say something else, but he frowns and leaves.

I groan. "I am so on your brother's shit list."

Twilight pats my hand. "He's just...not used to the idea of me having a boyfriend. Give him time."

I turn on Twilight's television and find something for us to watch while we finish off the pizza. I break up a crust into bite-sized pieces and leave it on a plate on the floor for Spike, who hungrily goes after it. I head downstairs to get the ice cream and a couple of spoons.

Shining Armor is in the lounge watching television. "Hey Flash. Come here a second."

I walk into the lounge. "Umm...hey Coach."

He looks down at his hands. "Look...I know Twily trusts you, and...and Cadance trusts you." He sighs. "But...I think...maybe you shouldn't be seeing Twilight. I...I want you to stop...you know..."

I shake my head. "No," I say. "I'm not doing that."

He frowns. "You don't want to cross me, Flash."

"I'm not going to stop seeing Twilight. Or caring about her. Or..."

"You're going back to Seaddle in a year. You're going to break her heart no matter what."

Damn. He's got me there.

"Look...for right now, we're happy," I say. "Even though all this stuff is going on, we...we're enjoying spending time together. That's not going to change."

"I just don't want her hurt any worse than she's already been!" Shining Armor says.

"So you want me to hurt her by breaking up with her? Is that going to make her happy?"

"Well...I..." Shining Armor falters. "You're bad for her."

"Then who's good for her?" I ask. "Tell me."

Shining Armor hesitates.

"Nobody is, am I right? Because she's your sister."

Shining Armor doesn't say anything.

"Let her live her own life and make her own choices. She's old enough to decide who's right for her and who isn't." I grab the ice cream and the spoons and go back upstairs, leaving Shining Armor and the stick up his ass to stew.

"You were gone an awfully long time," Twilight says as I walk back into her room.

"Bathroom," I say.

"You washed your hands, right?"

"Of course."

We polish off the ice cream as we watch television together. I'm getting sleepy, so I say goodnight and head to my room.