Sparkle's Game

by Nanda

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna, Adventure, Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 4842

After a devastating attack by the “Buggers” nearly 100 years ago, Celestia died a martyr. Luna rules in her stead, leading the ponies to a glorious new technological age. However, the buggers are back, and the only hope is one Twilight Sp

Ponykind is under attack, but not by the usual threats that stem from magic. Aliens known as buggers have come down in an attempt to colonize Equus. Celestia herself managed to defeat their colonization force, dying a hero and a martyr. Luna has picked up the rule in her stead, and pressed Equestrian technology to its limits, while also starting campaigns to select capable commanders for when the next invasion comes.

100 years later, enter Twilight Sparkle. Brilliant, strategic, and anti-social, she has the ability to take command of Equestria's largest fighting force. And she’s only six years old.

<<<<^^@^^>>> >

This is an alternate universe set in “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card.

The first few chapters will be rather similar to those in the book, but I expect it to diverge after I get into the thick of things.

Cover art original design by Jewelweed-Shine on DeviantArt. Source in pic.
Cover art edited by me, Nanda.

Published 2014-02-08 05:10:17 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-15 23:47:30 UTC

Pulsar

“Listen, I’m telling you. This filly is the one. I’ve watched every moment of the last three years through her eyes, heard what she’s heard. If she isn’t the one, we won’t find any better.”

“Isn’t that the same you said about her brother?”

“Her brother has the same strategic mind she has, but uses it in a defensive manner. She uses it offensively.”

“There are… doubts among the Council members. They say she’s too apathetic, too uncaring. Not to mention her power is off the charts. They’re afraid of a loose end, and rightly so.”

“Isn’t her apathy self-enforced because of her power? Have you even looked at the filly’s Einfluss system? Simply remarkable. She could probably compare to us in raw energy if not control.”

“That doesn’t abate my fears.”

“Would you rather have a unicorn with that much power roaming Canterlot?”

“So you would subject her to a life of loneliness and desperate infighting amongst other foals? I thought you liked her.”

“I’ll look like a saint if the buggers get here.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll talk to the Council. Fate of pony-kind and all…”

“Oh, and remove the inhibitor’s restrictions, but leave it on her. We’ll see how long it takes her to realize her true power.”

<<<<^^@^^>>>>

A hoof tousled her mane as she lay down on an infirmary table. The nurse’s nameplate identified her as one Soft Needle. She smiled nicely and said, “Ms. Sparkle, I bet you’re patiently waiting to get that horrendous monitor out. Well today’s your lucky day, because we’ve got orders to remove it. Don’t you worry one bit though, it won’t hurt at all.”

Twilight slowly nodded. She wasn’t so sure about that, it not being painful. She considered herself a good judge of character, and she was taught never to lie, but it certainly seemed more convenient, and oftentimes more dependable than telling the truth. After all, weren’t the fiction books she would often console herself in lies?

No, Twilight decided. It would hurt. While she wasn’t a medic, she knew how tightly bound her Monitor and Inhibitor were to her Einfluss system. It would most definitely hurt.

“Alright, I’m going to stick a small needle into the base of your horn, dear. It’ll numb you and slightly disconnect you from your magic. Don’t try to levitate anything.” When she finished, she left the room with a short farewell, “The doctor will be here soon.”

She felt her horn tingle. Ignoring the out-of-place sensation, she thought of not having the Monitor. Was it the Monitor or the Inhibitor that put that buzzing feeling in her magic whenever she cast a spell? She would soon find out.

Maybe Shiny wouldn’t hate her anymore. She’d show him that she was just a normal foal like he was. He’d see that the monitor was gone, and he’d be happy that she didn’t make it, just like him. She really wanted her BBBFF back. But it probably wouldn’t ever be the same way again. She had her monitor a whole year longer, and even if he was four years older, she’d probably be as intelligent as he is. Not probably, she thought.

No, they’d never be BBBFF’s again. Siblings, maybe. Not enemies at least. Perhaps he’ll just leave her alone, and he wouldn’t force her to play any of those horrible games. No, Shining Armor wouldn’t hurt her, which Twilight knew. But he would play games. ‘I’m practicing my shield spell, Twily. Stand still and let me practice on you. Oh, too busy for your brother? Too smart? Off to go kill some buggers? Well fine. No, I don’t need you. I’ll practice on my own, you little Pulsar.’

“Alright, Ms. Sparkle, this will only be a moment. I just need to disconnect your Inhibitor to get the Monitor out,” the doctor said.

Disconnect the Inhibitor? Twilight only barely remembered the last time it was disconnected. She was young and testing for intelligence when a loud crack made her send a surge of energy into an egg. It hatched, but the surges kept coming. Each pulse of raw magical energy had another undesirable effect. Nopony told her what had happened, but when she came to, her parents never looked her in the eye again and she had the Inhibitor on her horn.

She nodded meekly, angling her horn towards the doctor.

“The Monitor is designed to be removed, with no chance of infection. You’ll feel something tingling, and it might feel like you’re missing something. It’ll be the monitor of course, but you’ll be a little confused for a few days.”

She saw the vague outline of an orange glow at the base of her horn before she felt something being ripped out. Her neck tensed as her legs started to spasm. She fell forward and her head hit the table. Twilight could tell that her magic was acting up as well.

“Horseapples!” shouted the doctor. “Needle! I need you!” Twi could hear the nurse’s hooves on the marble floor, and a gasp. “She’s pulsing! Put a dampener on the area, Level 8! I’ll get the muscle relaxants!”

The nurse entered Twi’s vision as she lurched towards a small metal box on the wall labeled ‘Emergency Dampener’.

“Hold her down!”

“I can’t, my magic is useless with the dampener—”

“Use your hooves!”

She felt a needle breach her spine, right on her withers. It burned, but it was a respectable burn. Everywhere it burned, her muscles released her from their hold, and she felt more in control.

Her pupils followed the doctor around as he fiddled with her Inhibitor again. He nodded to Nurse Needle and she deactivated the dampener. “Ms. Sparkle? Are you alright?”

The burning was in her tongue, so instead she lay there. They huddled around her, doing various tests that she vaguely knew, but couldn’t seem to remember the name or purpose of.

Shaking his head, the doctor sighed. He seemed visibly shaken. “They hook a Celestia-damned tumor into their heads, directly into their Einfluss, and leave it there for three years. It’s a wonder more don’t die. Needle, look after her for an hour, and if she doesn’t start responding in fifteen minutes, come get me.”

He stormed out of the room muttering, “Could have put her in a coma for Celestia’s sake…”

<<<<^^@^^>>>>

It wasn’t until there was only a half-hour before final bell that Twilight returned to Miss Whisper’s class. She was still slightly unsteady, nearly tripping over her hooves as she came in the doorway.

Her teacher gave her a concerned glance. “Are you alright, Twilight?”

She nodded.

“You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine ma’am.”

Giving her a final once-over, she huffed and told Twilight to take her seat. She started moving forward, but stopped. What was it she was looking for?

“Your seat is over there.”

Twilight blinked, before sitting down. She found her seat, but she was missing something else. It must not have been important.

She heard a murmur behind her, and she turned to see what it was. She was greeted by the gasp of the filly behind her. “Your monitor,” she whispered.

Twilight glanced up at her horn, shrugging. She was like the normal foals now.

“Her monitor’s gone!” The harsh whispers reached her ears, along with the rest of the class’s.

“Guess you couldn’t make it, huh, Sparkle?” asked a colt from somewhere behind her. What was his name? Shining? No, that was somepony else.

“You may cease your chattering, Mr. Bolt,” Miss Whisper announced. Bolt smirked.

Miss Whisper talked about prestidigitation. Twilight doodled on her PHELP, or Personal Holographic Einfluss Learning Provider, mapping out the entirety of Canterlot, and then displaying it in three dimensions. It was obvious Twilight wasn’t paying attention to the lesson, but Miss Whisper didn’t seem to care. Even if she wasn’t paying attention, Twilight knew every answer to every question she ever asked.

It was then that a message popped up on the edge of her display. It moved around erratically, flipping and inverting as it seemingly danced across her two dimensional display, her map of Canterlot fading when the message was received. Twilight didn’t have to wait for it to settle down to know what it said.

PULSAR

Twilight grinned. Whoever sent the hateful message was simply praising her, because it was her that learned how to hack the network subroutines and send messages anonymously, along with creating the algorithm to make it randomly move. Besides, no matter what the other ponies thought, wasn’t she being a Pulsar worth the risk? For science? How many Pulsars were allowed in general society, let alone got to the level of education which she was at?

But now the Monitor was gone. Maybe she would be placed in an isolated area, full of other Pulsars with little to no contact with anypony except her fellow magically-impaired unicorns and the wardens that had mobile magic dampeners on them at all times. The thought made her shiver in her seat. She wouldn’t be able to live like that. But what would the government think? Experiment P-123 designation “Twilight Sparkle” has failed. Let’s now remove her from everything she’s ever known and put her in a place safely away from the ‘normal’ ponies.

Monitor or no, Twilight would never be normal.

Final bell rang, and the class hurried out of their seats, eager to escape the accursed place of learning. She observed as many of the students took final notes on their PHELPs, transferring data back to their homes or printing out things to share with their friends. Twilight turned back to her PHELP, curious about how it would work if she had been born a pegasus—or perhaps even an earth pony. She felt a distaste grow at the thought. Being a unicorn was truly a blessing. She couldn’t think of what it was like to have an extra set of limbs or having to use her hooves for everything.

Of course, there were advantages to both. She had studied up on the different magic that each brand of pony possessed, and some of the things that she found Earth Ponies capable of were truly amazing. But she’d never trade her horn away, dysfunctional as it was. It allowed her access to the PHELP inner network system, something she knew a pegasus or an earth pony could never hope to achieve. Basic usage? That much they could handle. But accessing the purely arcane system? That was her domain.

She spent much of her time going through and learning how to shift things this way and that on the network, giving her access to almost anything. It was laughably simple, and it still seemed like she was the only one with any initiative in her class. It certainly gave her something to do as Miss Whisper droned on about magical sleight of hand. Prestidigitation! Twilight learned that by the time she was three.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ll miss your carriage.”

Twilight nodded and stood up to leave. There weren’t any more foals in the room. It didn’t matter though, they’d be waiting. The bad ones always were. She felt exposed without her Monitor, nopony was listening in or watching out for her. It was one of the few advantages of having one, and she would sorely miss it.

It was Bolt waiting for her. He was a colt, so he was naturally bigger than Twilight. Even if he was the smallest colt out of all the other foals. Unsurprisingly, he never failed to have his backup. A group of three mares and another colt, all vying to be the ‘in’ crowd.

“Sup, Pulsar?”

Don’t speak. Keep walking.

“Hey Pulsar, we’re talking to you, hey, bugger-lover, Pulsar, we’re talking to you!”

Nothing to say that would stop them. Nothing that wouldn’t aggravate them. And saying nothing will aggravate them too.

“Flunked out, huh Pulsar? I bet. I bet your momma had sex with a changeling! That’s why you’re a Pulsar, huh, bugger lover? Bet that’s why you love buggers! No more Monitor, huh Pulsar?”

“Can I get past?” Twilight asked.

“Can you get past? Think she could get past fillies and gents?” They all laughed at that. “Yeah, you can get past. First we’ll pass your hoof through, then your horn through, and then your tail through. Maybe we’ll have a game of pin the tail on the pony after you’re all through!”

She felt a hoof push her to the side, followed by Bolt’s pushing her backwards. She fell onto her flanks with a muted thud.

“Let’s roll her up in a ball and throw her around!”

“Maybe we could have a game of Volley, I know where there’s a net!”

This wasn’t going to end well. Twilight decided she would rather not have the unhappiest ending for herself. The next time Bolt’s hoof came close, she swatted at it. She missed.

“Oh, it looks like the little Pulsar has a bit of fight in her! What, you’re gonna fight me, huh Pulsar?”

The colt grabbed her in his levitation as the mares giggled into their hooves and Bolt walked calmly up to her.

“What?” Twilight barked out a laugh. It was forced. “How many of you are gonna beat up on a defenseless mare?”

“Please, we’re real ponies, you Pulsar, with that magic-blocker, you’re about as strong as a gust of wind.”

She was dropped out of the levitation anyway. As soon as she was, however, her mind raced as she put as much force into a burst of telekinesis as she could, before aiming it at Bolt and letting it do its job.

He was sent flying backwards, not taking the fight seriously and most definitely not expecting such a desperate attack. Twilight had the sense not to look surprised at her strength. If that’s what she could do with the inhibitor on…

Calmly collecting herself and walking over to where Bolt’s body lay, she sighed internally. She knew what to do and what not to do in a fight, even if she had never been in one. Never hit an opponent while they were down, and never hit them in their most sacred places.

She was about to break both of those rules.

If she was going to stop them from ganging up on her tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that, she would have to end this fight. All of her fights, with this one colt.

He looked up at her with hate in his eyes. She looked down with indifference. She shoved a hoof into his skull, at the base of his horn. She heard a loud crack, and despite internally wincing at the shrieks let out from below her, moved lower as she bucked him with all her might in the chest.

The shrieks were cut off by a sound of hacking, and she saw a little bit of blood on the floor.

Turning once more, she lifted one hoof and shoved it into his groin, making the colt whimper and curl up even further as tears streamed out of his eyes.

She looked to the crowd of bullies. Apathetically speaking, “You might think about ganging up on me. You’d probably hurt me pretty bad. But if you do, you won’t be able to stop thinking about me. How would I get you back? When? Where? Because this isn’t what I'd do to ponies that hurt me,” she pointed a hoof at Bolt. “What I’d do is much worse.”

She turned away, heading off towards where the carriages were. Nopony followed her, but she could hear the mutterings of the group behind her. “Man, she kicked his flank. She was thorough.” Going far enough away from the voices, she huddled against a wall until her carriage came, slowly crying her eyes out.

Take my Monitor away, and I’m heartless. How would Shining have handled that? Not like me… I’ll never be like Shining…

Shining Armor

“Just got word that the Monitor had been removed. How’s she been?”

“It’s odd, seeing a pony’s expressions, instead of feeling them. You live inside them for so long… it’s hard to determine what she’s thinking. You can’t feel the minor muscle movements that were obvious tells when inside of them, because they’re invisible to the naked eye.”

“Come on, we aren’t discussing philosophy or biology. You just saw her very thoroughly beat a schoolyard bully. A rather influential one at that.”

“She didn’t just beat him, she destroyed him. Like we did at—“

“I know, I was there. Anyhow, the Council has decided to pass her.”

“Good. There’s just one more thing to see. Let’s see how she handles her brother now that the Monitor is off.”

“You’re talking about him. He’s the strongest, most intelligent unicorn out there aside from her, and she wouldn’t ever hurt him. How do you think this is a good idea?”

“These foals aren’t playing hoofball, you know. They’re growing up to be the saviors of the entire planet. If they don’t get hurt along the way, we didn’t do something right.”

“I can’t help that I’ve gotten to like her. She’s a good filly, and I’m just afraid we’re going to screw up her psyche.”

“Of course her psyche’s going to be damaged. It’s essentially our job. No offense, but we’re Nightmare Moon on Nightmare Night, ready to gobble them up if they don’t give us candy.”

<<<<^^@^^>>>>

“Sorry, Twi. Did it hurt?” Spike whispered. The small dragon was looking at the small hole in the base of her horn.

Twilight’s horn glowed with magic, and the door shut behind her. The tingling feeling that usually accompanied the use of magic was gone. Must’ve been the Monitor, she thought. “No, Spike. I’m just glad it’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” Shining Armor walked into the foyer, levitating a daisy sandwich beside him.

Twilight didn’t see the handsome, well-mannered colt that most adults saw, with a thick, blue striped mane and gorgeous white coat and a face that could’ve been on the face of a young Starswhirl. Twi only looked at her brother to detect the signs of anger or boredom, which always led to playing his games.

Even now, as his eyes flicked to the hole in her horn, a flare of anger lit up his eyes.

Spike, either playing dumb or just genuinely excited, ran up and pointed to it. “Hey! Her Monitor’s gone, she’s just like normal unicorns now!”

It was the perfectly wrong thing to say. “Normal unicorns?” Shining’s eye twitched. “I don’t know what kind of unicorns you’ve been hanging out with Spike, but most unicorns I know don’t have that on their horns,” he pointed to the Inhibitor. “That thing means that she’ll never be a normal unicorn. She’ll just be a little Pulsar the rest of her life.”

Keep on talking, Shining, Twilight thought. Talk and talk. Talk is fine, just keep going.

“Well it seems like there isn’t anypony looking over you now, is there, you little Pulsar? You lasted a year longer than I did, and everypony had such high hopes for you, despite the fact that you’re a freak. ‘Oh, look at little Twily, maybe she’ll outshine her brother by making it to Battle School!’ Doesn’t seem like such a good thing now, huh, Twily? Don’t have anypony watching your back to make sure your big brother best friend forever doesn’t hurt you, huh, Pulsar? How about that, huh?”

Twilight shrugged. He’s all talk. He’d never hurt her, not really.

A mock smile appeared on her brother’s lips as he nodded emphatically. “Let’s see how good you are at magic now that you’re all grown up. Can you put up a shield?”

Spike stepped in front of Twilight. “Where did mom and dad go?”

“They said they got some news concerning Twi. I’m in charge.”

“Why don’t you put up a shield this time, Shining?”

“I’ll do it,” Twilight said. “I’ve been practicing.”

“Then let’s go to the magic room,” said Shining.

Spike started to follow. “I’m coming too.”

Shining whirled back to him, levitating him away from the stairs. “Stay out, iguana. Magic room is for unicorns only, even if Twily here is barely considered one.”

They walked into the spell-proofed room, designed to hold back against even the toughest of magical spells, and Twilight had one simple thought. She was doomed. When other foals had magic duels, it was oftentimes until one was too injured or fatigued to continue on. For those too stubborn to surrender, they ended up in a magical coma. Or worse.

Those in charge allowed the duels, because they claimed it would help prepare the foals for real battle when the buggers came back. If they don’t get used to it now, how can they hope to stand a chance against a bugger? Even if the buggers didn’t have magic, or even if the buggers could ‘clock out’ at the moment they lost. Foals couldn’t do that. Foals were cruel.

All foals except Shining. He never hurt her, and while he didn’t always stop when she asked, Twilight was certain that her brother would never cause her permanent harm. Bruises and a wounded ego, maybe. But she didn’t have much of an ego to begin with.

They stood on opposite sides of the room. Without preamble, Shining nodded slightly, horn lighting up as he put his energy into a barrage of magic missiles.

With little time to respond, Twilight cast a quick moment-shield. The missiles staggered against the shield, bright purple flashes coming from the dome as each of the telekinetic blasts hit it.

A look of genuine surprise crossed her brother’s face as she grinned triumphantly. “Well, well. It looks like you found the most mana-effective shield out there.”

“When you don’t have much energy to spend,” Twilight said, “you learn to spend it in the most effective way possible.” Twilight knew her shield wouldn’t last much longer, though. Her talent might be magic in general, but her brother’s talent was shields.

It wasn’t long before her shield came down. Shining capitalized on the moment, moving towards her at a breakneck speed. She attempted to send a blast of force at him, but it was swatted away by a small shield that materialized in front of him. He stopped in front of her, with his horn at her throat and his hoof on her horn.

“I yield.”

Shining smirked. “I’m sure you do little Twily. Tell me, what would a bugger do? Would he take you prisoner? Or would he end you? They don’t seem to be burdened by the moral standpoints that we are, so why should we have them in the first place?”

He moved his horn from her throat, still having his hoof firmly placed directly over her Inhibitor. He whispered into her ear, “What if we made you a normal earth pony, Twi? What if we took away your magic? You wouldn’t be a Pulsar anymore. Sure, it would hurt, but think about it? Wouldn’t it be best for the entire family if I was to just… press down?”

He did, the metal making a creaking sound against her horn. A dull, aching throb started down her horn. She groaned aloud, “Stop it, Shiny.”

“Stop it, Shiny, stop it Shiny. Why should I? Why should I have to live with a freak of nature like you? Why couldn’t you have just passed and gotten into the damned battle school?!”

A loud crash echoed throughout the room, and a primal yell soon followed. Shining put up a shield just in time to stop the green flames from singeing his coat, but didn’t react in time to stop the claws from raking across the barrel of his chest.

Her eyes widened as a splash of red fell onto Twilight’s face.

“You’ll pay for that you little—”

“What in Tartarus going on in here?!” The trio’s eyes turned to the door, where a pastel pink alicorn stood in the doorway.

“Stay out of it Cadence, this is between me and the runt.” A light pink field wrapped itself around Spike as he was lifted off the ground, flailing his claws towards Shining.

“You aren’t going to be doing anything to Spike. Put him down Shining.” He hesitated. “Put. Him. Down.” Spike slowly lowered to the floor, going back to standing over Twilight protectively.

Cadence’s eyes softened. “Alright, now come over here, you big lug.” Sighing, Shining Armor shuffled over to Cadence, cringing with each step at his wounds. She tapped him on the chest with her horn, the flesh knitting together soon after. The alicorn turned to Twilight. “Are you and Spike alright?”

Twilight nodded numbly, still processing what happened. Just the small motion sent an ache down her horn. Cadence frowned slightly, levitating a small napkin towards Twilight’s face. The blood came off easily with the help of magic. Cadence walked over to the purple unicorn, lifting her off the ground, and giving her a quick hug.

Turning back to her brother, Twilight gave a grim smile and nodded to him. He nodded back.

“Shining.” The white colt’s attention moved to Cadence. “We have things to discuss.”

“Come on, Cadence, it was just a joke.”

“Then you have a bad sense of humor. Go over there and apologize to both of them. Now.”

Shining stuck his nose into the air as he walked towards them, typical of the upper nobility in Canterlot. He stopped in front of them, eyeing them as he spoke. “Spike. I apologize that I called you an iguana and threatened you. Twilight, I apologize for threatening you and not stopping when you yielded. But I have a warning.”

He focused intently on Spike, saying, “You’re her Monitor now. You’d better be with her 24/7, and you had better keep an eye open while you’re sleeping. Because Cadence won’t be here every time that I go to take that horn off her pretty purple head. Never forget that.”

“Shining!”

Turning back to Cadence, he looked back over his shoulder at Twilight before spitting out the word, “Pulsar.”

The duo left the room, leaving Twi and Spike there still standing in shock.

Maybe Shining is more like me than I thought… or maybe I’m more like Shining. Why does it still hurt to think of that either way?

<<<<^^@^^>>>>

It wasn’t long before Night Light and Midnight Shine returned from their trip to the castle. Midnight held her daughter close and told her that ‘Everything was okay’ and ‘You won’t have to worry about anything’. After her tears were spent, Twilight’s mother moved onto the kitchen and started cooking dinner. Cadence was invited to join, but decided against it.

Night Light kept going on about how glad he was that Twilight got to stay with them, and it was such a wonderful surprise, the government let Twilight stay even with her little mishap, and now they wouldn’t take her away because she’s already proven herself to be able to control her power. It made her sick. It made her want to scream out, ‘Yes, I get it! I’m a Pulsar! I’m a freak of nature! Just let the government take me to some high-tech facility and keep me locked up for the rest of my life and spare you the embarrassment of having me in your family! I’m sorry that I was born this way! I’m sorry… I’m sorry…’

There weren’t any marks left on Shining’s chest by dinner, and the situation that had happened never came up, aside from some dark looks that Shining cast to Spike, who reciprocated in turn.

It wasn’t until late at night, when Twilight lay awake in bed that the final scare of the day happened.

It was two in the morning when she heard a door creak open down the hall, and the curt clip-clop of hooves stumble in a tired fashion towards the restroom. After hearing a flush, the sound of hooves came to a stop in front of her door. Spike was at the foot of her bed, fast asleep as her door opened. Shining came in solemnly, his silhouette easy to spot.

He thought she was asleep. He was going to shove a hoof in her mouth as he snapped off her horn. Would he do something worse than that?

Instead of doing anything, he simply stood there, standing over her, until she felt something wet drip onto her bed sheets.

Sobbing, Shining said, “I’m so sorry Twi… I know it hurts, I went through it… I just wanted you to feel normal and I let it get away from me… I’m so sorry… I love you, I’m your BBBFF…”

He left as he came, shuffling down the hall and closing her door as he went. Twilight blinked as she absentmindedly rubbed the hole in the base of her horn. And for the second time that day, she curled into a ball and cried.