Chapter One: The Arrival
Talia sighed as she slumped out of her chair, reluctant to stand in front of her class.
She felt their judging eyes touch her back as she shuffled past the row of windows, blaring dense light onto her porcelain skin: to the point of burning, towards the whiteboard.
And as she reached it, she gave a brief nod to her English teacher to turn on the projector. He then continued to raise his arm, and pointed the wireless remote towards it.
The fact it was screwed so awkwardly to the ceiling, barley facing the whiteboard, it unsettled Talia quite a bit.
It was just so, wrong. Aha, everything was wrong in her eyes.
Nothing was as perfect as the distant wonders of Ponyville, and how the morals and values in Equestria are carried out with the utmost respect and loving forgiveness.
In fact, nothing was as perfect as the magic of friendship.
For some reason, those 2D cartoon ponies was the only thing that mattered in life.
Well to Talia, anyway.
With a click, a flash of colour appeared on the blank space on the whiteboard.
Instantly, the logo beamed before her eyes, like some sort of... beacon of hope.
Twilight smiled above it, brimming to the max with knowledge and potential.
It was as if Twilight was reassuring her, that she would do well.
Talia knew My Little Pony inside and out, in so much depth, that she could understand an entire episode-
without even having to watch it.
So did Pinkie Pie, right next to Twilight. Well of course she was grinning manically, practically laughing.
Laughing in the face of danger.
It was what Talia lived by.
It was what Talia must do everyday to survive.
And little Fluttershy, placed strategically at the bottom corner of the screen. Just meekly looking upwards from behind her curtain of bubblegum pink hair. She was the only thing that could calm Talia down, Fluttershys kind and forgiving nature soothed her when she experienced one of her many frequent panic attacks.
Ahh, Rarity the fairest unicorn in all of Equestria! Her picture was placed on the left side of the screen. That sly look she always portrayed, so... confident. The snobby eye-smile made Talia giggle a bit.
She had always loved the way Rarity took care of herself, and wasn't afraid to only settle for the very best.
Oh and on the right hand side of the screen, that awesome Texan apple-bucker beamed a comforting smile of delight, Talia always found she could draw some form of strength and pride from Apple Jack.
Last but not least, Rainbow Dash, with her wings spread far apart and a solid determined smirk plastered across her face, was placed flying upwards from the bottom side of the screen. Talia felt that this was a cunning way to represent Dashies coolness to her audience.
Because as we all know, Dash is 20% cooler than all of us.
Talia made sure it was clearly apparent to her class "mates", that this wasn't just some dumb, poorly prepared, last minute presentation created by a fool.
This was a presentation about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
And she knew exactly what she was doing.
- Remember Talia, this is your GSCE presentation, no room for screw ups -
Muffled giggles echoed across the room, as her teacher looked onwards, concerned.
"When ever you're ready." he said.
Talia quickly fussed over her silver strands of hair that had fallen in front of her aqua blue eyes, and tucked them behind her ears before she began- taking care that her sleeves didn't fall down whilst doing so.
What lay beneath the cotton sleeves of her jumper,
was a mangled mesh of strawberry gashes and misery.
Even the most innocent and clearest of bases can be defaced.
By that point, after spending so many precious minutes adjusting her appearance accordingly, she was assertively sure: she was ready.
"He- hello. And welcome to my presentation, all about why you should watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." she stuttered.
She tried to remember the supporting faces of the mane six on the screen behind her.
But to her dismay, the facial expressions of the other students remained the same:
Smirks, tiresome eyes and raised eyebrows surrounded her.
There was no escape.
-It's fine. I've got this. It's ok. They're just swagfags anyway. It doesn't matter about them. This is my presentation, not theirs-
For the fist time in her life, their knowledge, adversity in the face of danger, comfort, strength, determination and boldness;
it didn't help her.
Her dreamland collapsed inside her mind.
The panic had began to set in.
Talia had to get this over with, now.
"So, My Little Pony is a cartoon created by Lauren Faust. Um. And it's set in the land of Equestria... aa- and it has many towns and cities. Such as Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan and Fillydelphia!" she rushed.
A sudden gush of juxtaposing pride washed up her body.
Actually, she felt quite excited. She was proud of herself, for once.
Gradually, Talia raised her chin upwards. Confidence exuded from her body.
This was her very own presentation, and she was presenting about the thing that she loved the most.
She could say anything she wanted and she knew everything about it.
Talias shoulders relaxed, and her arms sank lower towards the ground,
extenuating her upturned head.
Yet, her breathing remained deep and heavy, she had to keep control.
This made her heart flutter, harshly. It felt as if it was going to leap right out of her chest.
But it slowly began to sink in: no one else will understand these emotions but her.
The confusion arose, opposing her excitement, seeping into her body.
This caused her shoulders to abruptly shoot back up, desperately trying to hug her neck, tensing every muscle that followed.
The questions built up constantly, never stopping, never slowing.
Sending mixed messages to the wrong parts of her brain,
jumbling the thoughts she had prepared cautiously inside her mind.
Her nervous disposition become clear on the outside, her eyes darted across the room.
Back to her, to him, to them.
They were all watching.
Talias knees suddenly crashed into the floor as her torso trembled violently.
She couldn't bare to look at anyone, not even her friend displayed on the board behind her, so she buried her face deep into her hands.
This was her only chance to prove that she was capable of succeeding at something-
anything.
- No. No. NO. Not now. I haven't even started talking about the mane six yet -
Tears flooded her eyes as her face slumped into the ground.
Whelping as she folded herself into nothing,
creating a protective barrier from reality.
It was another panic attack.
She couldn't breathe. Her lungs fought tiresomely to pump oxygen inside of her.
But it was no use.
Again, and again, and again this happened.
Every time.
Every time she attempted to spread love and tolerance, or decided that she was going to find a way to be accepted. She failed.
- I SWEAR TO GOD MY LITTLE PONY IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING ME ALIVE -
Her fists clenched together, as she furiously pummelled the ground in rage.
Her teacher instantly attempted to restrain her, "Talia! TALIA! Just what exactly is the meaning of this?" he barked.
She couldn't understand, why of all times, why would she dare flip out unreasonably like this?
And if she couldn't understand this... how could anyone else possibly fathom why?
He literately had to pin her to the floor, forcefully, to protect the his students. Her feral instinct would not stop forcing her body to fight back, relentlessly.
It was like a chaotic spirit was fuelling her anger.
"Again, seriously?"
"Told ya' she's crazy!"
"Bloody nutjob."
Words entangled with each other, dancing across the room.
Some sort of secret code she could never decipher, made specifically so she could never hear the truth she longed to know.
None of this made any sense to her.
Nothing made sense to her anymore.
All she knew was the Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity and Magic of Friendship.
"It's not my fucking fault I have... I-" She screeched.
A randomer remarked "What pretend disease is it this time? Some sorta' pony disease? Jesus!"
Manic laughter filled the room.
Talia flipped her head upwards with a feral hiss through her teeth.
Gazing at her predators.
The tables will soon turn.
- You haven't got a clue. I have genuine condition. Borderline Personality Disorder. It causes panic attacks and bad reactions. That's what it is.
Oh Celestia, you imbeciles don't even deserve and explanation -
Her animalistic spirit aided her escape, she thrashed as she pleaded to be released.
Talia had an untameable soul.
Subtly, her eyes soon began to cross, reminiscent of Derpy Hooves, and the jeers and screams of her enclosing enemies slipped into silence. A deafening silence.
"I- I can't see!" she yelped.
Nobody replied.
- I can't be here. I'm not meant to exist on this earth. I know it -
Her body surrendered, it had stopped forcing her to fight.
Each muscle un-tensed, ligament by ligament. She felt some sort of disturbing peace.
And as she lowered herself from the grip of her teachers hands,
her vision faded into a deep, infinite darkness.
And surely, with each delicate, final breath she took,
she slipped away gently, into her fantasy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
"Dear sister, I believe she has arrived. You must fetch Twilight from her library this instant-" a soft voice commanded.
"Don't worry, I'm already here, Celestia."
