Candy Girl

Turnaround

Chapter 3

Peppermint Twist walked through the streets of Ponyville with no signs of emotion or energy. Several ponies stopped to ask her what was wrong, but Twist merely kept walking as if they didn’t exist. She had no idea where she was going. Her mind was too fractured to do anything except keep moving away from Spike. Away from everything.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were walking alone when they happen to spot the distraught filly walking down the road towards them. Diamond Tiara smiled as she saw the filly headed towards her, but Silver Spoon could see something was off about her.

“Is something wrong with Twist?” Silver Spoon asked. She could tell that the normally hyper pony wasn’t herself as she walked at a painfully slow pace.

“Let’s go find out.” Diamond Tiara said deviously as a wicked grin crossed her face.

“I don’t know, Diamond. She looks pretty bummed already. Maybe we should let it slide for once.” Silver Spoon said feeling a pang of pity for her. Normally, she’d be the first to rip into the ugly, little suck up, but Twist already looked pretty depressed enough without the two of them going at her.

“Fine, I guess I’ll do it myself as always.” Diamond Tiara said walking towards the filly. Silver Spoon decided to follow but chose to stay silent when Diamond Tiara started to making fun of Twist. She was hoping that Diamond Tiara would come to her senses and realize that teasing somebody who was already depressed was a bad idea. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Hey, Twist! What’s wrong Twist look in a mirror lately?” Diamond Tiara said trotting next to Twist. The filly didn’t even lift her head as she continued to walk ahead.

“Are you okay?” Silver Spoon asked becoming concerned. Twist should have at least reacted to that. Diamond Tiara shot her friend a dirty look for actually showing some leniency to Twist before insulting her again.

“Maybe she just realized how hopelessly, pathetic she really is. I mean she‘s hideous, has that stupid lisp, and her family‘s a bunch middle class nobodies. I‘d be sad too if I were her.” Diamond Tiara said getting really vicious. Peppermint Twist continued to ignore her despite her biting remarks. Diamond Tiara decided to go a different route altogether this time.

“Where’s your freaky boyfriend, Twist? I bet he totally dumped your ugly butt. I can’t blame him though. Even a weirdo like him could do better than you.” Diamond Tiara said insulting Spike.

“What’d you say about him?” Peppermint Twist responded as she stopped dead in her tracks. Diamond Tiara rejoiced at a reaction from Twist. Silver Spoon was however worried about the fire in Peppermint Twist’s eyes that appeared.

“Diamond, I really think we should leave.” Silver Spoon said trying to warn Diamond Tiara. Her friend didn’t even acknowledge her as she decided to go after Twist again.

“You heard me. I’m talking about that wingless lizard who calls himself a dragon. You two losers are actually made for each other.” Diamond Tiara said jumping in front of Twist. Peppermint Twist was never one for confrontation. She always convinced herself that it was better to be quiet in the presence of Diamond Tiara. If she stayed quiet and didn’t respond, Diamond Tiara would get bored and move on to somepony else. This was different. After having her heart broken and being subjected to such ridicule, all those repressed moments where she told herself not to fight ran through her head instilling her with an emotional buildup that seemed long overdue. It was a righteous fury that came from years of just taking Diamond Tiara’s constant abuse. She looked her tormentor straught in the eyes and stared her down.

“Take it back.” Twist said ready to explode. Silver Spoon could see that Twist was absolutely in no mood for Diamond Tiara’s teasing. She’d never thought of Peppermint Twist as anything but pathetic. Something was different now. She was actually a bit scary as hard as it was for her to believe.

“Maybe we should just let it go this time, Diamond.” Silver Spoon said trying to pull her friend away before Peppermint Twist did something. Diamond Tiara just yanked her hoof away from Silver Spoon and put it in directly in the center of Twist’s chest poking her.

“What’s the teacher’s pet going to do? Tattle on me? Cheerilee’s not here to stick up for her and she can’t do it herself so I’m not taking anything back. What are you going to do about it, Twist? Your loser boyfriend isn‘t here anymore. Who‘s going to protect you now?” Diamond Tiara said as she pushed the filly a little. Peppermint Twist’s mind flashed back to the moment when Spike pushed her. She realized that she was always like this. Ponies would push her and she’d just accept it.

She didn’t want to do that anymore. Would she always be a background character in her own story? Always letting others cast her aside be cause she was too weak to fight back. She didn’t want to accept Diamond Tiara’s harassment. She didn’t want to accept Spike’s rejection. She was tired of taking what life gave her. From now on, she’d stop being so passive. She looked at her bully and did something that left everyone stunned, including herself.

Peppermint Twist head butted Diamond Tiara as hard as she could. Her glasses were sent flying as she placed her forehead square into her opponent’s. Diamond Tiara crumpled to the ground as her head rang from the force of the unexpected move.

“Are you crazy?” Silver Spoon asked Peppermint Twist who was standing tall over Diamond Tiara. Peppermint Twist didn’t look the least bit fazed as she looked down at Diamond Tiara

“Take it back.” Peppermint Twist said in low menacing tone. The duo had never seen this side of Twist before. Diamond Tiara wasn’t going to back down though.

“Never!” Diamond Tiara said defiantly. Peppermint Twist placed a hoof on Diamond Tiara’s mane and began pushing the filly’s head into the dirt, sending her tiara to the ground as she struggled to lift her head.

“Take it back!” Peppermint Twist said putting more weight on her hoof. The emboldened filly felt a bit of an adrenaline rush as she pushed the richest brat in town headfirst into the dirt.

“Ow! Ow! Help me, Silver Spoon!” Diamond Tiara cried out to her friend. Silver Spoon started to make a move when Peppermint Twist shot her a look that sent ice down her veins. It was like staring down a dangerous animal at the zoo. Her pink eyes were wild and bloodshot. The nerdy filly looked like a madpony out for blood.

“Maybe you should just take it back, Diamond Tiara. She looks really scary right now.” Silver Spoon said backing down.

“Are you kidding me? Ow! Ow!” Diamond Tiara cried out in agony.

“Take! It! Back!” Twist said pushing down even harder. At this point, Diamond Tiara realized there was nothing to be gained, except bruises and scars from disobeying her.

“Alright, I take it back! You’re not a loser!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

“Take back what you said about Spike!” Peppermint Twist demanded.

“I take everything back! Just let me go!” Diamond Tiara said on the verge of tears. She was in so much pain and she just wanted Twist to lay off. Peppermint Twist did as she said, but not before she made her flail in the dirt for a few more seconds.

Silver Spoon ran to her friend’s side helping her to stand. Diamond Tiara’s mane was a complete mess and her chin had some bleeding from being scratched up. The worst part was her head which was throbbing in pain. She could still feel the impression of hoof print on her head. She started to cry as Silver Spoon helped her limp away.

“First, my cuteceanara is ruined and now I’m being pushed her around by Peppermint Twist. I’m so pathetic.” Diamond Tiara thought as she leaned against her best friend for support.

Peppermint Twist watched her former bullies slink away and smiled. Without her glasses, she could barely make them out, but she felt empowered after defending herself for the first time ever. She felt her way towards her glasses and put them back on. She also spotted Diamond’s tiara sitting on the ground nearby. She looked at it for a moment before turning around bucking as far as she could.

“Bitches.” Twist said walking home. Now that she’d crossed Daimond Tiara and Silver Spoon off her list. She had to decide what to do about Spike now. One thing was for certain though. She’d fight until Spike responded to her feelings and nothing would stand in her way.

Back at the library

“What do you mean she just left?” Twilight Sparkle asked in disbelief. Her friendship project between Spike and Peppermint Twist had apparently gone up in smoke while she was helping Pinkie Pie clean up. The pink mare had decided to put a little too much yeast into one of the pastries and it left a nasty mess all over the bakery. With Twilight’s magic, she managed to clean everything up before the Cakes could get back and find their home and business in disarray. Unfortunately, Twilight had returned to find her own situation turned upside down.

“She just didn’t want to be my friend, Twilight. I’m sorry.” Spike said full of regret. He didn’t want to do this to Twist but she left him no choice. In the end, this was best for everyone.

“No, don’t be sad, Spike. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” Twilight said sad that Twist had just left. It was strange that she would just leave without saying anything, She seemed so enthusiastic about it when she first arrived. She could have at least explained why she changed her mind so suddenly.

“Maybe I should go talk to her.” Twilight Sparkle said aloud causing Spike to jump.

“That’s not necessary. We should just leave her alone. I think she’s been through enough.” Spike said panicking. Twilight looked at Spike suspiciously.

“What do you mean she’s been through enough? Did you do something to her while I was gone?” Twilight said wondering more and more about what happened between the two of them while she was out.

“Nothing happened. I just woke up and she told me had to go. That’s it.” Spike said lying through his teeth. He couldn’t tell her what really happened without getting into the sordid details of what happened between them last night. Something he hoped to keep hidden from her forever.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Twilight said questioning Spike’s honesty. The dragon however stuck to his story.

“No, that’s what happened. She just said she had to go.” Spike said feeling worse than ever. He broke Peppermint Twist’s heart and now he was lying about it to Twilight. He didn’t like hurting and lying to anyone, but what could he do? Tell Twilight he was a pervert who used Twist to satiate his own sexual curiosity and broke her heart. No, that was completely out of the question.

“Fine, Spike. If you say that’s what happened, I believe you. While I am a little bit skeptical, I know deep down you’re an honest dragon. You’d never lie to me about to anything.” Twilight said believing him wholeheartedly.

Spike relaxed a bit as Twilight Sparkle bought his excuse. Still he felt bad about this entire situation. Lying to Twilight and hurting Peppermint Twist seemed so wrong. Was there no other way to make things better without lying? Should he have been nicer to Twist even though she might take it the wrong way? Should he have told the Twilight the truth and hoped she wouldn’t think too badly of him?

“No! This is the best thing for everyone. Twist will find somepony else eventually, and Twilight will never have to know anything about his sexual indiscretion. Everyone would be happier in the long run.” Spike thought to himself. He was convinced this was best for everyone.

The Next Day

Spike was walking through Ponyville after finishing some errands for Twilight. A normally easy task made extremely difficult by a fear of running into a certain filly. Fortunately, he had made it the entire day without seeing Peppermint Twist at all. As he walked back to the library, he wondered how long he’d have to slink around town on the lookout for the filly.

“Maybe I’ll just spend all my time in the library for a month or two.” Spike said as he reached his home. He was sure that Peppermint Twist wouldn’t return here, not after what happened between them.

As Spike entered the library, he heard laughter coming from inside. He walked in and nearly had a heart attack as he saw Peppermint Twist sitting at a table talking to Twilight Sparkle. The both of them were laughing together like old friends. They looked at Spike who stood at the door trying to figure out why the filly he had left emotionally devastated was sitting next to Twilight laughing like nothing had happened.

“Hey, Spike! I‘m sorry I left without telling you everything yesterday.” The filly said with a biggest smile on her face.

“She explained everything, Spike. It turns out you were mistaken.” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Mistaken?” Spike said trying to process what he was seeing.

“When Twilight told me how you thought I abandoned you yesterday, I was so surprised. I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to be your friend. I suddenly remembered this huge test I had to study for and I didn’t want to bore you by doing it here so I left.” Peppermint Twist said as she got up and walked over to Spike. The filly placed her legs around Spike’s arms in a constricting hug.

“Can you ever forgive me?” She asked squeezing him tightly. The filly silently sighed as she felt Spike’s warm body. It felt wonderful being this close to him.

“Isn’t that sweet, Spike? She was thinking of you the whole time. Well, go on. Aren’t you going to accept her apology?” Twilight Sparkle said watching the exchange closely. Spike couldn’t exactly say no, especially since Twist’s lie had covered all the holes in his own story so well.

“Yeah, I guess I forgive you.” Spike said wishing she’d stop hugging him.

“We were just going over a list of activities you’d might like to do together.” Twilight said.

“Activities?” Spike said feeling nervous at the very word.

“Yep, we’re going to be spending tons of time together from now on.” The filly said giving him another squeeze.

“T-Tons of time?” Spike said swallowing hard.

“Just you and me.” Peppermint Twist whispered into his ear.

“B-But what about being your assistant? I don‘t have time to do anything else.” Spike said trying to find a way out of this awful predicament. Peppermint Twist finally released Spike and looked at Twilight.

“Should I tell him or should you?” Twist asked.

“Tell me what?” Spike said getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“You should tell him. It was your idea.” Twilight Sparkle said deferring to Twist. The little filly put her chest outward and stood proudly.

“You’re looking at your new personal assistant.” Twist said happily.

“Assistant! I don‘t need an assistant. I‘m your assistant.” Spike argued.

“And you’re always complaining about how I overwork you all the time. Now you have somepony to lighten your load. You’ll also be able to finish your work quicker and hang out with Twist. Isn’t that great?” Twilight Sparkle said to a distraught Spike. If what Twilight Sparkle said was true, then Twist had successfully manage to insert herself into every aspect of his life. The very idea made him weak in the knees.

“I… uhm…. I need to lie down for a second.” Spike said walking aimlessly upstairs.

“If you need anything, just call me.” Twist shouted as he shuffled up the stairs like a zombie.

Spike walk towards his basket and fell into his sheets. He sighed into his bedding as he contemplated the horrible mess that his life had become. Did this all start with that night in Twist’s bedroom? It could have been the moment he met her that all this began. He was certain of one thing though. This problem wasn’t going anywhere soon.

“Hey, Spike. Are you awake?” Peppermint Twist said approaching him. Spike just made a groaning noise into his pillow.

“Twilight asked me to come check on you. Are you all right?” She asked sitting next to his basket.

“Why are you here?” Spike asked looking away from her. Peppermint Twist was silent for a bit as she contemplated the answer to that question.

“I love you.” She said placing a hoof on Spike’s back. The dragon shrugged knocking her hoof away.

“You don‘t love me. You‘re just some stupid filly with a crush. You don‘t even know about sex. What do you know about love?” Spike said berating her naiveté.

“All I know is what I feel for you. I know you don’t like me very much, but maybe I can change that.” Peppermint Twist said looking at the hoof Spike rejected.

“By deceiving Twilight and pestering me, you think I’ll fall in love you. You’re crazier than I thought.”

“I’m not deceiving or pestering anyone. I just want to be close to you, Spike. Isn’t that the very definition of a best friend? Someone you want to be close too.” Peppermint Twist said wanting to reach out and touch him again. The dragon laughed at her.

“Do you want to know why I’ll never be close to you? Every time I look at you I feel nothing but shame and temptation. I feel like I’m about to betray somepony I care deeply for. If I’m being entirely honest, the reason I can’t be close to you is because I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ll do something I regret.” Spike said closing eyes and thinking about his special somepony.

“Do you love her?” Twist asked.

“Very much.” Spike said.

“Does she love you?” The filly asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t asked her.” Spike admitted.

The filly looked at the baby dragon and felt a pang of sympathy for him. She knew what it was like to love someone who didn’t return that same affection. She looked at Spike and wondered if he thought about her all the time. Was he thinking about her now? The thought of Spike thinking about another mare made her more than a little jealous.

“Who is she?” Twist asked.

“Rarity.” Spike said revealing the name of his beloved.

The candy maker’s heart dropped at the sound of the seamstress known for her beauty and radiance. The unicorn who carried herself with such grace and elegance that most ponies mistook her for a Canterlot noble. She knew that she couldn’t hold a candle to Rarity. When it came to looks, she wasn’t as cute even as cute as her classmates. Now she had to compete for Spike’s heart against the most beautiful mare in town.

“If you asked, do you think she’d say yes?”

“If I thought she’d say yes, I’d have asked her already.”

“Oh.” Twist said feeling stupid for even asking. She felt powerless as she thought of what happened if Rarity accepted Spike’s love. She told herself that she wouldn’t give up no matter what, but Rarity, the jewel of Ponyville, now stood in her path.

“Do you understand why I don’t want you around? I’m afraid of what I’ll do if I get too close to you. I‘m sorry that‘s the way it is.”

“Can I ask you one last question?”

“Go ahead.”

“What’ll happen if I get too close to you?” She asked looking at Spike. An silence passed between the two of them as Spike considered his answer carefully.

“I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. Will you leave me alone after today?” Spike asked.

“No.” Twist asked not even thinking about it. Until Rarity had claimed Spike’s heart as her own, she would fight hoof and tooth to the bitter end. Spike sighed as Twist made her resolve clear.

“Something terrible will happen. Now leave me alone.” Spike said ending the conversation. Peppemint Twist stood up and turned to leave but not before looking at Spike again. She wouldn’t lose him to anyone. Rarity could have anypony in Ponyville, but Twist would claim Spike’s heart for herself.