Chapters A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
(Protagonist P.O.V.)
I love Sundays. I don't have to go to school, what means I don't have to wake up early, I don't have to do a lot of work I don't wanna do, and specially, I don't have to see other people. This is what makes a day perfect to me: being by myself. Why?
I have my reasons to avoid social contact. The kind of reasons that people call "trauma", but simply "reason" is better to me. When you say you have a trauma, it looks like something you can't control. But when you have a reason, it seems a lot more rational. I'm not traumatized. I just don't wanna be hurt again. Am I wrong for trying not to suffer?
Other people tell me I should give another chance to friendship. I gave more chances, plenty of times, but it all fell apart, again and again. And as time passed by, I realized I wasn't suffering anymore, even when everything went wrong, but I also didn't want to try again. I became cold. I stopped feeling sadness, but I stopped feeling happiness. I left behind my worries because I lost hope. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I don't dare try to change it.
But unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow I'll have to face other people around me, and nothing can change that.
My thoughts are cut by noises and laughs coming from the street. I look through the window and see kids happily playing with each other, without a care in the world.
I miss the time when I was little. I was happy like that too. I didn't understand a lot of things, but most of them were worth not knowing.
When you grow up, you can be whatever you want. You have freedom to make your own choices, but that's not always a good thing. Making choices isn't just about what you want: you gotta know if it's worth, if it's going to bring bad results, if it's going to hurt others... The latter is probably the one that people couldn't care less.
When we are little, we have to live under the control of who takes care of us. Our freedom is limited, because we don't know which ways are the best yet. We make mistakes, for innocence. But, once we grow up, we have the capability to choose consciously. We know what our actions can lead to. It's up to us to follow the way we think it's the best.
But, sometimes, the right ways don't bring benefits as much as the wrong ones. That's why many people decide to forget what's right to reach their purposes, ignoring honesty, justice, loyalty, and putting aside the ones who surround them. Many people don't think about anyone but themselves. I feel so sorry for them... I wish I could change their minds. But why would anyone listen to me?
By the way, I'm no better than them. My loneliness is turning me into something awful. When I watch people being like that, selfish, dishonest, insensitive, I feel the urge to do something to help them to open their eyes, to stop them from turning the world into something so cruel. But I know I'm not superior just because I don't do what they do: I feel eager to help them, to try to make them see the consequences of their actions, but I don't do anything. I'm selfish too.
This is what happens to you when you are a person who wishes to change the world into something beautiful, when your own life is an endless pit of loneliness and bitterness.
I don't know if I still have hope to find somebody really good in this world. Somebody I could put my trust on and never be afraid of being abandoned. Somebody who I could share a true friendship with, if it still exists.
I don't think so. No, it's hopeless... But it doesn't matter now. I've been alone for two years now. No problem to go on like that. Building up a impossible hope will only bring more deceptions. I better accept my reality. I don't have friends, I'm not going to have, and the ones I had, were never true. But what can I do? Nothing's perfect. But it didn't need to be so bad...
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Chapter 3: Crossing the Portal
When I cross, I find myself fallen on the floor of a room that looks like a library. That certainly wouldn't fit inside the pedestal. There's something strange going on.
Surely it's not an ordinary passage, I think to myself.
Admiring the hall, I try to stand up, but fall back to the floor. I feel strange. When I look down to my body, I gasp. It is different. Pretty different. I am a pony, but not a normal pony. A pony with a horn, and wings!
I never thought I would become a pony, much less a winged unicorn, I say to myself. Is this really happening? No, I'm probably dreaming. Or going crazy.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps and two voices: a female voice and a male one. I look for for a place to hide, but I stumble in my own legs (I'm not used to walk using four legs) and lose balance. To prevent me from falling, I abruptly put my front legs on a table beside me. The table turns and a lot of books start to fall on the floor and over my head, making loud noises.
“Ouch!” I try to suppress a cry and stand up. That hurt. Which means I'm not dreaming. Great, I'm crazy.
The two voices stop. I hide behind a bookcase. I can't see anything, but by hearing the footsteps, I know they already arrived to the room.
“Who's there?” says the female voice.
I take a little longer, but I think it's better getting out of here. After all, if they find me, they can think I'm a thief or something like that.
“I'm sorry for breaking into here. Actually, I don't even know exactly how I got here,” I answer.
“What you mean you don't know how you got here? Where did you come from?” she asks me.
She's a purple pony, with a horn and wings, like me. Beside her, is a little dragon, who is purple as well and smaller than her. Yeah, definitely crazy, I think.
“Um... It's a little hard to explain. I crossed a kind of portal and when I looked around, I was already here.” I say.
“Wait... Did you said portal? Did you come from the other world?” the dragon asks me.
“Well... I think so.”
The pony and the dragon look at each other, like they're not sure about what to do. After a moment, she turns back to me.
“Sorry, but you have to go back. We can't allow humans to stay in Equestria. It can affect the balan–” she stops talking and begins to examine me, with a look of surprise. “Are you... an alicorn?”
I look at my wings and horn and to her again.
“Well... I think that now I am.”
“But how is that possible?” An confused expression begins to form on her face. “Have you been here before?”
“Um... no. It's my first time.”
“That doesn't make any sense... Only the princesses of Equestria are alicorns.” She thinks for some moments before looking at me again. “Well, I can't send you away before we know the reason for that. You can stay in Equestria until then. My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is Spike,” she says, pointing her hoof at the little dragon.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Snowflake,” I reply.
Twilight is a nice pony. She explains to me about their land, called Equestria, about the princesses, that she is a princess and why is important to find out the reason for me to be an alicorn.
“Maybe someday you'll be a princess too,” she says.
I look to her with a cocked eyebrow, like I don't believe in that possibility, but I don't say anything.
“If this is your first time here, you'll have to practice your magic,” she tells me.
“My magic?”
“Yes. Every unicorn has magic, but the alicorn magic is the most powerful pony magic. It takes long to learn to control it, specially if it's your first contact with magic, but with practice I know you'll be able to use it. But, changing the subject, how did you find the portal?”
“Well... I was going back home yesterday when I saw a girl crossing it and–” I look at her and I realize that her mane is very similar to that girl's hair. “Wait... Was that you?”
“Yes, it was. When I have the chance, I like to go there and visit my friends.”
So she's real. Thank goodness. I'm not crazy.
“Do you have human friends?”
“Yes. It's a long story. But continue.”
“Oh, yes. I saw... well, you, crossing the portal and I thought that was really weird, but I left it behind at that moment. But today I decided to cross it to see what would happen and I ended up here.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
After some seconds, she says: “Well... I don't think the reason for you to be an alicorn has something to do with that. But what could it be?” Twilight taps her chin while she thinks. It seems very important to her to solve this mystery. “Did anything else strange or magical happened to you lately?”
“Not that I remember...” I say, but soon I remember about the necklace, that, by the way, is the only thing that didn't change in me when I crossed the portal. “On second thought, it did. I found this necklace yesterday. I was walking on the street when I heard something falling and I saw this necklace on the ground. But it wasn't there a moment ago, and there was no one at the street but me. I took it home and when I put it, it shone. And it shone again when I got close to the portal.”
“Maybe it is magical. Can you give it to me so I can examine it?” she asks me.
“Of course,” I say.
Well, the problem is how I'm going to take off the necklace with hooves.
“Let me help you,” Twilight say. She tries to use her magic to take it, but it doesn't work. “Hmm... Probably it is really magical, cause it seems to have some kind of shield. My magic doesn't work on it. Let me see if I can get it off without using magic.”
With her hooves, Twilight takes the necklace out of me. A bright white light envelopes me and, in a flash, my wings are gone, and I notice I became a little shorter too.
“That's it. Surely, this isn't a normal necklace. But the only magic artifact I know that gives alicorn powers to the pony who wears it, is the Alicorn Amulet. And even the Alicorn Amulet doesn't give wings. I'll make a research in my books to see if I can find something about it. We also should do some experiments. At first, we need to know if it works with any kind of pony. Could you find my friends to me while I research?”
“Well... I can try.”
She takes a picture and shows me her friends. She tells me their names and where they might be.
“You don't need to find all of them, but we need to try the magic in the three types of ponies. So we'll need an earth pony, Pinkie Pie or Applejack, a pegasus, Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, and a unicorn, Rarity,” she tells me, pointing each pony in the photo.
“Okay then. I'll be back soon.”
“Thank you,” Twilight replied, while I left the room.
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Chapter 4: Gathering the Ponies
When I got out of the castle, I saw a city with a lot of ponies. A city that transmitted so much happiness! It looked like the magic places from my childhood dreams. Actually, childhood dreams is just a way of saying. I never stopped dreaming, even though I was growing. But as time passed by, the wish that the so dreamed magic worlds were real, became a hope that I'd have a place in my mind where I could go to when I wanted to run away from the troubles imposed by reality.
But it was no time to appreciate the scenery, even if it was beautiful. I had a mission to accomplish. Following Twilight's orientations, I started to look for the ponies. It wasn't easy trying to find ponies I didn't know in a city I didn't know and, besides, I was stumbling frequently, still trying to get used to walk by four legs.
Finally, I saw a pink earth pony, like one of the ponies Twilight showed me in the picture.
“Excuse me, are you Pinkie Pie?”
When she saw me, she stared at me for some seconds, smiled and asked me:
“You're new here, aren't you?”
“Uh... yes. How did you know?” I asked her, confused.
Then, she started to talk so quickly I had a hard time understanding.
“It's just that I'm friends with everyone in Ponyville, but I've never saw you before. And if I've never saw you before, that means you're new. But if you're new and I've never saw you before, how did you know my name is Pinkie Pie?” She gasped. “Are you psychic?”
“Um... No. It's just that Princess Twilight asked me to call you and other friends of hers to her castle.”
“Oooh! Why?”
“It's kind of a long story, but it is an important matter. Could you come?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie. What's your name?”
“Snowflake.”
“Nice! If you want me to, I can help you to find the other ponies because now we're gonna be friends. And friends help each other, right?”
“Uh... friends? I... I don't think I'm gonna be in town enough time for us to become friends, y'know. I live in another place.”
“No problem. We can be friends anyway.” She looked at me with a big grin. I forced a smile not to seem rude, but making new friends was something I always avoided since my old friendships ended.
Pinkie Pie and I started to look for some pony else.
“Look! Rainbow Dash is right up there!” She pointed her hoof to a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane who was sleeping over a cloud. “Rainbow Daaaash!” Pinkie Pie tried to wake her, unsuccessfully. “I've got it!” She went somewhere and came back in less than two seconds with an alarm clock. She jumped until reach the same height that the cloud was, turned the alarm on and shouted in the ear of the pony: “RAINBOW DAAAAASH!”
The pony woke up with a shout and jumped out of the cloud.
“Pinkie Pie, you scared me! I mean, not that much. But you interrupted my nap!”
“Sorry! But Twilight is calling us to the castle to talk about something important, right?” Pinkie looked at me and winked. I nodded.
“And who's that?” the pegasus asked her, pointing at me.
“This is Snowflake. She's new here,” she answered.
“Oh, yeah? And where did you come from?” Rainbow Dash asked me.
I didn't know what to say. How would I explain I came from another world? And should I let anyone know about it?
“Um... I came from... far away from here,” I said, a little nervous.
“But from what city?” she insisted.
“It's kind of a long story. I think princess Twilight can explain better than I do.”
“Who else we need?” Pinkie Pie asked me.
“Well, we already have an earth pony and a pegasus. So we need to call an unicorn now.”
“We can call Rarity. She must be in the boutique. Let's go!” Pinkie Pie took the lead and started to jump in the way to the boutique.
“So, why Twilight called us?” Rainbow Dash asked me. She was clearly suspicious.
“Well... It's another long story.”
“But why didn't she call us before if it's that important?”
“It's just that... I just arrived here, y'know, and I brought a kind of... magical artifact, and Twilight wants to see how it works in other ponies.” I tried to explain in the most resumed way I could. I was hoping she wouldn't ask me anything else.
“Oh no... One more of Twilight's boring experiments,” she said, rolling her eyes.
To my relief, she stopped making questions.
“Here we are!” Pinkie Pie said excited and bounced to the boutique's door. “Rarity!” The pink pony knocked on the door, until a white unicorn with a purple mane opened it.
“Hello, darling. What brings you here?”
“Twilight is calling us to the castle and she said it's important,” Pinkie Pie answered.
“And what is it about?”
“She wants to do another boring magic experiment,” Rainbow Dash told her.
“Well, I think it is a good time to a little break. I'm sewing for hours. And who are you?” Rarity said, looking at me.
“This is Snowflake," said Pinkie Pie. “She's a friend of Twilight from out of the town.”
“Well, actually, we're not friends yet,” I interrupted. “We just met.”
“And from what city did you came, darling?” Rarity asked me.
I got a little nervous, but before I could answer, Rainbow Dash told her:
“She's not gonna tell you.”
“It's just that... it is really far from here. I don't think you've ever heard about it.” I tried not to seem like I was hiding something.
“Well, but if it is important, we better get going,” Rarity said while she closed the boutique's door and we started to walk.
Finally, we had arrived to Twilight's castle. She was in the library, surrounded by scattered books. When she saw us, she came to welcome them.
“Hi girls. Snowflake, I searched in all of my books but I couldn't find anything about your necklace. I'll send a scroll to Princess Celestia later. She must know something about it. But for now, let's see what happens if we try it in other ponies. Pinkie Pie, could you come here?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!”
Twilight put the necklace in the pony by using her magic, but nothing happened.
“Maybe it just works in ponies that have wings or horn. But it probably just works in unicorns, since it involves magic,” Twilight said, while was writing in a parchment. “Rainbow Dash, your turn.”
Once again, nothing happened.
“As I thought. Now let's try with you, Rarity.”
To Twilight's surprise, there was no reaction again.
“What? But that doesn't make any sense! Is it the magic that isn't working anymore?” She examined the necklace to see if there was something different. “Snowflake, could you come here so I can see if it still works in you?”
“Okay.”
Just when Twilight put the necklace in me again, the wings reappeared. The other ponies started to look at each other, surprised. Twilight was thinking, intrigued.
“Why does it just works in you?” she wondered, confused.
I tried to think about something too, though I didn't understand anything about magic. I realized that there was a snowflake drawing in my flank, very similar to the shape of the necklace's pendant.
“I don't know if it has something to do with this, but there's a snowflake just like the necklace's pendant drawn in my flank,” I said.
Twilight got more excited.
“You're right! It can't be just a coincidence. But why would the necklace has something to do with your Cutie Mark?”
“Uh... What is a Cutie Mark?” I asked.
“You don't know what is a Cutie Mark? Really?” Rainbow Dash asked me, surprised.
“Well... no.”
The ponies looked at each other, confused.
“Can I tell them?” Twilight asked me. I nodded. “Well, girls. Snowflake is not from here. She came from that alternative world where my Canterlot High friends live.”
“Ooh! You're an alien?” Pinkie Pie asked me, excited. Twilight and I chuckled a little.
“I think ‘human’ is a better definition, Pinkie,” Twilight told her.
“Oh, okay then!” Pinkie stopped and thought for a little while. “What is a human?”
“We'll talk about it later. We'd better focus now. Snowflake brought this magical necklace and we need to know how it has this power and why it just works in her,” Twilight explained. “Oh! And Snowflake, a Cutie Mark is the mark that the ponies have on their flank. It represents the special talent of its bearer, and every Cutie Mark is unique, because each pony is unique.”
“Oh. Nice,” I said and looked at my Cutie Mark. Why was my mark a snowflake? I mean, I know it's my name. But what talent could it mean I have?
My name, my necklace, and now my Cutie Mark. Everything has something to do with snowflakes. The question is: why?
“We have to find out the reason for this similarity between your necklace and your Cutie Mark. I think it's a good time to send a scroll to Princess Celestia. Spike?” Twilight called the dragon.
“All set!” he said, bringing a quill and a parchment in his claws.
“Dear Princess Celestia, today I was visited by a girl from the alternative world of the incident when Sunset Shimmer stole my crown. This girl brought a magical necklace that gave her alicorn powers in our world. Until now, it seems like this magic only works with her. We think it has something to do with the fact that the necklace's pendant and her Cutie Mark are the same symbol: a six-pointed snowflake. I couldn't find anything about it in my books. I hope you can help us. Yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
The dragon finished writing and blew a green fire flame in the parchment, that disappeared.
“It's on its way,” he said.
“I'm sure Princess Celestia knows something about it. We only need to wait,” Twilight told us, confident. “But what you think about we call Applejack and Fluttershy and go search for something at the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters while we wait Celestia's answer?”
“That's a great idea, my dear,” Rarity said.
“Yeah! And we can also see the Elements of Harmony again,” Rainbow Dash said, excited.
“Let's go then.” Twilight looked at me and made a move with her hoof like she was asking me to follow them.
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Chapter 5: Still a Mystery
On the way to the Castle of the Two Sisters, I could enjoy a little more the view of their land. It was all so magically beautiful. So different than my world...
My thoughts were cut off when I saw we were about to enter in a dense, dark forest.
“Do we really have to go this way?” I asked.
“Well... yes. The only way to get to the castle is crossing the Everfree Forest. But don't worry. It isn't that far. If we stick together, everything's gonna be fine,” Twilight tried to calm me.
“Yeah, we crossed here plenty of times and nothin' happened... most of the times,” Applejack told me, with a nervous smile.
“Yes, in most of the times...” Fluttershy said, with a scared expression.
“Are you trying to help or scare her?” Rainbow Dash asked them, rolling her eyes.
“Don't worry, Snowflake. It's gonna be fun!” Pinkie Pie said, with a grin in her face.
“If you say so...” I said, still a little worried, while started to follow them towards the forest.
Well, I can't say that was "fun", but I don't think crossing a forest is really meant to be. That's when I started to realize that Pinkie Pie thought everything was fun. She was smiling almost everytime. I don't know if that's good or bad, but certainly was different than my way to see the world. Probably because I lived in a world totally different, were there weren't too many exciting things. But anyway: if she lived here her entire life, how can she still see everything with excitement?
I saw we were very different from each other. And she wanted me to be her friend. How could we ever be friends like that? I mean, not that have any problem with her, but I already did have friends who were different than me, and everything went wrong.
“There it is: the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Twilight said, pointing her hoof towards, where was a ruined building that seemed a very old, abandoned castle.
When we entered, we went to a large library, filled with antique books.
“Well, guys, let's get started. We need to find something, anything about a magical snowflake necklace,” Twilight oriented.
“Okay!” Spike exclaimed, as he and the ponies started to examine the books.
I got closer to one of the bookcases, but I still had to find a way to get the books out of it with my hooves. And even if I could find a way, it would probably be a challenge to turn the pages.
My first tries didn't succeed. Twilight noticed that I was having some difficulties to use my hooves.
“Here, let me help you,” Twilight said to me, while used her magic to take some books out of the bookcase.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You're welcome. When we have the time, I can teach you how to use your magic to levitate things. Then you won't need to learn to use your hooves.”
“Thanks princess, but–”
“You can call me Twilight,” she asked me.
“Thanks, Twilight, but I don't know if I can stay much time here. I have to go back home before sunset. Soon my mother's gonna be back from work and she'll be worried about me if I'm not there,” I explained.
“Oh, I understand. But you can come back tomorrow, right? We need to solve this mystery.”
“Well... sure,” I said, with a smile.
“Alright. Now let's see what we can find in these books.” Then she turned her face and started to read. I did the same, trying to turn the pages without tearing them.
Some hours had passed. No talking, just reading. Sometimes Twilight broke the silence to ask us if we had found something. Then we all answered together: “No”.
That was getting pretty boring. I was even getting sleepy. When I finished another book, I looked out the window.
“Uh-oh...” I exclaimed.
“Something wrong, Snowflake?” Twilight asked.
“It's just that... it's almost sunset. I really have to go back,” I answered.
“Oh, okay then. I'll lead you to the castle,” she said as she closed the book.
“But it wouldn't interrupt your research? I don't wanna bother you.”
“Don't worry, you won't. It's really getting late. I think it's enough researching for today,” she said, looking at the others, who sighed in relief.
“Ugh! Finally!” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight chuckled a little to their reaction.
“Let's go then,” she called us.
As we were walking through the forest, now darker with the approach of the night, Twilight was thoughtful.
“This necklace is getting everytime more mysterious. We probably read half of the library, and we didn't find anything,” she said, intrigued.
“Oh... And we forgot we were going to visit the Tree of Harmony and the Elements,” Fluttershy remembered.
“Oh, it's true. But don't worry. We'll come back to read more tomorrow,” Twilight told her.
“Oh no...” Rainbow Dash complained. “Do we really need to do this again?”
“We have to. It isn't something ordinary,” the princess replied. “I wonder why Princess Celestia didn't answer me yet.”
Suddenly, the dragon belched a green flame from which came a scroll.
“Now she did,” Spike said. Twilight smiled, opened the note and started to read it aloud.
“Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, I'm afraid I can't tell you I've ever heard about a magical artifact with such power, but considering recent events, I suggest you should check the Tree of Harmony. I know the chances are slim, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a... seventh Element of Harmony? What?”
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Chapter 6: A Small Talk and a Goodbye
Twilight stopped, surprised, and all the others started to look at each other, confused. She composed herself and continued. “Anyway, I think it's better check the tree before we can take it as true. Yours, Princess Celestia.”
Pinkie Pie gasped. “OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! I HAVE TO THROW A PARTY FOR IT. IT'S GONNA BE A MIX OF WELCOME TO PONYVILLE AND NEWEST ELEMENT BEARER,” she said, shouting.
“A seventh Element of Harmony? How can that be?” Rarity wondered.
“I don't know. But Celestia said we should check the tree to make sure of it,” Twilight remembered.
“It's a shame that now that the princess answered, we're already going back home,” Fluttershy commented.
“Yeah, but we're comin' back tomorrow, right? Then we can check the tree and find it out,” Applejack said.
“Well, we better hurry now. It's getting dark and Snowflake needs to get back home,” Twilight told them. “We can think about that tomorrow.”
When we finally got out of that spooky forest, each pony took took their way home. There was just Twilight, Spike and me, going to the castle. Now that I'm not surrounded by people, I mean, ponies, I feel more comfortable to make her some questions.
“So... what are these Elements of Harmony?” I asked.
“Oh, they are one of the most powerful forces of Equestria. They were found in the Tree of Harmony by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They used them to defeat villains together, but after some events that led to Luna's banishment, they were forgotten. But a thousand years later, me and my friends found it and used them several times to save Equestria,” she explained.
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. But, unfortunately, we had to give them back to the Tree of Harmony after an incident.”
“But how do you protect Equestria now?” I asked.
“Well, lately our friendship has been enough to make sure everything is alright. Actually, our friendship is what made we be able use the Elements in the first time,” she told me.
“Hmm...” I muttered. When friendship gets in the talking, I get out.
“But what about you? How are your friends?” she asked me.
I hesitated for a moment before replying. “Well... At the moment, I don't have any friend,” I said, in the coldest way I could. I didn't want her to think that it made me sad. I wanted her to know I didn't care at all.
She and Spike looked at each other, concerned.
“You don't?” she asked again.
“No. But I'm okay with that. Really,” I assured.
“But, who you talk to? Who keeps you company?” Spike asked me.
“Actually, no one. But there's no problem. I like to be alone. I'm used to it.” I smiled, trying to confirm what I said.
“But you already had friends, right?” she asked me, looking worried.
“Yes, but... Look, don't get me wrong, prin– I mean, Twilight, but I don't wanna talk about it. Let's say... I don't have very good memories about this subject,” I explained, avoiding eye contact with them.
“Oh, okay then. But if you need help with ‘this subject’ you can ask me, cause... you know: I'm the Princess of Friendship.”
“Thanks, but everything's fine to me,” I said.
Afterwards, we followed to Twilight's castle in silence.
When we got there, Twilight led me to the room where the portal was.
“Well, here we are. I hope you liked our world. You'll come back, won't you?,” she said, smiling.
“Yes. I'll come back tomorrow, after school. But then, again, I'll have to go back before sunset,” I told her.
“Okay. Then we'll see if we can solve this mystery. Anyway, it was nice to have you here with us today. Oh, I almost forgot.” Twilight used her magic to take my necklace out of her bag and put it over my neck. I became an alicorn again. “Goodbye!” she said.
“Bye!” Spike said, waving his claw.
“Goodbye,” I replied, with a smile, and crossed the portal.
And there I was again. No wings, no horn. Unless, no hooves instead of hands, but still. At least, I had my necklace to assure it wasn't just a dream.
Anyway, I had to go back home before my mother even know I had gotten out. Not that I didn't want her to know, but how was I supposed to tell her “Hey mom, I wasn't home because I was visiting an alternative world inhabited by talking ponies”? She would think I was joking.
Well, that would probably be the first thing I kept as a secret from her. I've never done something wrong that I didn't tell her. I always admitted my mistakes. I always did my best to do what's right, what's fair.
I guess that's why people don't like me. They don't seem to care if what they're doing is right or not; they just think if it's gonna bring them some gain. I always tried to correct my friends when I saw they were doing something wrong, but they rarely listened to me. Instead of it, they got mad at me, like it was an absurd telling them they weren't right. I don't understand people. Why is it so hard for them to say they're wrong? Nobody's perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. But I think their pride is too big to let them even think about it.
I decided to forget about that. I didn't like to think about these things, because then I started to think about how my world's situation was bad, that there was a lot of good people being maltreated, while bad people got everything they wanted with their dishonesty, and that hurts me.
I may not like to deal with people, but that doesn't mean I don't want them to be fine. I just wished they could see things like I do. I mean, I know I'm not always right too, but at least I try to be. For my pride, for my honor and also for the other people. I know how much a wrong act can hurt, and I don't want them to go through it too, even if they're the ones who hurt me. I just hope that someday they can see what they did and regret. Not for me, for themselves, and for the people who surrounds them.
But I don't think I'll ever find someone really good. Everybody I know is selfish. They are always with you, until the moment when you're not useful anymore. I took long to notice that, but since I did, rejection and deception became rare in my life. This is why I'd rather be alone. I protect myself from getting hurt.
Luckily, when I got home, my mother wasn't there yet. When she got there, everything went normal. She didn't ask me if I got out because I hardly ever do, but it didn't feel well hiding something from her. Well, I had to overcome this. By the way, I wasn't doing anything wrong. And even if I told her, she probably wouldn't believe me.
At night, it was time to sleep. Time to prepare myself to face people again. But at least after that, I had somewhere to go to make my day worth. The thing was that now I had to face ponies. As I said before, I don't have any problem with them. I just didn't want to befriend with them and have to face all that I already had gone through again.
But okay, I could do it. I had been avoiding friendship through two years then. Why would this time be different?
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Yeah, there I was again. No wings, no horn. Unless, no hooves instead of hands, but still. At least, I had my necklace to assure it wasn't just a dream. Yes, I already said this before. Just convincing myself I'm really back.
There I was, alone. Nothing new for me to see, no mystery to solve, no one to talk to, no one who even noticed I was there. I felt so unimportant. More than I usually did. Am I– No, I can't be missing them. I can't do that again. And I won't, I hope.
I mean, they were nice to me and all, but... I can't do that again. I'm not ready. I can't face another deception.
Speaking of deceptions, this day, Golden Sunshine, the most popular, famous, cruel and mean girl in my school, once my friend, unfortunately, dropped “accidentally” my food tray when I were in the school cafeteria's queue. She has the necessity of make sure I'm not okay.
“Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there. You're not very ‘noticeable’,” she told me, mockingly.
“If to be noticed I'd have to be like you, then I'm totally fine with that,” I said, as I was going to return to the end of the queue to get a new food tray.
“You better be, cause you'd never get where I am,” she replied.
“You think I'd like to be? You really think I'm interested in this futile life?”
“Ugh, don't start one more moral lesson. You bore me.”
“You really think any of them care about you?” I continued.
“Everybody cares about me. Unlike you, I have lots of friends,” she said, arrogantly.
“They're not your friends. They just want to be near you to be popular like you, just like you did once. They don't care about anyone else but themselves, like you do.”
“Did you finish the speech? Can I go now?” she asked, with an annoyed face.
“Did you finish bothering me for today?”
“Yes, I'm satisfied,” she said with a mean smile, and left.
I have to face that almost everyday. I don't know what she gets by doing it. Isn't enough for her that I already don't have any friend?
But okay. The class soon would be over, and I could go to Equestria again.
The class had ended. After lunch, I went to the street of Canterlot High, checked if there was nobody there, and crossed the portal again.
When I crossed, I felt a great weight getting out of my shoulders. Here, there was no problem. Here, I finally felt something I didn't feel for years: happiness.
“Hello? Princess Twilight?” I waited for an answer while walked out of the room. Spike came to welcome me. He was carrying a tray with sandwiches.
“Hi Snowflake.”
“Oh! Hello, Spike,” I answered.
“Twilight is at the dining room with the other girls. Come with me,” he said and led me to the room.
The dragon opened the door of the room where the six ponies were talking and laughing.
“Oh, hello Snowflake,” Twilight welcomed me, smiling. The other ponies looked at me, smiling too.
“Hello,” I replied, with a small smile.
“Have a seat here with us,” Twilight said, pointing her hoof to an empty chair.
I walked to the chair and sat down there, while Spike put the tray on the table.
“Thank you, Spike. Would you like to join us in our lunch?” the princess asked me.
“Thanks, princess.” – she looked at me with a smile and a raised eyebrow – “I mean, Twilight.” I corrected, smiling. “I already had lunch.”
“Okay. Stay here with us. After we finish, we're going to visit the Tree of Harmony to see what we discover,” she explained.
“Do you really think it's possible that there is a seventh Element of Harmony?” Fluttershy asked Twilight.
“Well, we have to consider that there's a chance. But we should check the tree before get to a conclusion,” the alicorn answered.
“But how do we never heard about it?” Applejack wondered.
“I was thinking about it too. That book I read about the Elements in the day we found them affirms there are six elements,” Twilight remembered.
“So there's no seventh element or the book is wrong,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I was thinking about a third possibility. We should consider that it can be a newly created element,” the princess explained.
“But why would the Tree of Harmony create a new element? I mean, Equestria is protected with our six,” the blue pegasus replied.
“Yes, and it would probably need the other elements to work,” Rarity commented.
”And we had to give them back to the tree...” Pinkie Pie remembered, with a exaggerated crying tone.
”And why would it give alicorn powers to its bearer?” Applejack asked.
”It's true. But if it is really an new element, maybe it was created with another purpose. Something other than saving Equestria,” Twilight told them.
”But what you think it could be?” Rarity asked.
”Well, I don't know. I just hope our visit to the Tree of Harmony answers all of these questions...” Twilight said.
A Friendship For a Cold Heart: A Chance to Start Again
Chapter 2: Unusual Events
It was a Monday like any other. The school bell rang and the students started to get out. I took a little longer, like I always do, so I can get out not having to face the tumult. Afterwards, I had lunch in a diner near my school cause my mother is working and is going to get back late.
From there, I take my way home. I was walking in front of Canterlot High school when I see a group of girls around the school statue. A normal scene, until one of them enters and disappears into one of the walls of a kind of pedestal where the statue is. Weird. I did see a lot of movies with secret passages and stuff. But that doesn't seem like the same thing. It seems more like... magic.
Come on, Snowflake. Magic doesn't exist, I say to myself.
Almost at home, I was walking, looking down when I heard a weird noise. I looked behind and noticed a necklace with a pendant in a blue snowflake shape in the floor. But I already walked there, looking at the ground, and I'm sure I didn't see anything there, and there's no one in the street at the moment but me. I take it carefully and decide to take it with me. It's a pretty necklace. Plus, it matches with my name.
At night, I decided to try the necklace and, for my surprise, it shines weirdly, but soon the glow fades out. That was strange. I take it off and put it on again to see if it's going to shine, but it doesn't.
Probably it was only me. I'd better get some sleep.
I turned off the lights and lied in my bed, falling asleep soon.
At morning, I put my new necklace and went to school.
Group work. I managed to do it by myself, since no one even asks me if I want a place in their groups.
At break time, I took my food and took a place to sit, alone. It sounds sad, but I feel better like this than with my so called friends. Actually, with them I felt even more lonely.
After school, I had lunch in that same diner.
In my way home, I walk walking again in front of Canterlot High. There's no one around the statue. I wanted to investigate the "passage", but maybe it's better forget it. When I'm going back to walk, my necklace starts to shine, like it did in the last night. Before that, I can't resist. It's like a sign telling me to go there.
I get closer and touch the pedestal that it looked like the girl had crossed. I'm surprised to see that my hand seems to go inside the wall. My necklace shines again, like it's saying that I should cross it. I'm surely curious, but I'm afraid too.
That's when I heard people coming.
It's now or never.
I hesitated a bit, but overcame the fear and crossed the portal.
