Beautiful Things

Misty sat up, a bright light filling her curtained room. She looked down and saw her cutie mark shining bright. It slowly dimmed back until it was just a mark on her flank and not a glowing beacon, as though nothing happened at all. She swallowed nervously, thinking about the shadowed pony. She just stared at her cutie mark, a million questions running through her mind.

"How...? Why....? Who...?" She muttered to herself, wondering why her cutie mark glowed, how that cloaked figure was able to banish Opaline with that blinding white light, and who that shadowed pony even was, to begin with.

"I was hoping you'd answer that."

Misty jumped, falling off her bed and onto the floor, her heart pounding and racing quicker than ever before. On instinct, she jumped to her hooves with her legs slightly bent in a defensive position in less than half a second. She whipped her head around in a panic. Were they under attack? Was Opaline back? Her entire body tensed at the thought, her reflexes ready to react to the smallest noise.

"Whoa, Misty, chill. It's just me."

Misty looked at the entrance to her curtained room, seeing a white pegasus with a pink and blue mane, standing at the entrance as though she tried to make a hasty exit, but was stopped by something, her phone camera pointed up at Misty.

Misty shielded her face and squinted her eyes, as though looking directly at a floodlight, despite it just being a camera. She hated having her picture taken, or any attention on her, especially if it was loud. Except when it's from her best friends. While she didn't exactly enjoy it when her friends showered her with abundant attention, she didn't hate it as much and didn't feel that tight, restricted helplessness. Except for now. She didn't like waking up to other ponies in her space, no matter who they were.

"Z-Zipp?" She asked, shying further away from the phone camera Zipp was holding up. "Zipp, c-can you put that away? Please?"

"Yeah, in a sec. Hold on. I wanna see if it glows again. And I wanna ask you some questions. It'll be better if it's all on one tape instead of an audio file and a video. Plus, I can film your reaction."

Misty may be able to be on alert when she first woke up, but cognitive thinking five minutes after she woke up was nonexistent. And she certainly didn't know what Zipp was talking about and she didn't care. All she wanted was a bit of privacy and the camera off of her. She had half a mind to march up and knock the phone out of Zipp's hooves.

"Zipp, Zipp, Zipp. Put the phone down." A voice said from the entrance of the curtains. Misty watched as Pipp flew over to Zipp.

"Pipp? What are you doing here? I thought you were at Mane Melody?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "I was, but I forgot something over here, and when I flew by, I heard Misty asking to be left alone and you basically saying no. Anyway, put the phone down and stop giving Misty the third degree."

"B-but Opaline may be back. Misty could be having another vision or...we need to know so we can be prepared. We need to take down Opaline before she takes us."

Misty bit her lip, the thought of Opaline returning sending shivers down her spine. Opaline couldn't come back. After everything they've all been through, after everything Misty put them through. They've done too much to defeat her for her to come waltzing back. She couldn't. She was powerless without her cutie mark, right? And the together trees trapped her. Unless she figured out a way to free herself. She could figure out a way to get her cutie mark back and use her magic to escape...Misty shook her head. She had too much to worry about right now to let her mind wander like that. She wouldn't go there. She couldn't.

Pipp turned to Misty, still hovering in the air, crossing her front hooves in front of her chest. "Misty? Is Opaline coming back?"

Misty was shocked by Pipp's question. How should she know? She was just as clueless about the potential of Opaline returning as they were. Did they think she was in league with Opaline again? Did they not trust her? Misty flattened her ears, looking around, trying not to act suspicious, but looking exactly that.

"N-no." She started to say but then thought that if Opaline did come back, maybe they'd think she lied to them. Or that she was trying to hide something. "W-well, at least, I hope not. W-why?"

Pipp turned to her sister, giving her an annoyed look. "See Zipp? Misty doesn't know anything. So stop acting like she does, and treating her like a criminal. Do you want another Mane Melody situation? Because if you keep this up, that's exactly what it'll turn into."

Misty remembered that day all too well. Misty couldn't decide if she was insanely lucky or unlucky that she wasn't caught. And she wasn't sure if she should be grateful that Pipp intervened, revealing herself to be the "lantern thief" or upset that yet again, she would be able to cause her friends even more heartache.

She could tell Zipp was thinking the same thing. Had Zipp caught her that day, everything that happened afterward wouldn't have happened. They could have prevented all of that. However, had she been caught, perhaps she wouldn't have formed the friendships she had formed as she had now. It was still early on, and she still believed some of the things Opaline taught her about the ponies of Equestria. Perhaps she would've been able to escape and would go back to Opaline, her friends turning on her only further proving what Opaline had told her. She would've continued to help her, instead of seeing Opaline as evil. Perhaps she wouldn't be here now, with the friends and family she had.

Zipp hesitated for a bit, clearly thinking along similar lines as Misty. Misty held her breath, waiting for Zipp to say something, anything. Her answer would have a so much deeper meaning than Pipp even realized.

"No. I don't." Zipp finally answered, earning a sigh of relief from Misty. Zipp didn't regret that day. She didn't regret being stopped by her sister. At least that was one last thing to regret.

"Then turn your flank around, and let Misty get ready for the day in peace, okay? Or I swear I will drag you out of here."

Zipp stared at Pipp for a bit before groaning and marching out of Misty's curtained room. Misty breathed a sigh of relief. Misty could now think without that camera in her face.

"So sorry about Zipp. Since the Opaline mystery has been solved and Opaline was defeated, she's been going crazy trying to find something new to investigate, and driving the rest of us with her. I'll talk to her later about the importance of privacy and how much some ponies love it, especially you."

Misty gulped nervously. She hated how much privacy she needed from her friends. Don't get her wrong, the projection film her friends gave her made her feel so much better, and really made her feel as though she belonged, and she still watched it from time to time to remind herself of her true family, and the bracelet she always wore around her hoof made feel as though her friends were always with her, but when Sunny and their friends brought up the fact that Misty enjoyed her privacy, Misty couldn't help but think that they maybe thought she was hiding something.

"I-it's fine. I just don't want her thinking I'm hiding something."

Pipp waved a dismissive hoof, scoffing. "Trust me, we all know that if it was important enough for us to know, you'd tell us. Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean you need to tell us everything ."

"But how do you know it's important? You could deem something unimportant but is actually the most crucial thing for us to know!"

Pipp glared in the direction of Zipp's voice. "Zipp! What did Mom tell you about eavesdropping!" Pipp yelled, using her wings to fly through the curtain.

"Seriously?! You're bringing Mom into this?!" Misty heard Zipp yell back.

Misty smiled softly to herself. If what their mom said was true, Misty wondered how those two got along so well when they were young when they were complete opposites. Especially now when they fight so much. It reminded her of their portrait day. How they fought all day, but in the end, came together when it truly mattered, and remembered how much they loved each other. Misty's smile widened a bit before...

An Ocean Lily. Childhood memories! Perfect!

Meddling ponies! Always sticking their noses places they shouldn't be!

We need to get rid of those two princesses as soon as possible! You'll just have to lure them into a trap.

Just one more thing. Be extra careful with the older one. She's far too curious for my liking.

Misty squeezed her eyes shut as Opaline's evil laugh filled her head until it was the only thing she could hear. She gritted her teeth as she tried to block out Opaline's voice but to no avail. She felt as if Opaline's voice was a noose, slowly inching its way closer and closer around her neck, her laugh holding the rest of her body in a vise grip. She tried to breathe, but every time she inhaled, it felt as if that noose got tighter and tighter.

Suddenly Misty heard a crash that hurled her back into reality. She could still hear the pegasi sisters arguing, and though it was louder, it sounded farther away. Misty suddenly felt her mind blank, completely devoid of Opaline's voice. She blinked a couple of times, as though waking up from a dream, looking around bleary-eyed.

Misty breathed a sigh of relief. She was in the Crystal Brighthouse. Opaline was gone. She was safe. She was loved. She was happy. She took another deep breath, swallowing any remnant of fear she had just moments before. Or, at least, that was what it was meant to do. Even after knowing Opaline was gone and there was no possible way for her to return, Misty still felt that lingering fear in the back of her mind, telling her to remain on guard, to be ready for Opaline to jump out of anywhere.

But that was ridiculous. Opaline was gone and that was that. She would know if Opaline was back. After living with the fire alicorn for so long, it was as though she developed a sensor for her. That was how she knew Opaline was near when Opaline was on her cutie mark stealing rampage and she and Sunny were on the Brighthouse balcony. She had felt the hairs on her back stand up and had felt her muscles tighten. She had heard Opaline's evil laugh. She could practically see Opaline walking through the together tree in Maretime Bay. It had sent shivers through her spine. It was unlike anything she ever felt before.

Wherever she went, before that fateful day around the together trees and when they went to Starlight Ridge, Misty had always been able to feel Opaline's presence, no matter how far away she was. It was always at the back of her mind. Like, she could always tell what Opaline was feeling, at least, when they were strong emotions, which was a lot. But especially when she was angry. Misty could always feel the anger and hatred radiating off of Opaline, especially when she was yelling at her.

Misty originally chalked it up to the necklace she always used to wear that could summon Opaline's physical presence in the form of smoke whenever it was opened. But that feeling didn't go away after she threw it off the cliff and it broke on the beach. After she got her cutie mark, Misty figured it was just one of the empathy things she'd get when her cutie mark magic flared to life. She was just lucky it never glowed around Opaline, otherwise, she couldn't be sure the makeup Pipp gave her would cover its glow.

But years of that empath power stuff couldn't prepare her for the maelstrom of emotions she got that day. Opaline's hatred. Her anger. Her need for vengeance. Her disregard for pony life. It nearly consumed Misty. It made it that much harder to face her.

Misty still wasn't sure how she stood up to Opaline so bravely. At least, in Zephyr Heights it was brave. She wasn't sure she'd call running around and hiding, only confessing to double-crossing her when she was sure she was out of Opaline's sight exactly brave. But still, she wasn't sure how she did it, especially after feeling the barrage of hate and anger radiating off of Opaline. And she sure as hell didn't understand how she made herself jump through the together tree portal after her when she could barely stand to have Opaline's voice in her head. She just knew that it was either her, or Sunny, and she wouldn't let it be Sunny. Not only was Sunny the only alicorn, Opaline excluded for obvious reasons, but she also refused to allow her friends to fall victim to Opaline yet again. Not when she could do something about it. However, she blamed her small moment of bravery on adrenaline and acting before thinking.

Still though, despite all that, she was thankful for her Opaline sensor. That way, it'd be harder for Opaline to take them by surprise. And she definitely couldn't feel Opaline's presence, which meant she was gone, right? Still, she felt like Opaline was waiting right behind her, whispering in her ear, despite the impossibility of it. It was impossible, right?

"Misty?"

Misty looked up and realized with a start that she was still standing by the side of her bed. How long was she standing there? She looked at the clock on her nightstand. The one Izzy unicycled for her. It was blue, with pink and purple butterflies glued all over it, with pink and orange numbers for the time. It made Misty smile whenever she looked at it. But she didn't smile this time when she noticed the time. 11:50. She was standing there, lost in her head for ten minutes.

She looked up at her curtained entrance to see Sunny standing there, a concerned look on her face. There was a pair of sunglasses on her head, a beach towel on her back, and a bottle of sunscreen in one of her hooves. Why did Sunny look ready to go to the beach? Shouldn't she be running her smoothie cart?

"H-hey Sunny. W-what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be making smoothie deliveries right now?" Sunny always made her deliveries between 11:30 and noon.

"I closed shop early. We and the rest of our friends were going to go to the beach today, remember? Because it's so hot?"

Ugh, right. She forgot she and her friends planned to go to the beach today. Zipp wanted to practice her surfing and teach Misty more moves, and Sunny thought they could make a day out of it. Sunny was going to open her smoothie cart an hour early so she could close it three hours early. And Jazz and Rocky were going to watch Mane Melody today and Izzy was going to close her unicycling shop early. It took a bit of convincing for Hitch to agree to end his sheriff's duties early, though he was going to meet them at the beach at two rather than noon like the rest of them.

"I just came back here because I forgot some sunscreen. That's when I noticed you just standing there. Are you okay?"

"What?" Misty was a bit caught off guard by the question, but she didn't understand why. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. I must've just...zoned out a bit." Misty lied, smiling nervously. "Why wouldn't I be okay? It's beach day."

Sunny was silent for a bit, as though hesitating, before continuing. "It's just that Pipp told us that Zipp was being a bit...much with you this morning. I just wanted to check in with you, you know, to see if you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm great. Zipp wasn't that bad. I just don't want her to think I'm hiding something, cause, I'm not. I'm an open book. Completely transparent." Yeah, transparent, especially since she just lied twice now about being okay. "I mean, just ask me any question and I'll answer correctly. I mean, as correctly as I can. I can't read the future or anything," Though, Zipp may think otherwise for some reason. "I mean, I'll answer honestly. Because I'm not hiding anything." Ugh, she needed to shut up. She was rambling again. "Y-you know?"

Sunny gave her a look that though she didn't say anything, her look told Misty "I didn't think you were until you started rambling." Misty chuckled nervously for good measure, though it really just made it worse.

"Right. Well, we just want you to know that we trust you Misty, so there's no reason to be nervous. Alright?"

'That's what you think,' Misty thought to herself. Instead, she just nodded to Sunny giving her another nervous smile.

"Okay, well, we'll see you at the beach, right?"

"Y-ya, I just have to get ready and then I'm good to go!" Misty said with fake enthusiasm.

Sunny nodded, giving her a reassuring smile before walking away.

Misty slowly walked into her curtained room. Her eyes burned from exhaustion. She was shocked at how late they stayed at the beach. The clock on her nightstand read midnight, which was the latest Misty ever stayed up. That was the most fun Misty's had in a while and she hadn't thought about Opaline once.

But now, alone in her curtained room, her thoughts came flooding back. She wondered if she'd see that shadowed pony again. Misty assumed it was a unicorn since she banished Opaline with a beam of light. She'd have to find a way to talk to them, so she could learn the spell they used. Life would be so much easier if she could find a way to banish Opaline from her dreams.

All Misty wanted to do was go to bed, but there was something she had to do first. She got down on her stomach on the floor and pulled herself under her bed. She then flipped over, grabbed a shard of metal she brought over from the lair, and carved another line next to the dozens of tally marks that were already there.

She used to do this same routine every night back at Opaline's. It was her own version of a calendar. Of how many days it'd take her to earn her cutie mark. Originally, she used to do it on the walls, but after the tenth day, Opaline found out and wasn't happy. Her punishment was that the number of tally marks on the wall was the days Misty had to go without food. She learned her lesson for sure, but it felt wrong not being able to keep track of the days somehow. Opaline never got her a calendar, only a clock, and she didn't know what day her birthday was, Opaline never celebrated it, so she wanted to keep track of the days, even if it was just to keep track of how old she was. She knew that every 365th mark, she'd turn a year older.

So, to keep Opaline from finding out, she'd crawl under her bed and carve it under the bedframe. Under her bed, on the frame, and the floor, were filled with tally marks. Even though she didn't remember her life before Opaline very well, she guessed on some subconscious level, she knew she didn't belong there.

Misty didn't know why she kept doing this, since she already knew her age, she got her cutie mark, and there were two calendars...wait no three calendars in the Brighthouse. There was no reason for Misty to keep doing this. Except that no matter how hard Misty tried, she couldn't sleep until she put that tally mark there. She supposed doing the same routine 4380 times would be a pretty hard habit to break.

She stared at her 182 marks. It was one of those private things her friends didn't even know about, and she didn't have any intention of telling them. She didn't know why, but it felt wrong to tell them. She knew they wouldn't be mad at her for it, but she just couldn't bring herself to. There was no reason they had to know and they all understood there were just certain things Misty didn't want them to know about her.

Misty slid out from underneath her bed with a sigh and crawled into her bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. She hated going to sleep, for fear of seeing Opaline, but it wasn't like she could just stay up until she found a way to stop her nightmares. She softly closed her eyes. However, the thought of seeing that shadowed pony again gave her the smallest bit of hope that maybe, sleeping would be a little easier this time around.