Author's Note

Two days until the Friendship Games.

Hell of a Morning

Twilight watched the sun come up as she changed into her uniform. She had long since finished the canister of coffee she had on her desk. But after everything she learned overnight, drinking the coffee was unnecessary. The knowledge she attained changed everything for her. Not just the confidential information she read from the permanent records, but the fact that there was an entire organization dedicated to the downfall of Principal Cinch! She didn't know which was more baffling...the fact that her freaking parents and brother were a part of it, or the fact that Dean Cadance herself was the founder and the one in charge! She may never look at anything the same way again...

Twilight walked out of her room, faintly aware of a puppy scratching at her leg to get her attention. She smiled warmly and gently pet Spike, then got back up immediately. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, then exhaled as she walked downstairs.

"Good morning, Twilight," Night Light called out as his daughter reached the bottom of the stairs.

Twilight froze in her tracks and glanced at her father. "Hi," she said, trying to keep her voice level.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine," Twilight said quicker than she meant to. "I'll talk later, okay?" She ran out of the house, leaving her father very, very confused. She ran all the way to the bus stop, then boarded the bus and collapsed onto her seat.

Twilight left her bus, then walked to the entrance of Crystal Prep Academy with a sigh. She wobbled a little as she opened the door, her fatigue finally getting to her. She turned around and nearly bumped into Lemon Zest.

"Whoa...are you okay?" asked Lemon.

"Yeah...I'm fine..." said Twilight, nearly dozing off. Lemon quickly grabbed her and kept her from falling onto the floor.

"Come on...let's get you some coffee or something..." said Lemon as she guided her to the cafeteria.

After a few minutes and some caffeine in her system, Twilight perked up. "Sorry about that. I was up all night."

"Up all night doing what?" asked Lemon.

"Well..." said Twilight, slowly pulling at her hair.

Lemon raised an eyebrow. "Twilight...what were you doing?"

Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay...before I tell you anything...we need to be in a secluded location."

"Okay." said Lemon. As they walked the halls, she looked back at Twilight. "Is there anything you can tell me now?"

"I don't want to take any chances, Lemon Zest. Let's just wait until we reach a quiet place." said Twilight.

Once the pair reached a private area, Twilight leaned in closely to Lemon. "Okay...you know how I've been trying to cheer you up since yesterday?"

Lemon nodded.

"I realized it wasn't working, so last night I took...drastic measures." said Twilight.

"Drastic...measures?" asked Lemon. "What are you talking about?"

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed. "God, I feel so dirty." She began shaking as a fresh wave of guilt struck her.

"Twilight?" said Lemon. "Are you okay?"

"I...I don't know." Twilight sniffled. "I feel like what I'm about to do is the most vile, repugnant thing imaginable. But I want to see you happy. I don't like seeing you when you're sad."

"Twilight..." said Lemon.

"Hey...friends try to keep each other happy no matter what, right?" said Twilight. "Even...even at their own expense. Their own sacrifices." her voice cracked. "I...I..." she broke, and started crying into Lemon's chest.

Lemon hugged Twilight tightly and stroked her hair in an effort to calm her friend down.

After a few minutes, Twilight calmed down. She looked up at Lemon, her eyes red and puffy. She shuddered.

"Twilight, if it makes you this uncomfortable then I don't mind you not doing it." said Lemon.

Twilight gave her a sad smile. "Lemon. If I didn't want to go through with this, I wouldn't have bothered doing what I did in the first place."

Lemon smiled. "Okay. What did you do?"

Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled, shuddering again. "I overheard you telling Sour about your encounter with Sunny Flare. That got me thinking."

Lemon nodded.

"I know you're not normally the violent type unless you lose your temper...but I assume you've heard the phrase 'Knowledge is power.'?" asked Twilight.

"I do, but I don't see where you're going with this." said Lemon.

"Well, last night I did some...'digging'." said Twilight.

"'Digging'?" repeated Lemon.

"Yes." Twilight nodded. "I looked into the pasts of all of your teammates for the Friendship Games. Sour Sweet, Royal Pin, Suri Polomare...all of them."

Lemon raised an eyebrow.

"I wanted to give you an edge in case they harassed you. They know things about you, but you don't know anything about them." said Twilight.

Lemon's eyes shot open as she finally realized what Twilight had done. "My god...you know their deepest, darkest secrets now, don't you?!"

Twilight nodded. "This knowledge might come in handy, but I feel terrible about what I did."

"Twilight...you don't have to-" said Lemon

"I'm going to fucking tell you, Lemon Zest! I've gone too damn far for nothing, do you hear me?!" shouted Twilight, tears in her eyes.

Lemon backed up, shocked by Twilight's words. "Okay...I understand."

Twilight slowly held onto one of Lemon's hands. "I'm going to need this." she said. "I feel so terrible, divulging people's secrets like this, but if it helps you defend yourself, I'll do it. No matter how painful it may be."

The process, Lemon found, was startlingly akin to labor. Twilight had to control her breathing, hyperventilating to reveal the secrets she knew. Each time a secret was told, Twilight would wail in anguish while tightly squeezing Lemon's hand as both of them shed tears, fully aware of the pain they were causing each other. Twilight, because knew she was worrying her friend and the guilt she felt for snooping on the private lives of people she barely knew. Lemon, because of the emotional and mental suffering Twilight had went through and was still going through, all for her own sake.

After the last secret was revealed, Lemon was in shock. "Twilight...are you sure of all of those things?"

Twilight was still in tears. "Yes..." she said. "I had to double and even triple check...but yes. There's no doubt about any of them." She didn't like lying to Lemon, but she didn't want her to even come close to the truth of what she really did.

"Twilight...I don't know what to say..." said Lemon.

"Lemon...before we leave this room, I want to make something abundantly clear." said Twilight.

"Yes?" said Lemon.

"This will be between you and me, and we will both carry this to our graves if we can help it." said Twilight, giving Lemon a serious expression.

"I agree." Lemon said. "I can't believe you went to all that trouble just for me..."

"Hey." said Twilight, her voice quavering. "What are friends for?" she said as she hugged Lemon.

Lemon returned the hug and the two resumed crying until the warning bell for the first period rang.

First period for Twilight ended, and she felt on edge. It was becoming harder and harder for her to not to blurt out everything she knew. Keep it together, Twilight Sparkle! Keep it together! She repeated that to herself as a mantra until she was snapped out of as she heard Lemon speak.

"Last warning, Flare." Lemon said angrily. "I don't want to have to do this."

"What's with you and last names?" asked Sunny. "Besides, you know nothing about me."

Lemon allowed herself a smile. "Interesting choice of words, Sunny Flare. How about this last name, then...Rutherford."

Sunny Flare blanched. "Uh...what was that?"

"I. Said. Rutherford."

"How...how do you..." Sunny said, shock evident in her tone.

"Like I'd tell you." said Lemon. "And if I know about Rutherford, then I'm sure you've gathered that I also know about your-"

"Don't say it!" said Sunny, tears forming in her eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be the nice one..."

"Are you familiar with the phrase 'Even Buddha will get upset if he's hit in the face three times?'" said Lemon. "Well, I've been hit in the face too many goddamn times! It's time I started pushing back. I've been putting up with Crystal Prep Academy's bullshit for far too long. All the competitiveness, the backstabbing... I have had enough!"

"Wait...are you...?" Sunny looked at Lemon in confusion.

"Here's what you're going to do, Sunny Flare." said Lemon.

"You...you're blackmailing me?!" Sunny said as her mouth went agape.

"After all the shit I've been through, I'd like some sort of...'compensation' for all the grief you and the other girls have caused me." said Lemon.

"What makes you think they'll listen to you?" Sunny said defiantly, putting her hands on her hips.

"I know all the deepest, darkest secrets of our fellow Shadowbolts." Lemon said.

Sunny Flare's eyes narrowed. "You're bluffing."

"Are you willing to take that chance?" said Lemon. "I'm starting to think it really would kill everyone here to be nice to each other."

"Okay." Sunny sighed. "What is it you want?"

"That's more like it." said Lemon. "What I want...Sunny Flare...is for you and the other Shadowbolts to treat each other nicely. I'm not asking or forcing you all to be friends, I'm not so sweet and naive as to believe that's possible. At the very least, try to be civil with one another."

Sunny blinked. "That's all you want?"

Lemon's expression hardened. "What, you were expecting a sexual favor? As you just said to me; 'Don't flatter yourself'. Now go spread the word..." Lemon narrowed her eyes. "And get the fuck out of my sight." she hissed.

Twilight watched Sunny nod and run off. Once she left Lemon's eyesight, Lemon nearly collapsed onto the floor. Twilight simply stood there, speechless, until the second period warning bell rang.

After second period, Twilight could only stare at the floor as she walked out of her classroom. She needed to tell someone about what she did! She noticed Lemon off in the distance and ran over to her, then hugged her tightly.

"Twilight?" said Lemon.

"Oh, god, Lemon...I feel so terrible!" Twilight said. "It feels like the guilt is eating me alive!" she started crying.

Lemon hugged her. "Hey now...I'm here for you."

"Lemon...I don't know if I can live with myself for what I've done." Twilight said. "I saw the whole thing with you and Sunny Flare. The look on her face...and when you nearly collapsed on the floor..." Twilight sobbed.

Lemon stroked Twilight's hair to calm her down. "I'm here for you, Twilight. We can get through this together, you hear me? Just you and me..."

"That's just it..." said Twilight. "I don't know if I can keep it between us for much longer. This knowledge is the equivalent of the Telltale Heart to me, and I'm very close to just ripping off the floorboards just so I can feel at peace with myself!"

Lemon thought for a moment. "Okay. I think I know someone we can tell with little fear of consequences, but you'll have to wait and trust me. Meet during lunch period. Just hang in there until then, okay?"

Twilight simply nodded, then the warning bell for third period rang. She ran off to her next class.

As the day went by, Twilight struggled to keep herself in check until lunch came. She ran into the cafeteria and found Lemon.

"How are you holding up?" Lemon asked Twilight.

"I think I could snap any minute..."

"Then we don't have any time to lose. Follow me!" she took Twilight's hand and ran to Radiant Hope's office.

Lemon and Twilight reached Radiant Hope's office, the latter on the verge of bursting into tears. Twilight would have taken stock of her surroundings, but was far too stressed to care.

Hope stood up from her desk, concern on her face. "What on earth ha-" Before she could get another syllable out, Twilight Sparkle ran to her and started bawling into her chest. Lemon stood in the doorway, heaving a sigh of relief. Hope gave Lemon a look of concern.

"Promise me what we're about to tell you won't leave this office." Lemon said as she shut Hope's door.

Hope blinked, then said. "In all honesty, it depends on the severity of the situation, Lemon Zest."

Lemon frowned. "Crap. Why did I know you'd say something like that?"

"Because it's part of my job." said Hope.

"Yeah...I should have known." said Lemon.

Twilight had finally calmed down and took a seat next to Lemon.

Hope sat back down at her desk. "So..." she said, looking intently at the pair. "What happened?"

Lemon and Twilight looked at each other, with tense expressions. They nodded to each other, and told Hope all that had transpired, starting from Lemon's falling out with Sour Sweet to the present moment. As they told her their tale, Hope had to give them a box of tissues. Many tears were shed between the two friends, and there had to be a few breaks in telling the story so either one of them could regain their composure. Once they finished, Radiant Hope simply stared at them with an unreadable expression. Twilight and Lemon were visibly tensed up, afraid of the consequences.

"I'm going to be frank with the both of you..." Hope said.

Lemon sighed. "Yeah, that's what we're afraid of."

"We deserve the worst punishment possible..." whimpered Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle. While what you did for Lemon was admirable, touching even...you know better than snooping around peoples' private lives." said Hope.

"I...I know." said Twilight, tears still in her eyes. "Can't you tell how bad I feel about it?"

"Lemon Zest. The fact that you harassed a fellow student over something that was meant to be confidential is shocking to me. I understand you've been having a rough time here at Crystal Prep lately, but what you did was uncalled for, to say the least." said Hope.

Lemon lowered her head. "I know. But surely you've been pushed to a point where you wanted to push back, right?"

"That doesn't justify what you did." said Hope.

Lemon sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"Wait." said Twilight. "You're a guidance counselor. I thought your job wasn't to judge students."

"I may be a guidance counselor, Twilight Sparkle...but I'm also a staff member." Hope said, her eyes narrowed.

Twilight gulped.

Hope took a deep breath and exhaled. "Both of you. Go to detention."

Twilight blanched. "D-D-D-Detention?!"

Lemon blinked. "That's awfully lenient for what we just did."

Twilight was in a panic. "I-I-I've never been to detention. I have a spotless record!"

Hope sighed. "You should have thought of that before you went digging around. Now go, before I change my mind and give you a harsher punishment!"

Twilight and Lemon left her office, walking slowly and closing the office door.

"Lemon..." Twilight said softly. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"We're going to detention," Twilight nearly shouted, then buried her head in her hands. "What are my parents going to say?!"

"Twilight," Lemon said as she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I just wanted to thank you. For what you did." She smiled. "I know it wasn't easy, and I really appreciate it, even though we both got in trouble."

Twilight smiled, then the pair stopped in front of a door. Her smile faded and she gradually began to hyperventilate.

"Twilight," Lemon shouted. Twilight recoiled. "It's going to be okay," Lemon said softly. "I'll be in the room with you. Does that help?"

Twilight remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"All right," Lemon said. "Then let's get this over with." She opened the door, and she and Twilight walked in.