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                 Why Don't They Like Him?                  
                      -by Jay David-                       
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                 Why Don't They Like Him?                  
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Why Don't They Like Him?
To say that Twilight was happy would have been a great understatement. With a smile and blush plastered all over her face, it was clear to everyone that she was content in a way that most would give a great deal to experience. It was not hard to see why she was like this either. Walking down the main hall of Canterlot High, the young girl had her arm locked into that of the young boy walking beside her. Flash Sentry, noted local guitar player and, more importantly at this moment, Twilight's boyfriend. The two had met under what could not be denied as anything but unusual circumstances, and that pretty much set the tone of their relationship ever since. Even so, it would have been impossible for anyone to look at these two as anything but a happy couple.
Leaning into her companion's arm, Twilight let out a relaxed sight as they strolled together, Flash smiling down at her as they moved. However, as they neared the locker area of the main hallway, his expression become a somewhat nervous one as he stopped suddenly. This alerted Twilight as she finally opened her eyes, looked up and immediately took note of the look on Flash's face. Sensing that something was wrong, she spoke up.
"Flash? What is it?"
The boy's eyes darted from left to right before he looked down at her, wearing a smile that even an occasionally-naive girl like Twilight could recognise as fake. The nervousness in his voice didn't help matters.
"Oh, nothing's wrong, Twilight. But maybe we should, you know...walk in a different direction...or something?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, making it clear to the boy that she wasn't buying a word of it. Something was bugging him and Twilight felt a great need to understand exactly what it was. She turned her head, looking down the hallway before them. There didn't seem to be anything or anyone that might bother Flash, leading to some confusion on her part. However, her eyes then caught sight of something. Some kind of words that had been scribbled on what Twilight recognised as Flash's locker. She moved forward, just in time to escape the grasp of Flash's hand as he attempted to stop her, and she marched closer to his locker to see what was written there. After squinting at the words a little, she looked at her boyfriend with a confused look on her face.
"Flash? Do you know what this means?"
The boy merely looked away from her, obviously embarrassed about all this. Twilight turned to the locker again and leaned in closer.
"I've never seen that word before. Wai...fu? Waifu? What's that? And why would people accuse you of stealing one?"
Flash looked around nervously, rubbing the back of his head before speaking to her.
"It's nothing, Twilight. Really, I'm fine. I'm sure it's just a bunch of the guys messing around as usual."
Twilight looked at him, a worriedly look on her face now.
"Has this been happening to you before? Why didn't you tell me?"
Flash let out a sigh.
"I just...didn't want you to be bothered by it, that's all."
Twilight placed her hands on her hips before frowning a little at him.
"Bothered by what? What are people saying about you that’s so bad you didn't want to tell me?"
Flash looked even more embarrassed than before, and took a few moments to gather his words together. However, as he spoke, it was clear from the tone of his voice that he was quite uncomfortable in saying such things to Twilight.
"Well...it's just that there are some people who...you know...don't really like the idea of...us?"
Twilight looked at him, her expression making it clear that she had no idea what Flash was talking about. However, slowly, her face became one of understanding, although this was only briefly as she quickly resumed her look of confusion once she looked away from Flash and really started to think about the matter.
"So...these people take issue with you and me being together. They don't like us as a couple? Wha...why...why is this such a big problem for them?"
Flash shrugged for a moment before a sudden sound caught the attention of both of them. They turned to see a group of both boys and girls walking down the hallways towards them. The group were chatting amongst themselves, to the point where it was now obvious that they didn't even know that Twilight and Flash were even there. Still, as Twilight turned to look upon Flash once more, she noted a look of both discomfort and annoyance as he kept his gaze upon the group. Putting two and two together, Twilight quickly figured out that these must be the ones that were giving her boyfriend so much grief. A look of determination crossed her face as she rolled up her sleeves, even though they weren't that big to begin with, before starting to march off towards them. However, she was soon stopped by Flash, who grabbed onto her arm with a look of worry on his face.
"No, Twilight! It's fine, really! You don't need to do anything rash just on my account."
Twilight looked at him, her face becoming one of great affection as she sighed and placed a hand gently upon his face.
"I appreciate your concern, Flash. But this needs to be done."
Before Flash could stop her, Twilight wriggled out of his grip and walked off down towards the group. Although hesitant at first, Flash was not the kind of guy to just let his girlfriend face this kind of thing alone, and so he found himself running to catch up to her. And just in time too, as Twilight now stood before the group, who had stopped as soon as they noticed her. Her hands were on her hips and she was giving them all stern looks. Flash meanwhile was looking from the group to Twilight in a rather nervous fashion. Eventually, after much silence on both sides, Twilight finally spoke up.
"Good afternoon. I hear you have a problem with my companion and me?"
The group, as if by way of some kind of creepy hive-mind, all looked towards Flash in unison, glaring at him angrily and causing the boy no end of stress. They then turned to Twilight, the young girl watching as the one at the head of the group stepped forward and spoke to her.
"We have no problem with you, Miss Sparkle. But your...friend...is another story."
Twilight narrowed her eyes at that.
"And what exactly is your problem with him?"
The leader looked her square in the eye before answering her.
"It's simple. He shouldn't be with you."
Twilight blinked in silence a few time before responding to that.
"I'm sorry...what?!"
The leader sighed a little before he carried on.
"Well...we decided amongst ourselves that he's not good enough for you. He's just some random guy who doesn't stand out in any way. Why should he get to be the one who dates the super-smart Princess from another world?"
Twilight looked at the group, still somewhat perplexed by this conversation, before glaring angrily at them all.
"And exactly what right do you have to say that? You don't even know him! I'll bet you never even said two words to him before you passed this ridiculous judgment on him, did you?"
She then stepped forward, raising a hand and pointing an accusatory finger into the leader's chest before continuing on her tirade.
"Flash has been nothing but good to me in the time I've known him."
Upon hearing that, one of the other member of the opposing group finally spoke up.
"Ah, but what about when he was really mean to you and made you cry?"
Twilight merely raised an eyebrow at that.
"Oh, you mean when he was under the same mind-control spell that all of you and the rest of the school was under? The one that made him and everyone else into something they're not?"
The other members of the group turned to the one who'd brought up this point, at which point they gave a silent acknowledgement that they couldn't really argue with Miss Sparkle's point, after which they quietly gave up on the matter, shuffling into the background so as to not have to look the young Princess in the eye again. After this, Twilight pointed her finger at Flash before speaking up again.
"Now I'll admit that Flash is far from being perfect. Like you said, he's not the most fascinating guy in the world. He's not the smartest, not the best-looking, he has a real problem with bumping into people a lot of the time..."
It was here that Flash finally spoke up, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend as he did so.
"Um, honey? I’m right here."
Twilight turned to her boyfriend with an innocent-looking smile on her face.
"I know, sweetie. But bear with me, I'm making a point. You just stand there and keep looking pretty."
Flash, understandably, didn’t know how to take all this, and so simply consigned himself to shrugging and following his girlfriend's instructions, striking a cliché pose that wouldn't have been out-of-place on some kind of generic teen heartthrob magazine cover. Twilight turned back to the group and carried on with her angry glaring.
"But even in spite of all those problems he may have, he's still a guy I'd want to be with. And more importantly, Flash wanted to be with me, even after knowing what I was. He knew I wasn't from his world, that I wasn't even his species, and even in spite of that, he still cared for me. How many people out there in the world can truly say that?"
The group looked at each other nervously before the Princess continued speaking to them.
"I don't know where you got it into your heads that you get to be the ones to decide who gets together with who, so let me make one thing perfectly clear."
She stepped even closer and, in a move that most would never attribute to one like Twilight Sparkle, grabbed onto the front of the leader's shirt and pulled them closer, so Twilight's angry face was barely a millimetre away from theirs.
"I, and I alone, get to be the one to decide who I do and don't like. And guess what?"
Letting go of the leader, Twilight took a few steps backwards before grabbing onto Flash's arm and holding him close, her eyes still on the group.
"I chose him! And I don't need to justify that to you or anyone else."
Flash blushed fiercely at his girlfriend's words, as well as continuing to look stressed and nervous about all this. The group said nothing, merely waiting and watching as Twilight let go of Flash and looked towards them with a softer expression on her face.
"So...what do you say? Can we put this all to rest and just accept this relationship?"
The group all looked at each other briefly before, to Twilight and Flash's surprise, the turned away from the couple and formed a huddle. They all began whispering to one another, although Twilight was easily able to make out the fact that all they were doing was loudly whispering the word "whisper" over and over again, with no real discussion whatsoever. Rolling her eyes at this, she folded her arms and tapped her foot a few time as she waited for the group to part from each other and give an answer. Eventually, they did so, and the leader gave a throat-clearing cough before replying to her.
"Er...nope."
After a few minutes of stoic silence, Twilight merely shrugged her shoulders at that.
"Well, I tried."
Turning, she looked upon Flash with a somewhat sultry look.
"Flash, honey? Could you stand still for a moment?"
The boy, although clearly uncertain where his girlfriend was going with this, silently nodded at her. Twilight smiled before, to everyone's shock, she moved in closer, wrapped her arms around Flash's neck and drew him into a deep kiss. Although taken aback, Flash soon found himself very much invested in this impromptu make-out session, and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend to hold her tight. The two stayed like this for some time, oblivious to whatever looks people might be giving them, before their lips finally parted from each other. Keeping her eyes locked onto her boyfriend's face, Twilight spoke softly and quietly to him.
"So...they still watching?"
Flash looked up a little before gaining the same nervous face he'd been wearing throughout most of this encounter.
"Er...yeah. In fact, I worry that I might be on the receiving end of a lynch mob later."
Twilight giggled a little, after which more understanding expression crossed her face.
"Just ignore them. If they don't like this, that's their choice. We can't change them, just like they can't change us. There are many relationships out there, Flash, and there will always be someone who doesn't approve of them. We may not like it if people look down on the two of us...but we have no right to tell them they're wrong to feel that way. People like what they like, and they dislike what they dislike."
Raising a hand, Twilight carefully caressed the side of Flash's face. She listened carefully as the group she'd confronted could be heard moving away from them. Where they'd go now, she didn't know, nor did she really care at this point. Looking up at her boyfriend, she smiled softly before continuing.
"Let them disapprove of whatever they want. It doesn't change a thing between us."
Flash smiled at his girlfriend upon hearing that, after which he leaned forward and planted a tender kiss upon her cheek. Smiling at that, Twilight held onto Flash's arm before the latter began to lead her back down where they came from, ignoring whatever looks they might have been given.