Of Villainy and Vectorsby ForestGrumpChaptersBrief BackstoryTrixie's TiradeArranging ChangelingsBrief BackstoryI am not a villain. WhiteSteeds Equestrian Dictionary defines a villain as a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot. That's not me. But the reigning monarchy of Equestria seems to define a villain as anypony who pits themselves against Princess Twilight Sparkle; and that is me. But I am not a villain. I'm a writer. Any good story has a strong beginning. Mine as it happened was in Hoofington. My mother worked at a flower shop there, arranging bouquets for weddings. She really makes wonderful bouquets, it's a shame no one notices when she is overshadowed by my father. She doesn't mind though, she keeps right on making her bouquets. My fathers name is Directors Cut. Yes, you've probably heard of him, he has directed most of the blockbuster hits this side of Equestria. Except that one really weird one about sparkly pony vampires... who knew that one would take off the way it did? Every famous pony has a hideaway though... somewhere they go to escape the cameras and the publicity. For my father that was Hoofington. And that's where he met my mother, SpringBlossom. I am told it was quite the scandal when the press got wind of Director's Cut courting this simple little earth mare. Everyone had assumed he would one day fall for one of the beautiful ponies in his films. Knowing what I do of tabloids and press I'm not overly surprised they blew it out of proportion; but personally I think he made the right choice. My mother is the most beautiful pony I've ever seen. And she graced him with the filly he always wanted... he just had to deal with having me come first. No, I was not what my father desired in a daughter; I took after my mother. Don't get me wrong, he loves me anyway. But neither of us was under the illusion that I was everything he'd ever dreamed his firstborn girl would be. That's okay, there's a lot of things in my life that haven't turned out to be how I expected either. I wasn't even his first disappointment, that honor belongs to my brother Champion. We all lived on the road for a good part of my childhood. That's one of the occupational hazards of having kids when you're a celebrity, everyone wants to film them. My mother prized our privacy and so this was the only way my father could give it to her. It was kind of fun, I saw a lot of neat places, like the Griffon Kingdom. (It's fascinating by the way, I can't even find proper words to describe it.) Sometimes making the best of a bad or awkward situation can make you who you are, and I wouldn't change who I am for anything. Then MoonShine was born. Turquoise and tiny, with blue hairs and big eyes, this was the filly my father had waited for. She inherited the best traits of both parents, she was beautiful, talented, ambitious... and completely and utterly hopeless when it came to doing anything that resembled real work. Oh the anecdotes I could give you about her first time trying to wash the dishes. This was a pony that was born for the stage. Even my mother could see this, much as she didn't want to. So we moved to Las Pegasus. What can I say about living in Las Pegasus? There's a lot of pegasi? It's very bright? Really I hated it, but my father practically glowed, and once she got the hang of it so did my sister. I think my mother felt the same way I did but she has this frustrating tendency to look at every glass as half full. I didn't inherit this inborn ability, or her never-ending patience. In fact I have very little patience when surrounded by bright lights and drama queens, and Las Pegasus was not a great place for someone like that. But I gave it my best shot. I enrolled at the local school, soon realizing that every school in the city was an arts school. I am not against art per se... after all writing is an art form too. But these arts schools did not bring out the best in me. They had strict regiments, and a terrible populace. My fellow schoolmates were every bit as shallow and stuck up as I'd feared they would be, and there was no room for someone who just wanted to study. Between notes to my parents and time in detention it became quickly apparent I was becoming someone I didn't want to be. Someone I didn't even like. Something had to change. My mother was my greatest ally in this endeavor, being a more simple mare herself she could well understand my feelings for my current surroundings. But like I said, she had more patience than I did, which in this case turned out to be a good thing for me. She spent long hours sitting up with my father, convincing him that while I was a little young to leave home it was the best thing for me. I'll say one thing for my father. It was my well being he was concerned for, and not his reputation. He cared not a lick for what the magazines might print about his skills as a father, he was much more concerned about whether I knew what it was like to live away from home. But I was ready. I was more than ready. I was born for this, and excitement made my fur tingle every time I imagined going out and starting my own life. Of course I had no idea then the trials and tribulations that come with such things, but I had plenty of time to learn. After all no one really knows what anything is like until they've tried it. Finally after much discussion my parents gave me the best gift I have ever received, and that includes the pen that writes on it's own, because I really detest those things they never portray the emotions quite right. A one way ticket.... to Canterlot. Author's Note This is the prologue, I will work on this story when I have spare time, mostly I decided it had been kicking around my head long enough it was time to do something about it. I'm using this as an exercise to blow off steam between work and writing my books so updates may be sporadic. I dearly hope some people will enjoy what's to come though, it should be an interesting story. Thank you for reading and please do come back for chapter one! Trixie's TiradeIt was Monday at eight twenty three in the morning that a cyan coloured unicorn entered my study. A black cloak surrounded her, masking her identity, but such things were unnecessary. I knew exactly who she was... after all, it was on my invitation that she had come. "Greetings" I said, glancing at her and motioning towards some hooks on the door. "I'd rather keep my cloak if you don't mind." You could have chilled an iced tea on her tone, but I'd known before inviting her that this might be a problem. Yet still I had requested her presence. It had been a long time since I had heard of anyone despising Twilight Sparkle the way I did. Well you know what they say, misery loves company. With a non-nonchalant shrug I closed my workbook and crossed my hooves before meeting her eyes. "Miss Trixie, I have asked you here-" "The Great and Powerful Trixie knows why you have asked her here." I bristled inwardly, but waved a hoof inviting her to go on. "Your secretary has told the Great and Powerful Trixie that you wish her to perform a service for you, but surely you know that the Great and Powerful Trixie's services do not come cheap. I will require payment upfront and a handsome expense budget. The great and powerful Trixie will settle for nothing less than the best." I bit back a sharp retort, which was not easy as I am known to have a bit of a temper, and looked her up and down. She was bluffing of course, which I would have known even if my secretary hadn't provided me with a short back story of where she'd found the mare, but I decided humouring her was my best option. "Naturally." I replied. "As my secretary no doubt told you, money is no object, but I must insist you remain discreet." The proud pony snorted indignantly. "Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie would never dream of telling anyone what she is up to. But what exactly is it you want of the Great and Powerful Trixie?" A smile spread across my face and I leaned forward. Now we were getting to the meat of the issue. "It is not in fact about what I want from you... but what I can do for you that I am interested in Miss Trixie." Trixie frowned in confusion but waited patiently for me to elaborate. "I understand from what I've been told that you have a bit of a grudge on a pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?" At this the unicorn visibly tensed, her eyes darkening with clear hatred. "Twilight Sparkle... don't even talk to me about Twilight Sparkle! A fraud if ever I saw one and yet they say Trixie is the fraud! Did Trixie ever say she could, or even would vanquish an ursa major for the ponies of Ponyville? No! And why should the Great and Powerful Trixie lift a hoof for them when they tried to ruin her show?!" I nodded sympathetically, watching her body language as she raged. "But now, now the story is everywhere! Laughter fills the air where ever the Great and Powerful Trixie goes! And my cart! Vandalism is what it is, but does anypony care?! Pictures all over my cart, and how is the Great and Powerful Trixie supposed to afford a new cart when no one will attend her shows?! But does anyone care? The Great and Powerful Trixie even had to take a job on a rock farm! Meanwhile nothing but praise for perfect Twilight Sparkle! Oh SHE can do no wrong!" I nodded sympathetically until she had worn herself out with her rants and my secretary had been and gone with some tea. I nearly spit mine out when she finally spoke again. "So how exactly can you help me?" After almost an hour of repeating her self-imposed title I had a hard time believing the words “I” or “me” existed in her vocabulary. "Well" I replied "I know where you can acquire something that will help you take down precious perfect Twilight sparkle... but of course you can't tell anyone where you found out." The mare sighed exasperatedly... I guess I HAD been rather beating a dead horse. "In Manehattan... down central street there is a hole in the wall antique store...." I suppose I’m coming across as quite an unpleasant pony at the moment. In order to better understand why I am not, in fact, a villain you are going to have to bear with my reflecting for a bit. I believe we last left off from my own story with me receiving my parents blessing to go to Canterlot. Upon arriving there I was immediately taken. Where Las Pegasus has bright lights and arts ponies this place was full of academics. Libraries were on every corner, in every coffee shop somepony was reading. The place even seemed to smell like books. Well, books, and fabrics, and expensive perfumes, but mostly books. I took a deep breath and let it out with a self satisfied sigh. Finally, somewhere that felt like home. The feeling didn't last, after a few hours I was starting to feel tired and realized quickly that I had nowhere to stay. I paid one bit for the local paper and started looking for a job a blank flank youngling could do. As well as for a cheap place to lay my rump. My gaze fell instead upon an ad. An ad that would change my life for the better... and for the worst. "Princess Celestia wants YOU! In her academy for gifted unicorns." This line was followed by mundane scribbles about tuition and whatnot, but I didn't read that. Gifted... was I gifted? I'd lived my life thinking my little sister was the only gifted child in my family, but was it not possible that I too was gifted? Tearing the page from the paper I cantered through the streets making directly for Canterlot Castle. I was accepted fairly easily, the entrance exam threw me a little. I mean how is anypony supposed to hatch a dragon egg? But I gave it my best try, starting with surrounding it in fire. I mean that makes sense right? Dragons breath fire, maybe the eggs need that warmth to hatch. I followed this attempt with an aging spell, but only the highest level unicorns can do those successfully. My final shot involved a disastrous engorging spell. My thought process was pretty simple, make the dragon inside too large for the egg to hold. It kind of worked, except that the only thing to get larger was the wings. They did poke out of the shell, but the shell quickly regrew and the wings fell uselessly to the ground. Stepping back from them with a grimace I glanced toward the teachers. The two to either end looked reasonably impressed, the third was scribbling feverishly. I sat down and tapped my hooves on the ground waiting with bated breath for their decision. Shortly after I received my dorm assignment and began my studies. It was only two weeks that I had been there when a new classmate was introduced and a little unicorn entered with a tiny dragon crawling behind her. The dragon caught my attention immediately because it was without wings. Most ponies have little knowledge of dragons because they are rare but I have a little experience with dragons from my travels and all the ones I have seen have wings. The teacher said the girl was called Twilight Sparkle and bade her take the seat next to me. Twilight took her seat and immediately began rifling through her books, of which there were many. I marveled inwardly at the beautiful covers and noticed a special seal on many of the spines indicating they were from Celestia's own study. How could this new student have books that belonged to our beloved princess? I wondered about this as she selected the book she needed and then noticed me eyeing her bag. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She stated with an understated air of authority. "And this is Spike, I hope he won't disturb you I hatched him only yesterday. Everything has been just crazy since then, but I can't wait to visit the royal library again. It's so great that Princess Celestia lets us use it isn't it?" I frowned thoughtfully, wondering why the princess seemed to have taken to this pupil in particular before allowing her words to sink in. "I hatched him... you hatched the dragon? I thought we were only supposed to test theories on how to hatch him... how did you do it?" I asked. "Well, I'm not really sure." She replied. "There was this huge explosion and then he grew to be really big... if I had to guess I would say it was an engorgement charm." I am afraid I became rather frosty at this news, but you would be angry too if your idea had been stolen. And besides that I had probably weakened the shell for her. "Oh I see" I said, forcing cheer into my voice. "Well I hope we all can study very hard and advance equestrian knowledge." She nodded and turned back toward the front. It was then that my eyes found the star on her flank... a cutie mark. Frustration boiled in me and as I turned back toward the front I had to fight very hard not to kick her yawning dragon. Things went from bad to worse when I finally got my cutie mark a year later. I didn't have many friends, and neither did she, so we often were paired together for projects. Having been entranced by books for some time I began to wonder if it was possible to put the information from them inside a pony's head more quickly, perhaps have it all play out like a movie. I'd been doing some private experiments and made a little progress but with books like textbooks it was hard. The spell worked a little bit on works of fiction though, so I spent a few months writing out my very first book. Twilight helped a lot with research and facts but the actual written words were mine. It was a simple story about a flightless bird but it was sweet. It's sold hundreds of copies now, but back then it was just for a school project, to test my theory. On presentation day Twilight and I opened the book and let each pony place their hoof on the first page in turn. Since I had written the book I let Twilight be the one to deliver the spell, because in partner projects both are supposed to contribute equally. I could have done the spell just as easily. Watching the ponies close their eyes and smile as my story played for them in their minds something came over me. It was like this is what I was meant to do. Like these books were a part of who I wass and I knew I wanted to continue writing, always. A glow seemed to fill me from the inside out and when it faded I looked upon my flank in awe. There on my dark green flank was a scroll crossed with a pencil. The scroll of course representing the research needed when writing a cohesive story and the pencil being my writing tool of choice. After the presentation was through there was thunderous applause, and I waited patiently for them to notice my cutie mark."Wow Twilight!" The chorus was heard everywhere, exclaiming in delight at her show of magic. Moondancer was the first to approach, claiming that she'd never seen magic like that before. My world fell to pieces right then, and I turned and fled from my despair. Suddenly someone called out "Wait!" And I whirled. Twilight had started to move in my general direction, but a crowd had once again formed around her. I cut my losses then, and ran as far and fast as I could. Far away from those who preferred magic tricks to my work of art. Far away from Twilight Sparkle. Arranging ChangelingsTrixie was not the first obstacle I had decided to set up for our perfect princess, and would not be the last. Probably the biggest obstacle though, required a little more finesse than hiring a rival to mess with her. I remember when I got sick of hearing my mentor go on about her perfect pupil. I remember when I was almost responsible for the downfall of our entire society. It was Twilight's fault, if she wasn't such a goody two shoes I wouldn't have had to try so hard to test her. This is probably what I consider my biggest mistake though, inviting changelings into our beautiful city. As I've mentioned we've done a lot of traveling. It was during this time that I discovered a creature called a changeling. I never once imagined I would be unleashing these creatures on Equestria proper, but it was fascinating to discover their effect. The pony on which they were using their manipulative powers seemed to have no clue that this being was not in fact her loving and devoted husband. It took some time before the effects came through but after having her love preyed upon for many months she began to have less of it. Bags appeared under her eyes and she began to lose weight. It became noticeable pretty quickly after that and she became more and more bitter. She snapped at her daughter and became hostile to all around her. After a while her husband seemed to vanish, although I know that he had simply bled her dry and gone to find someone else. A bitter husk of a pony without love... sounded like the perfect fate for the one I despised. Had I known the changeling I had seen was in fact their queen I would have never approached her, but being as changelings take the form of other creatures I did not know. It took some time to track her down, but eventually after following this cranky stallion around I managed to corner his 'wife'. "I know what you are. I don't know what it's called, but I know you can change shape and drain the love from ponies. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone." I sat, putting her at ease. "I need a favour." I launched into a detailed description of Twilight, which I'd learned from being the only one she really talked to. I told her about her life as a filly, being filly-sat by bloody royalty, and finally about her brother. I told her about how much Twilight loved him, and regretted not seeing him in the academy. I told her about how the two had been virtually inseparable and I told her about where he lived in Canterlot. As captain of the royal guard.You don't get to be captain of the royal guard without earning the respect and adoration of the other guards. No, Shining Armour was a well loved stallion I told her, and watched the wheels turn in her head. Two short weeks later I was sneaking her into Canterlot, she borrowed the appearance of Moondancer so as not to raise suspicions and I showed her Shining Armour's flat. I had walked Twilight there once so I knew exactly where it was. Watching her slip quietly inside I fought the urge to rub my hooves together maniacally. That is, after all, something villains do; and I am not a villain. It was a long time later that I found out what had come to pass from my escapades. I reported changelings in the city right away though, I wasted no time doing that. After all if the changeling failed in draining Twilight of all love, including that she felt for her precious new friends, then maybe I could get some glory for saving Canterlot from this evil being. After I found out what happened I felt quite ill, but luckily it was never traced back to me. What happened was this: As I said the changeling I invited into our fair city was in fact Queen Chrysalis, their leader. She assessed Shining Armour, and would have taken his form, if not for the fact that Shining Armour was soon to be wed to Princess Cadance. What is the love for a captain compared to the love for a princess? Surely Princess Cadance would make a much better candidate. Add to that the fact that this Twilight I had told her, also felt a good deal of love for Cadence and... well I should have seen it coming. Queen Chrysalis disguised herself as Princess Cadance and Twilight was of course the only one who knew that it wasn't her. So of course Twilight was this big hero of the whole damn ordeal. What else is new? Even though it was her brother that actually saved the day, Twilight was the hero. Figures. I know that it sounds pretty awful, bringing things like that into my home city but you have to understand that I'm not the only one at fault.
Brief BackstoryI am not a villain. WhiteSteeds Equestrian Dictionary defines a villain as a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot. That's not me. But the reigning monarchy of Equestria seems to define a villain as anypony who pits themselves against Princess Twilight Sparkle; and that is me. But I am not a villain. I'm a writer. Any good story has a strong beginning. Mine as it happened was in Hoofington. My mother worked at a flower shop there, arranging bouquets for weddings. She really makes wonderful bouquets, it's a shame no one notices when she is overshadowed by my father. She doesn't mind though, she keeps right on making her bouquets. My fathers name is Directors Cut. Yes, you've probably heard of him, he has directed most of the blockbuster hits this side of Equestria. Except that one really weird one about sparkly pony vampires... who knew that one would take off the way it did? Every famous pony has a hideaway though... somewhere they go to escape the cameras and the publicity. For my father that was Hoofington. And that's where he met my mother, SpringBlossom. I am told it was quite the scandal when the press got wind of Director's Cut courting this simple little earth mare. Everyone had assumed he would one day fall for one of the beautiful ponies in his films. Knowing what I do of tabloids and press I'm not overly surprised they blew it out of proportion; but personally I think he made the right choice. My mother is the most beautiful pony I've ever seen. And she graced him with the filly he always wanted... he just had to deal with having me come first. No, I was not what my father desired in a daughter; I took after my mother. Don't get me wrong, he loves me anyway. But neither of us was under the illusion that I was everything he'd ever dreamed his firstborn girl would be. That's okay, there's a lot of things in my life that haven't turned out to be how I expected either. I wasn't even his first disappointment, that honor belongs to my brother Champion. We all lived on the road for a good part of my childhood. That's one of the occupational hazards of having kids when you're a celebrity, everyone wants to film them. My mother prized our privacy and so this was the only way my father could give it to her. It was kind of fun, I saw a lot of neat places, like the Griffon Kingdom. (It's fascinating by the way, I can't even find proper words to describe it.) Sometimes making the best of a bad or awkward situation can make you who you are, and I wouldn't change who I am for anything. Then MoonShine was born. Turquoise and tiny, with blue hairs and big eyes, this was the filly my father had waited for. She inherited the best traits of both parents, she was beautiful, talented, ambitious... and completely and utterly hopeless when it came to doing anything that resembled real work. Oh the anecdotes I could give you about her first time trying to wash the dishes. This was a pony that was born for the stage. Even my mother could see this, much as she didn't want to. So we moved to Las Pegasus. What can I say about living in Las Pegasus? There's a lot of pegasi? It's very bright? Really I hated it, but my father practically glowed, and once she got the hang of it so did my sister. I think my mother felt the same way I did but she has this frustrating tendency to look at every glass as half full. I didn't inherit this inborn ability, or her never-ending patience. In fact I have very little patience when surrounded by bright lights and drama queens, and Las Pegasus was not a great place for someone like that. But I gave it my best shot. I enrolled at the local school, soon realizing that every school in the city was an arts school. I am not against art per se... after all writing is an art form too. But these arts schools did not bring out the best in me. They had strict regiments, and a terrible populace. My fellow schoolmates were every bit as shallow and stuck up as I'd feared they would be, and there was no room for someone who just wanted to study. Between notes to my parents and time in detention it became quickly apparent I was becoming someone I didn't want to be. Someone I didn't even like. Something had to change. My mother was my greatest ally in this endeavor, being a more simple mare herself she could well understand my feelings for my current surroundings. But like I said, she had more patience than I did, which in this case turned out to be a good thing for me. She spent long hours sitting up with my father, convincing him that while I was a little young to leave home it was the best thing for me. I'll say one thing for my father. It was my well being he was concerned for, and not his reputation. He cared not a lick for what the magazines might print about his skills as a father, he was much more concerned about whether I knew what it was like to live away from home. But I was ready. I was more than ready. I was born for this, and excitement made my fur tingle every time I imagined going out and starting my own life. Of course I had no idea then the trials and tribulations that come with such things, but I had plenty of time to learn. After all no one really knows what anything is like until they've tried it. Finally after much discussion my parents gave me the best gift I have ever received, and that includes the pen that writes on it's own, because I really detest those things they never portray the emotions quite right. A one way ticket.... to Canterlot. Author's Note This is the prologue, I will work on this story when I have spare time, mostly I decided it had been kicking around my head long enough it was time to do something about it. I'm using this as an exercise to blow off steam between work and writing my books so updates may be sporadic. I dearly hope some people will enjoy what's to come though, it should be an interesting story. Thank you for reading and please do come back for chapter one!
Trixie's TiradeIt was Monday at eight twenty three in the morning that a cyan coloured unicorn entered my study. A black cloak surrounded her, masking her identity, but such things were unnecessary. I knew exactly who she was... after all, it was on my invitation that she had come. "Greetings" I said, glancing at her and motioning towards some hooks on the door. "I'd rather keep my cloak if you don't mind." You could have chilled an iced tea on her tone, but I'd known before inviting her that this might be a problem. Yet still I had requested her presence. It had been a long time since I had heard of anyone despising Twilight Sparkle the way I did. Well you know what they say, misery loves company. With a non-nonchalant shrug I closed my workbook and crossed my hooves before meeting her eyes. "Miss Trixie, I have asked you here-" "The Great and Powerful Trixie knows why you have asked her here." I bristled inwardly, but waved a hoof inviting her to go on. "Your secretary has told the Great and Powerful Trixie that you wish her to perform a service for you, but surely you know that the Great and Powerful Trixie's services do not come cheap. I will require payment upfront and a handsome expense budget. The great and powerful Trixie will settle for nothing less than the best." I bit back a sharp retort, which was not easy as I am known to have a bit of a temper, and looked her up and down. She was bluffing of course, which I would have known even if my secretary hadn't provided me with a short back story of where she'd found the mare, but I decided humouring her was my best option. "Naturally." I replied. "As my secretary no doubt told you, money is no object, but I must insist you remain discreet." The proud pony snorted indignantly. "Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie would never dream of telling anyone what she is up to. But what exactly is it you want of the Great and Powerful Trixie?" A smile spread across my face and I leaned forward. Now we were getting to the meat of the issue. "It is not in fact about what I want from you... but what I can do for you that I am interested in Miss Trixie." Trixie frowned in confusion but waited patiently for me to elaborate. "I understand from what I've been told that you have a bit of a grudge on a pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle?" At this the unicorn visibly tensed, her eyes darkening with clear hatred. "Twilight Sparkle... don't even talk to me about Twilight Sparkle! A fraud if ever I saw one and yet they say Trixie is the fraud! Did Trixie ever say she could, or even would vanquish an ursa major for the ponies of Ponyville? No! And why should the Great and Powerful Trixie lift a hoof for them when they tried to ruin her show?!" I nodded sympathetically, watching her body language as she raged. "But now, now the story is everywhere! Laughter fills the air where ever the Great and Powerful Trixie goes! And my cart! Vandalism is what it is, but does anypony care?! Pictures all over my cart, and how is the Great and Powerful Trixie supposed to afford a new cart when no one will attend her shows?! But does anyone care? The Great and Powerful Trixie even had to take a job on a rock farm! Meanwhile nothing but praise for perfect Twilight Sparkle! Oh SHE can do no wrong!" I nodded sympathetically until she had worn herself out with her rants and my secretary had been and gone with some tea. I nearly spit mine out when she finally spoke again. "So how exactly can you help me?" After almost an hour of repeating her self-imposed title I had a hard time believing the words “I” or “me” existed in her vocabulary. "Well" I replied "I know where you can acquire something that will help you take down precious perfect Twilight sparkle... but of course you can't tell anyone where you found out." The mare sighed exasperatedly... I guess I HAD been rather beating a dead horse. "In Manehattan... down central street there is a hole in the wall antique store...." I suppose I’m coming across as quite an unpleasant pony at the moment. In order to better understand why I am not, in fact, a villain you are going to have to bear with my reflecting for a bit. I believe we last left off from my own story with me receiving my parents blessing to go to Canterlot. Upon arriving there I was immediately taken. Where Las Pegasus has bright lights and arts ponies this place was full of academics. Libraries were on every corner, in every coffee shop somepony was reading. The place even seemed to smell like books. Well, books, and fabrics, and expensive perfumes, but mostly books. I took a deep breath and let it out with a self satisfied sigh. Finally, somewhere that felt like home. The feeling didn't last, after a few hours I was starting to feel tired and realized quickly that I had nowhere to stay. I paid one bit for the local paper and started looking for a job a blank flank youngling could do. As well as for a cheap place to lay my rump. My gaze fell instead upon an ad. An ad that would change my life for the better... and for the worst. "Princess Celestia wants YOU! In her academy for gifted unicorns." This line was followed by mundane scribbles about tuition and whatnot, but I didn't read that. Gifted... was I gifted? I'd lived my life thinking my little sister was the only gifted child in my family, but was it not possible that I too was gifted? Tearing the page from the paper I cantered through the streets making directly for Canterlot Castle. I was accepted fairly easily, the entrance exam threw me a little. I mean how is anypony supposed to hatch a dragon egg? But I gave it my best try, starting with surrounding it in fire. I mean that makes sense right? Dragons breath fire, maybe the eggs need that warmth to hatch. I followed this attempt with an aging spell, but only the highest level unicorns can do those successfully. My final shot involved a disastrous engorging spell. My thought process was pretty simple, make the dragon inside too large for the egg to hold. It kind of worked, except that the only thing to get larger was the wings. They did poke out of the shell, but the shell quickly regrew and the wings fell uselessly to the ground. Stepping back from them with a grimace I glanced toward the teachers. The two to either end looked reasonably impressed, the third was scribbling feverishly. I sat down and tapped my hooves on the ground waiting with bated breath for their decision. Shortly after I received my dorm assignment and began my studies. It was only two weeks that I had been there when a new classmate was introduced and a little unicorn entered with a tiny dragon crawling behind her. The dragon caught my attention immediately because it was without wings. Most ponies have little knowledge of dragons because they are rare but I have a little experience with dragons from my travels and all the ones I have seen have wings. The teacher said the girl was called Twilight Sparkle and bade her take the seat next to me. Twilight took her seat and immediately began rifling through her books, of which there were many. I marveled inwardly at the beautiful covers and noticed a special seal on many of the spines indicating they were from Celestia's own study. How could this new student have books that belonged to our beloved princess? I wondered about this as she selected the book she needed and then noticed me eyeing her bag. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She stated with an understated air of authority. "And this is Spike, I hope he won't disturb you I hatched him only yesterday. Everything has been just crazy since then, but I can't wait to visit the royal library again. It's so great that Princess Celestia lets us use it isn't it?" I frowned thoughtfully, wondering why the princess seemed to have taken to this pupil in particular before allowing her words to sink in. "I hatched him... you hatched the dragon? I thought we were only supposed to test theories on how to hatch him... how did you do it?" I asked. "Well, I'm not really sure." She replied. "There was this huge explosion and then he grew to be really big... if I had to guess I would say it was an engorgement charm." I am afraid I became rather frosty at this news, but you would be angry too if your idea had been stolen. And besides that I had probably weakened the shell for her. "Oh I see" I said, forcing cheer into my voice. "Well I hope we all can study very hard and advance equestrian knowledge." She nodded and turned back toward the front. It was then that my eyes found the star on her flank... a cutie mark. Frustration boiled in me and as I turned back toward the front I had to fight very hard not to kick her yawning dragon. Things went from bad to worse when I finally got my cutie mark a year later. I didn't have many friends, and neither did she, so we often were paired together for projects. Having been entranced by books for some time I began to wonder if it was possible to put the information from them inside a pony's head more quickly, perhaps have it all play out like a movie. I'd been doing some private experiments and made a little progress but with books like textbooks it was hard. The spell worked a little bit on works of fiction though, so I spent a few months writing out my very first book. Twilight helped a lot with research and facts but the actual written words were mine. It was a simple story about a flightless bird but it was sweet. It's sold hundreds of copies now, but back then it was just for a school project, to test my theory. On presentation day Twilight and I opened the book and let each pony place their hoof on the first page in turn. Since I had written the book I let Twilight be the one to deliver the spell, because in partner projects both are supposed to contribute equally. I could have done the spell just as easily. Watching the ponies close their eyes and smile as my story played for them in their minds something came over me. It was like this is what I was meant to do. Like these books were a part of who I wass and I knew I wanted to continue writing, always. A glow seemed to fill me from the inside out and when it faded I looked upon my flank in awe. There on my dark green flank was a scroll crossed with a pencil. The scroll of course representing the research needed when writing a cohesive story and the pencil being my writing tool of choice. After the presentation was through there was thunderous applause, and I waited patiently for them to notice my cutie mark."Wow Twilight!" The chorus was heard everywhere, exclaiming in delight at her show of magic. Moondancer was the first to approach, claiming that she'd never seen magic like that before. My world fell to pieces right then, and I turned and fled from my despair. Suddenly someone called out "Wait!" And I whirled. Twilight had started to move in my general direction, but a crowd had once again formed around her. I cut my losses then, and ran as far and fast as I could. Far away from those who preferred magic tricks to my work of art. Far away from Twilight Sparkle.
Arranging ChangelingsTrixie was not the first obstacle I had decided to set up for our perfect princess, and would not be the last. Probably the biggest obstacle though, required a little more finesse than hiring a rival to mess with her. I remember when I got sick of hearing my mentor go on about her perfect pupil. I remember when I was almost responsible for the downfall of our entire society. It was Twilight's fault, if she wasn't such a goody two shoes I wouldn't have had to try so hard to test her. This is probably what I consider my biggest mistake though, inviting changelings into our beautiful city. As I've mentioned we've done a lot of traveling. It was during this time that I discovered a creature called a changeling. I never once imagined I would be unleashing these creatures on Equestria proper, but it was fascinating to discover their effect. The pony on which they were using their manipulative powers seemed to have no clue that this being was not in fact her loving and devoted husband. It took some time before the effects came through but after having her love preyed upon for many months she began to have less of it. Bags appeared under her eyes and she began to lose weight. It became noticeable pretty quickly after that and she became more and more bitter. She snapped at her daughter and became hostile to all around her. After a while her husband seemed to vanish, although I know that he had simply bled her dry and gone to find someone else. A bitter husk of a pony without love... sounded like the perfect fate for the one I despised. Had I known the changeling I had seen was in fact their queen I would have never approached her, but being as changelings take the form of other creatures I did not know. It took some time to track her down, but eventually after following this cranky stallion around I managed to corner his 'wife'. "I know what you are. I don't know what it's called, but I know you can change shape and drain the love from ponies. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone." I sat, putting her at ease. "I need a favour." I launched into a detailed description of Twilight, which I'd learned from being the only one she really talked to. I told her about her life as a filly, being filly-sat by bloody royalty, and finally about her brother. I told her about how much Twilight loved him, and regretted not seeing him in the academy. I told her about how the two had been virtually inseparable and I told her about where he lived in Canterlot. As captain of the royal guard.You don't get to be captain of the royal guard without earning the respect and adoration of the other guards. No, Shining Armour was a well loved stallion I told her, and watched the wheels turn in her head. Two short weeks later I was sneaking her into Canterlot, she borrowed the appearance of Moondancer so as not to raise suspicions and I showed her Shining Armour's flat. I had walked Twilight there once so I knew exactly where it was. Watching her slip quietly inside I fought the urge to rub my hooves together maniacally. That is, after all, something villains do; and I am not a villain. It was a long time later that I found out what had come to pass from my escapades. I reported changelings in the city right away though, I wasted no time doing that. After all if the changeling failed in draining Twilight of all love, including that she felt for her precious new friends, then maybe I could get some glory for saving Canterlot from this evil being. After I found out what happened I felt quite ill, but luckily it was never traced back to me. What happened was this: As I said the changeling I invited into our fair city was in fact Queen Chrysalis, their leader. She assessed Shining Armour, and would have taken his form, if not for the fact that Shining Armour was soon to be wed to Princess Cadance. What is the love for a captain compared to the love for a princess? Surely Princess Cadance would make a much better candidate. Add to that the fact that this Twilight I had told her, also felt a good deal of love for Cadence and... well I should have seen it coming. Queen Chrysalis disguised herself as Princess Cadance and Twilight was of course the only one who knew that it wasn't her. So of course Twilight was this big hero of the whole damn ordeal. What else is new? Even though it was her brother that actually saved the day, Twilight was the hero. Figures. I know that it sounds pretty awful, bringing things like that into my home city but you have to understand that I'm not the only one at fault.
