Standing Up
It was another bright, calm day as Twilight Sparkle sat on her usual bench near the street in front of Canterlot High School. The day was less calm in the depths of the book open on her lap, Daring Do and the Tantibus Nightmare. Twilight had always found human psychology to be rather boring and unproductive as a field of study, but in the world of fiction it fascinated her like little else. And this was one of her favorite examples of how exciting it could be to peer into the mind of another.
It was almost difficult to pry her eyes away from the pages as the bus pulled up to the bus stop, and the doors opened. Closing her book with a slam, Twilight clutched it in her arms and made her way inside. She shared a brief wave with the driver before making her way into the back, where she felt her heart sink slightly.
He was there again, an older man probably in his sixties with plain gray clothes and a thick, scraggly beard that hung down to his chest. Their eyes met for only an instant before his eyes turned away from her toward the window, as they did nearly every day. Even though he was looking away, Twilight has a disturbing feeling he hadn't quit watching her. She saw this kind of thing talked about all the time on the internet...
She moved to the back of the bus where she was comfortable and plopped down on the seat before the bus started to move again. She tried to get back into her book, but out of the corner of her eye she could still see his eyes drifting over to her. She started to feel sick, and she couldn't focus, so she closed her book, shoved it into her backpack, and resorted to staring out the window for the ride into the city.
Under other circumstances she didn't mind the twenty minute ride home from school, but now the ride felt interminably long. When they finally reached her stop she got up immediately and made her way to the front, doing her best to ignore the eyes that seemed to be following her. She jumped out of the bus last, after a couple of others, and glanced back at the door to watch it close. As every other day, the man hadn't followed her off the bus. Still, it wasn't until the bus pulled away from the curb that she felt herself relax.
The sound of her cell phone ringing from her pocket made her jump for a moment before reaching down to pluck it out of her skirt pocket. It was a text message from Indigo Zap.
Hey Twi, could use your help with something. Come by when you get back in town.
After thumbing a quick reply Twilight hefted her backpack, fixed her glasses, and made her way down the sidewalk toward Indigo Zap's house.
As she approached, she could see Indigo in her driveway, her legs sticking out from under a true rust bucket of a car. The sound of clanging and wrenching came from the car's hood, only to stop as Twilight drew close.
"Hey!" Indigo Zap grabbed the edge of the car and slid out from underneath it on the wheeled trolley she was lying on. Her face and hands were covered in engine oil and grease. "You don't know how to fix the smog sensors in here, do you?"
Twilight smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm more a tinkerer of small electronics than heavy machinery. What are you doing?"
"My dad said if I can get this thing running it's mine. I accept that challenge." Indigo slapped one hand on the side of the car.
"Oh! I really wish I could help, but I probably won't be much use to you..."
"You okay, Twi?" Indigo sat up on her trolley, giving her a piercing look. "You look a bit pale today."
"Yeah, fine." Twilight adjusted her glasses nervously. Indigo Zap's droll expression said she wasn't buying it. "Nothing happened or anything, there's just this man on the bus sometimes."
"A man?" This got Indigo's attention immediately. "What does he do?"
"He doesn't do anything, I just get the feeling he's always watching me. It kind of creeps me out a bit."
"Well, you have some way of defending yourself if something does happen, right?"
"I have pepper spray in my backpack." Twilight nodded.
"That's it? That's not nearly good enough." Indigo stood up, wiping her hands off on an already filthy washrag. "By the time you got that out it could already be too late. You gotta be able to like, hold him off or something while you go for it."
"Oh? I'm not exactly very muscular or athletic like you."
Indigo slung an arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to be to defend yourself, you just gotta be smart." She winked. "Well, I mean, you already got that covered, you just gotta know how to use those smarts to protect yourself."
"Well, I never pass up a chance to learn new things, I guess."
"Great. Let me clean up a little and I can show you a few things." With a wink Indigo Zap turned to head into her house, snapping a toolbox off of the driveway as she went.
It wasn't much time later when Twilight found herself in Indigo's backyard with boxing gloves strapped to her hands, and Indigo Zap standing in front of her wielding a set of target mitts. "Okay, the key to stunning a creep is to have a mean right hook. You don't have to knock them out, just knock them back long enough to get your pepper spray out."
"O-okay..." Twilight tapped her boxing gloves together nervously.
"Okay, let's see what you've got." Indigo held out her gloves, taking a wide stance in front of her.
Twilight stared at Indigo's gloves, then glanced at her own. How much force could she apply without hurting Indigo or herself? Could she even apply enough force for that if she tried? Biologically speaking she didn't have many muscles, she was a stick compared to many girls her age. Then again, humans were capable of extraordinary feats of strength under the right circumstances. Maybe if she pretended she was really in trouble she could find the strength to-
"Hit me, Sparkle!"
"Eep!" Twilight squeaked and lashed out with her right fist, her glove tapping the center of Indigo's. She held her glove there for a moment before pulling it back to rub her aching wrist. "Owww..."
"Okay, that's okay. It was a first try." Indigo reassured her. "Try to tighten up your arms when you hit, it'll give the punch more force and you won't get that sting in your wrist."
"Okay..." Twilight took a deep breath and wound up as much as she could, bringing her arm back and sending it launching forward. It struck Indigo's glove, barely nudging it, and sending a sharp stab of pain racing up her arm. "Aaaah! Owie owie owie!"
"Ugh..." Indigo's shoulders slumped. "What are you made of, Pixie Stix?"
"I've never hit anything harder than a pillow before, and I have really soft pillows..." Twilight did her best to rub her wrist with the heft boxing glove blocking her fingers.
Indigo rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Okay, clearly this is the wrong approach..." She snapped her fingers suddenly. "Hah, got it. If we can't teach you to hit, maybe we can teach you to brawl. We'll just need a live demonstration... come on, we're going to the park."
***
Lemon's Zest's skates carried her around the middle of the park that stood at the center of their fair city. There were still plenty of people milling about on the spiraling, twisting pathways through the otherwise lush green grass and tall, but well-groomed bushes. It was inside one of these bushes that Twilight found herself with Indigo Zap, both of them peering out at the pathway, where Lemon Zest was zooming by on her inline skates with her headphones on her ears.
"First you see me riding on a sonic boom. Got my guitar shredding out my latest tune..." Lemon's hands shredded at the air in front of her as she zipped right past their bush.
"Do you want to tell me what we're doing here, Indigo?" Twilight asked curiously. "She looks like she's just having a good time."
"Of course she is, she's totally absorbed." Indigo gave Twilight a grin. "She's also totally vulnerable to a surprise attack!"
"Uh... I don't follow."
"I'm gonna sneak up on her and 'attack' her. You'll get a nice live demonstration of how to protect yourself if it happens to you."
"Um..." Twilight considered for a moment. "I feel like there are many fundamental problems with that plan."
"Oh come on, you eggheads are all like that, always worrying too much. She stops me, we have a laugh and a couple of giggles, and you get to see how it's done."
"I still don't know if-"
"Watch and learn." Indigo ducked out of the bush suddenly, making her way through the line of bushes alongside the walking path.
"I'm the son of rage and love..." Lemon's hands clapped together in front of her rhythmically. The grin on her face only grew wider as she spun around on her skates. "The Jesus of Su-BAAAAHHHH!" Lemon let out a shriek as Indigo suddenly threw herself out of the bushes, grabbing her around the waist from behind.
Twilight Sparkle didn't know if roller blades could count as deadly weapons in a court of law, but Lemon Zest sure made a strong case for it. Her wheels slammed immediately down on Indigo's foot, drawing a shriek of pain from the girl, who stumbled to the side in shock. Lemon pressed the attack blindly, one skated foot slamming right into Indigo's stomach, doubling her over to get her in range for a spinning kick right to the nostrils. Indigo was on her back on the sidewalk within ten seconds, groaning in pain as Lemon finally whirled to get a good look at her.
"Indigo?" Lemon finally stopped. "What are you doing acting like a sneaky pervert?"
"I'm so sorry, Lemon Zest!" Twilight rushed out of her hiding spot to join them. "She did that for my sake! She wanted you to show me how to defend myself... I don't think I could pull that off, though."
"Defend yourself? Well-" Lemon glanced down at Indigo's reaching arm suddenly collapsed to the pavement. "Let's get her some help first..."
Ten minutes later Lemon Zest was sitting in the grass with Indigo's head on her lap gently wiping down her face with a wet washrag while Twilight cradled her hand comfortingly. Zap was conscious now, and looking better, but one couldn't be too careful with head injuries.
"There you go." Lemon smiled gently. "You feeling better?"
Indigo grumbled in response. "Don't use that tone with me..."
"Anyway..." Lemon looked up at Twilight. "What are you trying to defend yourself from?"
Twilight blushed and cleared her throat, pushing her glasses up her nose with one hand. "There's this man on the bus I take home from school sometimes who doesn't seem to be able to keep his eyes off of me. I'm afraid things might go bad any day now..."
"Geeze, that sucks, dude." Lemon nodded. "And definitely worth preparing for! But really, if you wanna learn to defend yourself from sneaky perverts, you should talk to Sunny Flare. She takes a martial arts class every Friday, that sort of thing is exactly her specialty."
"Yeah?" Indigo's eyes snapped fully open and she sat up. "Yeah, that's perfect! We should go talk to her!"
"Yeah..." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "We probably should've gone to her first in fact..."
"Details, details!" Indigo climbed to her feet, wobbling only slightly once she was vertical. "Sunny Flare should be at her place, I bet she could show you a thing or two to make that pervert think twice."
"Yeah!" Lemon Zest leapt up beside her friends. "Let's go pay her a visit!" She threw herself back onto the sidewalk, skating ahead of them as Twilight Sparkle and Indigo Zap took the sidewalk more slowly.
Sunny Flare's house wasn't too far, a modestly-sized place further out from the school, backed up against the edge of a lush green forest just beyond its backyard. By the time Twilight Sparkle and Indigo Zap approached the front door, Lemon Zest was already rolling back and forth on the driveway with her skates, while Sunny Flare stood waiting for them in front of the garage with one hand on her hip.
"I've got to say I'm impressed, Twilight." Sunny nodded. "Too many girls just rely on others take care of them. I'm really glad to see you take the initiative for yourself."
Twilight blushed. "You make it sound so noble..."
"Well, maybe not noble, but respectable." Sunny Flare approached Twilight with an appraising eye. "I'm no martial arts master or anything, but I think we can go over some basics."
"As long as it doesn't require a lot of muscles. Me and Indigo already found out that doesn't work for me."
"Relax, martial arts isn't about strength, it's about coordination, finesse, and reflexes." Sunny walked away from her toward the other two. "Example A." She suddenly wound up and slapped Indigo across the face with a sound so sharp it made Twilight wince.
"Gah! Holy crap!" Indigo stumbled back, one hand lifting to her cheek. "What the heck, Sunny!?"
"That is what happens when you attack someone with poor reflexes," Sunny pointed out in a calm voice. "Indigo, slap me."
Indigo grinned and rolled her sleeve up her arm with a growl. "Yes ma'am." She wound up and threw her arm out, but Sunny whirled before it could reach her. She slammed one of her wrists into Indigo's wrist, knocking her arm forward as she turned, placing her back to Indigo's stomach. In less than two seconds she had grabbed Indigo's wrist and hurled her clean over her shoulder, slamming her into the pavement hard on her back.
"Whoa!" Twilight exclaimed.
"That was the most basic move of martial arts and pro wrestling, the hip toss." Sunny stood up straight again over Indigo's groaning body. "With very little effort you deflect an attack and use their own momentum to take them down."
"That sounds perfect for you, Twilight!" Lemon cheered. "No physical effort is kind of your thing!"
"Maybe... I didn't quite catch how to do it, though." Twilight stated.
"That's what practice is for." Sunny approached Twilight and took her wrists. "Now the first thing you do is put your arms up like this, using your wrists to push, not block, my arm. You want to move it this way, you got it?"
"I think so..." Twilight held her arms stiffly in front of her, like a boxer waiting for a punch.
"Okay, let's give it a try."
"Go Twilight, you can do it." Lemon Zest circled them lazily on her skates, waving a tiny flag in support.
Sunny Flare brought her arm around quickly, as if trying to grab at Twilight. Twilight stiffened as her arm approached, and lightly tapped her wrists. It thunked against Twilight's arms and, like a tree in a forest, Twilight's stiff body began slowly leaning backwards, until she collapsed entirely to the ground with a yelp, her glasses flying from her head.
A blur that was probably Sunny's head appeared leaning in front of her. "Um, are you okay, Twilight?"
Twilight sighed and groaned. "My back hurts now."
A blur that she was pretty sure was Indigo's head appeared from above her. "Here, I think you dropped these." Her hands moved into vision, and moments later Twilight's eyes cleared up as her glasses were placed on her nose.
"Thank you." Twilight adjusted the glasses on her face and allowed the two bigger girls to help lift her to her feet. "Ow... I guess coordination isn't my thing either..."
"Oh how cute! It's a party of all the best friends! Of course nobody bothered to invite me!" Sour Sweet's voice carried over to the from the sidewalk, where she was standing and glaring with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hey Sour Sweet!" Lemon Zest rolled toward the newcomer, circling her rapidly on her skates. "You're free to come join us! We're just trying to help Twilight with her problem."
"Problem?" Sour Sweet asked curiously.
Indigo responded next. "We're trying to figure out how Twilight can protect herself from jerks on the bus... without using her arms or her body in general, apparently."
"Protection? That's not that hard." Sour Sweet approached Twilight an appraising eye. "The key is attitude."
"Attitude?" Twilight blinked in surprise.
"You don't need to fight off anybody if they're too scared of you to try anything." Sour Sweet approached Twilight with her arms folded across her chest. "If someone tries to eye you up, stare 'em down! Make sure they know you aren't going to go for any of their crap, and if they try anything, they're gonna be sorry!"
"Why would they be sorry if I can't actually do anything to them?" Twilight asked confusedly.
"That's not the point!" Sour Sweet retorted. "It doesn't matter if you can do anything to them, just that they think you will!" She stood back with a wry grin on her face. "Now come on, show me how tough you can look."
"This has to end well..." Indigo grumbled.
Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath, then tried to put on the meanest face she could. Her lips tightened and her upper lip curled slightly toward her nose. Her eyes narrowed, while her cheeks rose toward her eyeballs. Her forehead furrowed like she'd seen in so many movies, and her jaw tightened, trying to bare the muscles in her neck.
"Okay, stop, stop, for God's sakes stop." Sour Sweet put her hands on Twilight's shoulders. "You look like you're about to pass out."
"Also like you have to go to the bathroom," Lemon Zest added helpfully.
"Try not to force it so much." Sour Sweet stepped back and put a hand on her hip, giving Twilight a sharp glare from under her eyebrows. "Just look like you hate everything and want it to die."
"This all explains so much about you," Sunny Flare quipped.
"Shut up, I'm teaching."
"Um, okay..." Twilight tried to lower her head and glare out from under her eyebrows, but her glasses slid down to the end of her nose and she was forced to abort to push them back up again. She tried a second time, only to have her glasses slide clean off. Her hands whipped at the air to catch them, grabbing hold of the earpiece to prevent them from breaking, but the furious motions sent her off-balance and she collapsed back to her butt on the pavement. "Oowwww..."
The rest of the gathered girls groaned, with Sour Sweet slapping her forehead with her palm. "Okay, let's just say attitude isn't your thing and move on."
"Yeah..." Twilight blushed sheepishly as she slid her glasses back on and climbed to her feet. "I'm sorry guys, thank you so much for trying to help me, but I guess I'm just not cut out for this. I'll figure something out."
"You're not giving up, are you?" Indigo demanded.
"It's getting late anyway..." Twilight turned to rush away from the small group. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"
The sun was drifting toward the horizon as she slowed her pace down the sidewalk, folding her arms in front of her. She regretted mentioning the whole thing to Indigo Zap. However much she was glad her friends were willing to help her, she really didn't want to bother them with this, nor did she want to dwell on what was probably only an issue in her own head. It was embarrassing and stupid, and she just wanted to go to bed and pretend the whole thing wasn't an issue.
Her route home took her past central park, where she could see many people still sitting, playing, and laughing in the golden rays of dusk's light. In particular she spotted Sugarcoat sitting on the grass with a notepad in her lap, staring up at the branches for a moment, then returning her attention to the notepad to scribble something. Twilight watched her repeat this routine a couple of times before taking off across the grass to approach her.
"Sugarcoat?" Twilight approached as her friend looked up from her notepad. "What are you doing there?"
"I'm writing." Sugarcoat scribbled a couple more things before setting her pen down on the pad. "I like to dabble in the arts sometimes."
"You do have a way with words." Twilight smiled slightly.
"You look upset about something. Do you want to tell me what?"
"You're also very observant."
"It's a gift." Sugarcoat peered at her over the rim of her glasses. "Have a seat. What's on your mind?"
Twilight hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "Everybody else knows..." Twilight moved to sit on the grass beside Sugarcoat, leaning her back against the tree. "There's this man who rides the bus I take home sometimes. I can't prove anything, and he hasn't done anything... but I swear he watches me all the time. It's kind of starting to freak me out."
"Have you told anyone else about this?"
"I told Indigo Zap earlier. She and the others spent most of the day trying to teach me to defend myself just in case, but it didn't work out at all. I feel completely helpless now..." She trailed off, then perked up slightly. "Hey, how do you defend yourself?"
"Stun gun." Sugarcoat's hand reached into her purse and she withdrew a small device with two barbs on the end. She pulled the trigger and an arc of electricity lit between them so strong it made Twilight's hair stand up on end. "It's efficient. And painful. The second part is a bonus."
"Maybe I should look into getting one of those." Twilight mused.
Sugarcoat slipped the weapon back into her purse. "Can I be honest with you?"
"Could I stop you?"
"No. As much as I encourage you to be self-sufficient in your own protection, you don't actually know what this guy's intentions are. Have you thought about simply asking him to stop staring at you?"
"I don't really want to talk to him at all. It could encourage him."
"Or it could resolve the problem without stress or violence." Sugarcoat looked out across the park, watching a couple holding hands walking slowly down the path. "I'm staring at those people right now. Am I dangerous to them?"
"Of course not." Twilight replied immediately.
"Why not?"
"Because..." Twilight paused for a moment. "Because I know you wouldn't hurt them." She sighed. "You're right. I really have been completely stupid about this."
"Mmhmm." Sugarcoat nodded. "Of course, if he does try anything, I'll be right there helping hold him down while you take a hammer to whatever body parts you deem necessary."
"That... doesn't sound as much like a joke as it should."
"I didn't say it was one. The point is, protecting yourself is great, but you aren't alone. The rest of us are here, and we've got your back too."
Twilight smiled and nodded happily. "Yeah, I guess I learned that today, if nothing else." She stood up and brushed the grass off the back of her skirt. The sun had dipped past the horizon now, grasping at the sky with its last tendrils of orange. "I should get home, dinner is going to be any minute now. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow."
"Take care of yourself, Twilight." Sugarcoat gave her a subdued smile before turning back toward the sun, tapping her pen on her pad.
Twilight turned to head back toward home again, marching along the sidewalk with a somewhat lighter step. Yeah, even if she hadn't learned better how to defend herself, at least she knew she had her friends right behind her ready and willing to help her out.
***
The next day, Twilight waited at the bus stop with her book stuffed in her bag. She had been dreading this moment all day, and her stomach felt like it was full of bricks. She had resolved to take Sugarcoat's advice, but she had no idea what might come after that. He could take her talking to him to mean she wanted to get to know him, he could follow her off the bus today. She clenched her bag a bit tighter at that. She had her mace inside it and the top unzipped just in case, but maybe Indigo Zap was right, maybe it wouldn't be enough...
She was ripped from her worries by the bus door opening for her, and the driver waving her on board with a kind smile. Twilight forced a wooden smile back as she climbed the steps inside, almost hoping this would be one of those days he wasn't there.
No such luck, there he was sitting in his normal seat. He seemed to be looking out the window, though she could see his eyes flitting towards her several times. She moved down the center of the aisle towards the back as normal, clutching her backpack to her chest. She passed him, moved several more rows, then stopped and took a deep breath. Sugarcoat was right, she had to do this. She couldn't take much more of this stress.
She took two steps back, her arms clutching her backpack tightly. "Excuse me." The man blinked in surprise and looked her straight in the eye. "I can't help but notice you keep looking at me... I'd like you to stop... please." She felt like her heart was pounding, though she tried to keep a strong face.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The man smiled apologetically. "Please forgive an old man's wandering eyes. I meant no offense. You just remind me of my own youth."
"I do?"
"Of course." The man cackled. "Scurrying back and forth with your head buried in a book, pretending nobody else is around. It's not easy being the kind of person who prefers fantasy worlds to the real one, is it?"
"I don't know about prefer..." Twilight blushed. "I've started to learn that the real world isn't so bad."
"Ah. Then you learned earlier than I did. Good, good." He chuckled and glanced at her chest, where the tip of her book was poking out the top of her unzipped bag. "Of course we didn't have Daring Do back then. For me it was Discord-"
"The Chaos Lord." Twilight beamed in recognition. "I grew up reading those books. I don't think they'll ever go out of style."
The man laughed heartily, slapping a hand on his knee. "I sure hope not. The day you're too old for a megalomaniacal being with infinite power playing tricks on the unsuspecting denizens of a fantasy universe is the day you've lost the will to live."
"You know, Discord The Chaos Lord once appeared in Daring Do."
"Did he now?" The man grinned through his beard.
The bus driver called from the front. "Everybody please be seated, we've got to get this bus moving."
Twilight glanced over in surprise. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." Twilight glanced toward the back of the bus, then quickly slide into the seat beside the man and held out her hand. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Starswirl." The man took her hand in a gentle grip. "It's a pleasure, young lady."
"Likewise. But yes, it actually lasted for several books..." Twilight carried on about Discord and Daring Do, their conversation spilling over into several series in several genres. All of Twilight's nerves seemed to melt away as the conversation carried on, and the bus rolled on towards Twilight's destination. It felt like it took less than half the time it usually did before they came to a stop and the driver called out for Twilight.
"Oh, gosh." Twilight blushed. "This is my stop. Listen... I'm really sorry, Starswirl."
"Sorry?" Starswirl asked incredulously. "Whatever for?"
"I spent all this time thinking you were... well... perving out over me. I thought you were terrible and I hated you... but I was totally wrong. I guess I let the world tell me what to expect before I even bothered asking for the truth."
"Well, the fault isn't entirely yours, a man my age shouldn't be staring at young ladies anymore." Starswirl nodded. "Apology accepted, and countered with one of my own. I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable."
"Apology accepted." Twilight slid out of her seat and slung her backpack more comfortably over her shoulder. "I hope we can talk again tomorrow."
"I'll be here once again." Starswirl nodded with a friendly wave as Twilight turned to head up front, bidding goodbye to the driver before making her way out to the sidewalk behind a few other passengers.
Twilight Sparkle blinked in surprise when Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, and Sour Sweet all approached her at once from the grass.
"Did you do it?" Indigo asked. "Did you give that guy a piece of your mind?"
"Um..." Twilight blushed deeply. "Did you all come out here just to..."
Sunny Flare responded. "Sugarcoat told us you were going to confront him today. We thought we'd come make sure it went okay."
"We got worried when your bus was late." Lemon Zest echoed. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, really, thank you..." Twilight beamed at her gathered group of friends. "I don't think I could possibly be better. I gave him a lot of my mind." Twilight moved past the girls with her hands clasped behind her back, smiling at them each in turn. "Come on, let's go to my place and I'll get you something to eat."
"I could use some eats." Lemon Zest hurried after her, with the rest following suit more slowly. Twilight couldn't help but smile. These days it seemed like more and more doors were opening up for her, with more and more friends. She just had to make sure to keep her head on the ground, and out of the internet, at least every once in a while.
