Ponder decided that now was the best time to look for Twilight. She had run off when Celestia answered the door, not even giving a schedule or proper meeting place like she used to do.

" I just wanted to double check that everything was alright. " Twilight was looking at a tired Sunset, who was leaning against the wall of the band room.

" Well, not exactly alright. " Sunset looked back at the door.
" But ok enough. "

" You? " She honestly asked.

" Oh I'm fine. I just- "
" Really? " Sunset interrupted.

" A bit disheartened. " Twilight looked to the side.

" Yeah. He's been with you for awhile now, has he? " Sunset remarked, lowering her eyes.
" Yeah. "
The two then shared a short lived moment of silence.

" Well, best of luck to you. " Sunset turned away, apparently not wanting to say more words.
Twilight reached out a hand as her back was turned, but retracted it as soon as she offered it.

It was awhile before Ponder found her.
" I uh- " Ponder was uncomfortable. First time she's seen him like him.
" Got one more thing to check on my end. "
" You good? "

" Not exactly. " She responded.
Most of the other kids had gone to class already, leaving them alone in the halls.

Ponder sneered at his unintentional open-ended question.
" It's around 45 minutes from now. "

" Ponder, I think we need to talk. " She looked back up at him with a blank stare.

Ponder sighed.

" There's a spot near the school where we won't be bothered. "
He started walking, looking behind him.
Twilight was following.

He continued to the spot to the side of the school.
The autumn air wasn't too horrible, but still present.

Not saying anything; he sat down on the outskirt of the school's foundation.
' If the past 2 times didn't do it, this one certainly did. ' He thought.
' She's done with me. '

Twilight started immediately.
" I understand you have a right to think what you want, and to talk it out with those who wronged you. "
" And I also get that this world, and other Twilight hasn't been kind to you. "

" But you've been under my study for awhile now. ", " And the reminders from Celestia, Luna and I… "
She trailed off at the end of her sentence.
" To see that happen -"
She mulled her thoughts over for awhile before speaking again.
" Id- thought you would have know better. " She said solemnly.

" I know. " He agreed, not lifting his head to speak.
Twilight seemed confused.

" And when you didn't listen - " There was a gap in Twilight's speech.
" That wasn't an order. ", " None of it was. " Ponder haphazardly interjected, no Mal intent anywhere to be seen (or heard).

" -R- Right. " Twilight got back on track after a short pause.
" That was my fault for not making that clear. " Her gaze softened.

Ponder continued, looking back downward : " And that outburst wasn't for me alone. "
Twilight, now confused again, was about to speak up - when ...
" Turns out Equestria being in constant danger isn't that unheard of. " He looked back up to her.
" You and your friends, the ' dark ages ', and even Star Swirl and his friends. Thousands of years ago. "

" When I saw her. " He frowned. But just enough to be noticed.
" I saw an opportunity to reduce the likelihood of Equestria being destroyed. "

Twilight looked to the side in dark realization.
That wasn't purely an emotional outburst.
She already knew the gist of what he was going to say.

" I saw the chance to reduce the likelihood of a threat, and I took it. "
He looked to the side, not able to meet her gaze.
' This was Garble all over again. ' She thought.
' Just without the aggression. '

" Ponder- " It didn't take long for her to formulate a response.
" That - isn't your call to make. "

" At least - not in that way. " She looked into one of the school's many windows.
" Doing what you did. "
Ponder sighed again.
His tone was just about as depressed as you could get and still be considered ' normal ' .

" I could probably could have told her to do anything when she asked me that question, right? " He honestly asked Twilight.
Twilight nodded, eyes half closed and peering down.

" Yeah. Figures. " He turned to the side.

" If just one iota of my brainpower had been spent on literally anything else; brainpower that was all busy and tied up trying to make Other Twilight feel bad; "
" That would have solved it too. "

" I wouldn't have taken it that far. "

Twilight had hope.
Hope that this situation could be turned around.
Unknown to PonderBright, of course.

" I blew it. " He admitted.

" And the kicker is- " He turned to Twilight, tears visible.
" IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK! "
He chuckled a false chuckle of pain.

" Her friends just swooped in, and erased just about all of that pain I was trying to cause! "
" And to top it all off- " He had come to some sort of realization in that moment.

" You're right. " He made a knowing single-handed gesture.

" If Equestria could do without me for thousands of years - why should it want me now?! "
He looked away in shame. He wasn't trembling, but probably close to it.

Twilight had to make sure of something.
If she was going to continue working with him, she had to be sure.
He had admitted to purposely causing pain, after all.
" And you were only trying to cause that pain not for yourself, but for the sake of others? " She waited with baited breath.

" Yeah. "
" I would just love it if we could all just hold hands, be friendly, and nothing bad ever happens to anybody. " He had fumbled the response. Probably because he was wiping away tears.
She didn't entirely buy that. There was SOME emotion in that fiasco, but to hear that he didn't intend any more then he thought was ' necessary ' ... She might just be able to believe that. She might just be able to work with that.

Twilight walked up to him, and sat on the same concrete protrusion as Ponder.
" I understand. "

The VERY last thing he expected.
He looked back to her in shock, entirely going on the assumption he misheard something. His posture showed as much, as much as you can show being on the spectrum. It looked oddly pathetic.

She noticed this, looked to the side, and the back to Ponder with a forced smile.
" I used to get that way too. Too fixated on something to see everything else that's right in front of you. "
" And, honestly I still do sometimes. "

" Well - not with aggressive tendencies. "

" Although. " She looked back up at him.
She could have sworn he looked just like her for a single moment in time. A hallucination. She had to gather herself. She could not afford to break here.

After wiping her eyes in disbelief;
" I just- had my friends to fall back on. To tell me where I was going wrong. " Twilight had ended the thought, having got back on track.

Ponder looked back at her. " I don't want to be like this. For what it's worth. "

" To be so incompatible with friendship and ' nice ' that every lesson has to blow up into something like this in order for me to ' get it ' . "

Twilight looked away.
" Yeah. "
And as just as soon as she looked away, she looked back. With a hopeful look, this time.
" But It doesn't have too. "

He looked back at her with mild disbelief; hanging his eyes slightly closed.
A look of defeat.

" It's true. " She leaned her back against the building. " And I can show you, if you'll let me. "
Ponder's gaze softened.

" And - If you'll abide by some new guidelines. "
Ponder grew weary. Twilight continued.

" Your going to have to at least try to do things the way I showed you. "
" No more of these outbursts. I can't have any more. " Her tone was becoming stiff, her trailing off and looking to the building.

" And no more trying to be a hero. " She re-focused on Ponder. " Your suggestions are fine - great even. " She said that last part quite upbeat.
" But too much has happened as of late. And as I said before; it's not your place. "
She caught herself. She was possibly about to slip into a condescending tone there.
That catch was noticed by Ponder. And notably appreciated.

" But - If your willing to learn- you always have the option to - "

" Alright. " Ponder agreed. It usually didn't take him long to formulate decisions or ideas anyway. He did a bad job of hiding the joy and relief in his voice.

" Well - If your up for it - I think I know what to do next. " She said hopefully.
Ponder raised an eyebrow after wiping dried tears away.

Twilight looked back to Ponder.
" And - again - I'm sorry for not pointing this out sooner. "
" If we had just talked plainly like this - this probably could have been avoided. "
" I guess that was just a holdover from when I was studying under Celestia "

They both got up per Twilight's lead, and started walking back to the front of the school.

" She always had a knack for the indirect form of teaching. " She held out a hand. " But, not me, apparently. "
" If I had just done what I thought to try from the start- " She started to trail off.
" No - It's - cool. " Ponder rushed a response. Didn't know what exactly to say.
" Right. " Twilight replied, regaining her composure.

" And- Well. "
She figured it was ok to tell him.

" I was- kind of scared of you. "

Ponders eyes winded. He was even taken aback a bit.
" Oh- I didn't mean to- " Twilight frantically said in apology.
Scratching the back of her head.
Talking in a strained tone.

The works.

" No. It's fine. " PonderBright was still recovering from the verbal blow.
Twilight seeked to clarify:
" I just- thought you needed to hear it. And the time seemed right - "
" Yeah. I know. " He plainly replied.
" And I agree. " PonderBright could not argue with that logic.

He noticed something amiss with his hands.
He pulled them up to give them a good viewing,
And noticed they were shaking a bit for a short moment in time.

It was just fast enough to miss, but miss it he did not.
Huh.

" Yeah alright lets go. " Ponder said in a hurry.
" To whatever you have planned. " He stuck both hands in his pockets.

" I was thinking we could make up with Twilight. " She took a teacher's tone.
" The way we left off wasn't great. "
" And now that we've talked, I was hoping we could fix it. Instead of leaving things the way they are. " She presented a level hand in expression.

" Yeah alright. " He replied with hope.
" That's - quite the turn around in such a short time. " Twilight half-joked, half-laughed nervously.

" It's just that - " Ponder tried to explain.
" I think I understand where your coming from now. "

Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Ponder sighed.
He took a deep breath before answering her:
" This feeling sucks. "

Author's Note

I post on my FIMfiction blog!
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1037520/own-story-or-adaptations
Be involved!
Make friends!!
Influence (ever so slightly)
The direction of the story!

I am open to PM. No discord or email. Do not use email. Please.
I am open to work, even collaborations. I can't draw. Muscle condition.

Want to test my writing with this one. Will try to write more and more challenging subjects as time goes on.
All criticism minus something that can only be seen as a nitpick will be appreciated.

Oh the conflicts we would avoid if people took time to understand.
Or people stopped being stupid.
Either could work, but we both know #2 aint happening anytime soon.

So don't pretend or act like it will.