Tori Scarlen

Jordan was looking at me, and trying to re-set my broken nose.

“Okay, question time,” I said, wiping away some of my blood, and flinching as my

bones set. “Why in the WORLD is somepo- someone willing to beat me up over YOU? Are

you like some sort of god, or something?”

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, kind of. I never was great at

socializing, and I don’t do sports. But girls find me attractive, and my grades are top-notch.

Apparently, it’s appealing to people. But I distance myself. I just don’t want a relationship,

unless the girl can, well, connect with me. And I don’t see that happening with the shallow,

stuck up rich girls in this school. But,” he added, “that’s not important now. We need to get

you to the nurse, and report Jenny for assault.”

A man in a suit walked in, and saw my broken face. He gasped in surprise.

Jordan turned. “Vice Principal Vogt!”

“What happened here?!?” asked Vogt in an incredulous voice.

“Jenny Milligan. She beat Tori’s face here to a pulp.”

“And where is she now?”

“I don’t know. Make an announcement.”

“Very well. But first, young lady, let us get you to the infirmary.”

In the Hospital

I lay in a cot, with a nurse wiping away the blood and putting a thick piece of metal on

my nose, propping it back in place. Jordan was there, sitting at the bedside, worrying. Good

thing for him, it’s after school.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked.

“I can’t feel my face.”

“Har har har. Very funny.”

“No, seriously, I can’t feel my face.”

‘I suppose I wouldn’t be here if  it were the REAL Tori, would I?’ he muttered to

himself. I secretly used a hearing magnification spell to eavesdrop so I could hear him. ‘She

pushed herself onto me, even when she was dating Brandon...’

He paused, and as an afterthought, added, to me this time,

“The girl whose body you’re inhabiting is a complete bitch, you know. Tori Scarlen.”

He mulled over the name. “Blond, stupid, a stuck up bitch. Wears way too much makeup.

Been dating Brandon Shan since tenth grade. He’s a stereotypical jock, picks on the nerds.

Tried to get me to play football, but not my thing. I prefer archery, skeeting, other things. I

wonder where the real Tori’s consciousness is now...”

Ponyville Library

Rainbow Dash noticed the curtains were closed. The lights were out. Spike was at

Rarity’s, and didn’t come out (for obvious reasons *shudder*). Normally, Twilight would be at

Sugarcube Corner, or with Spike at Rarity’s. That was her normal routine. But not today. All

Rainbow heared was an explosion, and tha’t what sent her jetting to Twi’s. She cautiously

opened the door. Something wasn’t right. Was it a spy? She wasn’t sure. As the door

opened, Rainbow Dash was faced with something she never expected to see.

In the center of the room, a table was on fire. And more importantly, standing with a

hoof covering squinting eyes, was a solid gold unicorn, the details where the eyes and mouth

should have been were smoothed over. Rainbow approached, and poked the gold statue

with a gentle hoof. The gold crumbled like a shell.

Rainbow stepped back in alarm.

“Wh-what is that?” she muttered nervously. A pony skeleton was not something you

would normally find in Twilight’s house, let alone a pony skeleton coated in a thick gold shell.

Gemstones may have been comonplace, but the gold scattered on the floor must be woth

millions of bits...

Rainbow squinted at one of the many chunks of gold pony on the floor.

“What is that?” she said for the second time in so many minutes. The piece she was

looking at was depressed with something disturbingly familiar. She brought it into the light,

and her eyes grew wide. There was only one thing, at least in her mind, of what the emboss

could mean.

Twilight Sparke’s cutie mark lay on the ground, forever trapped in precious metal.

“Sugar, what in tarnation are you talking about?”

Rainbow Dash was dragging her friends, the other Elements of Harmony, to Twilight’s

tree.

“You really need to see this! I think something’s wrong with Twilight! There’s- well you

just have to see!”

Spike was among the ponies following Dash.

“I haven’t seen Twilight all day! She was working on some experiment, or something.

Alchemy, thigs like that. I swear, she’s crazy if she thinks she can make gold. Starswirl

couldn’t even manage it. At least, that’s what Twilight told me.”

“No time for that, Spike, you guys really need to see this!”

“All right, jeez.”

Flutershy was flustered, as usual. “Is Twilight okay?”

“No she’s not! That’s why we need to go now!”

The Mane Six, bar one, and Spike stared at the peculiar sight in Twilight’s library. A

pile of bones and scattered gold? Not your usual pony decor.

“Look at this!” said Rainbow Dash as she held a piece of gold to the light.

All the ponies gasped. All of them knew what happened immediately.

“Ah can’t belive she’d get herself killed like that...” said Applejack as she took off her

Stetson.

Pinkie, unusually quiet, said nothing. Rainbow Dash looked stricken, and Fluttershy

was crying with Rarity. Spike was speechless.

Spike composed himself. He got out a piece of parchment and began to write.

“Dear Princess Celestia...”

“Magi scientists have been doing research on the bones and gold.” Princess Celestia

was explaining the identification process to the stricken ponies and baby dragon. “So far, we

know that the gold was created not by natural forces, but throught magic. The bones... tested

positive. These bones are indeed Twilight Sparke.”

Princess Celestia was struggling to maintain composure. After all Twilight was her

student... no. No. She was more thatn that, much more. Twilight was a daughter she never

had, and meant the world to Celestia. Losing a daughter had its side effects, of course. While

the cycle of the sun and moon was relatively constant, stirring emotions may cause certain

celestial events to happen. The warmth of the sun reduced, slowly reaching the ponies below

as a chill went through the air. The light dimmed, and the sun’s yellow light faded to a dull

gray. The five ponies and the dragon noticed this change emmidiately, and started to ask

about it. But Celestia did not let them finish.

“The funeral will be held tonight at dusk. I think that this time would be respectful and

symbolic. Please, please... leave me be.”

Ponies with black clothing and umbrellas walked with the casket to the burial site as

rain poured down. For some reason, pegasai could never control the vicious and malevolent

storm clouds around graveyards. They ran on the same principle as the Everfree. Dark magic

of lost souls tainted the very air, it said. Regardless, it set the mood perfectly for the dreary

task set ahead of the crowd of ponies. The funeral was not to be large, but there were

dozens in attendance. Princess Celestia’s presence was a key factor to that. No matter how

much she interacted with her subjects, and how much she showed that the court of the sun

could not be flattered, noble ponies puffed with haughty importance and a supposed deep

respect for Twilight Sparkle (whoever that was) showed up and sent their condolences in the

most extravagant way possible, as close to the Princesses as possible, and as loudly and

remorsefully as possible.

Few were there to actually mourn. Big Mac, Granny Smith, Applejack, Pinkie Pie,

Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, both of the Princesses, Twilight’s parents, Shining Armor,

Candace, and the Cakes were all present. The funeral was quiet. Most of the ponies came up

and gave long and eloquent (if not exactly heatfelt) speeches about how they feel about the

pony that lay in the closed casket. The only one not involved in the proceedings was Rainbow

Dash. She had never really felt emotional turmoil like this. Pinkie lived on the rock farm,

Fluttershy was bullied as a filly, and beaten by the older colts. Rarity managed to hold her

composure in the presence of so many nobles as was her manners, and Applejack was as

tough as nails. But Dash had never had any tragady other than ridicule during flight school.

The gold cutie mark weighed heavily in the pocket of her saddlebag. She pulled it out, and

stared at the symbol for the longest time. A single tear fell on the piece of gold and mixed

with the gentle rain, and lightning filled the night sky.

A/N: Sup, readers? This chappter is longer than I planned, but that’s okay. I need to

learn how to elaborate anyways. This chapter is a big one for the storyline. We get to see

what happened on the other side, and it needed moar pony anyways. I think my writing is

developing nicely, now that I can focus more. Africa can do that to a person, pony, whatever.

I hope you like the story. Thanks, and keep following Twilight as Tori going through all the

terrors of hight school. KTHXBAI!