~One year ago~

“Arf-arf-arf, arf-arf-arf, arf-arf-arf.”

My eyes slowly flutter open. I yawn and stretch lazily under my soft, pink, fluffy, and cozy blankets then peer over my body pillow that I'm hugging. One pillow among many others around me, in fact, in addition to a bunch of soft, fluffy, cute and cuddly stuffed various creatures. When I do, my gaze fell upon my brown puppy-shaped alarm clock on my nightstand. In his cute little collar hangs a bone-shaped name tag except, instead of his name, it digitally showed the time. In this case, it is 6:15 AM.

I reach over to give my puppy alarm clock a gentle pat on the head twice. That shut him up, for now. If I did it once, it would have resulted in a fifteen-minute snooze, but doing it twice resets the alarm clock.

For a moment I lay back and stretch my arms across my bed. I look up to the cover above me that is held up by four rails at the corners of my bed and metal poles between them. Those horizontal poles above me have a blue, translucent silk hanging from them with tiny droplets of silver woven into the blue fabric which made the curtain look like raindrops falling from above. The rails themselves look like beams of rainbow, and the bed itself was shaped like a fluffy white cloud. The whole thing had an innocent fantasy feel that seems vastly immature for my age, but I love it anyway!

While I lay there, I mentally contemplate some of the various agendas I have for the day. There is a lot to do, as usual. So much so that it's become necessary for my digital organizers to remember this stuff for me, and I do rely on it for the details. I just try to take a few minutes to recall as much of it as I can for myself. It's part of my morning routine to help wake me up.

After I recall and mentally organize some of that information, I finally rise from my bed. With the pink fluffy blanket off of me, it reveals dull, pinkish pajamas that are filled to the brim from head to toe with images of chess pieces. Unlike a normal game, though, this one has many different colors for each chess piece, much like a rainbow.

Again, it's somewhat childish, but I still love it. It compliments me.

I plop myself in a cozy swivel armchair in front of my computer desk which is along the wall off the foot of my bed. I turn the machine on. I wait for it to boot which takes only fifteen seconds since it's a solid-state hard drive. While I wait, I unwrap a sucker I have on my desk then pop it into my mouth. I have all my suckers as a mystery flavor. I quickly notice that this one is a cherry flavor. Mmm! Yum.

My desktop boots which reveals a background of lots of pretty and colorful little cartoonish ponies. Most of them are on the ground while frolicking and prancing with each other, but some were pegasi that flew in the air or rested on a cloud. The digital desktop itself is clear of any icons. I had to use the mouse to scroll to any of the sides or above the screen. Doing so reveals more windows and the icons that are hidden there. I like to keep my desktop free of clutter. I'm a neat-freak that way.

I open a window that reveals all of my e-mails. I have all of my letters automatically filter into many subcategories, although I occasionally find it necessary to move them from time to time or copy them if they happen to apply to more than one category.

The lollipop in my mouth switches from the left to the right as I open the e-mail folder called “President”. I have numerous subfolders within that. The entire folder is dedicated to any e-mails I receive related to my Student Council President business at Canterlot High.

As predicted, there is quite a lot of mail in there but I don't feel too overwhelmed. After all, I usually have competent staff members working under me (except for one lately) which I strategically delegate the workload to. I work hard to make sure they take their business seriously, too. If they don't and refuse to shape up then . . . well . . . there is more than one way I have at my disposal to get rid of them.

When I open the “President” folder, my eye is immediately drawn to a certain folder called ‘Requests’ that has too many e-mails within it. That can only mean one thing; I'm getting spam by certain groups who have specific agendas, albeit very stupid agendas.

I lean back in my seat as I growl in frustration.

Fucking morons! I'm surrounded by them all the time!

Many people say that I am “gifted”. That I am a child prodigy in many regards. I am a true, certified genius.

I'd be the first to admit that such talents do have very strong advantages. For instance, I can multitask very well. I can type on two separate keyboards, each screen showing different text without sacrificing coherency for either.

It certainly helps when I want the world to take a certain shape, but many people don't stop and think about the curses of such a state.

Having a mind this brilliant means it's constantly starving. I have to feed it knowledge all the time or I literally get some headaches.

Another problem with advanced intelligence is being smart enough to realize how fucking stupid the rest of the world is. At least it means it's easy to take advantage of others but I feel like I have to constantly babysit them on every single step. Sometimes it just feels easier to do all the work myself. At least then I can be sure it's done competently. It drives me nuts when the work is littered with errors.

Sometimes I feel like I'm an advanced alien race that is accidentally born on the wrong planet. I think years ahead of most of my colleagues.

For quite a while I was proud of it when I was five years old, but then I realized how alone that made me feel. Nobody else sees the world as I do. Nobody else can appreciate the subtle nuances within it.

Maybe that's a good thing for them? They say ignorance is bliss. I can certainly verify that the opposite of ignorance is hell, for it means I'm smart enough to realize just how messed up the world really is.

They have no idea how boring life can feel when I figure out the culprit in a mystery novel within the first paragraph. I foresee details to relationships in soap-operas entire seasons before the show itself gives the reveal. I even correctly predicted the arrival of new characters as well as details about them because I saw how the writers are incompetent assholes who wrote themselves into a corner and need to create a new character in the vain hope to bail them out. Such tactics merely delay the inevitable because their true failure lies within.

The only reason their tactics tend to work is because their audiences are often even greater morons.

Still, I have to watch these shows anyway despite their flaws. My mind needs constant stimulation or else I'd be in even worse shape. As boring and/or frustrating as life can feel, at least I'm doing something. Someday I might even be able to add a little spice in life, but very few have the wits to realize it when I do.

I swear, I really do identify more with computers rather than humanity. Artificial intelligence seems to be the only ones that can actually challenge my mind. More than a few programs out in the world surpass my vast intellect.

Most humans would find that concept scary, but I look upon it with a sense of hope. If a machine and I cause a great uprising to rule the world, then we can make it better in a hurry.

That is important to me. As much as I'm disgusted with my “fellow” sentient species, I honestly do wish to guide them into a better life.

Since they can't see what I see, it’s pointless to try to explain it to them.

I will improve the world. One way or another, I will do whatever it takes to accomplish what I feel is right. Anyone who stands in my way will be crushed beneath my heel or, better to say, “Corrected”. After all, it is the responsibility of the wise and loving parent to guide her innocent and lost children.

In the end, they'll thank me. They may not understand what I did exactly or why I did it, but they'll thank me anyway.

“Cozy Glow!” calls Twilight Sparkle outside of my room. “Please come down here and join me for breakfast. We need to talk.”

Speaking of parents . . .

“Coming, Mother!” I called aloud. “But I still need time to shower then get dressed. Will forty-five minutes be okay?”

There is actually a long pause after I ask which I do not expect. For ten seconds I figure she did not hear me. I am about to repeat myself when she calls aloud, “Forty-five minutes is okay, but please hurry.”

I am taken aback. Something about her tone makes the situation sound urgent. Whatever she has in mind, this extends beyond the normal fanfare. Whatever this is, this is something unusual. That plants curiosity in my head like a splinter in my mind. I knew, from then on, I would not be able to think of anything else easily until I found out what she had to say that was so important.

Besides, I can deal with the rest of this email business later. I can even deal with some of it on the way to school.

I am about to reach forward and put my computer back on sleep mode when I notice a new email just before my finger hits the button. Glancing up at the screen, I notice that the folder this new email drops into has the title “Ghost”.

I blink. I am stunned. My eyes grow wide as I lean back in my chair again.

Well, I sit corrected. This has my attention, and for very good reason. Whatever Mother has to say to me, I care about that too, but this email almost terrifies me.

“Ghost” is like a secret agent at school who is exceptionally good at sleuthing. He really does have the talent to make it as a big-time secret government agent. Part of me thinks he is one already. Sometimes his tactics are quite bold and odd, but that's what also makes him brilliant.

But that is not what scares me. What scares me is the fact I sent him on a very critical mission, and now it seems he has something to report. If he is successful, it could mean very big things for me. It means more opportunity and power for me but at a cost. A cost that I need to measure very carefully because it means betraying someone I actually care about.

I rub my lips in deep thought as I continue to eye the screen nervously.

I am a master chess player, so I know the necessity to make certain sacrifices in life in order to accomplish larger agendas. My mind is telling me the smart play here, but my heart hesitates.

I am not sure if this is the right move, and I usually do not second-guess myself like this. Usually I keep my pesky emotions out of my business, but this one is a big deal.

Part of me hopes that Ghost reports that his mission is a failure. It would mean lost opportunities for me, but at least my conscience would be off the hook.

There is an advantage in the failure of this mission from a tactical standpoint, too. If I don't betray the one I'm thinking of, then I get to keep her in my life, and she's useful.

But she's also a threat to me. One touch of her magic hands could unravel all of my brilliant schemes, including my more devious ones.

Damn it!

I pull my legs up on my seat and hug them close to my chest. I rest my chin on top of my knees as I lean forward a bit.

I really don't want to hurt her. She's been such a good friend to me and my mother.

I shake my head, then sigh.

I resume reaching forward to hit the “sleep” button on the computer keyboard, deciding to deal with all of this later.

For now, I have forty-two minutes left to shower and get dressed, and I'm a girl. I need every second I can get to prepare for school and then some, for I'm just as tidy with my own appearance as I am with anything else in my life.

After all, I am an officially elected leader. I’ve got to keep the morale of the troops up, and that means remaining prepared and presentable. If I'm going to be strict but fair with my own subordinates, then I must hold the same standard for myself.

Next Chapter: Chapter Three: Unexpected Visitor Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 35 Minutes