Seven Days in Sunny June, Book I

Chapters

October 20: Starting Over
November 17: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
November 18: Promises and Lies
December 21: At the Closing of the Year
January 6: Komm Und Spiel Mit Mir
January 10: Love is the Drug
January 11: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
February 8: I Think of You
March 22: Pacific Rhythm
March 25: Song Yet to Be Sung
April 5: Breaking the Girl
May 7: Throughout the Dark Months of April and May
May 26: The Mirror Conspiracy
May 31: Absence Heard, Presence Felt
October 19: When It Falls
December 14: Once Upon a Wintertime

October 20: Starting Over

Instead of heading home, Celestia drove towards a secluded townhouse in the middle of the eastern district. Parking next to a dark blue Volkswagen Beetle GSR, the principal shook her head in amusement at the sheer number of empty bags of McDonalds, Chipotle and other fast-food doggie bags, the sign of someone who lived pretty much on the go. Of course, that was normal: Celestia and her younger sister had always been a study in contrasts, and both even more so when compared to their older sister, Armonia.

Heading up to the front door, she gently knocked on the door of 203 Calle de la Noche – probably the main reason the resident within chose the place, Celestia guessed. The townhouse’s owner tended to be a bit…flighty…when it came to important decisions like that.

A muffled shout of “Just a minute!” echoed through the door; at that point, Celestia knew she was likely to be in for a hell of a wait unless she acted. Not really in the mood to wait what would feel like a millennium, Celestia reached into her pocket, pulled out her keys and used the spare her sister had given her.

Walking in, she entered a place where time stood still, forever held in place by the whim of its timeless mistress…which was a nice way of saying that if the Homeowners Association that Luna belonged to ever saw the inside of her home, the term “urban warfare” would likely have to be revised. “Lulu, we need to talk.”

“Okay,” a voice called from the kitchen. “Want a beer?”

“Can’t; I still have to go home.” Almost instantly, as Celestia recalled what she was about to tell Luna, she reconsidered. “On second thought, what do you have?”

“Smithwick’s and a few bottles of Nastro Azzurro that you left last time.”

“Pass me a Nastro. I’m going to order a pizza, too,” the elder sister said, pulling out her phone. “The usual?”

“Sure.” Luna came out of the kitchen while Celestia called the local pizza joint. She wore what she typically tended to when she was at home: well-worn daisy-dukes, a deep blue t-shirt emblazoned with Pac Man and the words EAT ME, and an expensive wireless Sennheiser gaming headset around her neck. As soon as the elder sister was done, Luna passed her the beer, asking, “So, I’m guessing you’re either here to tell me to clean my place again, or Armonia’s fretting about Cadence’s wedding?”

“Neither, actually – it’s about work.”

Luna sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God. Every time sis mentions Cadance’s wedding, Mama insists on bringing up ‘So, when are you and Tia going to settle down?’ So, which one of our students is in jail right now?”

“Actually, it’s about Sunset Shimmer – you won’t believe who took her under her wing.”

“Hit me,” Luna said, grinning. “I’ve been fucking up the hell out of smack-talking asshats all day on Titanfall and I could use the excitement.”

“What the fuck is Velvet thinking?!” the midnight-haired woman asked as she plopped on the couch.

“You know how Vel is,” Celestia said. “Besides, we can’t exactly tell her, can we? I mean, she’s known us forever, but if I were in her shoes even I’d find it a little hard to believe.”

“No fucking kidding! ‘Oh, hey, Vel, your closest friends have been hiding a secret from you – that the girl you just took into your home is only behaving herself because her ass got kicked by an alien princess who just happened to look like the spitting image of your daughter!’” Luna drained the rest of her beer, then went back to the kitchen for another. “Think that was on purpose?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Celestia said, finishing up her own beer as the pizza guy knocked on the front door. “And I’d hate to be in Sunset’s shoes when she finally gets to meet Twilight. She just might find that things are a little different than expected.”

It was the third knock on the door the following morning that stirred Sunset awake. Her head screaming, she sat up, bedhead on her hair and a very loose Sapphire Shores tanktop that was slipping off her shoulder. She was barely able to open her eyes, and she felt completely exhausted. Even though the bed she was currently on was utter heaven compared to the dingy bunk she’d been sleeping on the past few years, the nightmare of the previous night had ruined any real chance of sleep for the first night she’d likely been completely safe since her exile began.

There was another knock on the door, and before she could really gather her wits about her, Sunset mumbled something that sounded vaguely in the ballpark of “Come in.” As her vision came to, she saw a figure before her. She blinked, then rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating. But standing before her, wearing a black-and-gray hoodie with Japanese on the front and a poodle skirt – poodle skirt? – was a person she never thought she’d see in her lifetime:

Twilight Sparkle.

There she stood, the same soft smile on her face and the same twinkling purple eyes. “Um…good morning,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”

A sudden flood of emotions overcame Sunset and she was too overwhelmed to speak as she sat up to look at her fellow pony. A dozen sensations roiled through her: joy at seeing her first real friend once more. Sadness in being reminded how that friendship had come about. And confusion as to why the alicorn princess had returned to Earth.

“Twilight?” she asked, barely able to get a hold of herself. “What are you doing here?”

“I…um….” Twilight mumbled, looking down at the floor in an action more akin to Fluttershy than anything else. Finally, with her head still down, she said, “Uh, your shirt….”

Sunset immediately realized that as she sat up, the other strap of her tanktop had slid off that shoulder and the whole thing, already oversized, had slid down her body, and was hanging down past her torso…with nothing now covering her. Sunset quickly covered herself with the nearest pillow, turning bright red in the process.

A rousing amount of laughter sounded from behind the door and another girl came into the room, patting Twilight on the shoulder. Wearing a CARE BEARS STARE THERE! t-shirt and jeans, she had long black hair and eyes the same color as Twilight’s. “Twily, once again, you prove you have such a way with words,” the other girl said, grinning.

“But I….” Twilight stammered.

“Don’t mind her; she’s socially awkward,” the newcomer said.

Recovering somewhat, Twilight blushed and said, “Um, let’s try this again. Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this joker here is my cousin and best friend, Octavia Melody.”

“Cousin and only friend,” Octavia drawled. “Anyway, you can just call me Tavi and she goes by Twily. And you’re Sunset? Sunny? Setty?”

“Sunset,” the ex-pony replied as she wriggled under the sheets to adjust her tanktop. And as she did, she now realized why things seemed so familiar: this was the human Twilight Sparkle, and the alicorn princess that Sunset knew was likely still in Equestria, since the dimensional gates were still closed. Likewise, that pony’s pet dog, Spike, had a counterpart in the eight-year-old boy living in the house, though how that happened was beyond Sunset’s ability to grasp.

“Well, Mom figured that you were going to sleep in since you likely didn’t sleep well – unfamiliar location and all,” Twilight rambled, unaware of Sunset’s thoughts, “so she’s making brunch now. I set up the bathroom down the hall for you if you want to take a shower or bath. Afterwards, we can eat and talk. I’m guessing you want to know a little about me and Tavi and we’d like to get to know you as well.”

“Um…okay,” Sunset answered as she struggled for words, lost for them once more. Maybe if this was Princess Twilight Sparkle, perhaps she could have handled the whole thing better, but the awkward girl standing in front of her was definitely not that pony, and so Sunset was just going to have to start off from scratch. Maybe that was a good thing; there were probably large differences between the two Twilights, just as there had been between the two Celestias and most definitely the two Spikes – it would be unfair to hang what Sunset knew of the alicorn princess on this girl standing before her.

Besides, if we’re going to be living together, I should get to know her and not just assume she’s like the Twilight I knew, Sunset thought to herself as she climbed out of bed to get ready for the day.

“Twily, did it ever occur to you that she probably could’ve just woken up on her own?” Octavia asked her cousin as the pair went downstairs.

“Well, Mom said that she had to work today and that sleeping in wasn’t a good idea,” Twilight pointed out. “Besides, I read a report the other day that said that no matter how much sleep your body is trying to make up for, the lack of sleep has already done neural and physiological damage, so—”

Octavia rolled her eyes; Twilight was in her infamous lecture mode once again. “I give up – I should know this from years of dealing with you by now.”

“Yes, you should,” the purple-haired girl said, grinning.

“Is Sunset up?” Velvet asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.

“Yeah, Mom, she is,” Twilight answered.

“Oh, is she ever,” Octavia agreed, with a wry smile.

“Girls…what did you do?” Velvet asked.

“Nothing, Aunt Velvet. It just looks like we ran into her at the wrong time – and she’s clearly not a morning person.”

“Well, it’s almost noon, so…I suppose that makes sense.”

Thundering footsteps rolled down the stairs, as a kid almost knocked both teens over on his way to the kitchen. “Hey, is the food ready? Gotta eat and then head over to Pip’s house for an epic gaming session!”

“Is that all you ever think about, Spike?” Octavia said as she reached down to muss with his spiky green hair. Sure enough, the young kid was dressed as normal: purple t-shirt with a videogame character on it, jeans and a well-beaten pair of sneakers.

“Well, no, sometimes I also think about comics, and other important things.” But then the smile fell from his face as he added, “Oh, by the way, I couldn’t find where you put your tablet. Wanted to copy over a gamefile that I was playing on it an—”

Her eyes narrowed. “You went through my things again, didn’t you? And using my tablet again without asking?”

“Well, yeah, bu—”

“I swear, Spike, you’re such a troublemaker at times!” She turned to her aunt, groaning, “Aunt Velvet, can I boot him into next week?”

“No, he has to do his homework first,” Velvet replied. “Though I’m sure that Spike would like to do the dishes before he does his homework as a punishment for going through your stuff, isn’t that right, son?”

But Spike was already tuning them out. “Not really,” he said.

Twilight bent down and looked at her brother, eye to eye. “Spike? Word of advice: say yes before Mom only makes it worse for you.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong! I just wanted to pla—”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, squirt,” she told him, standing back up.

“Spike, that’s very generous of you to offer to set the table as well,” Velvet added.

“But I promised Pip that he and I would—” he started.

“Oh, and I think you’ll be assisting me with cleaning the house today as well. The help will be very much appreciated, Spike.” The look in her eyes and the tone in her voice very strongly indicated that further attempts to push his luck would be met with peril.

“And I tried so hard to protect my little brother,” Twilight said theatrically. Octavia’s response to that was an exaggerated golf clap, to which Twilight bowed in response.

“Well, if you two are done, Tavi, you might want to check your stuff to see that he didn’t do anything else by accident. And Twily, can you go get your father?”

“Sure thing, Mom,” Twilight replied, as she headed to the room the family used as a home office. As for Octavia, she went back up the stairs, fearing the worst; she remembered the last time her little cousin ransacked her bag – that didn’t end well either.

An hour later, Sunset stepped into Sugarcube Corner. Breakfast had been…awkward. At first, she felt defensive, put in the spotlight. She wasn’t really sure how to react, and she felt as though she’d been placed on display, like a museum piece placed next to the table. But fortunately, something had occurred while she was taking a shower, and most of that time was spent with Spike sulking – she got the feeling she was going to be seeing that on a regular basis – and Twilight and Octavia talking about their overnight trip to Riverdale, down in the southern part of the state. And so Sunset sat, hoping that she could blend in with wallpaper and continue to remain unnoticed. Thankfully, that hadn’t been hard; it was almost as though she hadn’t been there.

At least, here in the café, she was on familiar territory, and as bizarre as Pinkie’s antics could be at times, it was something Sunset was well familiar with and could handle – in an odd way, that made it comforting, in a Kafkaesque sort of way. In any case, that had been the plan…

…until she got glomped by Pinkie the moment the door closed. Pinkie’s face was a mixture of joy, relief and concern as she chirped, “Sunny! I was worried about you!”

“Pinkie, really, I can’t imagine…why….” As she took stock of what was going on, she noticed four other teens standing there, all with the same looks on their faces. She then turned her eyes towards the counter to see her bosses, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Pinkie’s aunt and uncle, also looking at her with the same weighty concern.

“Okay, what did I do this time?” she muttered.

“Well, sugarcube, that would depend….” Applejack began.

“Sunset…why didn’t you tell us?” That soft voice came from Fluttershy, and as Sunset’s mind processed the words, her blood suddenly ran cold. They knew. Somehow, they knew.

Celestia, you b…. Sunset chopped off the unspoken insult. The principal might be any number of things, but dishonest wasn’t one of them. If Celestia said she wouldn’t do it, she didn’t do it.

Okay, Shimmer, think of something! “I…um….” She began, trying to come up with something – anything – that would help her get out of this.

Thankfully the adults intervened. “Girls,” Carrot said gently as he gestured towards the door leading to the residential part of the building, “maybe you should take it upstairs. It’s a slow enough day that Cup and I can handle things down here. And Sunset…no matter what, you can always come to us if you need advice.”

“Most certainly, dear,” Cup added, giving the confused teen a comforting grin.

The curly-haired girl started pulling Sunset towards the residential stairwell. “Well, time to power up for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long—”

“We get the idea, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head.

“—long, long, loooooooooooooong talk!” Pinkie then raced towards the kitchen, returning with a sheet of chocolate chip cookies. “We’ll be putting these to good use, Uncle Carrot, Auntie Cup!” she said, pausing just long enough to give them kisses on the cheek before heading to the door. She then let go of the cookie sheet for a second as she pointed upstairs while calling out, “To the Batcave!” before grabbing the tray again, which somehow managed to float in the air just long enough for her to pull that off.

“No idea how she does that,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Dear, it’s Pinkie being Pinkie, you know that,” Rarity said with a sympathetic smile. “But for now we need to focus more on Sunset’s needs, not Pinkie’s, um, ‘Pinkieness.’”

“Yeah, ya got a point,” the athlete admitted as the teens went upstairs, while Sunset wondered if there were somehow any dragons here on Earth that she wasn’t aware of – maybe she could arrange to be eaten by one.

That might be the easier way to deal with all this, she mused.

A minute later, the six were seated at the table in the Cakes’ dining room. As Pinkie wandered off to the kitchen to get glasses of milk for “emergency dunking purposes,” Sunset wasted no time in counterattacking. “Okay, who the hell told you guys?” she asked, looking at all of them.

Applejack sighed and raised her hand. “Ah don‘t know if you‘re aware, but mah ma and Vice Principal Luna are friends. From what Ma told me, Principal Celestia told Ms. Luna last night, and first thing Ms. Luna did was to call Ma. She then came by the store this morning and told her, Pa, and Granny – and Mac just happened to be there. He told me, and then mah parents pulled me aside to explain. So once Ah knew, Ah had to tell the girls – we’re all friends, and friends back each other up.” The other girls nodded as one at this sage wisdom.

“Sunset, darling, why didn’t you tell us?” Rarity asked, sounding hurt. “We’re your friends…or at least we thought we were.”

“You guys are! Well, I hope you are,” Sunset said, somewhat abashedly. It wasn’t something she was comfortable admitting to them, and for once she felt like Fluttershy, complete with the need to hide under the table.

“But friends tell their friends everything, both good and bad,” Rarity added, “and this is most certainly bad. I’d even go so far as to say it’s the worst. Po—”

“Ah think she gets th’ idea, Rares,” Applejack interjected.

“No, I think Rarity’s right,” Rainbow said, slouching in her chair while reaching for another cookie. She then fixed her rose-colored eyes on Sunset, snarling, “Making us worry like that is seriously uncool, Sunset. Not friggin’ cool at all.”

As for the other two, Fluttershy, sensitive as always, said nothing, but looked fit to cry. Pinkie, however, simply sat there, giving Sunset a wavering grin, though the girl’s blue eyes seemed like bottomless wells of sympathy, and…. Wait, is Pinkie’s hair straightening? Sunset wondered.

Sunset dunked a cookie, ate and pondered her words. These are my friends, she thought to herself. I owe them this much. “Look, what do you guys want me to say?” she asked. “We weren’t friends up until just a little while ago – hell, none of you were even speaking to one another until Twilight Sparkle appeared on the scene.”

At the mention of the alien princess’ name, Fluttershy seemed to be even more distraught. “I miss her,” the chiffon-haired girl said, and the other girls agreed.

“She said she’d be back someday if she could, Fluttershy,” Rarity reminded her.

“Well, I guarantee you won’t be missing her long,” Sunset interjected, “‘cause I live with her now. Well, her human counterpart, that is.” At her pronouncement, the five paused in surprise. Comically, Rainbow even dropped her cookie into her milk, the impact splattering white liquid all over the jersey she was wearing.

“Really?” Pinkie asked.

“Really,” Sunset insisted. When the five looked at her as though waiting for a punchline, Sunset said, “No, I’m serious about this, guys – I live with her family now.”

“So, um, what’s she like?” Fluttershy asked.

“Don’t know, really – just met her this morning,” Sunset admitted. “But she seems to have even less friends than I do…well, did, at any rate. She apparently hangs around almost exclusively with her cousin, who’s the same age as she is, and while they’re very close, I get the feeling neither of them have particularly large circles of friends.”

Pinkie snapped her fingers suddenly, the sound of the microscopic sonic boom filling the air. “I knew I saw her somewhere before, and now I remember! Saw her at the mall earlier in the year – she was wearing the school uniform for the Zacherle Academy for Girls!”

“That posh private school on the other side of town?” Rarity interjected. “That’s quite impressive – they have very rigorous standards for their students, both academic and extracurricular. I would have loved to go there myself, but unfortunately, my parents couldn’t afford the tuition. I guess you’re living up in Northside, then?”

“No, actually, they live over in San Palomino, but thankfully, Principal Celestia arranged for me to keep going to Canterlot High instead of having to transfer to San Palomino High,” Sunset explained, and the girls gasped.

Rarity’s eye twitched in surprise. “San Palomino. As in ‘one of the wealthiest towns in the state’ San Palomino?”

Pinkie’s next word said it all for them: “Wow.” The quintet then quieted down as they tried to process the unexpected information they’d just received – earlier, they were worried that the newest member of their circle would be living in penury; obviously that turned out to be not at all the case.

“Well, okay, so you’re living large – fine. Still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell us shit, Sunset,” Rainbow accused. “What, don’t trust us or anything?”

“Rainbow, weren’t you listening? What could I do? My life was already in shambles and even though I have you guys now, it’s not like I could’ve asked any of you for help on my living situation!”

“But we would’ve tried, Sunny!” Pinkie insisted.

“I know, Pinkie, but…look, you’ve done more than enough for me; I know you had to cut some of your own hours here at the café to convince your aunt and uncle to give me the job. And they’ve already got you and their own kids to take care of; they couldn’t take in another.”

She then looked at Applejack. “Your family has you, your parents, your brother, your sister, and your grandmother living in your house. I know your family would have offered, but they’ve got enough mouths to feed.”

“Well, if we still had the farm, it’d be easy, but since we sold it and opened up our store, yeah, living space is a mite tight at home,” the former farmgirl admitted.

Rarity was next. “As for you, I know your family would have happily done so as well, but I also recall you saying the other day that both your parents are freelance journalists and business has been kind of tight lately.”

Rarity nodded. “True, mother hasn’t received any article assignments from any of her contacts as of late, but at least my father’s still busy with his weekly column at ESPN.”

Turning to Rainbow next, Sunset said, “And then there’s the issue with your family. You mentioned that your parents wanted to try for another kid, and…awk-ward….”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Rainbow grunted. “Half the time Scoots and I are staying at my cousin Spitfire’s as of late so my parents can do the horizontal bop, an—”

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy scolded, blushing furiously.

“Well they are!”

Sunset ignored Rainbow’s outburst and finally turned to Fluttershy. “And while I know you were probably the best option, your mom’s a single mother raising you and your little brother. She’s got enough problems and I probably would have compounded them.”

“But Sunset, we’re your friends – what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t try to offer?” Rarity asked.

“And what kind of friend would I be if I imposed? You already know my deepest secrets, and that’s hard enough to live with. But having me under your roofs would have been one step too far. And you guys are my friends – I like keeping you that way,” Sunset said, adding a quick smile in the hopes it would help.

“Still, we would have found some way to help,” Rarity insisted. “You could’ve stayed with one of us at least for a couple of days! Or maybe—”

“—or maybe one of your parents would have called Social Services on me, because that would be the right thing to do…but that’s what I don’t need right now! Too many questions would be asked, and not even Principal Celestia could cover for me at that point.” When she saw the questioning looks on their faces, it made her smile inwardly a bit at how much they’d accepted her over the past few weeks. “I think you guys forget – I’m not really human, and there’s an actual Sunset Shimmer somewhere else on this world whose identity I’m using. Hell, Princess Twilight temporarily turned you into pony-human hybrids so you could beat the demon that possessed me!”

“Eyup – gotta admit, that was freaky,” Applejack admitted. “Glad no one remembers any o’ that, save fer those that needed ta.” The room descended into an uncomfortable silence, as the natural humans thought about their temporary change and how odd it had been, and the girl who probably had to live with the reverse equivalent every day; as for Sunset, she pondered how the girls, growing up in a world without magic, felt about their first experience with it – relatively speaking, shapeshifting spells weren’t by any means comfortable.

Finally, Sunset leaned back in the chair and spoke, breaking the silence. “Look, if you guys really want to help me? Just be there for me like you have been in the past few weeks. And at the risk of sounding weird, I think that Twilight and her cousin could probably use you guys too. Princess Twilight said she had a group of extremely close friends back in Equestria and they meant the world to her.”

“An’ now ya have us, sugarcube,” Applejack said, rising from her seat to embrace Sunset. A second later the other four girls did the same, and Sunset felt very warm and comfortable in the embrace of her friends.

I was wrong to wonder if they’ll ever be my friends someday, she thought to herself. Not when it’s already obvious. “Thanks, girls,” she said to them, relief crawling onto her features.

“Yeah, whatevs,” Rainbow said, trying to play it off as always. “But next time, if you don’t tell us you’re in trouble, I swear to God I’m going to kick your ass, got that?”

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy scolded. “How is that going to help anything?”

“Eh, don’t worry about it, girls! I’m sure after this, Sunny’s life’s going to be all sunshine and sweetness!” Pinkie shouted. “Now, c’mon, we gotta finish all the cookies!”

The remainder of the day was spent in idle chatter – neither of the Cakes came upstairs during the café’s hours, which meant it had been a very slow day – and support for Sunset. The ex-unicorn promised to introduce them to her new family as soon as it all settled down and they were looking forward to it; likewise, they were definitely looking forward to meeting both Octavia and especially Twilight, despite Sunset’s warnings that the teen was more like Fluttershy than the alien princess they knew.

Finally, as closing time came, Mr. Cake came upstairs to let Sunset know that her ride was there. As the girls went downstairs, she noted Night waiting just inside, drinking a cup of coffee and breezily chatting with Mrs. Cake. Once Sunset had gathered her stuff, the two departed. As the car drove off, Pinkie was the first to ask. “So, Auntie Cup, is he okay?” Though the others hadn’t asked, the concern on their faces was just as obvious.

“I think he is,” she told the girls. “Sunset should be in good hands – I have a good feeling about him.”

Earlier, buoyed by her friends’ support, Sunset was sure that she was going to be okay. However, that confidence quickly went away as the time came and they arrived at the restaurant. Now, all Sunset wanted to do was to crawl under the table, and maybe through the carpeting, at least into the ground a few feet below. It would help prevent everyone at the table staring at her, as she had no idea what to do.

“You look as though you’ve never been to a real Italian restaurant before,” the girl leaning against Shining’s shoulder commented. That girl was Mi Amore Cadenza, though she preferred to be called Cadance instead. Celestia’s niece turned out to be much more different than expected; she was funny, charming and sweet, though Cadance claimed that was just on her off hours – and that during her day job as an assistant district attorney for the county, she was a lot more ruthless.

Meanwhile, Sunset continued to look at the menu, floored. The truth of Cadance’s statement was that in fact, Sunset hadn’t. While she’d studied about the peculiarly-similar Bitaly back on her homeworld, but as for its counterpart here she only knew via fast-food pizza joints and the numerous Chef Boyardee cans she’d consumed over the years.

Cadance smiled again. “Well, fortunately for you, Buca di Beppo isn’t a real Italian place either, though it’s likely the closest thing you’re going to find here in Equestria County. And while there is a nice little trattoria by the state line up in Brambleton, otherwise you’ve got to go somewhere like New York or New Jersey to get something a little more authentic.”

“So says the person who’s never been to Italy and can barely speak Italian?” Twilight teased, while Octavia giggled from her adjacent seat.

Cadance mock-pouted for a second. “Yeah, laugh it up, Twily. Anyway, my grandparents, Mom, and my aunts moved here from Italy when Aunt Luna was five,” she told Sunset. “You’d think they’d just leave things as is, but when I was born my grandparents insisted to Mom and Dad that I get an Italian name so I wouldn’t forget my family heritage. But as far as I can tell, said heritage consists of a lot of carbs and marinara sauce.”

“Well, at least there’s the wedding next year, if you two are still thinking about getting married there,” Velvet wondered as she took a sip from her glass of wine.

“Yeah. Destination weddings are all the rage, and my parents think it’s a great idea,” Cadance told her. “Besides, Grandma and Grandpa are getting up there in years, and they haven’t been back to Cavalcanti in decades. Besides, what’s not to love about Italy?”

“Well, the girls there are hot,” Shining said whimsically and got punched in the shoulder for it. “What’d I say?”

“I know you said that just to be facetious, but it’s gonna cost you,” she said in a teasing, sing-song voice.

“Like what?”

“Oh, you’ll find out tonight, sweetie,” she said enigmatically, before drinking from her own glass of wine. Night Light and Velvet merely looked at each other in that way that indicated as a married couple, they generally knew what their future-daughter-in-law meant, though their son was lost. Twilight continued to look at the pictures, and Octavia had her head cocked in the way that indicated she was listening to the music – she played the contrabass and was planning to be a classical musician for a living – and Spike ignored everything, heavily focused on his 3DS.

But as for herself, Sunset never felt so alone. If asked, she would have said that she felt like a camera recording a family, just a piece of furniture, an interloper who was forever on the outside, looking in. The seven of them were like the ideal family; even Octavia, who was Twilight’s cousin on her father’s side; and Cadance, who wasn’t even married into the family yet, belonged more than she did.

Thankfully, the waiter came by to take orders and pointed out that the food here was communal, similar to Chinese food – that made Sunset unwind just ever so slightly. As everyone placed an order – good thing Twilight ordered the Penne San Remo, because that sounded interesting – Sunset drained the rest of her raspberry crème Italian soda and blurted something about having to head off to the restroom. She really didn’t need to go – she just had to get away.

As she departed, Cadance said to Velvet, “Just so you know, both Shiny and my aunts told me everything already. I have to admit, I’m kinda surprised you’re doing this. Isn’t four kids enough? Well, three-and-a-half, no offense, Tavi.”

“None taken,” Octavia replied.

Velvet drained her glass, then looked at her future daughter-in-law. “Actually, if you want to know the truth, Sunset kinda reminds me a little of myself when I was her age – both me and your aunt Tia.”

Just about everyone at the table looked at Velvet and said, “Really?”

Velvet nodded. “We were the queen bees at our school and part of me wonders if Lulu’s ‘attitude phase’ was simply because she couldn’t match the popularity Tia had. Either way, I know I didn’t treat any of the folks I knew well, and at one point Tia and I even came to blows over a boyfriend she had at the time. But thankfully I got older and realized that you’re only on top for a little while – sooner or later, you’re going to fall, and when you do, hopefully you’ll have someone there to catch you. I was lucky: Tia and I have had each other and we’ve remained friends throughout the years.” She looked at both Twilight and Octavia. “In years to come, you two will realize just how lucky you are that you two are practically joined at the hip.”

But the older woman looked towards the direction of the bathroom as she continued. “But I don’t know if Sunset has that kind of support. Best guess that Tia has is that Sunset’s been living alone for the past four years – she’s been on her own since she was twelve, which is obscenely unthinkable. She’s had no one, and while that’s great for being independent, it also gives you a huge blindside when it comes to trusting others: you end up not believing in anyone except for yourself, and sooner or later, that means you’re alone.”

Twilight looked at her mother intently, then at her cousin. And with that, immediately left the table, headed toward the restrooms posthaste.

After briefly bumping into Vinyl Scratch of all people on the way to the restroom – who the fuck wears shades indoors? – Sunset made it to her destination, a place just as gaudy as the rest of the restaurant. Leaning against the sink counters, she started to breathe heavily again, trying to regain whatever sense of normalcy she had earlier today, but it was long gone – and nothing seemed normal any longer. Something was tearing at her heart, and she knew exactly what it was; after all, she saw it every day: the scorn, the looks of disappointment, the sorrow, the hatred. All of it perpetually directed at her, an unceasing maelstrom that she’d had to live with these past four years, and only now had it begun to buffet her against the rocks and shoals of despair.

And yet, just mere yards away was a family that she was now normally with…yet forever apart from them, the “oh, and her” that would forever mark her so long as she remained. And every damning look she received from Principal Celestia continued to remind her of the alicorn princess, the closest thing Sunset had ever had to a family prior. The sun alicorn had reached out to the young mare, and in return, all Sunset had done was to spurn the love given out of greed and obsession.

Friends? Foster family? These were only reminders of what she could never really have, mere stand-ins for what she’d pushed away on her native world.

As she turned to look in the mirror, she saw herself – her true self – in its reflection: the muzzle, the fur, the hooves, the horn – all reminders that she was an alien on this world, solitary and exiled. At best, in her real form she would be seen as a pet; after all, by her rough guess she stood about as tall as the average German Shepherd, about 24 inches or so at the withers. But it was her magic that would make her a threat, a sort of living nuclear weapon to either be controlled – or destroyed. “Fortunately” for her, however, only a few select people really knew what she was, but in many ways, that made it much worse: she would forever be beholden to the goodwill of people she couldn’t entirely trust, or in the case of her friends, young women who could turn an innocent slip of a tongue into a lifelong stay at a highly-classified government lab somewhere in an undisclosed location – or worse, on dissecting table in said location.

Sights and sounds ran through her like infinitely sharp knives, memories of ponies who wanted to be her friends only to be spurned because they weren’t “important enough”; associates who wanted to get to know her, but were ignored because her studies were far too important. Celestia even had a niece – though she couldn’t remember her name – who the princess once mentioned could have been like a sister to her, since she lived with her parents in a mansion just north of the palace. So many chances at a normal life – too many chances at a normal life – burned to the ground because Sunset Shimmer dared to think she knew better. And what did that get her in the end? Exile and a sort of dungeon in the place she’d been exiled to.

Before she realized what was going on, she was slumped on the floor, crying. She was forever barred from her home, at least for the next three years, though that in itself was merely an academic point: She knew that if she tried to return, Princess Celestia would arrest her. Even if Princess Twilight tried to speak in her defense, it was the younger alicorn – once a unicorn herself – that had met all of Celestia’s dreams and had earned her place as the elder alicorn’s daughter. All Sunset was and would ever be, was a failure and a washout – an exile, never to return home.

Forgotten.

Abandoned.

She didn’t know how long she’d been there, until she felt the soft impression of arms encircling her, the warm pressure of someone pulling her close. Looking up through tear-stained eyes, she saw Twilight sitting there, next to her, holding her tightly. Standing next to her, but with no less a concerned look, was Octavia.

“I know this isn’t easy for you,” Twilight said, holding her as close as possible, “and…it’s not easy for me, either. All my life, it’s just been Shiny, Cady, Spike, Tavi, my parents, and her parents – I’ve never needed anyone else. They’re my family, and I love them more than anything.” She took a pause to catch her breath, and Sunset felt something hot and wet on her cheek – was Twilight crying? For her?

“But I know they’re just strangers to you, and that you probably feel alone right now. Afraid. I know how that feels sometimes. If it wasn’t for Tavi, I’d probably just go to the school, the library, and that’s it. I’m not very good with people, as you can probably guess.”

Octavia nodded. “What Twily’s trying to say somewhere in those sobs and her usual lack of getting to the point is that she and I are more than just cousins, more than just best friends – we’re sisters of a sort. My parents are both in the Canterlot Symphonic, and they’re almost always on the road, so Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet have raised me just as much as my parents, maybe moreso. Shiny and Spike are the closest things I have to brothers, since I’m an only child; Cady’s been our babysitter since we were seven. So it’s natural that we’re as thick as thieves…but I think all of us forgot about you in the process.”

“But now we have someone new to think about and it’s a learning process,” Twilight continued. “I have to get used to having someone else there that I’ve never had to deal with before, and I probably came off as standoffish since first thing this morning. I’m sorry if I did that.”

“Same here. Twily’s sarcastic, but I’m outright snarky, and I know it takes some getting used to. I’m sorry as well if I hurt your feelings.”

Sunset looked at them both, not believing this – they were acting much the same way as she’d expect her friends to do, and she just met these two! And while she had no basis of comparison for Octavia to anyone she’d known back in Equestria, this Twilight was definitely not like the confident, courageous and assured princess she knew – in some ways, that was comforting, as with the princess, Sunset would always be reminded of the pony she could have been, but with Twilight, she could be a symbol of the person Sunset wanted to become.

Sunset gave the other two girls a simple nod. “No, it was an accident – I was groggy from the night before and not in the best of shape,” she told them. “Furthermore, I wore that tanktop without reading the instructions; it’s an overgarment, meant to be worn over a t-shirt, so that was my fault entirely and I owe you both an apology for the unexpected show.” At that, Octavia started giggling, though it was clearly not meant in a malicious way. “What’s so funny?”

“I…um….” Twilight said, before blushing furiously. Sunset looked at her weirdly before Twilight confessed: “Yesterday, Tavi and I went to one of her recitals over in Riverdale, and there was this one guy from Riverdale High who kept looking at our chests – really bothered me. And then after this morning, when you went to use the shower, I told Tavi that we should have brought you along, because you’re bigger than both of us and could’ve kept him busy.”

Sunset blinked once. Twice. And then for some reason, started laughing at the absurdity of it all. Twilight looked flustered, then frowned before starting to laugh as well, and when Octavia got started once more, the trio of girls couldn’t stop, breaking a very tense moment for the three of them.

Peeking her head into the restroom carefully, Velvet sighed in relief. After Sunset raced off, she’d feared the worst, but Twilight and Octavia, bless them, went off after her. Twilight, in particular, had a look of determination on her face that Velvet had rarely seen on her milquetoast-natured daughter, as if the situation brought out something in Twilight that had compelled her to rise to the occasion.

“Oh, that’s good,” Cadance said from behind her. “I was worried there for a moment, but the girls have got everything under control.”

Velvet closed the door carefully, then nodded. “Let’s get back to the table; I’m sure they’ll join us soon enough.”

The three girls continued to chat in Sunset’s room, well past a reasonable hour. Octavia had called her parents and said she was staying over, and as always it was never an issue. Since their return from dinner the trio had a more detailed conversation, far more relaxed and certainly more akin to what would be normal for their age.

“Since I’m a bassist – and you won’t believe how many times people think I mean a guitar when I say that – I mostly tend towards classical music, though I also tend to raid Aunt Velvet’s jazz CD collection now and then,” Octavia said. “On rare occasions I’ll listen to something that Twily insists on, though I usually tend to regret it.”

“Well, that’s because your taste in music runs towards the ancient and bo~ring!” Twilight laughed. “As for me, I mainly listen to pop: Sapphire Shores, Happy Bighat, Bombay Bicycle Club, that kind of stuff.” Octavia pantomimed gagging while Twilight explained, earning a scowl from her cousin, causing Sunset to chuckle. “Though I will admit that once in a while she finds something in Mom’s collection that’s worth listening to,” she amended. “What about you?”

“Well, other than the occasional song by Silky Sounds or Tequila Sunrise, I mostly like hard rock: Hoofstomper, Mute Math, Of Mice & Men, and all the good stuff.” A sudden thought crossed her face, as she blurted, “Oh, that reminds me! I have to get the new Discord album from my friend Rainbow when I get a chance – I’ve been waiting all month for his new album to come out and she told me she got a copy of Tom the Mighty Rock yesterday.”

To Sunset’s surprise, both Octavia and Twilight looked at each other as if something clicked before Octavia asked, “Rainbow? As in Rainbow Dash?”

Uh-oh. “You know her?”

“Well, we know of her,” Twilight explained. “We have this girl on our school’s JV soccer team, Fastflyer, and she’s a complete bitch. Anyway, at the start of a game last month between your school and ours, Fastflyer apparently said something to Rainbow that must’ve pissed her off completely, because apparently a few minutes later she kicked the ball hard enough to smash Fastflyer’s nose – broke it, too. Got the message across, apparently.”

Well, that explains why Rainbow was suspended from school those two days, Sunset said to herself. Even still, though Rainbow wasn’t her friend at the time, she was now, and Sunset felt compelled to defend her. “Hey, Rainbow’s cool. She probably didn’t do it on…okay, she probably did do it on purpose, knowing Rainbow, but there was probably a good reason for it. Rainbow’s really big on loyalty and nothing pushes her buttons faster than someone talking shit about her friends.”

“Yeah, one of the cheerleaders at our school said she’d overheard Fastflyer call some girl named Fluttershy ‘an autistic flower-child cunt’ or something like that. You know her?”

Yeah, that would do it, Sunset thought; frankly, that would probably be enough to make her go after Fastflyer as well. “Fluttershy’s a friend of mine as well, a really nice girl. Actually, Twily, you remind me a little of her.”

“Hopefully that’s a good thing,” Twilight answered.

Sunset nodded in the affirmative. “It is; Fluttershy’s a great girl. Actually, I hope I can introduce you to all my friends – I think you’d really like them all. They’re not the most normal bunch of girls, especially Pinkie, but…well, that’s part of their charm, actually.”

Octavia nodded. “That’d be nice. What do you think, Twily?”

“Um…no offense, Sunset, but let me take things a little bit at a time. Still kinda getting used to this agreement,” she said. “Not that I think your friends are bad or anything, but….”

“No, I understand; if anything, that’s the kind of answer Fluttershy would give as well, to be honest,” Sunset admitted. “Plus, there’s no rush; someone I know once told me that the magic of friendship is everywhere.” Though she was talking to one Twilight Sparkle, inwardly, she was thanking another; the alicorn princess’ words were coming in quite handy. Thanks, Twilight, she said to herself.

However, the human Twilight gave Sunset a nonplussed look before saying, “Um…whoever told you that, Sunset? That’s kinda…cheesy.”

Octavia, however, grinned. “You know, Twily, that sounds exactly like something you’d say, come to think of i—” The teen never finished her statement as she was immediately beaned by a well-placed pillow to the head, thrown by Twilight.

A second later, there was a knock at the door, followed by Velvet poking her head in. “Girls, I know you three are having fun, but you should really call it a night, okay?” When the trio groaned, she added, “I’ve got to get up early, get us all fed, then drop off both Spike and Sunset before heading to work. Twily, your father will be taking you and Tavi to school tomorrow. So with that being said, cut us old folks some slack, okay?”

“Fine, we get the message, Mom,” Twilight answered.

“We were just wrapping up anyway, Aunt Velvet,” Octavia answered. “And I need to get up early anyway, if I’m going to take a shower before these two hog all the hot water.” When her answer earned her scowls from the other two teens, she asked coquettishly, “What did I say?”

Sunset chose to ignore that and instead addressed Velvet. “Besides, I’m guessing that Principal Celestia will want to see me before class starts,” she hazarded.

“Most likely,” Velvet agreed. “Goodnight, girls; see you in the morning.” With that, Velvet closed the door, leaving the trio in peace.

About an hour later, Velvet noticed that the lights were still on. Girls, it’s two in the morning, she mentally grumbled. You three had better…. Opening the door, she was prepared to scold the trio…but stopped.

Though the lights were on, the three girls were asleep on the bed. Though Twilight and Octavia had separate beds in Twilight’s room, the two had been so comfortable with one another they tended to sleep together even as teens, so that wasn’t odd. But in the center, seeming as though she’d always belonged, was Sunset. There was a hint of a smile on the girl’s face, as though she subconsciously knew that for the first time in a long while, she didn’t have to fear being alone. Velvet had no doubt whatsoever that tonight would probably be the best night of sleep that the troubled youth would have had in a long, long time.

A motherly smile crept onto the face of the fifty-something woman. Quietly entering the room, she bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead, then her niece. And after a slight second, she did the same to Sunset. Taking care to be quiet, she slipped the comforter over the trio, gazing at them one last time before she turned off the light switch.

“Good night, my sweet girls,” she whispered warmly before closing the door.

November 17: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Lazing on the steps of a decaying building in the Industrial District, a pair of young women sat. One was a dark-skinned girl with white hair in a short-but-feathered hairstyle; she wore a white sweatshirt, brown leather jacket and grayish-tan jeans that were frayed at the bottom, matching well-worn yellow sneakers. In contrast, the girl next to her was a blonde, wearing an aqua tracksuit that seemed to gleam in the light. Considering the contrasts, it was hard to believe that the two were friends. But they were, close friends and in fact, thick as thieves – with an emphasis on the thieves part.

Pulling the last cigarette from the pack, Gilda lit it and took a drag. As she did, her friend rolled her eyes. “You know, I’m not sure what’s going to get you faster: shoplifting those things or chain smoking them.”

“Oh, shut the hell up, Dust,” Gilda growled. “And aren’t you supposed to be at track practice today?”

Lightning Dust laughed. “Yeah, and what, they going to kick me off the team for blowing off practice again? Spitfire, Fleetfoot and the others – ain’t none of them faster than me and they know it! It’s why they’re all jealous that they can merely run, but I can fly. Just watch: tryouts for Olympic quals are next year and watch who’ll make the cut – I can promise you it ain’t gonna be Spitfire!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, Lightning.” Gilda had heard more than enough of her friend’s bragging; when it came to ego, the only one who probably topped her was that sophomore, Rainbow Dash. “So, what’s the plan for the day?”

“Dunno, I got nothing. What about you?”

“Garble’s got Breakfast Club today, so gotta wait until he’s out before we can do anything. After that? Well, I can get creative.”

“Hope you’ve got a thin layer of latex covering that creativity,” Lightning jibed. Leaning back, she said, “And this is why I don’t date guys. All it takes is the wrong fun and Olympic fame is ruined because of a baby bump. No thank you – I’ll just stick to who I’m doing.”

“And speaking of which, how’d that work out? You were telling me about a pair of twins?”

“Oh, yeah!” Lightning’s face lit up with a wolfish grin. “Met them at the Regional Track Meet last month, all the way out in Ponyville. Flitter and Cloudchaser – fast, sleek, the way I like them. Well, my running got them all creamy in their panties and when they told me so, I bet them that if I set a new record for the 400 meter dash, I could have them both; if not, I’d have to entertain the guy of their choosing.”

“And?”

“Set a new record by a full second, of course. And when they were over my house last week?” Dust’s smile was wide. “They got Brazilians, just for me! And oh, Flitter? She moans like no tomorrow, and Cloudchaser’s technique? I don’t have to wonder where she picked that up.”

Gilda shook her head. “Guess it’s true what they say: everything’s better when sisters are together, huh?”

“Oh, you betcha. Got another date set up with them next weekend. Guess I’ll have to read up on the Kama Sut—” Dust suddenly trailed off as she watched a person get off the bus at the stop across the street. “Hey, Gilda, is that who I think it is?”

“Fuck, yeah, you’re right – what the fuck is that bitch doing here?” Gilda wondered, her eyes narrowing. “Either way, I owe that cunt for all the shit she gave me, plus the fact that she’s the reason Garble’s doing Breakfast Club.”

“Well, just you and me, and she’s stupid enough to come here, so…let’s introduce her to the wide, wide world of pain, shall we?” Lightning suggested.

“Heh, don’t have to tell me twice,” Gilda said, reaching for a rusted-off piece of pipe that was previously a stair handle.

I shouldn’t be here, Sunset thought to herself as she got off the bus. For one, the bus only ran through the Industrial District on the way to the freeway and the stops in the suburbs to the south; since it was a weekend, the line ran every two hours, so it was going to be a wait. Shining was on patrol today, so if worst came to, she could probably call him for a ride, but he’d probably want to know why she was here as well – and he’d probably tell Velvet and Night and she’d probably get grounded.

Part of her wasn’t even sure why she was here either, but…she had to come. There was really no other way to explain it. Walking the block towards the lot that held the rattletrap building she called home for the past four years…she knew there’d be nothing there; by now, all the possessions she’d had in that building were probably at the bottom of a trash pile at the County Landfill just outside the Everfree National Forest. But still, she had to come.

To her surprise, work had been done fast; they either were truly concerned about squatters or wanted the distro center up quickly, because the main support stanchions had already been laid, giving the general shape of the facility – it took up both her old lot as well as that of three others. Despite the construction trucks and the building materials, there was a clean, antiseptic feel to the whole place, as if it had pushed away the rotting buildings and detritus of the past, determined to throw it all down the memory hole.

And if all that had come before here was now gone, what did it say about her own life here?

As she ignored the NO TRESPASSING sign and walked onto the grounds, she could almost picture how things had been just even scant weeks before: living on a diet of canned food, sleeping on a dingy mattress and taking cold showers on a regular basis; she’d been lucky that the magic within her must have prevented her from becoming sick or worse through all those years. But the magic hadn’t protected her from the loneliness, or the bitterness, or in the end, what she became.

“Is this what you really meant for me, Celestia?” Sunset spoke aloud, speaking to the sky – and to the alicorn somewhere in a realm beyond it. “Is this my real punishment? For me to start to find some little bit of happiness here before you yank me back to Equestria to do whatever you’re going to do? After I’ve really started to finally adjust being here? Is that my punishment?” Sunset wondered if her former mentor was truly that cruel – but then again, this was the ageless mentor who had beaten unspeakable monsters and countless threats to all of ponydom – Princess Celestia was more than capable of utter ruthlessness, regardless of her normally kind and caring demeanor.

When she went back to steal Twilight’s crown…had that really been what Sunset had thought as a chance, or a carefully-laid trap to ensure that the sun alicorn would know where she was? Were the younger alicorn princess’ words to her a suggestion to improve her life…or a warning that someday divine punishment would come on brutal ivory hooves?

That day would come, eventually, she knew. It could be any second now. Or tomorrow. Or maybe ten years from now, when she’d likely have so much more to lose – maybe a husband, children (assuming she could have any), a life. Ironically, she knew, stuff that had not even remotely been on her mind when she first arrived here.

Please, Princess, if there’s any mercy within you, just leave me here in the dungeon and throw away the key. There’s a human saying about it being better to rule in hell than serve in heaven? I don’t even want to rule anymore – I just want to live my life.

Of course, she didn’t expect an answer. Then again, she hadn’t expected to have a sudden, violent blow at the back of her head. The hit crumpled her to the floor, followed by a sharp kick to her barrel. By the time she’d mentally corrected herself to “ribs”, the pain had already started, she was being hit in a few more places and heard a female laugh. She tried to force herself to her feet, only to feel a fist slam across her face as an all-too familiar voice was laughing at her from behind and above: “How you liking this now, huh? Ain’t nobody here to save you now, Shimmer!”

Stumbling forward, she managed to scramble to her feet, only to take a punch to the stomach that knocked the wind out of her. As she gasped for air, she saw a black blur arc towards her, and while she moved instinctively to dodge it, she was too dazed to move accurately and the bar found its mark, tearing a jag of flesh and drawing a splash of blood from the side of her face. Her vision grayed out momentarily, but before she did, she thought she saw a—

STAB

“NO!”

The next part was a detonation of cyan-hued light and power as Sunset’s survival instincts, suddenly triggered by the serious injury, threw off a wave of magic. Her two assailants, not prepared for the assault, were thrown a ways from Sunset; Gilda crashed behind a stand of I-beams, while Lightning was thrown towards the grass by the sign. As for Gilda’s knife, it spun in a third direction, sinking into the rubble and detritus on a dump truck stationed on-site, ready to take industrial garbage to the county landfill.

As Sunset’s eyesight came to, she had just enough presence of mind to pull out her phone. Hands becoming even number by the second, she was able to dial 911 before passing out.

“Look, I don’t know who’s saying it, but I promise if I find out, I’ll put a stop to it…Yeah, of course! You betcha!...’Kay, Cloudy. Talk to you later. Bye!” As Rainbow disconnected the phone, she swore underneath her breath.

“Something wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. The pair was at the Sweet Apple Supply Stop, Canterlot’s only farm market and organic food store, mainly because today Applejack’s family got in a new supply of the apple-flavored soda that Rainbow was virtually addicted to.

“Yeah. Just talking to some old friends that live out in Ponyville. Remember Cloudchaser and Flitter?”

“You introduced us to them when we went with you to the State Regional Championships back in March, why?”

“Well, apparently someone in school – our school, no less – has been spreading rumors that they’re not only sleeping with somebody, they’re having a three-way with that person…and each other. They found out because someone on the track team for Appaloosa High just propositioned them.”

Applejack’s eyes showed her sudden revulsion at her friend’s words. “T-that’s disgusting!”

“No shit, AJ. I’ve known them since I was a kid; they’re two of the coolest people I know, and they don’t deserve that shit. I swear, if I find out who it is, I’m going to beat the fuck out o—” She was interrupted by the sound of a bike crash outside. The store’s front door was thrown open and as both turned, they saw Fluttershy standing there, gasping for breath.

“Fluttershy! Fhut the wuck? What’s up?” Rainbow asked.

“AJ!” she gasped, struggling for breath. “Need…your help! Rainbow, you too! Gotta…pick….”

As customers in the store were starting to look her way, Applejack’s father simply took the distraught teen by the hand and led her towards the store’s back end while Macintosh went to go get Fluttershy’s bike. Both Applejack and Rainbow took the hint and followed. Finally, as they were in the stock room, Applejack asked, “Now, what’s gotcha all a-flutter, Flutters?”

“We gotta go get Rarity and Pinkie and then go to the hospital!” At that, both AJ and Rainbow knew something was up; Fluttershy’s mother Posey was a doctor at County General, and that usually meant something bad.

“Sure thing, Flutters!” Applejack replied. As she had to drive the store’s delivery van on occasion, she was one of only two in their group who had a driver’s license, Rarity being the other due to her job working for the bridal boutique down the street. “Is everything okay?”

Fluttershy’s next words stopped both Applejack and Rainbow’s hearts: “It’s Sunset – she’s been stabbed!”

“No, officer,” Sunset said as she lay on her hospital bed. “I didn’t really get to see who did it.”

“What were you doing there?” Shining asked, standing there both worried and angry. When the call came over the radio, he had an uneasy feeling, but when the other officer present had described the stabbing victim, he went into overdrive, having arrived at County General even before the ambulance and on-scene officer.

“Shining, I understand that you’re a member of her family,” the interviewing officer said, a testy look in his eyes, “but…let me handle this, okay?”

“Yeah, sorry Whiplash,” Shining said, scratching his head in embarrassment.

“Look, Shining, I know it was dumb of me, but…I had to go,” she said, shivering slightly as her body recovered from the wound. “I had to see if—”

“SUNSET!” Twilight and Octavia rushed into the room, followed in short order by Velvet.

“Easy, Twily, she’s not dead,” Shining said. “Doctor said that the knife missed her vitals, but they’re going to keep her here overnight for observation.”

“Are you okay?” the purple-haired girl asked, worry in her eyes.

She’s worried about me? But I…. Sunset looked and saw the same level of concern within Octavia’s and Velvet’s eyes as well. And obviously Shining had been concerned enough to head over here while he was still on duty.

“Spike and your father are on the way here from Spike’s Little League practice,” Velvet told her son, “so if you need to go, we’ll be here.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem if I stay,” he answered. “Whiplash, do you—”

“No, not at all,” the other officer said. “In fact, since you’re family, she might just open up to you more than a stranger. Just give me a copy of the report so I can file it. Just don’t forget to keep it professional or the Sergeant’ll chew your ass out like he did with Cruiser last month.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Shining nodded as the other officer departed. With that, he then looked at Sunset. “You were saying?”

Sunset just couldn’t help but turn her head away from them. The looks of hurt and disappointment in their faces was more than she could bear. “The place was my home for four years, Shining,” she told him. “I appreciate everything you have all done for me, really, but when I first arrived...in town, I mean…that place was all I had. And…I had to go back. Haven’t you ever wanted to see where you came from?” she asked.

The look on Velvet’s face was sympathetic. “I know how you feel. After my mother passed away three years ago, we all spent in an extra week in San Diego, where I’m originally from, so I could show the kids the, ahem, ‘cheese tour.’ So I can understand – those years were probably the hardest you’ve ever faced, because you did it entirely alone.”

“But you’re not alone anymore,” Twilight said, giving Sunset a huge smile. Reaching over to take one of the injured girl’s hands in her own, she said, “You’re with us now, Sunny, and we’re always going to be here for you.”

A curious look came over Sunset’s face. “‘Sunny’?” she drolled.

Twilight smiled. “Yup!” she chirped happily. “Just gonna call you that from now on – it suits you better; ‘Sunset’ sounds too dour.”

Octavia nodded slightly. “Just roll with it, Sunny. You stay in this family long enough you get a vowel attached to the end of your name. It’s how it works,” she said with a grin.

“Girls, I know you’re worried about her, but I need to finish up the report,” Shining admonished them.

“Sorry, Shiny,” both Twilight and Octavia said at once.

“Well, this is probably a little too overwhelming for you,” Velvet admitted, “so we’ll just wait outside until Shining is done. Let’s go, gi—”

“SUNNY!” Pinkie belted out as she strode into the already-crowded room, carrying a huge cake adorned with the words GET WELL SOON SUNSET OR ELSE WE’LL REALLY FEEL SAD IF YOU DON’T AND SINCE WE’RE YOUR FRIENDS AND YOU DON’T WANT US TO FEEL SAD OR CRY – ESPECIALLY FLUTTERSHY SINCE YOU KNOW HOW SENSITIVE SHE IS – THEN YOU’D BETTER GET WELL SOON SO WE CAN HAVE A BIG ‘SUNSET GOT WELL, WOO-HOO!’ PARTY AT THE CAFÉ! “We were rea—” Pinkie suddenly stopped.

“You know, I am never going to figure out how she does any of the stuff she does,” Rainbow said, shaking her head as she entered the room.

“It’s Pinkie, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said softly. “She just has a way with things.” Fluttershy would have said further to her friend, save that both of them stopped, enraptured at the same thing that caught her friend’s attention.

“Sunset, dear,” Rarity said as she strolled in, a package under her arm. “I know how simply horrible and drafty those hospital gowns can be, so I stopped by the hospital supply store and got you one of those colorful nurse’s smocks that they wear. I hope that you….” Rarity suddenly paused as she also caught what the others were looking at.

“Rares, you make a better window than a door, so do you mind….” Applejack was now caught by what her friends were staring at. Indeed, all five were completely enraptured by the image that was before them.

As the quintet stared at Twilight, she suddenly felt self-conscious. “Um…is there something on my face?” she asked, blushing.

“Toldja you should’ve skipped the extra barbecue sauce,” Octavia said from behind her.

Suddenly, Pinkie started vibrating as a wide smile came over her face. It would have been imperceptible to anyone else, but to those who knew her well enough, they knew exactly what was about to happen, and what needed to be stopped immediately. Sunset gave her friends a pleading Get her out of here now! look, and seeing her silent plea, the others snapped into action.

“C’mon, Pinks,” Applejack said, reaching out to grab the hyperactive teen while Rarity carefully stepped in to remove the sizable cake from Pinkie’s hands before she went supernova.

“Fluttershy, be a dear and help me with this beast of a cake,” Rarity asked. “I’ve no idea how Pinkie carried it and it’s rather – ugh – heavy.”

“Here, let me help you with that,” Rainbow offered as she stepped in to grab the other half of the two-foot-tall cake. As the two made their way out of the room, Fluttershy was there with the others and smiled meekly before murmuring, “Um, hi…we’ll…be outside.” Before they could even acknowledge her, Fluttershy rushed out of the room as fast as she could.

“Your friends?” Velvet asked, a somewhat amused smile breaking onto her face.

Sunset facepalmed. “I wonder if there’s a way I can stay here in the hospital for the rest of my life,” she moaned.

“It’s her!” Pinkie chirped, vibrating with excitement fast enough to practically break the speed of sound on her own. “It’s really, really, really, really her!”

Applejack shook her head. “No, sugarcube, it’s not. You know it’s not,” she said, patting Pinkie on the shoulder. “This is the one that belongs here. We don’t know her.”

“That, of course, doesn’t mean we can’t get to know her, however,” Rarity said as she and Rainbow hefted the huge cake out of the room while the various medical staff stared at them all. Eventually one of them got the hint and brought a gurney up so that the girls could put the sizable foodstuff on it. “Thank you sir,” the teen fashionista told the nurse. “Would you mind seeing if you have any cutlery and plates? We have more than enough cake for everyone.”

“Probably more than enough for the whole hospital,” Rainbow muttered.

“Girls? What are you doing here?” The rest turned to see Fluttershy’s mother, Posey, walking towards them. The woman looked much like her daughter, almost like an older sister than anything else and for a woman in her late forties, she held her age very well.

“Hi, Mom,” Fluttershy said as she stepped out of the hospital room. “They’re, um, with me.” Once again, Rarity eyed mother and daughter and was amazed about how nearly identical the two looked; save for Fluttershy’s slightly larger bust and Posey’s half-inch or so extra in height, they easily could have passed as siblings.

Posey shook her head. “Flutters, dear, I called you because I wanted you to know…but I wasn’t expecting you to bring your friends. Sunset will be out tomorrow; we’re only keeping her overnight for observation and further testing,” she said.

As the five girls signed in relief, Fluttershy gave her mother a very contrite look – of the Bambi kind. “Sorry, Mom.”

Posey smiled in response. “Sorry, puppy-eyes aren’t going to work on me. I already used them on your father, twice; that’s how I ended up with you and Angel.” At that point, Velvet, Octavia and Twilight walked out of the room as well and Posey offered a hand to the family matron. “Ms. Twilight Velvet, I presume? Hi, I’m Dr. Posey. I understand you’re the legal guardian of Sunset Shimmer?”

“That’s correct. Is she going to be okay?”

At this point the orderly returned with supplies and Pinkie immediately started cutting the cake, handing the servings out. As Posey took one, she said, “Okay, since you’re all here, I may as well tell you. The good news is that the stab wound didn’t do any serious damage; she’ll be fine and thanks to the minor surgery she will only have a tiny scar there. The bad news – if you can really call it that – is that we have to keep her here overnight because we have to do a second round of blood tests.”

“Why is that? I know she’s…had some issues in the past before she ended up with us, Doctor,” Velvet asked. Behind her, Octavia and Twilight shared worried looks; at the same time, the five friends did as well. While Velvet, Twilight and Octavia were worried about Sunset’s overall health, the five Canterlot High teens were worried about something of an entirely different nature when it came to the injured girl – quite literally an entirely different nature. “Is there something wrong with her overall health?”

“Well, she’s a bit malnourished, but as my daughter Fluttershy knows her,” Posey said, motioning to the chiffon-haired teen, “I was somewhat aware of her past. No, my concern is that she’s got a very rare antigen in her blood, and we couldn’t use any of the standard stocks we have on-site. Fortunately, we were lucky enough that she didn’t lose a lot of blood, and we’re an FDA Phase III test site for Hemopure synthetic blood, so we were able to administer some of that – but I will need you to sign some release forms, Ms. Velvet.”

“Very rare antigen?” Twilight asked, her interest piqued.

Posey nodded. “Yes. She’s got what’s technically known as A2B-negative blood, which is found in only two percent of the national population. The antigen in question is usually found in ungulates, primarily equines – horses, specifically – and very rarely in primates, much less people.”

“Y' don’t say,” Applejack drawled, though she said nothing further.

“But we’ll do some extra tests, and if we confirm her as A2B-negative, we can contact UCLA Medical Center down in Los Angeles. They’re the regional control point for the National Emergency Blood Supply, and as I understand it they carry stocks of A2B-negative.”

“But will she be okay?” Twilight asked once more, and the other girls looked at her. The teen looked worried, as though she was about to lose something important in her life.

“We have my colleague, Dr. Redheart, working on the tests now – she’s the best there is. Don’t worry, Sunset will be fine, I promise.” The resulting sighs in the hallway were enough to make passersby think the building was deflating. Finishing up the cake, she said to them all, “Now, I hate to run, all, but I’ve still got to make my rounds. Fluttershy, I’m going to be home late tonight, and since your brother’s staying at his friend’s place for the birthday party, you just need to take care of yourself, okay? I can just grab a salad in the cafeteria.”

“Okay, Mom. See you later,” Fluttershy said, giving her mother a peck on the cheek before Posey headed off on her rounds.

“Well, so, you’re all Sunset’s friends?” Twilight asked as she looked at the other girls present. They were all looking at her with a mixture of surprise and familiarity, as if they knew her for some reason. The only one that looked familiar to her was the girl with the deep purple wave hairstyle, but that was more from the times she’d just happened to see her at the mall more than anything else. The rest were completely foreign to her.

The blonde wearing the waist-length ponytail nodded. “Ah’m Applejack, and this is Rainbow Dash—”

“Heya.”

“—Rarity—”

“An absolute pleasure to make your acquaintances,” Rarity said, with a smile.

“—Fluttershy—”

“Um, hi,” Fluttershy squeaked, trying to hide behind her hair, the piece of cake she was still eating and Rarity while trying not to look impolite.

“—and the hyperactive girl over there is Pinkie.”

“Hi, Twilight!” Pinkie said, leaping at Twilight almost instantly and enveloping her in a hug. “Say, do you like Twilight or Twi? Because the last Twilight we knew kinda liked it, but we weren’t sure and we can’t exactly ask her now because she went back to her home dimension an—”

“Okay, Pinks, you’re overwhelming the girl,” Rainbow said, pulling the curly-haired teen off Twilight.

“Is she usually like this?” Twilight asked, half-confused, half-amused and wondering if she should be offended.

“No, usually she’s too out there to be this freaky,” Rainbow replied, giving Pinkie an irritated glare.

“Well, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is my cousin, Octavia Melody.”

“Well, girls, I’m not sure the hospital is the best place to do this,” Velvet said, noting that Night Light and Spike were coming out of the elevator, both looking concerned as well. “Let me update my husband on the situation quickly. In fact, while I’m doing that, why don’t you all go out for coffee?”

“I know where the hospital cafeteria is, if we all want to head there,” Fluttershy offered.

“Great idea, Flutters,” Pinkie suggested.

Twilight looked at Velvet. “Mom, maybe we’d all best meet in the lobby?” the teen recommended.

“That’s a great idea,” Velvet stated. “You all head there and we’ll join you as soon as we can.”

“So, how do you guys know Sunset?” Twilight asked, taking a drink from a double-chocolate raspberry mocha. From the looks on that of both Twilight and her cousin, Applejack noted, this seemed more like an interrogation than anything else – this Twilight definitely didn’t seem as friendly as the alien princess that they knew.

Applejack started. “Well, Ah met her when we moved here to Canterlot couple of years ago from Heavener, Oklahoma – mah family had a farm there, but things didn’t do too well so we moved here to take over mah grandpa’s old store. So Sunset and Ah met then, in junior high. And truthfully, let’s just say things’re better now than they were back then.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Rainbow continued. “As for me, I’ve probably known her the longest. Met her back in Seventh Grade when I moved here from Cloudsdale. She was a bitch back then and we’ve done a couple of mano a mano dances, but…I like her the way she is now.”

Rarity was next. “Well, Fluttershy and I met her last year during our freshman year. It…didn’t go well, and frankly if you’d asked me back then, I would have said I wouldn’t want to have a single thing to do with her. Thankfully, I’ve been proven wrong.”

“Pass,” Pinkie said. A second later, she said, “She used to pick on me a lot because I’m somewhat excitable, admittedly, but I never let it really get to me. But now that she’s my friend? It’s totally awesome!”

“Well, what about you two?” Rarity asked. “Forgive me for inquiring, but you seem very concerned about her well-being, considering that neither of you are related to her.”

Twilight took another sip from her coffee, then looked at Rarity. “She…I know this is going to sound funny, but I almost feel as though I have to be there for her. Yes, she’s living with us now, and Tavi and I could probably ignore her without an issue. But from everything I’ve known about her for the past month, she was someone who’s been hurt terribly, someone who’s been forced, in a sense, to live by herself all this time, and has nothing, really. From what it sounds like, she didn’t even really have you as friends until recently.”

The five girls looked at each other. “That’d be truthful, Ms. Twilight—”

“Please, just call me Twily,” the girl said. “If we’re going to be friends, then Twily’s fine.”

Applejack grinned. “Then it’s ‘AJ’ for me. Anyway, yeah – after the incident at Homecoming, we came into her lives the way we are now.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Rainbow said, popping herself into the conversation, much to Applejack’s relief. While she didn’t want to lie to Twilight and Octavia, she’d never been very good at falsehoods, as if being honest was an elemental part of her life. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on the situation), Rainbow’s thing was loyalty to friends and as such, she had no compunctions about lying. “Yeah. Earlier, she was a total sack of shit. But that night, after the building fell apart and she got dumped from being the Homecoming Queen, she came to the five of us. Maybe it was because she picked on us more than anyone in the school, or maybe it was because she felt we’d be able to give her a second chance, but she promised us that she’d change her ways, and in the past few weeks, she has been. And she knows that lots of other students at school won’t give her a second chance – hell, a few of them, are probably even carrying a grudge. But she’s really trying and for that, she’s got my friendship, no doubt.”

“Mine too,” Applejack agreed.

“I daresay that goes for all of us, ladies,” Rarity added, while Fluttershy nodded.

“Well, girls, if you’ll keep an eye out for her at school, we’ll do the same at home,” Octavia answered. “Oh, and by the way, you can just call me Tavi.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan then,” Rainbow said. “Now, the next thing: gotta find out who the fuck did this to her.” Turning to her fellow Canterlot High students, the athlete then said, “Based on who we know could have done this, my guess is…” Her face went crestfallen as she added, “…pretty much any student on campus except the five of us.”

“Really? Please tell me you’re kidding, Rainbow,” Octavia said, somewhat surprised at Sunset’s “accomplishment.”

“No, I’m not. And maybe there was a time where you could have theoretically added us to that list, too,” Rainbow told the other girl. “But it’s different now. Whatever she’s done in the past, Sunset’s my friend now and I’m not going to let whoever hurt her do it again.”

She found herself standing on the thinnest of planks, crossing a gigantic gorge that she could not see where she came from or where she was headed – if either direction actually existed. Below her, she saw nothing but a massive chasm, similar to either Ghastly Gorge back in Equestria or the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Above her, the sky was nothing more than a blank, bulbous collection of thunderheads, the kind that pegasi steer clear of at all costs, as they are out of control. In fact, she noted tiny rivulets of bluish-white plasma race through the clouds, darting here and there as the lightning precursor prepared to cut a sharp jag across the sky.

“You’ll never escape, Sunset,” a voice said behind her. Sunset turned to find Princess Twilight Sparkle standing there on the beam, her wings and horn prominent and her regalia shining like the first gleaming of the sun. “You will always run, because you aren’t willing to change.”

“But I am, Twilight!” Sunset shouted. “You asked me to and I’m doing so! It’s just…these things don’t happen instantly. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know – or Canterlot, for that matter!”

“But you are running out of time, Sunset! And instead of learning, all you’re doing is just running away!”

“No, she’s not!” A second voice broke the din. Sunset turned towards the direction she was walking…to face Twily standing there, arms folded. She was wearing all black, and looked like something out of one of those ridiculous sci-fi films that Rainbow always raved about.

“And how would you know?” Twilight asked Twilight.

“Because I believe in her!” the human shouted to the alicorn, “And if you truly cared about her, so would you! She’s trying to turn over a new leaf! Her friends have stood by her and now her family will, too!”

“She has no family. She spurned the one she had when she attacked Celestia.”

“She has us! Me, Tavi, my brothers, my parents, and whoever else will come into her life! And we’ll help her to make that life!” Twily shouted.

“Then prove it,” Twilight Sparkle challenged Twilight Sparkle.

Twily responded to the challenge by reaching a hand out to Sunset, saying, “Let’s go home, Sunny.”

“But why? Why me?” Sunset asked.

“Because you aren’t who you were. Before, you were Sunset Shimmer, a power-obsessed unicorn. Now, you don’t know who you are. But you know who you want to be, and we’ll help you, Sunny.”

“We?” In response, the distance lit up with five flares of power: orange, red, blue, purple and green; after a few seconds, Sunset could see the silhouettes of Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy within them. She then noticed that Twily was glowing magenta as well – the same color that the Element of Magic had been before it rejected her.

She heard a noise behind her and turning, Sunset was horrified to see the demon that she had been, standing there, laughing at her. “Run away, run as far as you can!” the creature laughed. “You’ll never be able to escape the worst monster you’ll ever know – yourself!” The demon would have laughed more had it not been suddenly slammed by a sudden blast of rainbow-hued magic. Sunset winced sympathetically; she understood what it was like to be on the receiving end of a “Greetings from the Death Star”-type magic blast before, and it was not pretty.

Suddenly the plank beneath her snapped, and she fell…

…only to be caught by the hand by Twily, standing there, pulling her up as effortlessly as a feather.

“Why?” Sunset found herself asking.

Twily only smiled and said, “Because.”

Sunset opened her eyes in the relative darkness of the hospital room, lit only by the blue glow of the health monitor’s LED screen and a desklamp on the other side of the room. She felt completely exhausted, but she expected that as she was still recovering. The rest of her convalescence would be in bed back at home, but far better that than having to stay another day in the dull and antiseptic environs of the hospital.

Seeing that the clock on the wall read a stately 11:06 in the evening, Sunset decided that it was for the best that she go back to sleep. She was about to close her eyes, when she felt her right hand brush against something. Looking down, she picked up a Smarty Pants ragdoll. She recalled hearing somewhere that the doll had once been a competitor to the better-known Raggedy Ann, but that the toymaker that produced it went out of business back in the 1980s. The character had thus fallen into the public domain, and was mostly forgotten by about all but senior citizens and collectors.

Holding up the rag doll with its button eyes, gray yarn hair and polka-dotted dress, Sunset then noticed there was a note pinned to it:

Sunset grinned. Ignoring the pain in her side, she reached over and grabbed the iPod, putting in headphones, then as she took Twily’s Smarty Pants doll under her arm, cued up the first track, and by the time Discord’s smoky baritone started belting out the lyrics to “Love’s Like an Insane Chimera” she had already dozed off, a smile on her face.

“And you promised to take me to singing practice after school, right?” Sweetie Belle asked Rarity as the pair arrived on the grounds of the school.

“Yes, yes, yes, I promise,” Rarity said. Since she had to run a bunch of errands after school today, she was borrowing her mother’s car, and then when that happened, Sweetie made her agree to that as well. Rarity sighed; at least it wasn’t taking her to her weekly Girl Scouts meeting. Those usually involved her, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo in their latest madcap adventure to see what badge the trio could collect…and usually the results fared from a royal mess to the results likely needing to be classified as a Superfund cleanup site.

“Okay, you promised!” she said in that wavering mezzo-soprano tone of hers.

“Yes, I did, Sweetie,” Rarity groaned once again, rolling her eyes. “Now get going.”

“Okay! See you later!” With that, the girl ran down walkway towards the nearby separate building that housed Canterlot Junior High and all the trouble-making seventh- and eighth-graders within its middle school bounds. Sweetie, along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, would be graduating this year, then joining their older sisters within the buildings that housed Canterlot High. But, Rarity figured, she still had the whole year to figure out how she was going to survive being in the same school as her sister again.

“Hello, Rarity.” The fashionista paused and saw Fluttershy walking up, wearing a familiar butter-yellow sweatshirt that was entirely too snug for her own good and had a stenciled pair of wings on the back. She also wore too-tight jeans and matching yellow Converse sneakers. Rarity sighed; as always, Fluttershy somehow managed to look devastatingly good in whatever she wore…and furthermore, wasn’t aware of it.

“Hello, Fluttershy, dear. You look tired.”

“I am,” she admitted. “Apparently some of the kids at the birthday party were picking on Angel, so the birthday boy’s mother dropped him off before he got into another fight.” Rarity sympathized with her friend; Angel had been born hearing-and-speech impaired, and while he was patient with his sister and mother, that same patience rarely extended beyond them. From what she heard, Sunset’s younger foster brother Spike could be somewhat of a brat, but surely he couldn’t hold a candle to Angel’s temperament.

“Anyway, I had to order a pizza – he insisted on it – and then had to get him ready for bed, and that was before I realized I forgot to do my homework since we were all focused on Sunset. I was up – yawn – until about three in the morning,” she groaned. “I know we were planning to take Sunset her homework and then go to the movies afterwards, but if you don’t mind, I think I’ll skip out on that.”

“Oh, no, I’d quite insist, darling. A lady needs her beauty sleep and yours is such a delicate beauty that I wouldn’t want…you…to….” As they approached the front of the school, the pair noticed a bunch of students standing around in a sizable crowd. Usually that meant something “interesting” and that could go either way.

As one of the students passed by, she stopped him. “Excuse me, do you know what that’s about?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Bitch finally got her comeuppance! Glad to see that someone had the stones to knock Sunset Shimmer a peg or two down from her almighty throne!”

“Sunset? But she’s in the—” Rarity began before Fluttershy shook her head to hint to keep silent; that information likely wasn’t public yet. Rarity took the hint and together they went off to see what the crowd was doing.

As they arrived in the crowd’s immediate perimeter, Rainbow and Applejack were already standing there. As they arrived, Rainbow immediately took the chiffon-haired teen and said, “C’mon, Flutters, you don’t need to see this.”

“But I—”

“Trust me – you don’t need to see this.” Her tone insistent, Fluttershy followed Rainbow as the pair walked towards the other side of the school and the entrance here.

“Dodged that bullet,” Applejack said to Rarity. “Ah’d say ‘Good Morning’, but honestly, it ain’t. Pinkie already went to go get a teacher.”

“Why?”

“Trust me, sugarcube, you don’t wanna know. Ah know you’re made of sterner stuff than Flutters, but even you don’t wanna see this.” The look in the blonde’s eyes indicated that she hadn’t necessarily wanted to see it, either.

“I insist.”

“Rares—”

“Some jerk said it was about Sunset. I think, as her friend, I should be quite concerned.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said in a soft voice, as she pointed towards the pile of students. “You should be.” As Rarity made her way towards the center of the pile, she noticed one of the other students in her geometry class – Bon-Bon – rush away towards the grass before she threw up her breakfast. Bon-Bon’s girlfriend, Lyra Heartstrings, was already there to help her, but the look in Lyra’s golden eyes was one of anger and disgust.

Finally, Rarity reached the center of the pile and looked to see what the whole thing was.

She had just enough time to get out of there before she threw up as well.

Author's Note

Yup, I actually made that stationery.

November 18: Promises and Lies

“I should’ve known,” Sunset sighed. The look on her face was one of complete heartbreak.

“Dear, it’s just a jacket, and a…well, frankly, I never thought it looked good on you,” Rarity told her, even though it was likely a statement Sunset didn’t want to hear. The injured teen wasn’t too happy to hear that her jacket had been stolen by her assailants and set on fire in front of the school the following Monday morning. That in itself was bad – the stench of burnt leather tainted Rarity’s sensitive nose a half-day later, a sign that it would be lingering for a while. But just that alone would have been horrific; other students noticed that the jacket had been doused with what looked to be blood and…. Rarity shuddered in revulsion at that second thought; cleaning up after her pet cat Opalescence was one thing, but to have it smeared all over the garment? Small wonder that she, Bon-Bon, and a few other students had lost their breakfast on the front lawn that day.

But it had been the note, written on cardboard and set carefully away from the flames, that had been the piece d’ resistance: a somewhat misspelled but nonetheless tasteless and rude manifesto clearly indicating what Sunset’s mother could do to herself, Sunset’s lineage, and various other insults. It was more than enough to infuriate Rarity on behalf of her friend, and just as much the others in their circle. But none too surprisingly, the school had reacted in the usual manner: the faculty held an impromptu all-classes session in the auditorium, where Principal Celestia promised that unless the student responsible for the act came forward, there would be repercussions for the whole of the student body. Of course, the students involved never stepped forward and Celestia reacted accordingly by announcing that the Winter Wonderland Dance would be cancelled as a result.

“Yeah, but the jacket was the first thing I’d ever bought here on this world,” Sunset told her, “because I needed one and I really liked it.”

“But, the ‘biker’ look, quite frankly, is a bit gauche and not at all your style,” the fashionista told her. “Truth be told, I always felt it looked like you were screaming ‘I shop at Abercrombie!’ with that jacket. There’s so much more that looks better on you, really.”

“Thanks.” Sunset smiled wryly as she then added, “You know, the ironic thing about all this is that it wasn’t that note that bothered me. I mean, honestly, it’s probably true from a technical standpoint.”

“Sunset, dear, you can’t possibly—”

“No, Rarity, you misunderstand: what I’m saying is that my species probably could do half the stuff that the letter says; it’s just part of the way we’re built. Plus, with magic, well…you never know.”

“You really do still have magic?” Rarity asked.

“A little – it tends to waver depending on the cycles of the moon and some other stuff. I can do divinations, cantrips, and charms – the easy stuff. For heavier spells I’d need to be in my real form, and even Princess Twilight couldn’t figure out how to do that on this world.” Sunset paused in contemplation for a second before she asked Rarity, “Can you lock the door really quick?”

“Certainly,” Rarity said, figuring that Sunset was about to show her something.

As Rarity sat back in the chair once more, Sunset put her palm out, and a cerulean ball of fire appeared in her hand, giving Rarity a slight startle and then a soft gasp of awe. A second later, the sphere of energy twisted into a small figure, eventually creating a miniaturized version of Sunset’s true form.

“This is what I really look like,” the bedridden teen told her friend.

“You really are a unicorn?” Rarity asked. “I thought you were being facetious that one day, and then when the princess changed us all into those hybrids I thought that you might have been descended from an equine species, just like we humans are from primates, but I never actually imagined….”

“Now you know how I feel when I first got here,” Sunset laughed, then pantomimed her earlier reaction from years ago: “‘A sapient species descended from monkeys? Impossible!’”

“Why are you sharing this with me?”

“Because…well, think of it as an apology. I know I ruined the Spring Fling Dance for you back in April because I called you a fat cow. Truth is, I’m probably more like a cow than you’ll ever be, Rarity. And you have no idea how sorry I am for those words I said back then.”

The fashionista got up and embraced her friend. “It’s all in the past now, Sunset. Besides, we’re friends now, and we can just be miserable together, considering that Fluttershy probably looks better than both of us combined,” Rarity said, a melancholy smile coming into her face.

“Does she have any idea of how drop-dead gorgeous she looks?” Sunset asked.

“Well, I know that Applejack’s brother Macintosh said if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s been dating his girlfriend since their sophomore year, he’d ask Fluttershy out. Personally, I think he’s very attracted to her, but is too much of a gentleman to cheat on his girlfriend, since they are very good together.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to admit, Mac’s easy on the eyes,” Sunset agreed.

A wry smile came over Rarity’s face. “Oh, really? I wondered why you were dating Flash Sentry, but I guess that having a young man around is okay for you, regardless of species?”

Sunset blushed. “Rarity, I am a woman in my prime, you know. Besides, it’s kinda funny: there’s that weird theory I read once about how human girls are subconsciously attracted to horses in general, but maybe because they’re my genetic ancestors it doesn’t affect me. On the other hand, I…well, let’s just say there’s a lot of things I did in the past that I wish I could take back, but what’s done is done.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. While Sunset cancelled the spell, Rarity unlocked the door, and as she did, both Twilight and Octavia stood there, in their school uniforms. “Oh, hello, Rarity – what are you doing here?”

Octavia leaned against the door jamb and grinned. “So, did we interrupt any moments of young love?” she asked as she folded her arms.

“Well, I dunno, Tavi,” Sunset replied cattily, “considering that you, me, and Twily have already slept together.” When Rarity looked at her oddly, the flame-haired girl added with a grin, “Platonically, of course.”

“Oh.” A second later, the fashionista continued. “Well, as for me, I thought I’d come by and drop Sunset’s homework off. And you’ll have to excuse me; Sunset thought I should see the wound and I was concerned that your little brother might walk in accidentally.”

“Unfortunately, Spike does have a bad habit of wandering in where he’s not wanted,” Twilight admitted, “but I love the little guy all the same. Anyway, I popped in to say that since my parents and Tavi’s are headed out to the opera tonight, we were going to make dinner. Grilled cheese sandwiches and soup okay with you, Sunny?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m not sure I can keep down anything heavy right now anyway.”

“Oh, and you’re welcome to stay for dinner as well, if you’d like, Rarity,” Twilight offered.

She shook her head, stating, “Thanks, but no; I have to pick up my sister from her singing practice, and then I’ve got to head to work for my shift today. But I sincerely appreciate the thought.”

“Rarity?” Sunset said from her bed, “thank you for everything. I mean that.”

“Sunset, dear, you should know by now – that’s what friends are for,” Rarity said, bending over once more to give her friend another hug. “Besides, after today, I daresay we’re closer now than we’ve been before.”

“That we are,” Sunset agreed. “That we are.”

Seated in a booth at a Denny’s just outside of Ponyville and just off the Interstate, a very agitated young man with blue-hair and wearing a US Navy Blue Angels sweatshirt sat next to a rainbow-haired girl wearing a Mickey Mouse hoodie; she was currently sipping from a strawberry milkshake and occasionally looking out the window. The guy finished off his Coke and groaned.

“Look, Rainbow, not that I mind taking you places,” Soarin’ told her, “but could you explain to me why I had to drive you all the way out to Ponyville? Fuck, the gas alone, not to mention the 220-mile round-trip and my car needs new tires….”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Soarin’, I really appreciate this, okay? I mean it. Aside from my friends, you and Spitfire are the only ones I can trust, and this is important.”

“Yeah, well, you owe me a date for this one,” he told her.

“Fine, fine, fine. Movies this weekend, okay? My treat.”

“Works for me. So who are we meeting again?”

“Rainbow!” The voice called out in stereo, and two very hot teens, the kind that you usually found on the “Barely 18” websites that Soarin’ occasionally looked a…that Soarin’s friends occasionally looked at, not that he would know what they were, embraced his sometime-girlfriend. The slightest irreverent thought ran through his mind, and he buried it immediately, lest Rainbow put a fist in his face shortly.

“Hey, Cloudy, Flits, have a seat,” Rainbow said, as the twins plopped down next to her. It was then that Soarin’ noticed that as hot as they looked, they were dressed somewhat conservatively – hell, considering that Ponyville was a farming community 112 miles east of Canterlot, that shouldn’t have been too surprising, all things considered.

“Cloudy, Flits, this is my…sorta boyfriend, Soarin’. He plays basketball for our high school varsity team. Soarin’, this is Cloudchaser and Flitter, a couple of girls I went to school with before I moved to Canterlot.”

“Yeah, we were all living in Cloudsdale way back when,” Flitter said – and she had the cutest voice ever! – before she continued with, “But in our case, our dad got a job here in Ponyville as the town vet, so we moved to our grandparents’ horse ranch and, well, here we are.”

“Yeah, the girls run for Ponyville’s track team, and they’re fast as lightning,” the rainbow-haired athlete said.

Cloudchaser shuddered. “Ugh, Rainbow, do me a favor and don’t remind me of that skank – I can’t believe that she even said that shit.”

“Uh, someone want to fill me in on what’s going on?” Soarin’ asked.

“You…may have heard a rumor about us going around your school,” Flitter said, nervously adjusting her hairbow.

Soarin’ rolled his eyes. “It’s about you two?” When the twins nodded, the blue-haired youth rolled his eyes. “Sorry to hear that. All week I’ve been hearing some of the guys just invent the most outrageous crap about it, and it just seems to get worse and worse. Hell, Garble was just saying at practice this morning that his girlfriend Gilda wrapped you two up as a gift for him while she was on the rag and that you two work for pretty cheap.”

“Oh, God, we’re going to be ruined!” Cloudchaser said, slumping burying her face in her hands as she started to cry. Flitter immediately moved to her sister’s side, embracing her and wiping her tears away.

“Rainbow, you gotta do something!” Flitter said. “This is killing us – it might be all fun and jokes over in Canterlot and Cloudsdale, but in a small town like Ponyville…shit, the place is still like the 1950s at times! I can only imagine the shit we’ll be in if our parents hear about this!”

“And none of this crap is true!” Cloudchaser moaned.

“I’m working on it, girls. You have my word,” Rainbow said, “and you know I don’t bail out on my friends!”

“Hey, I have really no idea what’s going on, but if you need my help, I’ll be glad to do whatever I can,” Soarin’ offered.

“Thanks, Rainbow,” Cloudchaser said in a sobbing voice. “You too, Soarin’.”

“Hey, Cloudy, anything for an old pal. You know that,” Rainbow said, before a thought came to her. “Cloudy, you mentioned something about not reminding you about somebody?”

“Yeah, you mentioned Lightning Dust, didn’t you?” the girl with the sky-blue, spiky-bob hairstyle replied. When Rainbow Dash shook her head, a light went on in Cloudchaser’s mind. “You know, this didn’t start that long after we were hit up by her.”

“Really?” Rainbow said, giving her friend a lidded look.

“Yeah. We were at the Regional Track Meet last month, when she came up to us and started looking at us like we were pieces of meat. Then she made that – ugh – ‘proposal’. Well, neither sis nor I wanted to hear that crap, so we bet her that we could outsprint her in the 400-meter dash. Then she goes on about being Olympic material, and that we must really want it to bet her, and all that jazz.”

“Yeah, sounds like Lightning, alright,” Rainbow muttered. “Girl’s got an ego on her the size of a city block. So what happened after that?”

Flitter grinned. “Smoked her – ‘Olympic material’, my ass. I was easily a half-second ahead of her and Cloudy was even faster – she barely missed breaking the state record. Another girl from Goldwater was behind us and ‘Ms. Gold Medal’ was a solid fourth. Oh, she was not happy.”

A thought crossed Soarin’’s face. “Is it possible then that she spread the rumors just to get back at you two?”

“I have to wonder if that’s what happened,” Flitter replied. “Great – she’s a creep and a sore loser.”

“Well, I’ll put a stop to any of the guys trying anything,” Soarin’ assured them. “There might be a few, but I’ll do everything I can.”

“And I think it’s time I had a personal chat with a certain individual next time I see her,” Rainbow said, a wicked grin coming over her face as she smashed a fist into her palm.

Later that night, Sunset was gingerly changing into pajamas when there was a knock on the door. “Yeah, come in,” she said, figuring that it was one of the girls coming by to check on her; sure enough, it was Tavi. “Oh, hey, didn’t know you were staying overnight, Tavi.”

“Yeah. Mom’s been dying to see the opera since it’s in town, and I’m guessing your parents and mine are—” The raven-haired girl shook her head. “Listen to me: you’ve only been here a month and I’ve gotten so used to you being here that I accidentally referred to Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet as your parents. Well, they really do think well of you.”

The smile on Sunset’s face fell. “Um…yeah.”

The look on Octavia’s face was one of bewilderment. “I…hope I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“No, it’s not you – it’s me,” Sunset said in a manner that hinted that she wanted to talk; Octavia immediately sat down and listened. “Tavi, it’s just….” She sighed, shaking her head. “Do you know the real reason I went back there? I didn’t tell Shining the whole story—”

“I hope you didn’t lie to him,” Octavia interjected.

“—but I didn’t lie, either,” Sunset finished. “I guess I went back because I was wondering who I really am now. For four years, it was just me in that little room, on my own, me against the world and liking every moment of it. And now so much of it is slipping away – the place where I lived, my jacket….”

“That jacket must’ve been important to you. Rarity said you were more distraught about that than the note.”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m an orphan and I never knew who my parents were, so I can’t get angry about that. Furthermore, while I did have a guardian…a mother figure…I ran away of my own accord and I think, no, I’m actually pretty sure she doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore, else she would have come for me.” Sunset left out the rest of the detail; while she trusted Octavia, she didn’t know how to explain the truth.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive – I wouldn’t be here otherwise. But it was the jacket that was the first thing that was truly me. I know that sounds dumb, and maybe Rarity’s right that I bought it for all the wrong reasons, but it was the first step in making myself who I am. But now, I’m not sure that was the best thing. And now I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Octavia looked worried. “I think I’d better go get Twily as well, Sunny,” the teen said, rising from her seat.

“I’m already up,” a familiar voice said from the door. “I was making sure Spike was in bed and I overheard you two talking.” The purple-haired girl immediately sat down on the bed next to Sunset. “I knew something was bothering you, but when you locked the door and were talking privately to Rarity, I figured that you were just too embarrassed to mention it to us.”

“No, it’s not that—”

“We’re not offended, Sunny. She’s your friend, and you’ve known her far longer than you have us,” Twilight commented.

“Girls, it’s just that….” Sunset’s features screwed in concentration as she tried to search in her mind for the best way to explain what she really couldn’t voice. “I’ve just been on my own for so long, that I…I’m sorry. I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. I adore you guys – even Spike,” she said with a sloppy smile, “but even after all this time I still kinda feel like I’m not sure I belong. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I….”

“I hope we’re not—”

“No, of course not! You guys dropped everything to get to the hospital when I ended up there. That says everything right there!”

“Not if you’re still doubting yourself, Sunny,” Twilight said, as a sad look came over her face, even if just briefly. “Look, I know I’ve said this before, but…we’re your family now. And maybe Tavi and I can’t always understand what you’re going through, but we’re going to be here for you, always, no matter what. Sisters always are.”

“Um, Twily? How can you even think that? I’ve been here just for a few weeks now.”

Octavia added, “Yes, and yet you heard my earlier slip-up. It’s like you belong here now, Sunny. Besides, if Uncle Night were here, I know what he’d probably say: ‘Weeks can be but a lifetime and a lifetime’s not meant to be wasted on sorrow.’”

“Besides, you do like my parents, right?” Twilight asked.

“They’ve been nothing but wonderful to me, even when I haven’t deserved it,” Sunset admitted.

“Because that’s what family is, Sunny,” Octavia chimed in. “They’re always there for you, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Look at me: I’m an only child, and yet I’ve never had to worry about a lack of siblings, because I’ve always had Twily, Shiny and Spike there for me.”

“Besides,” Twily teased, “you are your own twin, after all.”

To Sunset’s surprise, Octavia’s eyes narrowed in genuine annoyance. “I wish you’d stop mentioning that, Twily – it’s really creepy.”

“No it’s not!” Twily defended. “I think it’s absolutely fascinating! I—”

“—am not a science experiment, Twilight,” Octavia said in a firm tone; it had been the first time since Sunset had known them that Octavia had ever used her cousin’s full first name.

“Yeah, I know, but I just think that it’s really neat, especially since it’s biology, which is fascinating in and of itsel—”

“Look, Mr. Spock, can we just drop it and get back to helping Sunny with her issue?” Octavia said, groaning in frustration.

Finally Sunset had enough of watching one cousin glare at the other. “What is she talking about?”

“I can’t believe I’m talking about this,” Octavia muttered. “Do you know what a chimera is?”

“Um, mythological thing?” Sunset’s only knowledge of it was from the song on Discord’s album. Come to think of it, I think I remember something about something by that name in the Flame Geyser Swamp or thereabouts back in Equestria, but I’m not completely sure.

“No,” she sighed, “I mean the biological term.” When Sunset shook her head, Octavia continued; it was clear that she was doing so reluctantly. “Well, you know what fraternal twins are, right? At one time, I was apparently going to have a twin brother or sister, I don’t know. Well, apparently…he or she…is me.”

“Wat.” The look on Sunset’s face even seemed to unintentionally copy the internet meme she’d seen, though without a mirror she wasn’t aware of that. Twilight, who was, had to prevent herself from laughing, lest she further irritate Octavia.

“While I was forming in my mother’s womb…basically the fetus that was me and the fetus that was my sibling merged, kind of like the opposite of identical twins,” Octavia explained, quaking slightly at her clarification.

Sunset blinked. Fusion? That actually happens here? The thought of that freaked her out a little: fusion spells were some of the worst of the worst black magic spells out there, though there were natural cases of it occurring; she remembered from her lessons with Princess Celestia about griffin mythology and how the griffin species was created – lions and eagles were fighting each other in a horrific war of attrition and the sheer amount of magic caused a backlash, eventually fusing the two creatures into one kind of being. It had ended up being the only way the war between the two species ended, and the remaining lions and eagles disowned their merged counterparts, leaving the new species to forge its own path. But while the sun alicorn had explained that the story was just mythology, Celestia did give a real-world example of a white magic fusion: the alicorn herself, a combination of pegasus, unicorn and earth pony essences.

“I….” Sunset began, but quickly stopped, not even really sure of what she could say.

Octavia nodded sadly. “Yeah, I know. It’s extremely rare – rarer than your condition, even – but I’m carrying two sets of DNA.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how’d you find out? I mean, if it’s that rare, it’s probably not something they check for often, I’m guessing,” Sunset inquired, the academic in her somewhat intrigued.

“Same way they found out about your blood: testing. In my case, when I was eleven, I had to have my appendix removed. When they did a check on my blood, they noticed that I was A-negative. Well, another doctor didn’t know my blood had been drawn, so he did it as well, but he came up with AB-positive. Since that can’t be possible – positive and negative bloodtypes normally mixed together can cause hemolysis, which is a blood disease – they immediately did a second round of tests on me, which is how they found out.”

“Wow,” was Sunset’s only response.

The look on Octavia’s face was suddenly fragile. “Do me a favor? It might seem cool to others, and it sounds like you’re comfortable with your unusual blood type, but to me, it’s always been kinda creepy – I had nightmares about it for days afterwards – and while I know Twily doesn’t really mean any harm by it, I’d rather the others not know. I’m sure they’re trustworthy, but…I’m just not comfortable with it.”

“No problem – I’m very good at keeping secrets, more than I’d like at times,” Sunset assured her.

“Thanks, Sunny,” Octavia said, yawning. “Well, I dunno about you, but it’s been a long day for me and I’m gonna go to sleep.” With that, went over to Sunset’s dresser and pulled out a spare pair of pajamas. “Mind if I borrow?”

“You’re sleeping in here?”

“Great idea!” Twilight agreed. “It’s always better when sisters are together, right?” she added.

Octavia and Sunset looked at each other, then as they looked at Twilight, the pair reached verbal synchronicity: “Twily, do you know where that comes from?”

The look on Twilight’s face was one of perplex. “I heard some guys mention it at the mall the other day while we were in Spencer’s, why?”

Octavia blinked and Sunset facepalmed. Sunset then said, “It’s the name of a series of pornos where sisters – um….”

She looked at them with confusion at first, then wide-eyed disgust and shock a half-second later. “Ewwww! You guys are…. That’s gross!”

“She really doesn’t get out much, does she?” Sunset cracked to Octavia.

“Well, in my defense I can say I’ve gone out on at least one date – with a boy from our sister school, the Muenchinger Institute for Young Men, and only because Dad wanted to strike a business deal with the boy’s father. Blueblood turned out to be a grabby creep who tried to cop a feel, but very fortunately for me, Shiny just happened to be on patrol that night and scared Blueblood to the point that he pissed his pants!” Octavia giggled. “After that, I decided that I’m just going to wait ‘til college, and I don’t doubt Twily’s much the same way.”

“Well, I did have a boyfriend not too long after I first got here,” Sunset admitted, “but he and I broke up. Good thing, too: the sex wasn’t worth it.” The other girls looked at her in surprise, and she said, “Look, I’ll admit it – I regret it. It’s part of why we called it quits.” Well, that and he kinda started having a thing for your pony counterpart, Twily, but I won’t mention that.

As they waved goodbye to Night Light’s brother and sister-in-law as they drove off, Night said to Velvet, “We should really do this more often, love.” The pair unlocked the door, stepped into the house and as he helped her with her coat, he added, “The girls are obviously old enough now to watch Spike and we’re not getting any younger.”

Velvet nodded in agreement. “Plus, it’s great spending time with Evening and Ballad,” she admitted. “With them always on the road, we don’t get to see them as much. I know Ballad’s privately admitted to me that Tavi’s over here so often that sometimes she fears I’m more her daughter’s mother than she is.”

“Yeah, Evening’s told me more than once that’s why they didn’t try for a second kid,” he told her.

“Well,” she said, yawning slightly, “I’m going to check on the kids and then head to bed. Long day tomorrow, including the parent-teacher conference; I’ll be meeting with Tia, Lulu and a few other teachers regarding Sunset.”

“Nothing bad, I hope,” Night asked as he removed his own longcoat.

“No, but I suspect they’ll bring up her recent injury. Hopefully Tia’ll have more information,” Velvet guessed.

As both adults ascended the stairs, the first place they checked was their son’s room. Spike was out like a light, though the TV in his room was still on, the telltale sign that he’d been playing videogames past his bedtime again. She was going to have to talk to him about that tomorrow and come up with an appropriate punishment.

Next was Twilight and Octavia’s room. The beds were made and unused, which probably meant that…

Sure enough, heading to Sunset’s room, the trio was asleep together again. As a maternal smile came onto Velvet’s face, she knew that having the troubled teen come live with them had been the right move. Tia had said in an email conversation that since the new arrangement had come about, Sunset was paying more attention in class, her grades were no longer borderline abysmal and she wasn’t giving the faculty conniption fits. The last was confirmed by Lulu, who added that she’d seen a marked improvement in Sunset’s behavior, given that she was a barely-controlled hellion at one point.

But now she has us, Velvet thought. Now she doesn’t need to face the world alone anymore.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Night said from behind her. “And yes, I agree: this was the right thing.”

“I’m glad you think so,” she said, not taking her eyes off her girls. “Here I am, Assistant Director of Equestria County’s Department of Social Services and I’ve never been a foster parent myself – somewhat hypocritical, given that I’ve had to tell countless foster parents over the years what to do. And by Sunset’s reputation, she was probably the worst possible choice – Tia’s only come around in the last week or so.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m glad she turned out to be wrong.”

“So am I, love,” she sighed as he put his arms around her while they watched the girls dozing gently. “So am I.”

The following morning, Sunset woke up alone. That didn’t surprise her; with parent-teacher conferences going on at school today, the students had the day off, but that was at her school, so Twilight and Octavia had to head in. As she got up, she heard a commotion downstairs, and wondered who it could be, as she thought she was the only one home. Quickly taking a shower, she went downstairs to dig something out of the fridge, then maybe get caught up on her homework.

“So I see you finally decided to join the world of the living.” She saw Night Light sitting there, nursing a cup of coffee. “Can’t say I blame you; you’re still recovering from your injury and that can take a lot out of a person.” He looked at her and said, “There’s some Hot Pockets in the freezer if you’re hungry. Not the greatest thing in the world for breakfast, but I suppose it could be worse.”

“I’m surprised you’re here,” she told him.

“So am I,” he agreed. “Apparently they moved up the installation of some new equipment in the building on campus where I teach,” he explained, “so classes got cancelled for the rest of the week. Would’ve been nice if they’d told me that yesterday.” As Sunset threw a pair of the breakfast pastries in the microwave, he looked at her and said, “So I understand that your jacket was stolen and destroyed by whoever hurt you.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Caused a commotion the next day at school when whoever took it made a display of the whole thing.”

Night took another drink of his coffee and frowned. “I know she hasn’t mentioned it, but…Velvet and I really aren’t happy about you heading to the old warehouse, by the way. You could have been injured far worse than you were, Sunset. That part of town isn’t all that safe during the best of hours, yet you went there during the weekend, when there was no one around.”

“I—” she began, intending to tell him that she’d spent four years there relatively unmolested, so what was there to worry about? But then she looked at him and saw the disappointment in his eyes and seeing that flickered something within her. There was an unknown factor about his pained gaze that hurt her inside. She couldn’t really explain why; she’d faced plenty of teachers before, many of them male authority figures, and she rarely gave a flying fuck about what they thought. But regardless, the let-down visage on the gentle man sitting at the table made her feel guilty about everything that had occurred in the past couple of days.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, meaning it. She didn’t know what else to say, so she poured herself a glass of orange juice; it would be less awkward than the silence that was sinking in.

“I know,” he told her. “Velvet told me everything and I certainly understand how you feel, Sunset. I’ve been there myself sometimes. But it’s already mid-November and it should be snowing soon. We’re going to have to get you a replacement jacket.”

Sunset trembled, both at his words about the weather and at the behest of her memories; her first month here had been a January and the snow had fallen hard. She’d arrived completely in the nude – she never did understand how the princess had arrived with clothing when she came over – and had watched others from a distance, then focused enough to make raw approximations of clothing. She later found the money and with it, bought a jacket that had been mismarked at the mall. She’d cherished it, but like so many memories of her earlier years here on Earth, they were now just that – memories.

Meanwhile, Night continued to look at her as she ate the Hot Pocket and appraised her, as if he was pondering an issue. Finally, getting up from his chair, he said, “C’mon. I’ve got something to show you.”

“Okay,” she said, wolfing the last bite, draining the glass of juice and following.

They went over to the closet, and Night Light wasted no time in digging into the closet. “Ah, here it is.” He brought out a leather jacket, military style – and not just a military style, but according to the tags on the inside, the insignia and the flight patch, an actual military fighter pilot’s jacket, complete with the patch that read:

NOCTURNAL BREEZE “PEGASUS”
LCDR USN

“This used to belong to my brother, Nocturnal Breeze. Unlike my younger brother Evening and I, Nocty was a military man – he was a fighter pilot for the Navy. He loved flying those fighter jets – think he flew the F-18, if I recall correctly.”

“Was?” There was something about the word that hung on the older man’s lips.

Night nodded. “We lost him during the Gulf War back in the 90s. He was a damn good pilot, we were told, one of the best, and he was probably going to be in the Blue Angels someday. But something went wrong on his aircraft and it went down without him being able to eject – the Navy confirmed that he hadn’t been shot down; it was a mechanical malfunction that did him in. He’s buried in Arlington, with honors – but both Evening and I would rather have him back, as would our parents.” The man was silent for a moment, the words having brought back memories not long buried to the forefront.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset said once again. One of the things she’d had to catch up to speed on was the number of conflicts that various groups of humanity had with others of their own kind. At first, Sunset thought that, given her relatively aggressive nature – not common for ponies – she’d fit right in with her then newly-adopted species, but as of recent, she’d begun to wonder if Princess Celestia set the mirror to this world in order to exile ponies like her; unrepentant miscreants that might do enormous damage to Equestria, but here on Earth would be likely seen as nothing more than small-fries, or would be dealt with by the authorities here.

“Not your fault; you weren’t even born then,” Night assured her as he set aside his recollections, unaware of Sunset’s own thoughts. “Anyway, one of the things he had was a few of these jackets. I was told the Navy only gives out a couple of these things as standard-issue to their pilots, but he loved the damn things so much he’d bought several more for reasons I’ll never know. My dad has one, as does Evening and myself. And now,” he said softly, “this one’s yours.”

Sunset paused for a second, stunned, but then soon found her voice – somewhat: “I…I can’t. It’s not….” She was flustered; this was more than just buying her clothing or anything of the sort; this was a family heirloom. While she had nothing of the sort on her own, she could certainly understand the concept, and was now certainly reluctant to take what had to be a valued treasure from their family. “But what about Shiny? Or Spike? The girls?”

Night shook his head. “As much as I would love to give this to Shining, he’s a little too broad in the shoulders for it to fit him; besides, Shining already has all of his uncle’s medals in a display – he felt that would be enough to remember Nocty by. And Spike’s got one as well; someday he’ll be old enough to fit into his. As for Twily and Tavi? Neither of them wanted it and they have their own keepsakes of their uncle. Besides, you need a coat for the winter months – I understand it’s going to be a bad one this year – and I think my brother would do the same thing if he were here.”

She took the jacket as though it were a sacred item, gently slipping it on; somehow, it felt more right wearing this than the jacket she’d just lost. “I’ll treasure this always,” she told him, meaning every word of it and starting to become overwhelmed by the mixture of feelings running through her.

“I know,” he told her. “Besides, if you ask me, you look good in it – better than that old jacket. Just…do me a favor and don’t get stabbed again and have this one stolen as well.”

She was still overcome by the moment. “I don’t know…I just….” She started to tear up again. Night did the only thing he felt he could do: take the girl into an embrace, holding her as she stood there, shuddering from the tears.

“I don’t deserve any of this,” she told him. “I don’t deserve to have any of you.”

“It’s not about deserving or not deserving,” he told her. “It’s not even really about what you want, Sunset. It’s about what you need. Everyone needs someone in the end, and the only ones that don’t are either lying to themselves or worse. No one in the family sees you like that. You went back there because you were wondering what happened to your home…. Well, here it is: this is it. This is your home now.”

“Hey, Spitfire!” Rainbow specifically showed up to soccer practice an hour early, because the track team would still be working out this afternoon. She usually didn’t socialize in the same circle as the junior and with the vastly different schedule the two girls kept, this would be one of the only chances she’d have to put a stop to it.

“Heya, cuz!” Spitfire shouted as she walked towards her cousin, wiping the sweat off her brow with a towel before hanging it around her neck. Spitfire was the captain for the girls’ varsity track team and the honor was well earned; the junior held the current state record for the 200-meter dash and had almost broken the 400-meter dash. Track scouts for the US Olympic Team were already watching her and Rainbow couldn’t help but feel pride in her cousin’s accomplishments; she was, all in all, almost as awesome as Rainbow herself. “What brings you down here?”

“Looking for your favorite pain in the ass,” Rainbow growled. “Found out that she’s likely the ones behind the rumors about my old schoolfriends.”

“Yeah, heard about that,” Spitfire said, running a hand through her shaggy yellow-and-orange hair. “Those girls are good folks, and hate to see that shit. Anyway, the bitch is in the locker room; she blew a fuse because the rest of the relay team isn’t as fast as she is, even though she’s a fucking slowpoke herself.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow turned in the direction of the girls’ locker room before she felt Spitfire’s hand on her shoulder.

“Just…be careful,” the older girl advised. “She’s faster than you and I suspect she knows how to fight, and…call me crazy, Rainbow, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“That’s sweet, Spits. You almost managed to sound like Fluttershy there for a moment – almost, but not quite,” she teased.

“Rainbow, if I have to explain to Scoots why you’ve got a black eye….”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll be careful – bob and weave and all that shit,” she said as she walked off towards the locker room.

As Rainbow walked into the locker room, she could hear Lightning’s voice as she hit up another girl: “So, trust me, I’ll make you sing like an opera star—”

“Sick bitch!” A figure ran down the lockers, almost bowling over Rainbow. The prism-haired athlete noted that it was another one of her soccer teammates, Roseluck – and she looked very agitated.

“Hey, Rose, you okay?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, God, Rainbow – I’m glad to see a friendly face!” Roseluck pointed an angry finger in the direction she’d run. “I was getting dressed for practice and that cunt’s been watching the whole time!”

“Hey, what can I say? You’re hot and nubile, and I bet you’re great in bed,” Lightning Dust said as she rounded the nearest stand of lockers. “Oh, and look, it’s Rainbow Dash! Wonder if it’s true what they say about you, too?” Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out a key. “You know, my house has a hot tub, and my parents out of town for the week…what’s say I introduce you two to the world of womanhood? Unless, of course, someone already beat me to it….”

“Uh, no, but you and I are going to have a nice little chat about some bullshit you’ve been spreading about a couple of friends of mine – the names Cloudchaser and Flitter ring a bell?”

The leering look of thought on Lightning Dust’s face would have been comical had it not been for the thoughts Rainbow knew was running through the older girl’s mind. “Yeah,” she said suddenly. “Pair of twins. Kinda boring, really – they were more interested in each other than me. Oh, they took care of my needs well enough, but I think they were really just there for the chance to—”

Lightning’s words were cut off by Rainbow smashing a fist against a locker. “I know you’re lying, you fucking skank. Just like I know you’re lying about what happened at the Regionals – I know that they blasted your ass and that you’re slow as shit. Face it: you’re just a jealous, unpopular carpet licker that is not only is a sore loser, but has no class, either. Small wonder you can’t get a guy of your own…or a girl!”

Lightning’s eyes narrowed. “I’d watch what you say before I shove that fist of yours straight up your own pu—”

“Back your words up, bitch.” Rainbow brought her fists up, just as her father had taught her to if she ever needed to protect herself. And while she’d been in a few scraps before, she remembered Spitfire’s words: I suspect she may know how to fight, Rainbow.

“Rainbow….” Roseluck said, afraid at the sudden escalation.

“Rose, get out of here,” Rainbow said, not taking her eyes off Lightning. “Let me handle this.”

“Be careful!” With that, the other girl raced out of the locker room.

“I almost had her,” Lightning said. “You owe me for losing out on that fine piece of ass, Dash.”

“Sorry, Rose is way too classy for you,” Rainbow taunted. “But on the bright side, I think her boyfriend might agree with you on her posterior.” Rainbow would have said more, had it not been for Lightning’s quick strike. While Rainbow had already been anticipating that she’d be attacked, she hadn’t counted on the speed of her assailant; Rainbow barely managed to dodge the first thrown at her.

Shit, she’s fast! Rainbow thought as Lightning retracted the arm. Fortunately, while I’m not exactly a track star, I’m no slouch in the speed department either, she thought, jabbing forward with her right fist. Unfortunately for Rainbow, her fist sailed through the area where Lightning had been just a few seconds earlier and connected with nothing, leaving her open—

—for Lightning to score a direct blow against Rainbow’s torso, knocking the breath from her. Rainbow collapsed to the ground, gasping; she hadn’t been hit like that before.

“Awwww, what, Dashie, not so fucking tough after all?” Lightning taunted, pulling the fallen teen up by the shirt. “I mean, after all, you clearly wanted me to show you how I did your friends because you wanted some of that action too, right?”

“Fuck you,” Rainbow snarled. “In case, you forgot, I have a boyfriend.”

“As if anyone’s going to believe the walking Gay Pride Flag. Everything you do screams butch, girlie, and I wonder: when you with him, do you imagine him as a girl, or are you the one wearing the strap—” Lightning never finished her word as Rainbow took that moment to take advantage of Lightning’s vulnerability, punching her in the stomach. While it was enough to get Lightning to release her, it didn’t last long.

Rainbow immediately took advantage of the situation, throwing another punch, aiming right at Lightning’s face. It connected, rocking the girl’s head back. But as she pulled back, Lightning immediately grabbed Rainbow and slammed her back against the lockers, kneeing her in the crotch. While it wouldn’t disable her on the same level as a guy, it certainly did hurt and gave Lightning enough time to grab Rainbow again and slam her face-first against another set of lockers.

Rainbow spat out a glob of blood that welled up when she bit her tongue; she was going to definitely feel that tomorrow. More immediately, she was going to feel the blow she took to the side as Lightning punched her in the solar plexus, making her gasp for air.

“Fucking skank,” Lightning said, wiping a rivulet of blood from her lips. “What, think I’m some pretty little princess like one of your buddies? No, I’ve been through enough dances, sunshine, and unlike you, I know how to handle myself.”

“Oh, hey, there you are!” A new voice rang out and both girls turned to see Gilda standing there, leaning against the locker. “Well, Lightning, I came by to pick you up – got tickets to the Floating Trashcans’ concert at the Broken Down Club at 7:30, but I guess you’re too busy in foreplay.”

Rainbow saw Gilda and the minute the two connected eyes, it did not look good. They had been friends once, back when they both lived in Cloudsdale on the same block. But something happened between them; Rainbow didn’t remember much, but she did recall that Gilda didn’t want to speak to her ever again, she said at the time. At the time, Rainbow’s mother assured her that she was just mad and that Gilda would come around in a week or two, but Rainbow later found out that her friend had moved to Canterlot two weeks later. They’d never made up as a result, and by the time both girls had found themselves at Canterlot High, they were very different people from the friendly children they’d once been…and were now definitely on different sides of the moral spectrum.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old buddy Rainbow Dash. Hey, good to see you? Still fucking over your old friends? Or do you just save that for people who you don’t feel you owe apologies to?”

“Gilda, I don’t even rememb—” She was suddenly silenced as Gilda picked her up and slammed her, face first, against the wall.

“Yeah, well too bad for you, I do! My ass got beat that day thanks to you, you fucking cunt! My Dad tanned my ass within an inch of my life, just because you broke that flower vase and I had to cover for you!”

Part of Rainbow’s mind swam, trying to recall what had happened almost a decade ago. Had Gilda really been abused by her father for that? Had she really broken something as simple as a flower vase? Did her mother not want her to go over because Gilda was just being an angry child…or because Rainbow’s mother Firefly was concerned about her daughter’s safety? She’d have to ask her mother when she got the chance…probably after she got out of the hospital, which Rainbow figured she was going to be in soon, at this rate.

“You know, Rainbow,” Lightning said, as Gilda held her close, “we could make all of this go away, but you’re going to owe me.”

“I already know what you’re going to say and my answer’s the same: Fuck you,” Rainbow snarled.

“You know, as much as I’d be tempted to take you up on that,” Lightning said, “I suspect you’re a lousy lay. But….” she said, “you are going to give me a little something for my time, right?” Looking at Gilda, she said, “You got your knife?”

“Yeah, back pocket,” she said. “What’re you planning?”

“Well, I’m thinking I’ve got my phone on me, and I’m also thinking that Dashie here doesn’t need her shirt.” She looked back at Rainbow. “I’m betting you’re an A-cup, but let’s find out for sure, okay?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Rainbow snarled, though she wondered if the girls were crazy enough to do it.

“Hey, you attacked me, and I have a witness,” she said, gesturing to Gilda here. “So, no idea why you decided to go back outside topless, but hey, I’m sure you can live with the embarrassment.” Taking Gilda’s knife, she opened the highly-illegal switchblade. “New knife?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Gilda muttered. “Lost the old one after we got into that fracas with the baconheaded bitch on Sunday.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “You’re the ones that stabb—” She never finished her words as Gilda threw a vicious punch right at Rainbow’s face, hard enough to bruise and leave no doubt she’d have a black eye for a few days.

“Don’t even think about telling anyone, Dash,” Gilda warned, “or you’re next.”

“Too bad for you that's not happening,” an angry voice said and the three girls had just enough time to react before Gilda suddenly took three blows to the stomach, followed up by a chest punch. As Rainbow crumpled to the ground, she had just enough time to see a familiar blur of blonde hair move in front of her. “Wanna dance, gals? Ah’m more than willing!” the voice snarled.

“AJ?” Rainbow asked, wondering two things: where the hell did she come from, and how the fuck did she move so fast? She would’ve asked more, but she suddenly felt careful arms helping her up, and she had just enough sense of mind to turn to see Roseluck helping her up.

“She was out walking her dog with her sister,” Roseluck said, “and I know she’s your friend, so I—”

“Bad move for you, you Goddamn country hick!” Gilda snarled as she recovered, bringing up her fists to fight. “Now I’m going to have to knock the freckles off your dainty little face!”

“You can try,” Applejack said, easing into a bouncing, rhythmic stance that Rainbow thought was odd. It was like some of the stuff she’d seen in the movies, but…where the hell did Applejack learn karate?

The answer came a second later as Gilda rushed her – only to be stopped by a single, brutal hook kick straight across the face. Gilda took the blow completely as it slammed her right into the lockers hard enough not only to knock her out in one blow, but crack the heavy plastic of the locker door.

Sliding back into a fighting stance, she looked at Lightning. “Guess your training was either shit, or you learned from watching too many of them chopsocky films?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Lightning snarled as she attacked Applejack.

“Good as time as any to start learning, then,” Applejack said as she deftly moved, letting Lightning’s momentum carry her past the former farm girl. With a speed Rainbow hadn’t expected out of her friend, she grabbed Lightning, slammed her to the floor, and then grabbing her arm, placed her foot down on the back of Lightning’s neck. “Ever wonder what a neck brace feels like?” Applejack taunted.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” The girls all turned to see the school’s boys PE teacher and football coach, Bulk Biceps, standing there, looking at them angrily. “Usually I don’t bother going into the girls’ locker room,” the muscular teacher said, looking at the five girls, “but when I hear screaming outside, that tends to catch my attention.”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Coach,” Lightning began. “We were a—”

“Shut it, Ms. Dust,” he said. “I think I’ve heard enough, but I didn’t hear all of it. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. Vice Principal?”

To the quintet’s surprise, Vice Principal Luna moved from her spot just outside of their view. “I’m glad that Coach Biceps asked me to retrieve some documents from the female PE teacher’s office for him,” she said, “as I wasn’t expecting to hear a confession, much less watch a fight between a few of my students.”

“Fuck….” Gilda groaned, nursing the bruise she was feeling as she was trying to recover from the hard hit she’d taken. That bitch Applejack kicks like a fucking horse! Gilda thought to herself. She was so out of it that she hadn’t noticed the vice principal walking right up to her.

Luna strode over and took the knife on the floor by Gilda’s feet. “Let’s see: weapon on campus, which is against the rules…and this is a switchblade, which as I recall is illegal in this state, Ms. Griffin?” The dazed teen had nothing to say; she knew when she was caught. But when Luna said, “And I thought I heard that this is a replacement for the one you used on Ms. Shimmer a few days ago,” her eyes turned to pinpricks of fear.

As Rainbow was able to get to her feet, she looked at her friend. “AJ – that was awesome! Seriously, where the hell did you learn that?”

“Well, y’know our next door neighbors, the Pagodas? Well, Mr. Pagoda runs a taekwondo dojang, an—”

“Could we not talk about Chinese food right now, AJ? I’m feeling kinda queasy.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Taekwando is a Korean martial art, Rainbow,” she drawled.

“Oh.” A pause. “I, uh, knew that.”

“Riiiight. Anyway, because none of Mr. Pagoda’s kids were interested in learning the art, he offered to teach us, so me, Mac, and Bloomie all took him up on it. Not anywhere near black belt yet, but Ah’m working on it,” she said with pride.

“Well, as I was saying,” Luna said, taking charge of the situation again, “I am extremely disappointed in you girls for doing all this – and I am horrified for what I just learned about what you’ve done, Ms. Griffin and Ms. Dust.”

“But we—”

“Save it,” Luna said with a tone that would brook no opposition. “I think you all have some disciplinary measures awaiting you in the future.”

“My, my, my, that does look quite fetching on you – far better than your old one,” Rarity said with approval as the girls met at Sugarcube Corner Café days later. It was Sunset’s first day out of the house since her recovery, and while the Cakes insisted that she didn’t have to come in for the Saturday morning rush since she was still recuperating, Sunset wanted to get out of the house and start adjusting to normal life once more. Besides, Saturday mornings tended to be slow, as most people liked sleeping in, so it wouldn’t be that bad for a start. So it was a pleasant surprise that it turned out to be a busy morning at the café…namely because most of the girls had went for breakfast, Twilight and Octavia included.

“Thanks, Rarity,” Sunset said, blushing as she took off her jacket, setting it on the coat rack. Outside, a blustery November wind blew, making her very glad she’d received the gift – the wind was stiff enough that even if she’d been in her native form, she might have needed a cloak or weathersaddle for protection from the elements. The jacket was definitely earning its keep in safeguarding her from Mother Nature; now all she had to do was to, in her opinion, continue to make herself worthy of being its owner.

Seated next to Fluttershy, Angel made a complex number of hand motions as he told his sister something; Fluttershy had brought him along as their mother was working today and the teen wanted to spoil her brother. As the platinum-haired boy finished, Fluttershy said, “Angel says he wants one now as well.”

“Well, I got lucky,” Sunset told Fluttershy. “Otherwise, I guess he’ll have to join the military.”

Fluttershy signed back the reply and the boy frowned; though Sunset couldn’t read sign language, Angel’s sharp hand movements left little doubt what his reply was. “He said ‘That sucks’ – well, he didn’t exactly say that, but…let’s just say that Mom’s going to scold him if he ever repeats what he told me,” she replied, giving her brother a reproachful look.

“Wow, and I didn’t even know that there was profanity in sign language, Flutters,” Octavia said.

“People can be very creative when it comes to the evolution of language,” Twilight commented. “I wouldn’t be surprised if sign language has a huge amount of profanity.”

“Twily, would you please not give him ideas?” Fluttershy asked, blushing.

“Well, I thought that he couldn’t hear we—”

“He can read lips,” the chiffon-haired girl replied. “Very well, too.”

“Oh.”

“Well, let’s change the subject: since Sunny’s back to normal now, I propose we all go to the movies today after work!” Pinkie said. “Any idea what we should go see?”

“Nothing violent,” Fluttershy said softly, and Twilight seconded that.

“Well, it’s it should be your choice, Sunny,” Octavia suggested.

“Well, there’s a few things that I’d like to go see,” she admitted, “though I wish AJ and Rainbow could join us.”

Pinkie’s usually cheerful demeanor suddenly dropped as she replied with, “I don’t think that’s gonna happen, Sunny.”

As one, the girls sighed.

Seated in an empty classroom in Canterlot High, three girls looked completely bored out of their skulls.

“I can’t believe this is happening to me,” Roseluck groaned, putting her head on the desk. “I guess no good deed really does go unpunished.” She looked at her fellow detained students. “What did I do to earn Breakfast Club?”

“Hey, Rose, it could be worse,” Rainbow Dash said. At the moment, she looked like a mile of bad road, with a black eye, split lip and a sizable bruise on her right cheek – and that was only the visible injuries.

“Rainbow, I’ve got Breakfast Club today, you and AJ have it for this week and next, plus we have to write Principal Celestia a three-thousand word essay on ‘how to be a model citizen’! And if that’s not enough, Ms. Luna suspended us from the soccer team for the rest of the month!”

AJ chuckled. “Shucks, Rosie, not like it’s the end of the world: sure, we’re all here in Breakfast Club, but you’re here just one week, and Rainbow and Ah are here only for two, because of, ahem, ‘prior good behavior.’ B’lesides, Ah’d rather have this than be in Dust’s and Griffin’s shoes.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Rainbow added. “Remember: Because of her antics, Lightning’s been suspended from school for two weeks and she’s been kicked off the track team for good. And as for Gilda,” she said, her voice taking on a slightly sad tone, “she’s been expelled – she’s gonna hafta finish up the rest of the school year at The Blanks.” Roseluck shuddered at that; the Equestria County Alternative High School for At-Risk Students, down south in the suburb of Sunnytown, was nicknamed “The Blanks”, both for its mostly featureless building and the fact that the school had no sports or afterschool programs. Combined with the school’s brutalist architecture dating from the late 1970s and the fact that Sunnytown was the regional slum, The Blanks had acquired the kind of reputation that one usually afforded to foreboding locations in horror films.

“And if that ain’t enough, both Lightning and Gilda are gonna face charges for hurting Sunset,” Applejack added, “though Ah’m wondring why you’re so concerned ‘bout Gilda, Rainbow.”

“We were friends when we were younger, and frankly, I just don’t know what went wrong,” Rainbow admitted. “She was a good person once. Maybe, like Sunset, she can be one again, someday.”

The trio fell silent for a few, working on their essays, before Roseluck stopped again. “Look, AJ, I’m sorry I got you involved in this. And Rainbow, I really didn’t thank you for helping me out that day. As it is, after this, I’m grounded for a week, but when things are settled, lunch is on me first chance we get, okay?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow laughed, “I’ll let you know when I’m no longer grounded. Mom and Dad basically grounded my ass for two weeks for this, plus I’ve got to do mine and my sister’s chores.”

Applejack laughed uncomfortably. “Heh – Ah got three weeks of grounding, plus doing mine, Mac’s and Bloomie’s chores, plus got a lecture from mah sa-bu-nim an’ when Ah’m done with mah groundin’lg, then Ah’m gonna have to clean the dojang. But Principal Celestia said she’d talk to mah parents and explain that if it hadn’t been for the fight, nobody would've found out who hurt Sunset.”

“Yeah, same here,” Rainbow added.

“Yeah, the Principal said she’d call my parents Monday,” Roseluck chimed in. “Even still, was it really worth all this?”

Rainbow and Applejack looked at one another. Rainbow had been injured in the fight, and while Applejack had gone unscathed, both had received punishment for their actions during it. But Rainbow had exposed Lightning’s lies in the process and protected her old friends, plus she’d saved Roseluck from an awkward situation. And as for Applejack, she’d rescued her friend from serious danger. And, as Vice Principal Luna had to admit, had it not been for either of them getting involved in the fight, Lightning and Gilda would have gotten away scot-free regarding their attack on Sunset – and for them, protecting a friend was always paramount.

Both girls leaned back in their chairs, smug smiles sliding nearly from ear to ear.

“Yup!” both said at the same time.

Author's Note

In case anyone's wondering what Octavia's condition is...yes, it exists.

December 21: At the Closing of the Year

The stereo pounded out some mushroom jazz on a snowy Saturday afternoon as the custom-pink Subaru BRZ sliced its way through the wintery weather on the way to its destination. Inside the car, its two occupants were just enjoying the music and the nice chat.

Well, one of them was enjoying the music. If Sunset could say anything negative about Cadance, it was that the woman’s preference for house and downtempo was not anything they particularly shared. But since Sunset liked the older girl and was trying to be a better person, she thought she’d just listen along…though she still couldn’t figure out why a jazz-inflected house track was named “Bossa Nova.”

Finally, as they got off the westbound State Highway 299 and turned right into the small town of Everfree Glades, Sunset shifted in her chair slightly and commented, “You know, I always wondered why the local forest was called the Everfree.” Especially since it seems that I’ve no idea why the forest back on Equestria is called that either.

Cadance chuckled. “Yeah, to be honest, I didn’t really get it either until a grade school field trip to the National Park portion of the forest. If I remember correctly, the park ranger said that it’s a corruption of an old Indian word – maybe northern Yana – meaning ‘forest of darkness’, because at one time the forest used to be wall-to-wall sequoias that blocked out all the light.”

“Like the Amazon or the Black Forest in Germany?”

“Something like that. Anyway, eventually settlers came into the area during the Gold Rush, and a huge swath of the Everfree was cut down for both timber and mining. The settlers originally named the town Poverty Flats, but after the railroad barons complained, the townsfolk named the city Camelot after the old British stories. Then horse ranching became big in the area after the turn of the century and the town changed its name to Canterlot, just to be funny, and even though the ranches moved eastwards out to Ponyville over the next few decades, Canterlot’s kept its name since.” She grinned, adding, “And that’s your pointless lesson of the day; certainly better than reading it out of textbook.”

“Hey, I don’t mind reading,” she said. And that much was true. Now that she was focusing on her grades once more, she’d rediscovered the love of learning that she’d had as a unicorn – though she still couldn’t hold a candle to Twilight’s academic focus. I wonder if the Princess is like that, too.

“Well, I’m not going to pick on you about your grades, but….” Cadance gave her a sisterly look. “Heard you’re going to have to spend some time in summer school unless you pick up the pace,” she gently scolded.

Sunset groaned. “Yeah, I know, I need to keep hitting the books.” She sighed; previously, she didn’t care about all this stuff and it didn’t seem to faze her, but now that she did, it was constantly biting her in the ass. “And speaking of books,” she said, deliberately changing the subject, “are you sure that getting Twily books is a good Christmas gift?”

Cadance nodded. “Look, there’s books and then there’s books. You’ve been in her room – she’s got a pretty sizable old book collection that some libraries and museums would drool over.”

The teen grinned. “Yeah, kinda weird hobby for a girl her age.”

“Well, I’ve known Twily and Tavi since they were toddlers, and in Twily’s case, she gets bored in classes easily since she’s got some weird Asperger’s-like skill for learning. I do know the only reasons her parents haven’t sent her straight to college despite her MENSA superbrain is because she needs to be around kids her age. If it wasn’t for Tavi, Twily would probably have much worse socialization skills than she already does,” Cadance said. “But anyway, I promise she’ll absolutely love it if you get her an old book. She loves reading any- and everything under the sun and it’ll get much more use than, say, a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Sunset replied as Cadance pulled up in front of an old brownstone building just past the intersection of Equestria County Parkway and Main Street.

“Well, here we are: Books & Sewing Machines,” Cadance announced.

Sunset blinked at the store’s name: “Books…and Sewing Machines?”

“Yeah,” Cadance confirmed as they got out of her car. “Originally, this used to be just an antique book dealer, but Mr. Bookbinder’s wife started a side business selling antique sewing machines, since people tend to use them as display pieces in their homes, she said. Besides, if you ask me, I think they both like the pure absurdity of the name.” With that, the pair went in, and standing at a counter by the front door was a man in a tweed jacket and looking not unlike something out of a 1950s sitcom about an avuncular father figure. The old man also wore a pair of round glasses, an out-of-fashion tie, and an unlit smoking pipe in his mouth. “Oh, hello, Mr. Bookbinder,” Cadance greeted.

“Well, hello to you, Ms. Cadenza,” he said with a smile. “Here to shop for Twilight? Oh, and who is this young miss?”

“This is Sunset Shimmer – she’s staying with Twilight’s family.”

Bookbinder grinned, his graying mustache twisting up slightly to accommodate the rictus. “Ah, such a beautiful young miss – you would have been a diva amongst divas in the Renaissance, I believe. Well, should you find anything that you like, please let me know!”

“Do you still have that first edition of Wuthering Heights?” Cadance asked the gentleman.

“I’m sorry, but that sold last week. I do, however, have a newly-arrived first edition copy of Northanger Abbey, if you care to see it,” he told her, leading her back to a nearby counter.

As the two talked, Sunset slipped into the rows of musty, aged tomes, walking amongst dozens and dozens of books and the occasional century-old sewing machine. The building turned out to be much larger than expected, the façade having been merely a building whose back had been knocked out and extended to fit the sizeable one behind it. After moving through countless shelves of books, stopping to look at several here and there, she eventually came across a row of ornately bound and beautiful books, their leather covers indicating that they were very old. In comparison to modern books, these looked more like they’d have been at home in the Royal Canterlot Library back in Equestria, and even though it wasn’t a true feel of the past, Sunset couldn’t help but smile at the long ago, happier time.

Finally, one with a black cover and silver and gold ink caught her attention and after slipping on the latex gloves that were required as per an adjacent sign, she removed it from the shelf, perusing its cover: “La Tragedia di Baldassare di Cavalcanti: A History of Italy’s Dark Sorcerer,” she said, reading it aloud. Hmmm…I wonder what it’s about? Carefully opening the book, she read the introduction, which was a summary on the subject’s life: A 16th Century Italian mystic, Baldassare di Cavalcanti, was a contemporary of the famed English occultist and alchemist John Dee and was thought to have known Giordano Bruno, an infamous Italian heretical priest. Baldassare claimed to have learned his skills of alchemy, hermeticism, occultism and sorcery from a black unicorn that came to him through his bedroom mirror. While he earned riches and prestige serving under the Medici family during the eras of the Florentine Republic and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, eventually he was found guilty by the Catholic Inquisition of witchcraft, heresy, and the murder of his first wife, Crisalide, back in 1551; he was put to death in 1603.

“Oh, that book,” a voice filled with disdain said behind her and startled her nearly to the point that she almost dropped the aged tome. She turned to see Bookbinder standing there, adjusting his glasses with a slight scowl on his face. “Forgive me, miss; you might not be aware. That book is a mimic – it’s a term amongst bibliophiles for a book that’s a fraudulent copy of a genuine one.” Slipping on the gloves, he took the copy in hand and said, “See the slightly white pages and how crisp the page edging is? A true book printed in 1890 would have yellowed pages with ragged edges, both because of age and how they were bound back then. The only reason we keep this book around is because it is an authentic translation of the original 1868 Italian book – which we do have, if you’re interested.”

“Well, I’m not,” Sunset told him, “but Twilight might be.”

The old man’s face scrunched in thought. “And Ms. Sparkle is a very good customer of mine. Tell you what, miss – I’ll offer you both books for $200. Normally I’d charge $400 alone for the original Italian, but you’re likely just a high school student and unless times have changed, you probably don’t have much means. Besides,” he said with a grateful grin, “you’d be taking a mimic off my hands – in this business, having one around can be disastrous for one’s reputation.”

“Really?” Sunset asked. When the bookstore nodded, she squeed in joy. “In that case – sold!”

The girls were at the Canterlot International Airport’s Terminal Four, embracing Pinkie as she was ready to head off to her flight out to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. “So!” the cotton-candy-haired tornado said, “It’s a quick flight from CJV to BOI and then from there to XNA! I’ll be ETA at XNA, PDQ!”

“Twily, please tell me you can translate that into English!” Rainbow pled.

Twilight laughed. “Sorry, Rainbow, I may be well-learned, but I’m not a miracle maker.”

As the girls embraced their friend one by one, they all gave her the Christmas gifts they’d gotten her; she’d already given them theirs as well. Finally, Sunset approached Pinkie and hugged her. “You know, I’m going to miss you.”

“Awww, but Sunny, I’ll only be gone for just a week!” Pinkie insisted.

“Yeah, I know.” She then gave her the gift she got for Pinkie: it was a cute pair of balloon earrings that she and Rarity had seen over at the mall the other day. Rarity thought they were perfect for the bouncy teen, and Sunset agreed, grabbing them immediately to get for her friend. “Now you can’t open this until Christmas.”

“Awww….”

“But you can open this,” she said, handing her a second box.

“Oh, goodie!” Pinkie opened immediately and her eyes went wide as saucers. Hugging Sunset, she chirped with glee, “This should keep me busy during the flight.”

Applejack spied what was in the bouncy girl’s hand and she said aloud with despair, “Oh, Sunny, you did not just….”

“Oh, my….” Rarity said, catching sight of the box as well. The other girls did then and the reactions were varied responses.

A muffled voice echoed through the terminal and Pinkie suddenly said, “Well, that’s me! Gotta go!” Pausing just to give her friends kisses on the cheeks, she then went to hug her aunt and uncle – who were also there, though they hadn’t seen what Sunset had bought Pinkie – and then grabbing her bag, made her way to the security checkpoint, pausing every ten steps to wave goodbye to her friends and family.

Twilight looked at Sunset with disappointment. “Really, Sunny?”

Octavia just facepalmed. “I cannot believe you actually bought her a huge box of Mildbon Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs!” The candy was known for its huge triple-chocolate coated goodness and each piece was at least a hundred calories, not to mention the pure sugar shock they caused.

Sunset grinned. “Aww, c’mon, girls – you should know better than that! It’s both science and psychology, wrapped in a pink-haired package!”

Cup didn’t know whether to be irritated or amused by Sunset’s logic. “You just put my hyperactive niece in a tin can with dozens of innocents, Sunset. I hope you’re prepared for the aftermath.”

“Sure I am – she’ll eat the whole thing the minute she sits down, and the pure sugar shock should burn through her system before she even gets up to cruising altitude. By the time the sugar crash sets in, she should be asleep during the whole flight to Boise. Plus, even Pinkie has a limit to how much sugar she ingests, which means that from Boise to North Arkansas, she’ll likely just abstain from anything on the flight!”

A thoughtful look came onto Carrot’s face, and then he gave his employee a smile. “Guess I’ll have to give you a Christmas bonus, won’t I?”

“Well, I guess we’d better get back before the traffic gets too heavy,” Fluttershy suggested. “Besides, we’ll all be here tomorrow for Tavi’s flight, right?” At that, the girls sighed; with Pinkie in Arkansas and Octavia visiting her grandparents in West Egg, up in the Hamptons, they would be down two of the “Eightmazing Eight”, as Pinkie tended to call their group, for the week. Still, as the majority of them were spending the Christmas holiday with their families, there would likely be minimal interaction with their group this week, though with the exception of Pinkie, who would still be at her parents’ place, they all agreed that attending the New Year’s Eve Teen Bash, being sponsored by the County, was a must-attend event.

The ride back home was strangely subdued that night, with Sunset being the quietest amongst them. While Fluttershy and Rarity chatted breezily about a show they were watching on TV and Rainbow and Applejack, in the driver’s and passenger’s seats, respectively, were arguing about what to listen to on the radio for the trip back, Sunset, Octavia and Twilight were commiserating.

“I really do not want to go tomorrow, but my parents are insisting,” Octavia huffed. “And I already know what it’s going to be like: a week of my grandparents showing us around the ultra-rich Hamptons, wondering why we’re ‘slumming it’ in San Palomino while Mom and Dad are always on the road instead of playing for an elite symphony like the New York Philharmonic like my aunt Chanson does, or running a major classical record company like my aunt Rondeau does in Nashville. And then the conversation will eventually turn to me, and why I’m not as ‘gifted’ as my cousins Octavia Philharmonica or Octavia Van Clef.”

Sunset looked at Octavia oddly. “Three of you with the same name?”

The dark hair girl nodded. “Yes – it started when Aunt Rondeau bet her sisters that the first to have a daughter got the rights to the name ‘Octavia’, which has been in my family for generations. So imagine their surprise when all three of them got pregnant at the same time and all three of us cousins were born within minutes of each other; by the time they found out who was firstborn, we all had the name on our birth certificates.”

“But how do they tell you apart?” Rarity, who’d overheard, asked. The look on Fluttershy’s face was also one of interest.

“Mostly by insults and slights,” Octavia replied sadly. “It gets worse when you realize that we all look very similar, though we play different instruments. Octavia – she insists by going just by ‘Octavia’ – plays the cello, while my other cousin plays both the violin and fiddle and picked up the nickname ‘Fiddlesticks’ somewhere along the way.” But it’s hell when my grandmother claims she can’t tell us apart yet somehow crows about the achievements of one in front of the other – I think she’s trying to start a rivalry between us like she did between Mom, Aunt Chanson and Aunt Rondeau. But while Octavia may care about bragging rights, thankfully Fiddlesticks and I get along well.”

“Remind me not to attend one of the family reunions on your mother’s side sometime,” Twilight said.

“Well, we try to stay only as long as we have to, which is usually just a week before Mom, her sisters, and my grandmother start arguing – by the time the drunken shouting starts, Dad’s already packing our bags.”

The look on Fluttershy’s face was sympathetic. “Um…happy holidays?”

“Merry Christmas!”

Sitting around in the room as the family passed the gifts to one another, Sunset felt a warm fuzziness form in her heart. Admittedly, she’d nearly wiped out her bank account getting the gifts, but to her it was more than worth it for the people she’d grown to love. Seeing Spike go ga-ga over the PS4 she’d bought him made the boy almost tolerable for the whole day. For Shining, she’d bought a special military-grade web belt; he’d been complaining that the service-issue belt he had wasn’t sitting well, which would play havoc with his equipment. For Night, she got a new office chair, as he’d been complaining that the air compression cylinder on his kept deflating. Velvet’s gift was an engraved WORLD’S GREATEST FOSTER MOM pen-and-pencil set with wood trim and gold piping; though Sunset felt slightly guilty because she didn’t know what to get her, Twily had insisted that her mother would love it – and indeed, she did.

Seated underneath the tree still were Octavia’s gift, as she insisted that it would make her happy opening it when she got back since she’d need something to relax with; and Cadance’s, as her family went off on a week-long trip to a cabin in the Rockies somewhere in Colorado. As for her friends, they’d already traded gifts the day before and while Twilight and Sunset had yet to open the gifts from their friends, they already knew they’d be something to cherish.

The look on Twilight’s face when she opened her gift was nothing less than utter surprise. “Wow, Sunny! This must’ve set you back a pretty penny! Really, you didn’t have to,” she said. Then as she realized a second book was there, she added, “And a translation? I…I don’t know what to say!” The look on her face showed that the teen was genuinely touched. “Sunny…you really didn’t have to.”

“We’re family, right?” Sunset said as she embraced her foster sister. “You don’t have to say anything at all, Twily.”

“Well, you have to at least open what I got you!” Twilight insisted, stepping out of the hug in order to hand a package to Sunset.

Sunset unwrapped the gift and her eyes opened wide as she squeed. “Ohmi…. The Discord Limited Edition CD Box Set?” Sunset cried, fangirl mode now completely engaging. “Oh, wow – it even has Tricksy Ways and The Center of the Labyrinth! The first one’s his demo album and the second one’s a limited edition EP he only sold at his 1997 world tour! They’re impossible to get!” The ex-unicorn glomped Twily, cooing, “Thank you! I really, really love this – and I know Rainbow’s going to freak when she finds out I have it!”

“Hey, anything for you, Sunny,” Twily said, the two holding each other closely.

Seated on the sofa and loveseat, Shining watched as his sister and foster sister squeed around like two typical teens, without a care in the world. “You know, Mom, Dad, I look at her and think that she’s the best arrest I never made,” he said, taking a sip of his egg nog. “I think about Sunset the day I ran into her in the Industrial and what she’s like now and it’s almost like two different girls.”

“I believe in miracles, Shiny,” Velvet said as she leaned into her husband’s side. “Tia and I have been talking and we think she’s doing well enough that we’re dropping our weekly meeting down to just monthly. Besides, now that we’ve started planning for your wedding, if something comes up about Sunny then we’ll talk at that point. But as of now, she’s just a normal, average girl.”

“Sunset, could you run this over to table two, please?” Cup Cake asked Sunset two days later while at the Sugarcube Corner Café. With Pinkie gone for the week, Sunset had picked up all her friend’s hours, as it was a good way for her to make some extra cash while the school was in winter break. And given that all the other students were out of school as well, the café was absolutely bouncing.

“You got it, Mrs. C.,” Sunset said, taking both plates and walking towards the table on the far side of the restaurant. But as she approached, she saw two girls there, one comforting the other; the comfortee, a girl with striped lime-and-fuchsia hair in a bobbed hairstyle, looked completely torn emotionally; while the other girl, a blonde with her hair tied in a ponytail, looked like she was planning to bruise someone in the near future. “It’s okay. You’re better off without him, girl. Trust me on that,” the latter said to the former.

“But he said he loved me….” the first girl sobbed, her eyes stained red with tears.

“Blossom, we’ll get this squared away, I promise.”

Sunset set the plates onto the table. “Okay, who had the pesto chicken focaccia and who had the tuna club?”

“I had the pes—” the blonde began.

“It’s not fair, dammit!” the girl with the two-tone hair suddenly snapped. “He said he loved me and look what he did!”

“Hey, Blossom, calm down, girl. I promise you he won’t get away with this.”

“Is…everything okay?” Sunset asked as she set the pesto chicken in front of the blonde and the other one in front of the agitated girl.

“Yeah,” the blonde said, trying to be polite even though her body posture and tone indicated that wasn’t on her mind. “Just…my friend got dumped by her boyfriend on Christmas Day an—”

“Kicky, I’m damaged goods now,” the girl named “Blossom” said, looking as though her world had ended. “No one’s going to love me once they find out that I’m…you know,” she said, as if too embarrassed to complete her sentence.

“You are not, so stop saying that!” “Kicky” told her.

Sunset turned to look briefly at her boss and Mrs. Cake gave a subtle nod. And I was wondering why she didn’t just bring the things over herself. Smart move, Mrs. C., she thought to herself as she sat down. “Sounds like everything’s not okay.”

“Ya think?” the short-haired girl snarled. “I was with my boyfriend for two years, and I finally decide that it’s time that we take that next step—”

I can see where this is going, Sunset thought to herself. She remembered the one time she’d had sex with Flash without any protection and while he’d panicked, she hadn’t been worried at the time because she thought that the spell that changed her only on the outside. But now that she knew she was effectively completely human while on Earth…. She forced herself from shuddering; the other girl didn’t need that right now.

“Look, Miss,” Sunset said carefully, “you thought you loved him enough to share a special moment with him – probably the most special moment a mar…a woman will ever share with the person she loves. And he hurt you afterwards, no doubt on that. But that is in no way your fault.”

“See? And that’s what I’ve been trying to tell her!” Kicky said. A second later, she said, “Yeah, well, my manners are shit – I’m Cloud Kicker and this is my best friend Blossomforth. We go to County High,” she said, offering a hand.

“Sunset Shimmer. I go to Canterlot High. Nice to meet you two.”

“Thanks,” Blossomforth said, still looking very fragile.

“Look, maybe it’s none of my business,” Sunset said, “but you’re a pretty girl, and you have a whole future ahead of you. Don’t let one guy dictate who you are or who you can be, because once you do that, you’ll start going down a path you don’t want to go. Trust me on that, Blossomforth; it’s not worth it.”

“You sound like someone who’s been there,” she asked.

“Yeah, more times than I’d care to admit,” she replied sadly. “Far, far more.”

Hours later, Sunset sat in the biting cold of the outside, as the snow fell. She spent the time outdoors looking through a telescope that the family had; many of the stars in the constellations and asterisms above looked familiar and yet at the same time radically different. There’s Ursa Minor, but in Equestria that’s an animal, not a constellation; likewise, the Pegasus Archer’s one of our most familiar constellations, but I don’t see anything even remotely like that in the sky above.

Is this really another dimension, or is the mirror like some kind of giant teleportation field? Is Equestria in another universe, or is it on another world? Could one of those stars out there be Equestria’s sun? And if that’s the case…she can get me at any time. I’m not safe at all. A shudder ran through Sunset’s body as the realization poured ice through her mind and the realization that the princess could just reach out from beyond the black veil of the starscape to end her life made her more terrified than she could ever say.

And no matter what, I deserve whatever I get. I may have changed, but you have to “do the time for the crime,” as they say here.

“Sunny?” Sunset turned around to see Twilight out there, with two mugs of steaming hot chocolate; the former unicorn could pick up the aroma from where her foster sister stood. “What are you doing out here?”

“I…I just needed to be alone for a bit,” she said, brushing the snow off herself, then the spot on the bench next to her. Twilight sat down and Sunset asked, “Twily…am I a monster?”

“No, why woul—”

“I know you talked with the girls; they had to have told you the kind of person I was before the Homecoming Dance,” she said. “I was a bitch, Twily! I was an absolute fucking monster! I pissed all over Rarity’s chances to be chosen as Homecoming Queen; I bullied Flutters because she couldn’t stand up for herself; I repeatedly stole Pinkie’s lunch just because I could; I belittled AJ because of her accent and because Rainbow’s Hispanic I…I made a lot of racial slurs. And these are the girls that eventually forgave me and became my friends!” She sat there, silent as the snow fell on her, melting against her skin and blending – and maybe hiding – tear trails. “And I’ve done so much worse, Twily.

“Derpy Hooves? Nice girl, part of the technology club, cute as a button…but she’s got strabismus. Guess what I picked on her for? Vinyl Scratch – I know she comes from a broken home, and I just fucked with her mercilessly because her parents had a very vociferous and nasty divorce, the kind that anyone in town hears about. Bon-Bon and Lyra? Do you know how much I insulted them because they’re a lesbian couple? Didn’t even matter to me – still doesn’t – but I did it just because I could. Trixie Lulamoon? I know that her bragging hides a very insecure personality – she’s probably seeing a therapist because of what I did.” Sunset went on and, through dozens of names and people Twilight didn’t know, a horrific litany of Sunset’s crimes.

“And for almost four years, I enjoyed every fucking moment of it; a Grand Guignol for my own entertainment, because I didn’t care. Bullying Daisy Flowerwishes because I thought she was a histrionic cunt? Did it; had no idea, nor did I care that she was going through problems at home. Made fun of Starbright because she wanted to be model-thin? Happily did so, without giving a damn that she probably has anorexia issues. I could go on and on, but you get the point.” Sunset looked at Twilight, her turquoise eyes wondering if she’d finally hit her foster sister’s revulsion point; that Twilight would just pour the hot chocolate on her and never have anything to do with her again.

“Here,” Twilight said, shoving one of the mugs into Sunset’s hands. “You’ll freeze your butt off otherwise.” She then looked at Sunset and asked, “What brought this on?”

“I met a girl today. She’d been with her boyfriend for two years, and finally decided to sleep with him. He dumped her on Christmas Day. Got her friend all riled up and worried sick – this first girl, I was almost afraid was approaching suicidal. And watching her go through the hell that she went through while her friend and I tried to convince her that he wasn’t worth all that pain…it made me wonder exactly how much pain I’d put others through. Even my closest friends, who have forgiven me…they may have, but I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“Because I….” Sunset took a drink of the hot cocoa, feeling its warmth slide down her gullet, giving her the boost for what she was about to say. “My friends…they’re wonderful. But you and Tavi, your parents and your brothers? Cady? You’re all… you’re the family I’ve never had. And if I’ve treated my friends like shit, I’m horrified that I may turn on you all someday, because that’s what monsters do.”

“I see,” Twilight said, falling silent as the two sat there in the snow. The pair was quiet for a few more minutes, before Twilight spoke again. “Sunny…you’re no monster.”

“Twily, I—”

The purple-haired girl held a hand up. “Please, let me finish. You’re not a monster. Maybe you were in the past. Nothing can be done about what came before – all we can do is just keep moving on. I was a lot more insecure and awkward before I met you and the others, but you’ve all helped me to get through that. I’m not the same girl I was a couple of months ago…and neither are you.

“You keep trying to push us away and keep us at a certain distance, Sunny; don’t think that we haven’t noticed. But none of us think that you’re doing it because you don’t care; actually, if you ask me, I think you’re doing it because you do. It’s the hedgehog’s dilemma: You want to become closer, but you’re afraid to do so because you’re afraid that you’ll hurt the ones you love.”

Sunset shook her head. “I’ve done it before, Twily. I had a mother figure years ago. A wonderful ma…mentor and teacher who I think wanted to adopt me. And I threw everything in her face. She loved me so much…and I loved her as well…and all I could do was to just throw everything she ever taught me in her face and run away. I haven’t stopped running since.”

Twilight nodded in response before asking, “Do you remember that fight we had last month?”

“I’d rather forget it, truth be told.”

Twilight shook her head as she said, “Not me. You cared enough to fight with me, Sunny. Not to belittle me or bully me or anything like that, but because you care about me enough to realize that however angry I might be with your opinion – and I still think you’re off-base on that – I’m not angry with you. Because we’re family – sisters – and that’s how family is.”

“You keep saying that, but how…how can you just think of me like that?”

A soft grin came onto Twilight’s face. “Because it’s just natural when it comes to you – it’s like we’re two sides of the same coin. Tavi and I…we grew up together, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely of different minds; same thing with Shiny, Spike and even Cady. But with you?” She chuckled softly. “Mom said that she and her sister, my aunt Twilight Glitter, are sisters not just because of blood, but because they’re naturally two sides of a coin. It’s like you and I were born to be a counterpoint to one another.

“I don’t know – and I don’t care – what was in your past, Sunny. I didn’t know that Sunset Shimmer, and frankly, I don’t want to. But the Sunset Shimmer I know now would probably do any and everything in her power to make sure that I was never hurt. I know that, I can feel that in my bones. And I’m putting that trust in you, because we’re family. Because maybe fate decided that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer were meant to be linked – heck, even our names basically mean the same thing.”

“Really? I never noticed.” Of course, the Princess pointed that out as well, but I didn’t give a shit back then.

“Yes you did; you just didn’t really want to, because you were afraid – hedgehog’s dilemma, once again.”

“You keep bringing that up a lot.”

“Well of course; I’m an academic.”

Sunset grinned. “You know, you’re not the only one with a brain in the house, Twily. For the record, I do read quite a bit.”

“Okay, then why are your grades so abysmal?”

“Because I really didn’t give a shit – or have anyone to give a shit for me. But between you and everyone in the family, what choice do I have? Besides, I really don’t want to embarrass Mom or Da—”

Twilight crossed her arms. “Did you just call my parents ‘Mom and Dad’?” When Sunset’s eyes went wide, Twilight pointed at her in victory. “Ah ha! Toldja that you care!”

Shades of red creeped onto Sunset’s cheeks. “Figure of speech?”

“Oh, wait until I tell my parents – they’ll go ‘awwww’ and you’ll never hear the end of it,” Twilight teased. Sunset merely rolled her eyes. “Well, I think we’ve wasted enough time out here.” Twilight stood up and offered her foster sister a hand. “So, going to sit out here and continue to sulk, or do we want to waste some time on Netflix?”

Sunset smiled. “Netflix sounds good.”

The first thing Twilight Velvet and Night Light noticed when they went downstairs the following morning was that unfortunately, it did not snow enough for work to be cancelled and the plows had cleared the streets and poured de-icing salts. The second thing they noticed was that it was a nice enough day that most people would likely call in sick or be late that they had enough time to head to a diner and have a nice breakfast together.

The third thing they noticed was the scent of food wafting upstairs, which was weird, because Spike wouldn’t fix himself anything to save his life, Twilight tended not to get up early on the days that she didn’t have to go to school…and Sunset was a notoriously late sleeper. Not to mention that all three kids weren’t that great in the kitchen; while Spike had picked up a few tricks, neither Twilight nor Sunset were inclined towards cooking in the slightest.

“Is that brie I smell?” Night asked.

“Spinach and mushroom, too,” Velvet added. “Should we be worried about someone having broken into the house?”

“What kind of burglar cooks breakfast?” Night replied as both walked into the kitchen. There, they were surprised to see Sunset placing down two plates of what looked like an omelet and hashbrowns, alongside toast, coffee and orange juice. Seeing that it was Sunset – Sunset! – up before eleven in the morning, both of them looked at her with surprise.

“Morning!” Sunset said, happily, spooning what looked like a hollandaise sauce onto the omelets. “Hope you have time for breakfast before you went out the door!” She paused, giving kisses on the cheeks to both Velvet and Night and then said, “Go ahead and start; I’m going to go wake Twily and Spike up and see if they want to eat right now; if not—” she shrugged, “—I’m sure I can make something for them later.”

Both Velvet and Night blinked. Twice. Thrice. And as they watched Sunset head up the stairs, Velvet asked in an utterly perplexed voice, “Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone?”

“I’m willing to guess LSD trip, personally,” Night answered, equally stunned, “but I never did drugs in my life.”

“Can I keep this?” one boy asked another as he held up the phone.

The second boy grinned. “Yeah, it’s why I gave it to you, dude.”

A third boy looked at the image on the phone. “Wow, and I always thought she was kinda mousy – no idea she looked like a porn star. You sure this is legit and not some Photoshop bullshit?”

The second boy looked at the first. “Join The Club and find out.” The second boy pressed a button on his phone and brought up another image. “Now I’m sure this image looks familiar.”

“Holy fuck, is that…?” the first guy asked.

“Fuck yes, it is! But how the fuck did you get that?” the third boy asked.

“Connections,” the second one said as he turned off the phone. “When you join The Club, membership has its privileges,” he said, affecting a faux-British voice. “But the deal is that we trade. But we’ve got some good ones, and from all over the place – not just Canterlot High.”

“How good we talking?” the first boy inquired.

To answer that, the second boy tapped a couple more responses into his phone and brought up a new picture. “Fleur Dis Lee: eighteen, senior at Zacherle, is already doing modelling – that enough for you?”

A fourth guy spoke up. “This has got to be bullshit. For one, I know that girl and she wouldn’t do anything like that. Secondly, her boyfriend – Fancy…something or other – he’s student council vice president over at Muenchinger, and you really think that he’d—”

“Let’s just say we got it through…other means,” a fifth boy spoke. “And let’s also say we have a few…choice others. Interested?”

“Wow, they really decorated the place!” Twilight said with glee as she stepped into the community center.

“You got that right, sugarcube,” Applejack added.

Meanwhile, behind them was Sunset, practically dancing in and not caring who was watching. Wearing her headphones, she knew she looked ridiculous, but for the moment, she really didn’t give a damn. It was New Year’s Eve, and the County’s Department of Parks and Recreation sponsored a New Year’s Eve Teen Bash for all the schools in the area: it was a chance for Sunset and her friends to dance together and have fun, maybe mingle with a few of the students from the other public and private schools in the county…except, of course, for those attending The Blanks.

As she slipped off her jacket, she handed it off to Twilight, who was trying not to laugh. Behind her, however, were Rarity and Octavia, who did. “It’s a shame Pinkie’s not here to see this,” the fashionista said between titters, “as I’m sure she’d absolutely enjoy this.”

“C’mon, Rarity, just let her be,” the raven-haired musician replied. “It’s good to see her smile.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Fluttershy said as she walked in. She’d borrowed a dress from her mother, and looked utterly sultry in it…if it wasn’t for the perpetually innocent look on her face.

Lastly came in Rainbow, who took one look at Sunset as she grabbed Octavia’s hand and started dancing to the non-existent music; the rainbow-haired athlete collapsed on the ground, laughing her ass off.

Finally, Octavia stopped and pulled the earbuds from her friend’s ears. “Hey, would you mind leaving the interplanetary good-vibe zone for a second?”

Sunset blushed. “Okay, okay, you were right – I like the song. Happy?”

“Ecstatic. I told you some of Aunt Velvet’s CD collection is worth listening to if you just find the right gems.”

“Well, darlings,” Rarity said, looking at her friends, “shall we start mingling?”

“Hey, let’s wait until some more people show up, Rares,” Sunset said. “We don’t want to look like we’re the only girls in here besides the deejay,” she said, pointing to Vinyl Scratch, who was setting up.

“Oh, hey, Vinyl, need some help?” Vinyl turned around to see Flash Sentry standing there. Somehow she wasn’t surprised; she’d heard some rumors that since he and Sunset Shimmer had broken up earlier in the year that he was on the tail trail. While she wasn’t sure of that, she did know that he’d become somewhat of an asshole as of late, denting his earlier saintly image. It was ironic, considering that “Mr. Nice Guy” had lost his halo right around the time that his former girlfriend, the now-deposed queen bee of the school, had reputedly found hers.

“Naaah, I got it, thanks,” she said politely, and he nodded. Maybe I’m wrong about—

“Hey, anyone ever tell you that you’re cute?” he asked.

Well, that didn’t take long, she thought, rolling her eyes behind the safety of her shades. Lifting them so their eyes could meet, she said, “Look, Flash, I’ll make it clear: I’m into girls. I’m sure you’re a nice guy and all, but sorry, not interested.”

“My bad,” he said, shrugging. “But my statement still stands, and so does my offer to help.”

“Well, okay then!” she said, dropping her shades back in place. “In that case, can you move my disc crates over here underneath the deck?”

“Yeah, sure thing.” As he went over to the crates, he noticed the cardboard sleeves. “Wow, you still use old-fashioned albums?”

She nodded. “Hell yeah! Electronic scratching just sounds fake to me. And while I’m not entirely analog, I make sure I’ve got my breaks, beats and scratches entirely from the decks. Sampling and stuff, yeah, can’t avoid a computer, but anyone who can rock a turntable and prefers to use a digital control surface? Sad, just sad.” She gave him a knowing smile. “In the end, I just like my scratches to be natural, y’know?”

“Hey, you’re the expert at this stuff; I’m just a guitar kind of guy.” He spent a few more minutes helping her get set up before his eyes started wandering, watching as his ex-girlfriend came in. He and Sunset had some times together – couldn’t exactly call them “fun” or “good”, per se – but she had a cute body and he was more than willing, so they matched. Unfortunately, she turned out to be a high-maintenance bitch, so luckily he was glad to be rid of her. As for her friends, well…he was surprised she had any; he’d have thought she’d somehow magically pissed off the entire school.

But then there was the two that were with them that did not look familiar at all. And the girl with the purple hair? There was something definitely familiar about her, though he could not put his finger on exactly what it was….

“Hey, Vinyl? You know who those two are? The ones who came in with Sunset?”

“Sure, that’s Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. As for the others, not a clue, but they’re kinda cute. Whydja ask?”

“The girl with the straight purple hair – I swear I’ve seen her somewhere before. I’m wracking my brain trying to remember, but it’s not coming to mind. But she does seem really familiar for some reason.”

“Well, I might not have a clue, but you might want to ask Sweet Scoops. She’s on the school newspaper, so she knows practically everyone at school – and more than a few outside as well.”

“Yeah, will do, thanks,” he said as he departed.

“No problem!” Vinyl called back before adding, “Oh, hey, and if that girl with the black hair swings my way, get her number for me, okay? She’s got a real cute ass!”

Scoops brushed a lock of her magenta-and-orange hair out of her face. “Wait…they’re here with your ex and you don’t know who they are? Really?”

Flash sighed. “Look, Sunset and I didn’t exactly have a ‘conversational’ kind of relationship, if you catch my drift.”

“Gotcha. Fortunately for you, I do know who she is.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but the answer’s probably going to slap you in the face,” she told him, a slight smile coming onto her countenance.

He rolled her eyes. “Don’t leave me hanging, Scoops.”

“Well, Mac and I have been dating for years, and Mac’s sister AJ is friends with Sunset. And if I heard AJ right, that purple-haired girl is Sunset’s sister, Twilight Sparkle, and the other one’s their cousin, Octavia Melody. They both attend Zacherle, if I recall.”

He blinked. “Wait – Sunset’s got a sister? She told me she was an only child!”

“Well, they don’t look alike, so maybe one of them is adopted?” Scoops asked, shrugging. “Either way, it’s not my issue. Why’d you ask?”

An all-too-readable look came over his face. “Well, I’m thinking tha—”

She narrowed her eyes. “Okay, stop right there, Sentry. I don’t want to be involved with this. If you have to tell someone, I suggest you tell Orange Box; her father owns a funeral parlor and can get you a discount on a coffin – because I guarantee if you’re going to try something with your ex-girlfriend’s sister, you’re as good as dead.”

“Hey, I think I have a chance,” he told her.

“She goes to Zacherle, and her sister – your ex-girlfriend, in case you somehow managed to forget – is a currently dormant volcano that will likely explode all over your exposed posterior once she finds out. What part of ‘do not mess with this’ did you not understand? The quotation marks?”

“Thanks for the confidence vote,” he muttered.

“Hey, it’s your funeral. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I probably should go say hi to my boyfriend and his sister. Don’t worry – I’ll keep your suicidal plan a secret.”

“I see your luck with the ladies is as sterling as always, Flash,” a voice told him. Flash turned to see a boy slightly older than him, who could be best described as “refugee from a bishonen anime”: fair, androgynous face, slight build, eyes as blue as the summer sky and flowing blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a white blazer, pale gray sweater, shirt, black tie, pale gray slacks and black shoes, all of which looked to be ludicrously expensive and likely from an overpriced Italian designer.

“Well, hello, Blue,” Flash said, looking at the newcomer. “Actually bothered to mingle with the great unwashed?”

Blueblood gave a smile. “Well, normally I wouldn’t, but, dear cousin, seeing as that you and I are on friendly terms, I would say your presence bumps up the quality of the room to, shall we say, hoi polloi-level?” he laughed.

“Yeah, maybe. But seriously, why are you here?”

Blueblood grunted. “Decided to get away from my usual New Year’s Eve entertainments and the so-called ‘girlfriend.’” He made a sucking sound, stating, “That noise you heard was the drain Suri Polomare’s been doing on my wallet every time we go somewhere. I can afford it, admittedly, but since she’s all tease and no play, I thought I’d come see if there were any, ahem, ‘diamonds in the rough’ that could keep me entertained.” Something caught his eye. “Like the girl with the royal purple waves. She looks as though she has some class, albeit likely in that My Fair Lady sort of manner.”

“Yeah, a friend said her name is Rarity, by the way,” Flash said, a sound of relief in his voice. “Whew. For a moment, I thought you were talking about the same girl I was looking at: long purple hair, magenta and violet shocks?”

“She is cute, now that you mention it – but seeing as you had your eye on her I’ll stay clear. Do you know who she is?”

“Yeah. She’s apparently Sunset’s sister. Her name’s Twilight Sparkle.”

An interested look came onto Blueblood’s face. “Interesting. Considering her for The Club, or personal vendetta?”

“I wasn’t thinking of revenge against my ex,” Flash replied, looking at the girl named Twilight with interest, “but I’d say it’d be a fitting revanchism considering how she treated me. As for The Club, I think I’d be willing to make a sacrifice for our friends. Besides, considering she’s hanging out with the girl you’re looking at, I don’t doubt they know each other.”

“Well, we shall simply wait until Sunset steps away, and then introdu….” He swore under his breath. “Great, that witch is there.”

“Witch?”

Blueblood nodded, the look on his face akin to distaste. “You see that girl over there with the raven-colored hair? That’s Octavia Melody. She’s a tease if you ever met one – promised me something ‘special’, but backed out once I was ready. Rather gauche, considering I took the time to drive her all the way out to Makeout Point outside Horseshoe Bay.”

Flash thought. “Hrm. Maybe this calls for a little bit of coordinated effort,” he said. “How would you feel about expanding the ranks a bit?”

“Oh, great – what’s he doing here?” Octavia said under her breath.

Sunset heard her; unfortunately, the other girls were having such a fun time dancing, they hadn't heard. “Something wrong, Tavi?”

“Yeah, I thought I just saw that guy I told you I went on a date with. Mr. Grabbyhands?”

“Hey, you’re with friends. No way in hell is he touching you or starting anything,” Sunset told her.

“Yeah, I know…. Sorry, just…bad memories,” she explained.

“Well, don’t worry; you’re safe with us,” Sunset promised. But as she looked at Octavia, out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Flash. And knowing her irritating ex-boyfriend, that meant something was up, and chances were it wasn’t good.

Well, as long as it doesn’t affect me, no skin off my teeth. Problem is, with my luck…. Sunset shook her head. It was going to be a new year in an hour, a new chance at a different future, one Sunset was determined to be a part of with her family.

Sunny, just relax – how bad can it get?

“Can I take the blindfold off?” Vinyl Scratch asked Flash two days later. “Because if this is some stupid-ass roofie thing, I swear I’m—”

“No trick, Vinyl,” Flash assured her. “Trust me, this is actually for your benefit.” He then removed the blindfold. “And here we are. Welcome to The Club.”

She found herself in a very nicely decorated cottage. Looking out the window, she saw a larger home, a mansion; likely this was the guest cottage. Seated around the room, with tablets, laptops and phones, were a bunch of boys, many of which she knew: Star Gazer, Noteworthy and Caramel, from Canterlot High; Flax, Tempeh and Scallywag from County High. She also recognized a few other guys from other high schools in the area: San Palomino, Horseshoe Bay, Forest Edge, Muenchinger, and even one or two from The Blanks. The fact that there were dozens of guys in the room and she was the only girl made her worried slightly.

“Heh, so, you brought us live entertainment this time?” a scruffy, ugly knuckledragger of a boy she knew as Rover, asked. He’d been at Canterlot High for freshman year before being expelled; he’d since continued his education at The Blanks – assuming he did so at all.

“Don’t be so gauche,” a college-preppy looking guy said; she might have chased him if her inclinations went in that direction. Either way, something said he was in charge, so she thought she’d take a listen. “She’s here to be our first female member. After all, we are an, ahem, ‘egalitarian’ group, are we not?”

“Yeah, you tell, ‘em, Blueblood!” a boy she recognized as Silversteel – his dad was a recruiter for the Army if she remembered correctly; likewise, Silversteel was one of those “legacy” kind of guys and thus was in the school’s JROTC.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Vinyl asked.

“We have…a slight problem we need to be taken care of,” Flash said. “We need a more…delicate touch,” he told her.

Meanwhile, Blueblood went over to a cabinet, revealing a decent supply of alcohol. “Care for a drink?”

“You do know we’re all underage, right?” she asked him.

Blueblood rolled his eyes. “My parents couldn’t care less; otherwise I wouldn’t be living here in the guest cottage. Besides, this is San Palomino – any issue can go away if you know which palms to grease and which policeman’s ‘charities’ to fund.”

“In that case, Vodka and OJ,” she said with a grin. “So what’s the plan of yours?”

Flash explained in vivid detail. Vinyl couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but at the same time, to call it intriguing was an understatement: it was a virtual guarantee that anyone doing so would definitely get some action at the very least.

“And you’re serious about this?” she asked the moment he was finished.

“We’ll give you everything you need, and it’s guaranteed to work,” Blueblood said, handing her the drink. “You told Flash you thought she was your style; care to find out?”

Vinyl looked at the drink that the senior had just poured her. If it worked that well…what proof was there that her drink hadn’t been spiked?

“I think I’ll take a Coke,” she said, passing it back to the older teen. “Sealed, if you don’t mind.”

“Smart girl,” Blueblood said, drinking the cocktail himself to prove there had been nothing wrong with it. “Still interested?”

She sat down on the couch, and as she did, Thunderlane passed her a Coke – one of the old glass bottles. “Tell me more,” she said, an intrigued look coming onto her face as she removed her shades and pulled a bottle opener out of her pocket.

Author's Note

Obviously "Everfree" isn't a word derived from the Yana language. Well, not as far as I know, anyway.

The three Octavias joke comes from the three very different representations of her: Octavia Melody (canon), Octavia Philharmonica (her believed name prior to the trademark issuance; this is the one who is usually believed to be Vinyl Scratch's lover), and Octavia Van Clef (an intellectual, non-sexualized version who may or may not know Vinyl but is an old friend of Twilight's.) Fiddlesticks is obviously a different character, but I thought I'd merge her into the mess as well; this was done well before someone asked if Fiddlesticks was the merged twin inside Tavi.

January 6: Komm Und Spiel Mit Mir

On the subway ride home, Vinyl was very quiet. What she’d been offered…it was paradise, better than any drug or alcohol she’d ever partaken of; a chance at pure ecstasy.

But like any contract on the crossroads, if she got caught, she was done for. Bad enough that she came from a broken household, worse that life had gotten so bad at home that her older brother Long Play had essentially left to move in with their father in Detroit – yeah, how bad does your home life have to be that Detroit is the better option? But getting caught would mean a one-way ticket to The Blanks if she got off easy – and jail time if she didn’t.

Of course, either The Blanks or jail would probably be a preferred punishment compared to the hell she’d go through if her mother found out that her “pure, impressionable but a little too naïve for her own good” Vinyl liked girls – yes, in that way. Of course, Vinyl hadn’t known that at first: She’d thought the first guy she’d been with at the tender age of thirteen just meant that the first relationships weren’t the greatest. But then she met Cloud Kicker, and…well, Kicky’s standards were a little different, as the girl would do anything with a pulse, Vinyl included. They didn’t last of course: Vinyl, despite her rough, boisterous nature, wanted romance and Kicky just wanted, well, “her kicks”, but they still remained friends. The relationship, however, had been a learning experience for Vinyl, who now knew what she wanted in life, a Ms. Right of her very own.

And nothing crystallized that fact more than when she met someone nearly a full year ago – last February, to be precise. The girl in question probably didn’t remember; after all, after Vinyl’s mother got on her case to “clean up and not look like a slut” that day, Vinyl had slicked back her hair, wore her actual glasses – few people knew her shades were actually prescription lenses – and played classical guitar in a performance as a favor for an influential state politician her mother was likely fuc…“lobbying”. The girl had been complimented by a beauty with raven-dark hair and amethyst eyes that immediately set every iota of Vinyl’s being aflame with desire.

She’d thought about the girl on-and-off – more on than off, truthfully – for the past year, and had it not been for the chance occurrence last week, she would have never known who the girl was. But Flash’s fumbling attempt had led towards a name, an identity for Vinyl’s muse.

Octavia Melody.

Now, Vinyl had a chance – an opportunity! – to meet the girl and woo her, bed her and get everything the young deejay ever wanted. All it was going to cost, as she looked at the small medicinal bottle in her hand, was her soul.

“Where did you pick up this song?” Sunset asked Velvet as they pulled up in front of Canterlot High the first Monday after school resumed.

“Dear, Night and I have very extensive tastes in music. I wish I could have passed them onto my children, but maybe it’s more nurture than nature,” she sighed. “Who knows, maybe it’ll rub off on you if you stay with us long enough.”

“I really don’t think I’m going to be listening to…uh….”

“1970s West German pop music?” Velvet helpfully supplied.

“Yeah, that.”

The woman laughed. “Well…I don’t blame you. This is actually Night’s disc, not mine; really, I don’t care much for it either.” She shrugged. “So, headed straight to work after, or do you need someone to pick you up?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, Rarity, Fluttershy and I are going shopping afterwards, but I’ll be home for dinner.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you then.” Sunset kissed Velvet on the cheek and got out of the car, and as the Ford Edge drove off into the distance, she smiled to herself. Since that talk with Twilight, Sunset began to open up more to her foster family, and as the barriers fell, she began to feel the same comfort with them that they did with her. She’d even stopped having the nightmares over the holiday break. And while she didn’t know if she’d ever be safe from Princess Celestia’s wrath, she now knew that she’d have someone in her corner should it ever come to it.

After all, no one knows you better than family, she thought to herself with a smile as she headed towards the school’s entrance.

“Hey, Shimmer?” Sunset turned to see a girl walking towards her.

“Oh, hi, Minuette!” she said, waving.

Minuette blinked. “Wait…no ‘Colgate’, ‘Aqua Fresh’ or ‘Crest’ jokes?”

“No, that would be rude,” Sunset replied. “You’ve already got enough crap to deal with because both your parents are dentists and you’ve been teased non-stop about that since you were a kid. And speaking of which, I apologize for all the times I’ve been rude or me—”

“Wait – you sure you’re Sunset Shimmer? Or did you get replaced by an alien?”

“Well, in a manner of speaking, yes, I am Sunset Shimmer, and yes, I am an alien,” Sunset said, joking…or at least as far as the other girl knew.

Minuette blinked twice. “Uh, nevermind. Anyway, I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but…I need your help.”

“Why me?”

“Because, well…you’re a bully and mean an—”

“Pass,” Sunset said abruptly. When Minuette looked at her, Sunset added, “Look…I had my eyes opened over the past few months, and I’m extremely ashamed of the person I was. Now, you might not believe me, but I have five friends who trust me totally and I’m not willing to risk those friendships over going back to my old ways. Likewise, I have a family that loves me and I would not want to disappoint them by becoming the monster I was.” She gave the other girl a sympathetic look, but said, “If you want to talk it over with someone…I’d be happy to listen during lunch. But if you’re expecting me to beat anyone up, I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken.”

As Sunset walked away, Minuette said, “Can your friends be trusted?”

“With my deepest secrets – literally,” was Sunset’s answer.

“In that case, fine; I’ll join you at your table for lunch.”

“Oh, that’s easy, girls,” Twilight said with a smile. “The answer is ‘cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos’, which means ‘whoever owns the land, it is theirs up to the heavens and down to hell’.”

“Wow, Twilight, that’s awesome – I could never have passed my Latin test without your help!” the first girl said, gushing, while the second one behind her was just as amazed.

“Look, if you two need more help, let me know and we can meet for lunch in the library sometime and study, okay?”

“Thanks, Twilight!” the second girl called back, as both left.

“See you later, Amethyst Star, Sea Swirl!” she said, waving as they headed towards whatever plans they had for lunchtime. She heard chuckling behind her and Twilight didn’t have to turn around to address the individual. “What’s so funny, Tavi?”

“Those girls are totally crushing on you, you know that?” Octavia said as she met her cousin in the main corridor of their school. “Of course, you probably didn’t notice that, given that you have your head in a book half the time….”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m not that dense. It’s just that my tastes don’t lean in that direction and I don’t want to encourage anything.”

“And how do you know, hmmm?”

“Well, what about you? Your date with a guy didn’t go so well. Willing to try batting for the other side?”

“‘Batting for the other side?’ You’re starting to sound like Sunny,” Octavia mock-groaned, but then added, “Seriously, though, two months ago you would’ve barely talked to those girls much less anything else.”

“Yeah, I know,” Twilight said as she cycled the combination on her locker and opened it. “The other day Dad said that he thinks having Sunny around’s been as good for the both of us as we’ve been for her.”

“The both of us?”

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed, you’re not as caustic or defensive as you used to be,” the younger cousin pointed out.

Octavia thought about it for a moment. “I guess you’re right, though I never thought of it that way.”

“Yeah, even Spike’s started to lay off the Sunny-hate as of late, and as funny as it seems, I’ve caught her referring to my parents as ‘Mom and Dad’ once in a while. I think she’s finally starting to feel like she’s part of the family, as far as she’s concerned.”

“Think your parents will adopt her?” Octavia asked.

“I dunno,” Twilight replied. “I think Shiny, Spike and I would be comfortable with it, but my parents might not be; I mean, it’s not like Sunny is Spike’s age, after all. She’ll be going to college in a few years – well, community college, if she doesn’t improve her grades – and that’s another expense for my parents while they’re thinking about their own futures and saving for Spike’s college fund.”

“I see your parents aren’t exactly worried about you getting a scholarship,” Octavia replied.

“Well, considering that I already got some interest from a few Ivy League schools, probably not. But getting back to what I was saying, the other thing is that I think Sunny sometimes worries that her previous guardian might try to take her back.”

“Do you think that’ll….” Octavia trailed off as two people approached them. Twilight, seeing the look on her cousin’s face, turned around and saw them as well, immediately understanding Octavia’s reaction. Both were seniors, both were incredibly beautiful and were very influential in the school. To call them the “queen bees” of the Zacherle Academy for Girls would have been a close but inaccurate statement; the tradition at the school was for the seniors to take underclassmen under their wing like older sisters, and the most popular girls tended to take this role seriously.

Even still, it was weird to have both Fleur Dis Lee and Champagne Dreams approaching them. “Excuse me, Twilight?” Champagne said, her soft, gentle voice holding a slightly amused tone in it that was reflected in the older girl’s wheat-colored eyes.

“Um, yes?” Twilight asked.

“This is for you,” Champagne said, giving Twilight a small note. “Someone slipped it into my locker with the request that I deliver it to you.”

“Thanks, Champagne,” Twilight said, appreciative.

“Not a problem; it’s always nice to see young love develop,” the older girl said with a smile, and Twilight turned a bright red in response. As Champagne giggled slightly, she added, “Don’t be so embarrassed, Twilight. You may not realize it, but you’re probably one of the prettiest in your age group. And while I’m going to guess that you don’t intend to model like Fleur and I do, you shouldn’t be surprised if people find you attractive.”

“You know, Chamie, it’s funny you mention that,” Fleur said, “because I got the same kind of note...but it’s addressed to Octavia here.” The coral-haired girl held up a similar looking envelope before handing it to the other sophomore. “Looks like someone – or someones – has noticed the two of you.”

Champagne grinned. “Perhaps they’ll be our successors as the school divas?”

Fleur nodded in approval. “They certainly have the qualities that embody it.”

The flax-haired girl looked at the nearest clock. “Well, lunch time’s passing and I’ve still a few other errands I’ve got to take care of. I’ll see you two ladies later, and best of luck!” For her part, Fleur gave the girls an encouraging wink and with that, both seniors departed.

Twilight and Octavia looked at each other, both of them completely surprised. “Did you…?” Twilight asked.

“Not a clue,” Octavia answered, not really sure what was going on.

Twilight, curious, opened hers first:

“Chez Crabbé? Wow, your secret admirer’s going all out!” crowed an awed Octavia. “That’s, like, the most expensive restaurant in Horseshoe Bay!”

“Yeah, it’s also an inn,” Twilight said, a look of slight worry on her face.

Octavia picked up on that instantly. “Hey, don’t worry. I really doubt that whomever it is that wants to meet you’s going to try anything with a hotel room. For one, we’re teenagers – anything stupid has ‘statutory’ written all over it. Plus, it just happens that the restaurant has the inn attached to it – I think more people go there for the food than to stay, since there are nicer hotels in town.”

“Okay, maybe I am a little too worried.”

“Trust me, you are. Now, let’s see what I’ve got.”

“Hmm. The Glazed Carrot. Never heard of it.”

“Sure you have: That’s where Shiny took Cady the night he proposed to her. It’s that restaurant downtown over on Cobblestone Road, across the street from that really loud nightclub.”

“Oh, that’s the one?” Octavia said with distaste. “Well, it’s not like I’m old enough or have any interest in going to The Boombox anyway. But, I wonder what the ratings are for the Glazed Carrot,” Octavia asked as she put the note in her pocket and pulled out her phone. “I’m sure Yelp’s got something on it.”

“Nervous?”

“Kinda – I’m worried that it might be Blueblood trying something.”

“I doubt it, Tavi. You told me yourself that Shiny scared the hell out of him, and even if that wasn’t the case, it’s been what, a year? He’s probably moved on to victimize some other poor girl.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s most likely some nerdy guy I met at one of my performances last year; I’ll have a nice dinner, he’ll ask me out again, and unless he’s worth the effort, I’ll probably just say no and we’ll remain friends. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” Putting away her phone, she said, “C’mon, let’s go get lunch while we still can.”

“You guys have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this,” Minuette told the group. “If you tell anyone, I’m jacked. And I’m serious about this, guys – I can’t even tell my friends!”

Sunset looked at her friends, who in turn nodded. “You have our word.”

“Okay,” the girl said, pulling a phone out of her pocket. “This phone belongs to my brother’s best friend; he left it at our place by accident, apparently. Since it looks like mine, I thought it was, and since I had to call my friends to tell them I was running late to meet them, I picked it up and used the default unlocking pattern. It wasn’t until I was looking for a picture in the gallery app that I realized it wasn’t mine…and that’s when I saw what freaked me out.” With that, Minuette passed the phone to Sunset.

Sunset took the phone and then one by one the other five girls looked at the images. Eventually, the looks on their faces went from confused to completely perturbed.

“Hey, Minnie,” Pinkie asked with her usual lack of aplomb, “why are you na—”

“Pinkie,” Applejack said, “Pinkie Promise me you're gonna keep quiet – now.”

The cotton-candy-haired girl sighed. “Okay. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” she said, along with a complex bunch of motions that looked more akin to what a fourth-grader’s schoolyard vow. “Hey, why do we say ‘needle in the eye’, anyway? Who wants to put a needle in their eye? For that matter, who wants to die? Die, fly…hey! Can’t we just ‘hope to fly’ instead? And there’s got to be something better to stick in—”

“Pinkie!” Rainbow said, testily.

“All yours, Sunny,” Applejack continued.

“Thanks, AJ,” Sunset said before hushing her voice as she asked, “Minuette…why are there naked pictures of you on someone else’s phone?”

The girl looked like she was going to cry. “I used to date a guy that attends County; I sexted him a pic once…I know it was stupid to do so, and that pic was the first one you saw. But the others…I didn’t send him any of the others! I don’t even know where they came from!”

“Minuette, dear, if I may be frank…you look as though you’re in…” Rarity blushed furiously as she stammered, “…y-you’re in coitus in that fourth picture.”

“Yes,” she said, mortified. “I…I slept with Stylin’. He-he’s Waterfire’s boyfriend.”

“And Waterfire is?”

“My best friend,” Minuette said, looking as though her world was about to end. “I-I don’t remember what happened. Stylin’ asked me to go shopping with him last month to buy something for Wai – that’s Waterfire – and we stopped for lunch over at the Burger Shack. The next thing I remember is that….” She trailed off in an incomprehensible sob. “What have I done?”

“Well, if you ask me,” Rainbow said, her eyes narrowing, “you’re a two-timing b—”

“Rainbow, stop!” Fluttershy scolded. “That’s not helping! Besides, look at her! Does she look like she enjoyed it?”

The athlete, chastened, said, “Fine, I’ll hear the whole thing. But I swear, if she’s screwing over her friend – and screwing her friend’s boyfriend….” Rainbow pointed an accusing finger at Minuette. “You’re going to wish you didn’t say a damn thing to me.”

“Rainbow….” Sunset warned as she reached over to grab a napkin. “Minuette, what really happened?”

“I told you! I don’t remember! I-I just…we were at the Burger Shack one moment having lunch and talking about what Wai wanted for Christmas, and then the next thing I remember, I’m…I’m….” The look in her eyes was one of terror. “It was like I couldn’t stop. Like I wasn’t in control of my own body! I-I’m not making excuses! I’m serious!”

“Yeah, right,” Rainbow scoffed.

“Rainbow….”

“Look, sorry, you guys know I hate buddyfuckers. And you, Minuette? You took it literally.”

“So you don’t remember?” Sunset asked. “Did you consent?”

“Yes! No! I mean…I don’t know,” the blue-and-cornflower-haired girl moaned. “All I know is that the first thing I fully remember is that I woke up, sticky in a bed in the Motel 6 down in Sunnytown, and he was there with me. We swore to keep it a secret, I showered, then he drove me to the nearest subway station – I didn’t even want him to drive me home because I was afraid that Wai….” She looked at Sunset, and in her eyes, Sunset saw the same primal fear she had every time she thought of Princess Celestia. “All during Winter Break? I was freaking if I was pregnant or not – thankfully I take the pill already for hormonal reasons, so I think I’m safe. But I don’t know if he told Wai, or she suspects, and…she’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since Second Grade. And…I’d rather slash my wrists than hurt her. But if she finds out….”

“Well, we promised we wouldn’t say a thing, Minuette, dear, and we won’t,” Rarity vowed, “but if you wish for my advice, I would say speak to one of the school guidance counselors. I’m sure that either Mr. Iron Will or Mrs. Harshwinny can provide some suitable advice for you. But I do feel you should speak to an adult regarding this.”

“But we’re here for you if you need us, Minuette,” Fluttershy said, offering a shy smile.

“Thanks, girls. Now I’ve gotta get back before Wai and the others think something’s seriously wrong.” With that, she waved goodbye, then went back to join her friends.

“Well, any other fucked up shit for today?” Rainbow grunted, clearly not happy about the whole thing.

“She’s telling the truth,” Sunset told her friends.

“Frankly, Ah agree, but how are you sure?” Applejack asked.

“I’m presuming you….” Rarity finished off her sentence by wiggling her fingers; though odd-looking, for everyone present it was more than enough of a statement.

“No. Have to do it through my hands, since I’m not ‘cranially endowed’ right now,” Sunset replied, “and to add to that, the moon just came off its new phase, so I’d be draining myself more than usual – I could do a spell, but I wouldn’t be able to mask it. So, no, it’s just an educated guess.”

“Educated guess?” Fluttershy asked.

“You noticed it before I did, Flutters. That look in her eyes? She’s terrified. Not just afraid that she’s going to lose her friend, but that she really wasn’t in control. Believe me, if there’s a person here who understands that, it’s me.”

“Heya, Rarity?”

“Oh, hello, Macintosh, dear. What brings you here?” Which was, the teen fashionista had to admit, a good question: His locker was on the other side of the school and yet he was here. She wasn’t worried about that; he was a friend, and absolutely dedicated to his long-time girlfriend Sweetcream Scoops. If anything, she looked to him as a sort of brother figure, seeing that he was a couple of years older.

“Funny thing y’ should ask.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small envelope. “Someone dropped this in mah locker, an’ left a sticky note askin’ me t’ give it t’ you.”

“Really?” she asked as she accepted the note.

“Eyup.”

“Hrm. Well, thank you very much,” she told him. “I very much appreciate it.”

“No prob.” He gave her a grin, and with that, headed on his way back to his class, leaving her alone to open the letter:

A limousine and dinner at La Fantaisie? Rarity almost went weak in the knees. La Fantaisie was the rarest of the rares, a Five-Star Michelin restaurant that wasn’t in one of the top ten metro areas in the country – after all, Canterlot was only the 37th largest city in the nation. But the story went that when renowned chef Garde Manger decided to retire far away from the hustle and bustle of New York, he soon got tired of the easy life and opened up La Fantaisie in San Palomino.

Won’t Mother and Father be jealous – they’ve been trying to get reservations there for ages! she thought. Plus, a limo?

She suddenly was very glad that she’d decided to go shopping with Fluttershy and Sunset later today, as she was going to need to bring all of her class and skill to bear.

“Hi, I’m home,” Sunset said as she walked in, looking exhausted but happy from a trip to Equestria Fashion Centre. Practically dropping her bags on the ground, she had just enough time to take off her jacket before Velvet poked her head out from the kitchen.

“Sunny, could you come in here, please?” her foster mother asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” she asked, pausing only to give Velvet a kiss on the cheek. As she entered the kitchen, she noticed the group sitting at the table: Shining was sitting there in his uniform, and next to him was a woman with long brown hair and eyes the same color as Twilight’s; she was dressed in the uniform of the Equestria County Sheriff’s Department. Sitting between them was Cadance, who was still in her work clothing, having apparently come straight from her office. Finally, seated next to them was Twilight and Octavia, both of which had looks on their faces that could best be described as “worried.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Sunset asked.

“What?” Shining said. “Oh – no, nothing’s up right now, Sunny; just wanted to introduce you to a childhood friend of mine and Cady’s.” Gesturing to the woman, he said, “Sunset Shimmer, this is Sandalwood. Sandy just got out of the Navy last month and she just started her job last week with the ECSD. Sandy, Sunny’s the girl I was telling you about.”

Sandalwood eyed Sunset carefully. “So, you’re the crazy-ass girl who Shiny and his family managed to corral. Well, I’m guessing you’re not a total juvie.”

Cadance reached over and socked Sandalwood on the shoulder – hard. “Easy, Sandy. Sunny’s had some hard times, but she’s a good kid.”

“Hey, just giving the kid a hard time – wouldn’t be a cop if I didn’t.”

“Yeah, but the kid is like a sister to me, Sandy,” Shining pointed out.

“Yeah, just means I need to keep an eye out for her like I should with Twily, Tavi and Spike.” Looking at Sunny, she said, “Just giving you a line of crap, kid. Just having got out of the Navy means I haven’t quite ‘civilized’ myself yet.” Her comments were punctuated as the woman did finger quotation signs. “Seriously, though, you three girls take care of yourselves. Heard some seriously bad shit this morning at roll call, and it’s going to be rough out there for kids your age.”

“I’m guessing you got the same bulletin we did,” Shining said. “Our sergeant told us not to worry about that.”

“Yes, because nobody’s seen anything, so obviously we live in a crime free paradise,” Sandalwood snarked. “Still, you’ve got three teenage girls here, Shiny, so it’s best that they at least be aware.” Turning to the girls, the deputy commented, “About two weeks ago, the DEA started putting out bulletins regarding a new designer drug, a type of benzodiazepine that makes roofies look like Coke.”

“Roofies?” Sunset asked, not familiar with the term.

“You’re kid…oh, yeah, you must’ve kept a low profile if you haven’t even heard the jokes,” Sandalwood replied. “Roofies is short for rophypnol, a variant of the drug I mentioned. It’s used as a date rape drug because it’s both a muscle relaxant – not going to explain that one – and has a nasty side effect of having the victim not remember a thing.”

Not remember a thing? Sunset thought to herself, alarm bells going off in her mind as she recalled Minuette’s conversation from earlier.

“It started two weeks ago when some customs agents got word of an illegal shipment of ivory coming to the US by way of a ship coming into San Diego from Germany. They didn’t find ivory, but what they found was worse: an improved version of the drug, called Vibrasnopam – or The Vibe, as it’s been nicknamed in London. Unfortunately, they think it’s already gotten into the wild, and that we’ll be seeing it locally sometime in the future. Right now, it’s prohibitively expensive, so they’re not expecting it to get really out of hand unless someone reverse engineers it.”

“What’s it do?” Twilight asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Look, Twily, I know that computer brain of yours likes interesting subjects, but stay the hell away from this one,” Sandalwood warned. “The Vibe has an extra component to it that makes the person ingesting it susceptible to suggestions – it’s a literal mind-control drug. Supposedly the German pharmaceutical company working on it stopped production immediately once they realized what they’d created, but the formula and samples were stolen from the lab before they could destroy everything.”

“You’re joking,” Twilight said, disbelieving.

“Nope, and you can take my crow if I am,” Sandalwood said solemnly; a second later, she facepalmed. “Yeah, gotta remember I’m not an MA2 anymore – no crow,” she muttered to herself before saying, “But seriously, girls: while I don’t think it’s going to be an issue, just…take care, okay? I got a little sister who just started going to Washington State last fall and I worry about Minty constantly – I don’t need the extra headache if I have to fret about you three, got it?”

“Got it,” Octavia replied.

“Crystal,” Twilight added.

Sunset was about to say something when her phone suddenly went off. Looking at the screen, she saw it was someone she hadn’t expected to call. “Excuse me, gotta take this.” Walking into the living room, she asked, “Heya, Blossom! Hadn’t expected you to call.”

“Oh, I’m glad I was able to get a hold of you!” Blossomforth shouted over the phone. “Look, Sunset, I need your help, and I know I’ve been a burden and we barely know each ot—”

“Stop right there, Blossom. I’ll be glad to help if I can. What’s up?”

“Can we talk tomorrow? I…I really don’t want to mention this over the phone and…please, don’t tell Kicky about it. She’ll go ballistic if she finds out.”

That’s not good. “Yeah, sure, Blossom, but I have to work tomorrow. Can you come by the café?”

“Yeah. Five work for you?”

“I’ll be there. See you then.” Hanging up the phone, Sunset’s mind roiled, her earlier thoughts now forgotten as Blossomforth’s problems came to the fore. I wonder what’s so bad that she can’t tell me over the phone?

“Hey, Sunny? You okay?” She felt a tapping on the shoulder and she looked to see Octavia there, looking concerned.

“Yeah, just lost in thought.”

“Obviously – I only asked you about four times if you wanted any ice cream.” She looked at her friend and pseudo-cousin intently. “You sure nothing’s wrong?”

“Oh, no – just got a call from a friend of mine that goes to County. She just needs some advice, so she wanted to see if she could come by the café tomorrow while I’m at work.”

“Okay, as long as it’s nothing….”

“Well, there is something….” Sunset started, a grave look on her face. When Octavia waited patiently, Sunset dragged it out for a few more seconds before asking, “Is there any double chocolate left?”

“Ugh – you are incorrigible, you know that?” Octavia groaned.

“Okay, you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Cloud Kicker said to Vinyl.

“Nothing’s wrong, Kicky,” Vinyl said, leaning back in the chair, looking at the moon. She hadn’t bothered to get dressed, and the moonlight reflected off parts of her pale skin. She took another smoke of the joint she’d lit, then placed it on the ashtray, placing the roach clip on the side.

“Nothing’s wrong,” the blonde scoffed. “You come over, I haven’t seen you in weeks, and suddenly you want the full ‘friends-with-benefits’ treatment, even though we broke up because you wanted more out of the relationship and it was me that was comfortable with the casual sex. So don’t bullshit me by telling me nothing’s wrong.”

Vinyl was quiet for the longest time before saying, “You know, you’re lucky – your parents don’t care who you bring home.”

“That’s because my parents are idiots – they figure as long as I’m having sex, smoking pot or getting drunk in the privacy of my own bedroom, I’m not out doing any of that where ‘bad things can happen to me’, quote unquote. What kind of parenting is that? I swear, if I ever have a kid, I’m going to make sure he or she is a complete prude.”

“No, I mean your parents don’t care that you’re bi. My mom would fucking kill me if she knew I was a lesbian. As far as she’s concerned, I’m only allowed to spread my legs if it’s the son of some state senator or higher.” Vinyl paused briefly before adding, “I told my Dad last time I talked to him. He didn’t care, said as long as I was happy that’s what matters. And my brother? Long Play says as long as he gets to spoil whatever nieces or nephews are born, he doesn’t care who I’m with either.”

“Sounds like you should move to Detroit to live with them.”

“Oh, the shit that will cause – Mom will start a war with lawyers over how Dad’s ‘corrupted my innocent, virginal mind’ or some crap like that.”

Cloud Kicker got out of the bed. “Just out of curiosity, where does she think you are now?”

Vinyl laughed. “I told her I’m here. I just lied my ass off about you: that you’re going to Zacherle and want to be a nun when you grow up.”

“Like that’s going to ever happen,” Cloud said, reaching for the joint. “So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I think I’m in love with someone,” Vinyl said, “and the funny thing is, I don’t know her. Met her once, and I’ve sent a crush letter asking her out on a blind date. But I think I’ve got a sure thing, Kicks. I think I can win her heart.”

“Vi, nothing’s a sure thing when it comes to love; just one of those things you can’t force. Sex? Yeah, sex you can force, to some degree – especially when you’re a teen because we’re made for fucking! But love? No. If it was easy, your parents would still be together. Maybe we’d even still be together.”

“Oh, please – your idea of romance involves lubes and chocolate sauce.”

“Hey, I’m a creative girl,” Cloud Kicker purred as she passed the joint back to Vinyl. “Are you coming back to bed?”

“You want me smoking a doobie while we’re in bed?”

“In case you forgot, it’s January. That stuff on the ground out there? That’s called snow. And even though the house has central heating, just looking at the snow wants to make me crawl under the warm covers with the nearest hottie – that’d be you.”

Vinyl blushed, the flush showing along her body. “Thanks, Kicky.”

“But let me ask you something, Vi: If you love her, why are you here with me? Shouldn’t you be out there, trying to win her – what’s her name anyway?”

“Her name’s Octavia. And let’s be honest: anyone that’s friends with you will probably end up in the sack with you sooner or later. No offense, it’s just who you are.”

“Hey, for the record, I have two friends who I have no interest in doing the horizontal bop with,” Cloud Kicker replied. “Blossom…there’s just something about her that makes my brain automatically scream ‘no’ if I even try to think about it. And Sunset Shimmer; I know she’s solidly hetero.”

“Wait – you know that cunt?”

“Cunt? Are you kidding me? Sunset’s cool – she helped me out with a problem I had last month, and I appreciated the assist.”

“Here,” Vinyl said, offering her the clip. “I don’t think you’re stoned enough for reality to kick in yet. Seriously, she’s a twisted bitch, Kicky. She’s a friend you don’t need.”

“And yet she helped me with Blossom when she was feeling suicidal after her breakup. Does that sound like a bitch to you?”

“No, but it doesn’t sound like Sunset Shimmer, either.”

“Well, it was. And you’re changing the subject, Vinyl. What’s so special about this Octavia girl that’s got you completely pussywhipped?”

“Me, pussywhipped? You’ve got the wrong girl, Kicky.”

Purple eyes rolled in their sockets. “Vinyl, after you broke up with me, you dated Blueberry Cupcake for a while but you didn’t sound anything like you do now. With Blueberry, you were in control. Now, you sound like Octavia’s got you tied to her pantystrings – and you don’t even know her, you said! Did it ever occur to you that she might not walk on this side of the street, so to speak?”

“Yeah, it did,” Vinyl said softly. “But like I said, I got an edge.”

“What, friend of yours knows her? Knows she wants a pair of soft arms sweeping her off her feet instead of something manly? That she wants a trip to the Isle of Lesbos courtesy of the SS Saphos?”

“No, not like that,” Vinyl said, her voice fading into a somber quiet. “But…let’s just say I have an edge.”

“Vinyl, you’re being evasive. That’s not like you.”

“You mean it’s not like me with you,” Vinyl answered.

“Yeah. You promised me once that you’d be open with me, always: heart, mind, body….” Cloud Kicker grinned wickedly. “And legs.”

“I don’t want to talk about it now,” she said. “Besides, I can’t believe I’m here, talking about the concept of love with you, of all people.”

“Hey, believe it or not, I fell in love once,” Cloud Kicker replied. “Screwed that up hard, though. Don’t know if I’m ever made for being with one person, but hey – I just might try monogamy someday if the right offer comes up.”

“Yeah, rrriiiiiiighht,” Vinyl said as she shook her head at the impossibility. But a second later, she said, “Will you do me a favor?”

“Yes, I will make you orgasm at least twice more before the morning.”

“Funny. No, seriously…I just need you to promise me that if this goes wrong, you won’t hate me.”

“Vinyl….”

“Promise me, Kicks.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you’re a friend – I could never hate you. Especially because you’ve got the best tits of any girl I know, mine included.”

“Thanks, Kicky,” Vinyl said, taking the last puff before setting the spent remainder down. She then crawled back into the bed, kissing Cloud Kicker and blowing the remaining smoke into her mouth. “Now, let’s get busy until we’re exhausted. I don’t want to go to school tomorrow and I want to wake up sore and spent sometime around tomorrow afternoon. Think you can do that for me?”

“I think I can do it to you,” Cloud Kicker promised as she pulled her friend down into the sheets.

The following day, Sunset was approached by Principal Celestia. “Ms. Shimmer, may I have a word with you?” the educator asked.

“Um…sure. Am I in tr—”

“No, you’re not in trouble, by any means,” Celestia said.

“Okay, that makes me even more worried,” Sunset replied as she followed the older woman into her office. To her surprise, Vice Principal Luna was there, waiting for the both of them.

“Close the door, please. And have a seat.” As Sunset sat down, Celestia asked, “I understand you’re familiar with Ms. Minuette, are you not?”

“I…uh….”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Celestia said.

Luna noted Sunset’s reaction and said, “Relax, Sunset. We know you’re not at fault; furthermore, she also informed the police that you were trying to help her when she….” Luna turned away, swearing something under her breath that was likely an Italian profanity.

Celestia shook her head. “I guess we should be upfront: last night, Minuette tried to take her life. I can’t give you the details, as they have not been made public yet, but suffice to say it was very fortunate that they were able to rush her to County General in time.”

Sunset gasped. “No! What…how….” The flame-haired girl paused for a second before asking, “Why?”

“We were hoping you could shed some light on that for us,” Luna answered.

“I-I can’t. I promised her,” Sunset started.

“I understand, and normally I’d commend you on that, especially given your…previous attitude. But one of my students – a girl who came to you in confidence – just tried to kill herself. And if you have any idea why, I need to know. You’re not breaking a promise; you’re helping to pull her back from whatever brought her to the brink of despair,” the principal replied.

Sunset sat there for a second as if weighing the decision before finally speaking. “She…she slept with her best friend’s boyfriend, but she claims she doesn’t know how it happened. Maybe they got drunk and stupid, I don’t know…but the look in her eyes? Something tells me she’s not lying. Plus, the last memory she has of the whole thing is that she was having lunch with Stylin’.”

“Stylin’, you said?” Luna asked.

“Yes, he’s Waterfire’s boyfriend, and the guy involved.”

“I see,” the nocturnal-haired woman replied, but didn’t elaborate.

“Sunset…I would ask that you go and see her and ask her to tell what you just told us to the police,” Celestia advised. “It contradicts what she told them earlier: that she was feeling depressed about something and suddenly she felt like cutting herself. I’ve studied some reports on that phenomenon and I can’t say that Minuette fits that profile.”

“I’ll be glad to help if I can.” Sunset then looked at the clock. “Well, I’m going to be late for work, so if you’ll excuse me….”

“You’re dismissed, Sunset. And thank you for your assistance,” Celestia said warmly. Once the teen departed, Celestia looked at her sister. “Stylin’’s apparently involved. Interesting.”

“Given that, I think you may want to take my suggestion seriously, sis.”

“I’ll take it under advisement, Lulu. I want to run it past Velvet, first – a censored version, at least. Velvet is, after all, her mother.”

“Don’t you mean foster mother?”

“Two months ago? Yes. Now?” The pastel-haired woman looked at where the recovering youth had been sitting just a minute prior. “Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Shimmer finally met her match – a person whose caring can overcome Sunset’s apathy.”

Octavia popped open the back of her parents’ minivan, then slid her contrabass in. She then got into the passenger seat. “Thanks for picking me up, Dad.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you remembered who I am, considering I’m gone most of the time,” Evening Sonnet said to his daughter.

“Oh, c’mon, Dad – just because I’m with Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet most of the time does not mean you and Mom are horrid parents,” she said, slipping on the seat belt. “Especially since you’re going to let me go on that date, right?”

“Tavi, I have to admit…I’m a little concerned about that, especially given my mistake last year,” he admitted. “I’d be especially happy if you went on a double-date. Maybe have Twily go out with a friend, or maybe Sunset can go with you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dad, I’m older now. I can handle myself, and after that whole thing with Blueblood, I know what to look out for. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Sorry, sweetie – I just remember the little girl I used to sing lullabies to when she was just weeks old…and it’s almost like I blinked and now you’re nearly a grown woman.” He shook his head. “It’s never easy for a parent, especially when you’re on the road and you’re missing every detail of your daughter’s life.”

“Dad, I know what you and Mom do is important. And you’re the best at it – and you’re not stuck up bitches like mom’s sist—”

“Octavia, that’s not the way to refer to your aunts,” he scolded her. “Even if you are correct.”

“Whatever. But I’ll be fine, Dad, I promise. It’s just a date; it’s not like there’s any sort of grand conspiracy behind it, you know,” she assured him. “After it’s over, either I’ll have made a friend or I’ll have a second date to determine if he’s boyfriend material. Don’t worry.”

“If you’re sure,” he said, stroking his beard. Octavia knew that gesture; he only did it when he was giving in despite what he felt was his better judgment.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she said, reaching over to kiss him on the cheek. “Now let’s go home. I’d like to spend at least the rest of the week with you and Mom before you disappear for another few weeks and I forget who you two are once again.”

“Hey!”

She grinned. “Just kidding, Dad.”

“Thanks for coming with me, Blossom,” Sunset said as walked down the hallways of County General, on the way to Minuette’s room. After what happened, she got a hold of Pinkie and asked if they could switch days; Pinkie happily agreed, as she needed to be home early anyway because her aunt and uncle were going out after the café closed. Sunset went with her to the café so she could meet Blossomforth, and then from there the two went off to County General.

“No, that’s okay; it lets me get my mind off my problem,” she said. “Besides, I knew Minuette from when we went to elementary school together, and it’ll be nice to see her again, though I wish it were under better circumstances,” the floral-haired girl replied.

“Aaagh! Sorry, Blossom, I completely forgot about your issue. Sorry, I should be a better friend about that.” And that was a word I never thought I’d use outside of my circle, though she kept that thought to herself.

“No, it’s okay. My problem…won’t pop up for a while,” Blossomforth replied. “And Minuette needs our help now,” she said as the two arrived at Minuette’s room.

“Hey, Minuette?” Sunset said, knocking on the door.

“Hi. I’d wave, but….” The damage was clear from what she’d done: her arms were heavily wrapped up in gauze, well up past her elbows.

Blossomforth gasped. “Minnie?”

“Blossom? What are you doing here?”

“I was talking to Sunny here and—”

“Wow, Sunset…you really have changed if you can get someone as timid as Blossomforth on your side,” Minuette said. She then paused, as Sunset was looking at her with a mixture of sorrow and anger.

“Why? Why did you try to kill yourself?” Sunset asked angrily. Behind her, Blossomforth gasped in shock.

“Yeah. Slit my wrists and then brought the knife down the length of the arm. Almost died from blood loss; if I hadn’t forgotten to close the door, my parents would’ve been too late.” Tears started rolling down the teen’s cheeks. “And it doesn’t matter anyway; doctors say the cuts are going to scar, so my arms are ruined. And even then, my life is ruined!”

“You didn’t answer my question, Minuette,” Sunset said. Her voice held a tinge of anger, both directed and not directed at Minuette at the same time. Sunset’s own life had been hell – still was, considering she was marked for death on her homeworld – but she had never once considered taking her own life.

But then again, I’ve always preferred to fight battles, not run from them, Sunset mused, and based on all the kids I picked on and bullied, usually running away was their preferred option. Just like in Equestria, sometimes I don’t fit in with the crowd.

“I’m sorry,” Minuette said, turning away from her friends.

“Hey, I’m not mad at you – not entirely, but I think I deserve to know what the hell’s going on.”

“Just….” She paused. “Blossom, can you step outside? I need to tell Sunset something in private.”

“Um…sure. Just let me know when it’s safe to come back in. And please, Minnie, don’t think you have no one to turn to.” Blossomforth went over and embraced Minuette, but as much as the bedridden girl tried to hide it, Sunset noticed that Minuette recoiled from the other girl’s innocent gesture of affection.

As Blossomforth departed, Sunset said, “Why did you jus—”

Cutting her off, she said, “In my bag in the closet there is my phone. The PIN number is 37225.”

“Minu—”

“Just…just do it.” Sunset complied, digging out the phone. As she did, Minuette continued to give her directions. “Someone emailed me a video file last night. In the downloads folder, click on the MKV file and it should play.”

Sunset did so, and started to watch the video, her eyes opening up in shock. “What th—what the fuck is this?” she asked, revulsion sliding in as she saw the images on the screen.

Minuette yelped, “Sunset, you have to believe me! I…I don’t know, but I’m not guilty! I didn’t do—!”

Sunset looked at her, stunned, then back at the video. On the screen, the caption on-screen said simply, THERE’S MORE WHERE THIS CAME FROM. On the video could be best described as a mass of writhing bodies, skin against skin, going at it as though it was their job to repopulate the entire planet. Oddly, the faces of the boys involved were censored out completely, but the faces of several girls were very visible:

Minuette.

Autumn Gem.

Red Gala.

A girl that Sunset didn’t know personally, but went to County and came by the café often.

And Blossomforth.

“I….” Minuette stammered as Sunset watched the girl that looked like Minuette making out with the girl that looked like Blossomforth before….

“I’ve seen more than enough.” Sunset stuffed the phone in her pocket, then pulled out her own. “You can borrow mine for a couple of days, Minuette. Unlock pattern’s a five-pointed star.”

“No, keep yours – and hold onto mine. I’m not going to need it for a few days,” she said, indicating her ruined arms. “But…Sunset, I—”

“I believe you,” Sunset replied, and the other girl sighed in relief, the teary look on her face changing to one of joy. “I’m going to find out what the hell’s going on, Minuette, I promise.”

“Minnie,” she said, in a tone of gratitude. “All my friends call me Minnie.”

“Then you can call me Sunny,” Sunset said with a smile. “But I’ll get to the bottom of this. You have my word.”

“Thanks, Sunny.”

“Oh, one last thing,” Sunset said.

“Yes?”

“Sleep.” Sunset raised her hand and it erupted with celestine brilliance, causing Minuette to immediately drift into slumber. Moving quickly, Sunset took the girl’s arms, and her own began to glow with magic. I really hope this spell works, because healing cantrips were never my forte, and I’m weak enough here on Earth as is. She spent several seconds holding Minuette’s arms, the glow radiating from her hands into the injured girl’s wounds. I can’t get rid of my own scar, much less hers, but maybe I can lessen it so that it won’t look so horrific when it heals. A minute later, Sunset felt completely drained – that took much more magic out of me than I thought – but she was sure that she got the spell right.

After all, it had been one that Princess Celestia insisted she learn, back when they were as close as could be.

Slipping quietly out of the room, she saw Blossomforth sitting on a nearby chair. “She cried herself to sleep,” Sunset lied, “but she didn’t want to freak you out, Blossom.”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” Blossomforth insisted. “She’s a friend, and…why did she do this?”

“I…I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me and I…maybe she’ll open up about it someday.” A thought came to Sunset. “But she did mention something: Have you gone to any parties recently?”

“Yeah. Back in October my boyfriend and I went to this really swanky party in Horseshoe Bay that was being hosted by his cousin. A lot of boys and girls were there…but….” She paused. “I…I really don’t remember much about it.”

“Really?” Sunset’s blood suddenly went cold at that answer.

“Yeah. I just remember drinking a Sprite when we first got there, and…the next thing was that it was two in the morning and my boyfriend’s driving me back to my place from the party. I also recall being sore, but…maybe I was just dancing a lot?”

There was a knock on Principal Celestia’s office the next morning. “Yes?” Sunset opened the door and came in. “Why, hello, Ms. Shimmer. Usually you don’t come t—”

Sunset locked the door and sat down in front of the principal, pulling Minuette’s phone out of her pocket and placing it on the table. “We need to talk.”

January 10: Love is the Drug

“I just can’t do this,” Vinyl moaned, hunched over her gear.

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t do this?” another person at a set of turntables asked. “We’re getting paid big bucks to play this gig, girl – can’t walk out on me now!”

“Oh, sorry, Decks. I had my mind on something else,” the deejay lied. “I…have a date tomorrow night, and it’s with a real classy girl. I’m…I’m just nervous.”

“Hey, I can dig,” the man said. “Know how you told me that your mom harshes on you liking girls, so totally understandable. But if you think you ‘can’t do this’ because you’re walking out on her – only life you’re ruining is your own, Vinyl.”

“No, it’s not that,” she replied, almost as though she wanted to confess.

“Well, then what is it?”

“I….” She forced composure onto herself. “I guess I just have butterflies about the whole thing. I’ve gone out with other girls before, but I’ve never done it publicly. If Mom finds out, I’m doomed.”

“Yes, I got faith in you, girl. If there’s any gal that can win her heart’s desire, it’s you, Vinyl Scratch!”

“Hey, I’m working right now,” Vinyl said, sliding on her headphones. “Work titles, Decks…or should I say, Wax Stax?”

He grinned as he slipped his own headset on. “You got it, DJ P0N-3!”

“How do I look?” Twilight asked. She was wearing a simple lavender blouse, with a purple skirt that had a white-and-magenta star on it, surrounded by smaller white stars.

“Twily? What is it about you and poodle skirts?” Octavia asked. She herself had on a soft gray turtleneck blouse, with a charcoal skirt.

“Hey, at least I don’t look like a living blur. Trying to look like a pile of ash?”

“Girls, stop fighting,” Ballad said, trying not to laugh too much.

“Sorry, Mom,” Octavia replied. “Just…I know you and Dad are worried about this.”

Ballad waved the issue off with her hand. “Your father’s just remembering when he and I first met. Your grandfather did not take well to him dating me.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that, Aunt Ballad,” Twilight voiced, curious.

“Yeah,” Ballad giggled. “Dad spent half of mine and Evening’s first date trying to convince him that he should date Rondeau because they both play the violin!”

“Really?” Octavia did not know this episode of her parents’ earlier years.

“Yes, and your aunt was seriously thinking about it. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed – and by that I mean I threatened my sister – and Evening and I went off on our first date. The rest, obviously, is the spotty history of my family. So let that be a lesson for you girls: If either of your fathers tries to set you up with someone else, just…don’t let it happen.”

“Hey, I’m nervous enough about my date as is,” Twilight replied.

“You’ll be fine, Twily,” Ballad told her. “So, find everything you girls need for your dates tomorrow? Don’t need to stop anywhere else?”

“No, I think we’re fine,” Twilight said, and her cousin nodded in agreement.

“Well, there is the Treasured Moments store down at the other end of the mall—”

“MOM!” Octavia said, horrified as she turned a shade of crimson.

“AUNT BALLAD!” Twilight let loose at the same time, equally mortified by her aunt’s teasing.

“Girls, I’m shocked, really. You’re old enough to….” As Ballad saw the completely abashed look on the teens’ faces, she smiled. “Honestly, I’m glad. Too many kids your age are doing things they regret, and I’m glad you two aren’t. C’mon, go ahead and change back, then we’ll go pay for these and then go get some dinner. Red Robin’s okay with you two?”

“Works for me,” Twilight replied. “But Aunt Ballad? Thanks for taking me shopping today.”

“You’re welcome as always, Twily. Besides, it’s bad enough I don’t spend enough time with Tavi; I spend even less around you, dear. And your mother did want to come tonight, but unfortunately she had a last-minute meeting, so I was more than happy to fill in, especially since Evening and I have a flight to catch early tomorrow. Of course, it also means we won’t be here for your special moments, girls.”

“That’s okay, Mom,” Octavia replied. “I’ll just call you with the results on Sunday. I’ll have to spill the beans with Sunny anyway. Speaking of which, I wonder why no one’s asked her out this week.”

“Actually, she told me she’s glad no one’s asked her out as of late,” Twilight replied. “She said she had she was helping a friend with a school project for the next few days and is too busy for anything else. She didn’t even get home until after midnight last night. Mom and Dad weren’t happy about that, but apparently she got that straightened out with them, though I don’t know what it’s about.”

“Yeah, no kidding – weird of her to keep secrets like that,” Octavia mused.

“I’m not worried. I trust Sunny totally. Besides, you know her – if it was really important, she’d tell us. Although,” Twilight wondered, “I am curious as to what’s got her attention as of late.”

“This is stupid!” Sunset shouted, poring over various yearbooks.

“Do you have a better idea?” Luna asked testily, setting aside another yearbook and opening up one from Mountain View HS.

“This is stupid!” Sunset repeated with emphasis, wondering if it had been the right thing to go to the teachers about her concerns. What it had led to was an agreement to work with Vice Principal Luna over the next few days on trying figure out who the boys were – which in turn seemed to involve corralling every yearbook for the past four years from the local high schools.

Luna looked at her. “No, it’s not. When I was your age I did some stupid things: stuff I’m not proud of, and that I’ve pretty much avoided telling my family because…well, let’s just say that when my sister broke my arm and I lived in utter fear of Tia for a week? It wasn’t entirely undeserved.”

Sunset did a double-take. “Principal Celestia broke your arm?”

Celestia came in with pizza and sodas; she wanted a beer, but the three of them were in her office – and it was already going to be problematic enough with Sunset here after hours; thankfully Velvet had agreed to Sunset’s “evening project” this week. “Could we not fixate on that, Lulu? I’ve already apologized for it more than enough times,” Celestia said as she set the pizzas down. “Here we go: one large Hawaiian, one Supreme Meat Special, and one Veggie Delite.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, reaching for a slice of the meat-encrusted pizza. As both of them looked at her oddly, she said, “I hope you didn’t order the Veggie for me.”

“Well, actually it was for me,” Celestia said, “but…isn’t your species based on horses?”

“Yeah, but when I came here, my body basically transformed into a completely human form…well, mostly. Plus I’ve been here for four years now – it’s really hard to avoid meat for that long, regardless of what vegans claim. Yeah, the princess was able to do so when she came over, but she was here for what, three days?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not relive that whole experience. I had to file a lot of paperwork to explain the ‘exchange student’ that was here for a few days – that seems to be the part that a lot of people remember, even if they don’t recall her name or face.”

“I’m glad, too,” Sunset said just before she took a bite of the slice. “Living with Twily now…she’s very different than Princess Twilight was, and I’d really not rather my sister go through that.” At Sunset’s mention of “sister”, Luna gave her own sibling a brief raised eyebrow, but Celestia merely nodded slightly in response, saying everything without voicing anything.

“I see. Well, how much progress have we made?” Celestia asked, focusing everything back on topic.

Luna, having taken a bite of her own slice, muttered, “Not much. Frankly, I’d feel much more comfortable if we handed this off to the authorities. It’s not like we’re some sort of all-powerful rulers who can do anything; we’re just school administrators. This is something that’s gone way above our paygrade.”

“If we don’t find a link soon, we may just have to,” Celestia replied, reaching into a desk drawer and pulling out what looked like minutes from a conference. “I had a meeting earlier today with Superintendent Waddle and several principals from the other high schools and junior highs in the area. They’re already aware of the situation, and right now it’s contained, but they’re worried that it’s only a matter of time before this blows up in the press.” Celestia paused for a second before adding, “Luna, do you know Principal Thunderhooves?”

“Yeah, he’s in charge over at Mountain View, right? Won some kind of award from the Native American Society for being an inspiration for success in education?”

“Yeah, well, his daughter Strongheart’s a freshman there. And according to him, she was involved in the whole… ‘event’. He was in tears, because his daughter’s in another video that these people made – a very graphic video. He’s pushing to hand the issue over to the police. I don’t blame him at all, but as a teacher I feel it’s our duty to correct things with our students if we can.”

“And if we can’t?” Luna asked.

“But you did,” Sunset stated, interjecting before the sisters argued. “Look at me: I was a bitch, a monster and – even if for a little while – a literal demon. And afterwards, you could have come up with any number of excuses to send me to The Blanks or worse. Neither of you had any trust in me; I’m not sure why you trust me even now. But you didn’t give up on me, and that tells me that you two know what you’re doing…even if I think you’re out of your minds in doing all this the hard way.”

“You have a better idea?” Luna asked.

“You know she does, Lulu, and I’m glad she was the one who suggested it.” Celestia looked at the student in her office. “This probably is the wrong time to bring this up, Sunset, but I was wrong about you. You are essentially good, and you’ve shown that in the past few months.”

“Thanks, Princess,” Sunset said, blushing. Then she realized what she said and kept her face sober before she completely blanched from embarrassment.

“I deserved that sarcastic comment,” Celestia replied.

“But I—”

“No, you’re right: I have been lording things over you for too long. Velvet trusts you completely and utterly and that should be a sign to me that I can believe in you as well. So I’m going to go out on a limb and ask for your help, Sunset – the kind of help only you can provide, if you understand my meaning.”

“You mean you need me to poke around in a preternatural sort of way?” Sunset asked.

Luna gave a humorless smirk. “You could say that.”

Sunset sat there for a few minutes, before saying, “I see.” After a few more seconds, she set down the pizza and asked, “How hard would it be to lock down the gymnasium?”

“It shouldn’t be too hard: Coach Biceps and Mr. Will usually stay around in the weight room and do some lifting for a while after school hours,” Luna answered, “but then again, it’s a Friday and I know the male staff members usually hit that bar and grill down the road.”

“Berry Punch’s B&G?” Celestia asked. “Personally, I think they go there because Iron’s got a thing for the owner and Bulk’s just playing wingman and I….” She trailed off as she remembered there was a student in the room, instead stating, “But they should have left by now.” She then got up and went to the window, which showed the only cars in the parking lot as hers and Luna’s. “We should be the only ones in the building,” Celestia told them both. “But why do you need the gym?”

“Because I’m going to need the room for this spell,” Sunset said, matter-of-factly, “and unless you want people to start freaking out about the cyan glowing girl in the middle of the parking lot, then we’ll have to use the gym. Besides, it’s January – I do not want to freeze my butt off outside!”

“Please,” Blossomforth told her ex-boyfriend. “You have to take me back!”

He laughed while tuning his guitar. “And why do I need to do that?”

“Because….” she said, trailing off as she got towards the end of her sentence.

“Blossom,” he sighed. “Look, we had some fun times together. And you’re cute – really cute. But you and I?” he said, pointing to her and then himself, “we’re just…we’re just not right for each other. And I don’t want to string you on making you think that everything’s sunshine and daffodils when it’s not.” He reached over, taking her hands in his. “I want us to remember the good times and depart as friends.”

“But I—”

“Cloud Kicker put you up to this, didn’t she? I know she doesn’t like me, but I can’t hold you to blame for what your best friend says about me.” He looked at her, shaking his head. “Don’t be like her: she’s petty, and you’re better than that, Blossom. And just because it didn’t work out for us doesn’t mean I don’t want to be your friend.”

“But—”

“Look, my band has to get ready for our gig soon, so I’ve got to get up there and rehearse. But…just think about what I said, okay?” Without waiting for her answer, he went back up to the stage to get ready.

“But…but Flash…I….” A tear slid down her cheek.

“Listen, sweet cheeks: he doesn’t want you,” a girl behind Blossomforth snarled. “Guy like him? He can get any girl he wants. So do yourself a favor and stick to your own class.”

A second girl joined in: “Don’t try to fly with the eagles if you can’t even keep up with the ducks.” She looked Blossomforth up and down before adding, “Oh, and drop the beret and Little Miss Cutesy look and get some real clothes!”

Blossomforth, her courage spent, turned and ran.

“Hey, wasn’t that Blossomforth?” Noteworthy asked as he slung his bass guitar over his shoulder.

“Yeah. You want her, man? Had my fun and now I’m all done with her,” Flash answered. “Besides, after tomorrow, I’ll have somebody new.”

“Dude, you’d better be careful. Bad enough you were dating her and Sunset Shimmer at the same time. Now you’re chasing that high-class girl from Zacherle? Skating on thin ice, bro.”

“Hey, I got all the advantage I need,” he said, patting the pocket of his leather jacket. “With this, you can bet little Twilight Sparkle will be mine.”

Noteworthy sighed. “Yeah, that’s kinda what I was afraid of,” the azure-haired teen said under his breath.

Despite their relatively lax attitudes, both Celestia and Luna were firm believers in education. Both of them had risen through the teaching ranks of the Greater Equestria County Unified School District in their respective subjects – Celestia in English and social studies, Luna in astronomy and geology – and had since become senior faculty. Even now, Celestia’s name had been brought up as a potential replacement for vice superintendent once Jade Singer retired; and Luna’s name had been submitted to take over the position of Principal of San Palomino High as the principal there was leaving at the end of the year. Both women were highly accomplished, competent and dedicated to their professions.

So as they watched the girl in the center of the gymnasium, glowing like a star and floating nearly a foot above the wooden boards of the basketball court, both women felt like they were witness to something they’d never seen in their lives before. And considering they’d already seen Sunset Shimmer turn into a demon, mind-enslave the entire student body, and then get beaten by a fellow alien who inexplicably took the shape of their childhood friend’s daughter…this was something entirely new.

“Merda,” Celestia swore, her eyes agape.

“No shit,” Luna agreed.

Held in Sunset’s hand, Minuette’s phone spewed frames of the video, each frame floating around Sunset like a tarot card encased in eldritch power. Each magical window glowed slightly as a person was checked, and cross-referenced against other images on her phone, images on Sunset’s own phone and Sunset’s iPad, conveniently floating in front of her face.

“Have you—” Celestia hazarded.

“Don’t!” Sunset shouted, straining. “This is literally taking up almost all my concentratio—there!” She reached out towards the image, somehow grasping it from the air and shoving it into her own phone. Then her aura died out and she fell, painfully, to the floor, crashing against the wood. While she protected both her phone and Minuette’s, her iPad was not so lucky, the screen shattering as it impacted.

“Fuck…” Sunset groaned, turning onto her back in the hopes that the pain would go away. Agony ripped through her and as she’d drained all her magic, she felt as though she’d been through ten rounds with the Boxing Club – as the punching bag.

Celestia was at her side at a second. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Sunset replied. She then looked at the broken iPad, and groaned again. “Fuck. Mom’s going to kill me….”

Celestia, despite the situation, smiled. “You’re calling Vel ‘Mom’ now?”

Having misheard her, the flame-haired girl answered, “Yeah…she and Dad thought I needed a new one because the old one I had got crushed in the….” She blinked as she realized what she was saying. Her further “statement” on that was a huge blush.

“So you don’t call them that, I take it?”

“No, but sometimes I wonder if I should. I mean, yeah, they’re only my foster parents, but…it’s nice having a mother and a father. The mother figure I ran away from so long ago? She was kinda like you…a little.”

“I really doubt that,” Luna said, laughing.

“Seriously. Anyway, I wasn’t the daughter I should have been with her. And now it’s too late to say anything,” Sunset said, riding through the pain while she talked with Principal Celestia. “And don’t say I can go back: The truth is, I know I have a death sentence hanging over me when I return.”

“I’m not sure that’s the case. The princess that came over from your world seemed very benevolent. I know this sounds…odd…but if I had a daughter, I think she’d have been kind of like the way that princess was.”

Oh you have no idea. “Maybe. But even still, I’m a marked mare. Woman. Whatever. I can’t go back. And all I can do is just hope that I make the best of my life here, and be…well, maybe be the daughter for someone that I wasn’t before.”

“Speaking as Velvet’s best friend, Sunset, I can honestly say that I’m very glad to hear you say that.”

“So am I. Look, I’m going to head out for a bit: Fry’s closes in an hour and someone’s got to replace your iPad,” Luna replied.

“But I was the one who dropped it, Ms. L—”

“Let her,” Celestia said warmly as she watched her sister depart. “She absolutely adores Velvet and would do anything for her or her family – both of us would, actually. And, though you shouldn’t take this as any indicator that we’re going to go easy on you during school hours, I think you can count yourself on that list as well.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, gingerly sitting up. “Now let’s see who the lucky contestant is, shall we?” She unlocked her phone, brought up the gallery and then brought up the picture. “This guy,” she said, pointing to a rather handsome blonde boy with long hair, tied in the back. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and unlike many of the other guys, seemed more content to watch than participate. “He’s the only one whose face wasn’t censored in the video, and only that because the image was for only a couple of frames and he’s so far back that he can’t be identified by normal methods – not that magic is going to be admissible in court. Do you know him?”

“I do,” she said, feeling abhorrent. “His name is Blueblood. He’s the son of Senator Quorum Call – I met his father when several members of Congress came to the District last summer as part of a research trip on how various school districts are handling the President’s education initiative. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with him directly; he struck me as the kind of man who thinks that because he has power he has control over peoples’ lives. But if his son is involved….”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Sunset groaned, getting back to her feet with the principal’s help. “He might have stumbled onto something that he’s afraid to talk about because it could affect his dad’s career.”

“You think so?”

“Not really, but let’s just say that I’m learning why it’s a good idea to give people the benefit of the doubt.” As she struggled to make it to the bench, she asked, “Can you call my mother for me? I’m – yawn – exhausted….”

“Sure thing.” As Sunset passed out on the bench, Celestia pulled out her phone and speed-dialed a well-used number. “Vel? Tia here.”

“Hey, you done making Sunny do your dirty work?”

“What are you talking about?”

There was laughter on the other end. “Just kidding, Tia. I’m just leaving my office now – meeting ran way over schedule – but I’ll be there to take my daughter off your hands.”

“Your daughter?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, I know that I might be getting a little too attached…but Night and I really love her. Honestly, the whole family does and we can’t picture our lives without her now.”

“Well, that’s why you’re a mother and Lulu and I aren’t.”

“You’re going to die alone and unloved someday, Tia,” Velvet joked.

“Not me. With my luck, I’ll probably live forever.”

Blueblood set the phone in the cradle. Good. Limousine will pick up Ms. Rarity at her home and bring her to the restaurant. We’ll have dinner, some sparkling apple cider that’s been selectively spiked and once the drug does its work, all I need to do is have my limousine drive us from the restaurant to the nice vacation cabin one of Father’s supporters was kind enough to lend me. Too bad for him he thinks he’s lending it to Father’s reelection campaign, but what the fool doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

“Hey, are you coming back to bed?” a woozy, tripped-out girl’s voice said. A young woman with long violet, curly tresses came up to him, wearing only a bedsheet.

“Yes, I’ll be there shortly, Suri,” he told her curtly. You have no idea how glad I’ll be to get rid of you tomorrow. The only time you’re ever affectionate is when you’re dosed up. “Just meet me there and….” His words trailed off as there was a knock on the door. “Head back to bed,” he said in a firm tone.

“I’ll head back to bed,” she slurred as she walked back towards the bedroom. The sheet fell off her as she did, giving Blueblood a full view, but he hardly cared at this point. I’ve had my fill of her by now. He instead went to the front door of his cottage where he was surprised to see someone he hadn’t expected. “Well, hello, Father.”

“Hello, son.” Senator Quorum Call stood there, looking not-at-all senatorial. He wore a slate polo and stone-gray slacks, his gray-and-green hair and mustache tracing with the white hairs of age within. “I got an interesting call from your girlfriend’s mother on the main line. She says Suri hasn’t come home in two days. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Suri? Easy to find her,” Blueblood said. “Just follow the trail of destruction left by her overuse of credit cards. You know, same thing as your current wife – or your mistress.”

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer, son. Look, I loved your mother, and I wish she hadn’t died when you were younger. And I know you don’t care for your stepmother – and the rumors about me and the manager of my local office here are not true.”

“Father, save the lies for the press. You did teach me everything I know, after all.”

“Yes, but that’s hardly enough to quell whatever ambitions you have, son. You are not ready for primetime yet, Blueblood. You’ve still got several years to go before you can make a run for a seat in the House – years you can screw up any chance you have of being elected. So then, are you going to tell me where Suri is?”

“Fine. If you must know, she’s in the bedroom. She’s been keeping me busy the past few nights.”

“Odd – she never struck me as the gold digger type, just the kind who wanted to be a trophy wife.”

“Let’s just say she’s decided she wants to stake her claim well ahead of time. Fortunately for all of us, you taught me enough to know that an underage pregnancy can be a career killer. She’ll just have to wait at least a decade.”

“You sound as though you’ve already made your decision when it comes to her.”

“Let’s just say I’m sowing my wild oats while I still can – and before people start paying attention to me during the college years, just as you taught me.”

“Well then,” Quorum said, “I’ll let you get back to what you were up to, son. Just…I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with the Canterlot Press Club regarding my upcoming reelection campaign. Don’t screw things up for me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that; I’m too smart. Besides, Father, you have a vested interest in making sure the press doesn’t look at the skeletons in my closet, because that’s a short step towards looking in yours.”

“Rarity, c’mon! You promised to fix my skirt!” Sweetie Belle moaned.

“Sweetie, can’t you ask Mother to do it?” Rarity asked, safe from her sister as she was on the other side of Rarity’s bedroom door.

“No, Mom says she’s working on a new article for Redbook and she doesn’t have the time!”

“Well, I don’t either, Sweetie! Besides, you should really learn how to do it yourself!” Rarity tried not to facepalm, not while she was wearing her mud facial. If I screw that up, I won’t look my best for my secret admirer tomorrow! She reached over and picked up the note, a wide smile coming onto her face as she looked at the flowers – a virtual ton of roses! – sitting on her dresser, along with the note:

Rarity went weak in the knees when she read the note once again. Such a gentleman! she sighed. This “B” must be a refined and upstanding man of taste and sophistication. Tomorrow will be absolutely worth every bit of my preparation!

Ignoring her sister, Rarity decided to turn in early for the evening. When she had only one chance for a first impression for a man who could turn out to be her Prince Charming, nothing less than her absolute finest appearance would do.

Seated at her window, Cloud Kicker smoked a joint as she watched the gentle snowfall, illuminated by the night. She was alone tonight. She didn’t want to be, but the kind of company she longed for at the moment was not of the carnal kind.

Vinyl…why are you doing this? It had taken days for her to figure out her ex-girlfriend’s edge, but watching a cop show a few hours ago had cinched it for her. She couldn’t go ask Vinyl herself; the snow was expected to fall heavily tonight and besides, Vinyl had a gig this evening; she’d likely go home straight from there.

The blonde stared at the phone sitting on her desk. All it would take it just to make a simple call. Just a call to Vinyl and berate her for what Cloud Kicker now suspected that her sometime-paramour was up to. That’s all it would take. I can surely do that, right?

Yet her hand never moved towards the phone. Somehow, the fear of accusing Vinyl of something she might not actually be guilty of was too much. Perhaps it was the overall fear that saying anything to Vinyl could cost Cloud Kicker more than just the sexual relationship she had with the cerulean-haired girl…it could sunder their friendship as well.

All it takes is a few ounces of strength to dial her number. But…I’m not that strong. She hated herself for that. Damn me, but I’m not that strong.

Setting down the joint, Cloud Kicker took off her clothes and crawled into bed. Maybe a miracle would occur and she’d have a playmate join her soon. But right now, instead of that, she wanted something else.

And that hurt most of all.

“Well, you don’t have a fever, dear,” Twilight Velvet said as she checked her foster daughter’s temperature. “But I really think you should stay in bed today.”

“I’ve never been sick before,” Sunset said, and it was true to a degree; despite being almost entirely human, she’d never caught a bug, cold or virus. But then again, I’ve never worn my magic down to the point of exhaustion before, either.

“There’s always a first time, Sunny,” Velvet said with an air of authority, “and honestly, if you managed to avoid being sick while at the warehouse, then it was only a matter of time before you got sick here.”

“But,” Sunset said, “I have to work today, and—”

“It’s okay; I took the time to call Mr. and Mrs. Cake and apprise them of your condition. They were just as surprised as I that you were ill, and hope you’ll be okay soon. Pinkie said she’ll just switch your days on the calendar.”

“But what about Twily and Tavi?” Sunset said. She knew both of them were going out on dates tonight, but given what she knew now, she was more than a bit concerned. Admittedly, she had no proof that either of them was in danger, but they were her family – she felt she had more than enough justification to do so.

“Feeling a little jealous?” Velvet teased, a playful smile on her lips. “Weren’t you the one who had a boyfriend before?”

“No, it’s not that….” Sunset decided to drop the subject before she dug herself into a worse hole. “I just…I don’t feel sick. Really.”

“Oh, don’t be so fussy. Besides, when was the last time you were spoiled rotten in bed?”

“Two months ago when I got a knife inserted in my sides. You had me stay in bed for a few days.”

“This is different.” The look on Velvet’s face was serious. “I want you to stay in bed. You had me worried last night.”

“I did?”

“You must’ve been worse than I thought: I practically had to carry you to the car.”

Sunset blushed; she’d never been carried by anyone – or anypony – save for Princess Celestia (via magic, of course) and the EMS personnel that placed her in the ambulance (but that was their job). “I….” She didn’t know what to say. Finally, as so not to feel awkward, she said, “Thanks.”

“Hey, anything for m—” Velvet trailed off, as if leaving something out. That caught Sunset’s attention, and she had to wonder what the woman was going to say. Finally, Velvet said, “Oh, and apparently in all the commotion yesterday, Luna said she accidentally dropped your iPad. She went and got you a new one, so it’s charging on the dresser there if you need it. Obviously, you’ll have to configure it.”

“I see,” Sunset said, a slight touch of sadness in her voice. Sunset wondered why she suddenly felt so sad. Maybe, because this is all just ephemeral – legally they only have to take care of me until I’m “eighteen”, and then I’m on my own. And even then, they can just get rid of me at any time. I know…I know they don’t want me gone now, but maybe Principal Celestia’s right when she says they’ve “tamed” me.

I keep calling them my family, but do they really want to be that, or is it just to keep me out of trouble?

The ring of the doorbell sounded. “Wonder who that could be? Anyway, just sleep and rest for the day, and I’ll be by later to check on you to see if you’ll want anything or lunch.”

“Sure thing,” Sunset said, crawling back into the sheets. Maybe she could use a little bit of sleep, she thought, as she closed her eyes and drifted back off to slumber.

“Twily, I really don’t like this,” Shining told his younger sister. “You know how far this is from home, right?”

“Yes, it’s 153 miles one-way from San Palomino, specifically 152.7 miles between Chez Crabbé and home, as per Google Maps.” The girl held up her phone, which showed the difference.

“Twily, I’m being serious, here.”

“Shiny, I’m sixteen. I’m old enough to take care of myself, big brother. Also, I’ve got enough for bus fare in case of trouble, and weren’t you and Cady having dinner in Eureka just in case? Plus, since you insisted, I have the non-emergency number for the Horseshoe Bay Police Department and the Klamath County Sheriff’s Department – and I can always dial 911, obviously.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, “but you’re my little sister. I should be looking out for you, or Tavi or Sunny.”

“I’ll be okay,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I promise.”

“You’d better,” he mock-warned her.

“I will, I promise. Now, go have fun on your date, and let me have fun on mine, okay?”

As she walked away from Shining’s car, Cadance gave her fiancé an understanding smile. “Hard watching her grow up, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. But that’s not what I’m worried about, Cady.”

“Shiny, she knows about it. And just to make sure, I went to the store and made sure she’s carrying some of those detector strawlets. Friend of mine at the crime lab says they’re almost completely fool-proof. And we’re only going to be just up the road in Eureka just in case something goes wrong.” She walked over to him, and kissed him. “Let her grow up, Shiny – it’s going to happen regardless.”

“Yeah,” he said, giving her a soft smile, opening his door as Cadance walked back towards the passenger side.

Twilight stepped into the restaurant, taking off her coat. “Hello!” she said to the maître d’hôtel. “I’m meeting someone here for dinner?”

“That would be me, Ms. Sparkle.” She turned to see a young man standing there, cute, smiling at her. He had a spiky haircut, tan skin and wore a suit that he looked somewhat out of place in. “Flash Sentry. It’s nice to meet you.”

The maître d’, meanwhile, took two menus and led them towards their table. Flash, ever the gentleman, helped twilight to her seat before sitting down in his own. “You look absolutely beautiful,” he said as he picked up the menu.

She blushed furiously. “Th-thank you,” she stammered, not sure of what else to say. Looking at the water flute that had already been sitting there, she reached into her pocket, pulling out one of the detection straws that Cadance had insisted she use. Placing one in, she explained, “Um, it’s medicine for an illness I recently got over.” A second later, as the straw dissolved into nothingness without changing color, she sighed in relief; the water was safe to drink. “So, um, h-how did you learn…about me?”

“Actually, I recall seeing you at the New Year’s Eve Dance,” he said, his eyes briefly flicking to her water glass. Smart girl, but too bad for you that the guy working in the back pouring the drinks is part of The Club. “And I just knew that I had to meet you. I got your info from a friend of yours – Rarity? I go to school with her.”

“Really?” Twilight said, relaxing. Well, if Rarity knows him, I should be fine.

“And thankfully, she was more than willing to help me get a hold of you with an additional friend she knew at Zacherle. So I consider myself really lucky to meet you, Ms. Sparkle.”

“Call me Twily,” she said, smiling.

Well, Tavi, just keep calm and relax. I doubt anything’s going to happen, she thought to herself as she walked out of the subway and to the restaurant, seeing the lines for the Boombox already waiting outdoors; the thumping of the bass could be heard from as far as she was already. Ugh. I know it’s popular music, but does it have to be ear-shattering as well?

Her phone rang and she answered it. “Hello, this is Tavi.”

“Tavi, I just want to remind you that your aunt and I are having dinner at La Casa de Olé in case you need us.” Octavia felt both comforted and relieved by that; she knew her own parents would have insisted on having dinner at the same restaurant as she, even if somewhat distant; thankfully her aunt and uncle trusted her far more.

“I’ll be fine, Uncle Night,” she told him. “If anything, you and Aunt Velvet need to worry about yourselves – I remember the last time we ate there and it gave everyone gas.”

“Funny girl. Well, I’m sure your date will appreciate your sense of humor.”

“I hope so. I’ll call if anything goes wrong; otherwise, I’ll be home by midnight. Love you guys. Bye.” Clicking off her phone and putting it in her pocket, she found herself standing in front of the Glazed Carrot, a British-style pub restaurant. Well, here goes nothing; I hope he’s really handsome.

Walking into the restaurant, she walked up to the hostess. “Hi, I’m here to meet someone for dinner.”

“Would you be Ms. Octavia Melody?” the woman asked. When Octavia nodded, the waitress said, “Right this way. And may I say, you two look absolutely great together.”

Octavia smiled; that had to be a good sign, right? Maybe the guy in question was Dreamy Eyes – he was a junior at Muenchinger and a male model, too! Twily had met him once and said that he was a well-spoken individual. Oh, please let this be my lucky day!

“And here we are, miss,” the hostess said as she brought her to the table. Standing there was a beautiful young woman with blue-and-electric-blue hair slicked back in a short ponytail, while she wore frameless eyeglasses. She also wore a white blazer and matching pants, with a soft blue t-shirt underneath.

A girl? Octavia thought, completely floored at her date. But-but I….huh? It wasn’t that she had anything against same-sex couples; on the contrary, her cousin Fiddlesticks had confessed that she was a lesbian and Octavia had offered whatever advice and support she could. But Octavia herself was not.

“Have a great evening, you two!” the hostess chirped as she departed. As she walked away, Octavia heard the woman say, “Such a cute couple; I’m kinda jealous!” to a colleague.

“So…I’m guessing this is a surprise,” the girl told her. Octavia said nothing, not wanting to insult her date; the girl had taken a big chance, after all, and both her parents and her aunt and uncle had raised her to at least be polite if nothing else.

“Look,” the girl continued, “I guess this is just a mistake. I’m so—”

“Don’t be,” Octavia said. “You took a huge gamble, and I think that’s brave of you. And even though I’m not interested, it’s always good to meet a friend.”

The girl in front of her seemed to both deflate from defeat and relax at the same time. “Good. I was worried that….”

“Don’t be, please. Well, you know who I am, but I don’t….” A thought suddenly came to Octavia’s mind. “You’re Vinyl Scratch, right? I remember you deejaying the New Year’s Eve Dance.”

“Well, actually, we met about a year ago. The Teen Musician Charity for the Homeless? I was the one who played ‘Danza Española No. 5’ on the guitar.”

Octavia’s eyes lit up. “That was you? Wow – that was some amazing guitarwork!”

Vinyl blushed. “Thanks. Um, shall we sit down?”

“Sure!” Octavia said, relieved. After all, even though Vinyl was a girl like herself, Octavia now could relax from having to both impress her date – making a new friend was much easier, anyway – and worry about that drug that Shining had warned her about. Though if I tell the others about this, they’re never going to let me live it down!

Relaxing, Octavia reached for the glass of water sitting at the table.

Rarity stepped out of the limousine as she noticed La Fantaisie was dimmed. “It seems to be closed, sir,” she told the driver.

“Not really miss; the young sir’s family owns this restaurant, so he was able to reserve the whole establishment for the evening,” the chauffeur informed her.

Rarity gave him a smile while inwardly she was freaking out. He owns the place? She was strongly tempted to pull her phone out of her purse and do a quick Google search or two, but that would have been incredibly gauche. Besides, she would meet him soon enough.

“Right this way, miss,” the chauffeur said as he escorted her inside. As she walked past the frosted glass doors, she checked herself one last time in its reflection to make sure she looked dressed for success: her hair was in her standard waves, but she’d added a slight glittering effect to it via a spray she’d bought during the shopping trip with Fluttershy and Sunset; it gave an elegant, ethereal impression when the light hit it just right. Her dress she’d spent quite a bit on: a white silk version of a Chinese cheongsam dress in the Shanghai style – commonly, if vulgarly, referred to as a Suzywong – with tiny markings of pale blue diamonds, a design she’d always found fascinating. A pair of matching and stylish slippers went with it, and it was all topped off by a small purse borrowed from her mother.

She was traded off to a hostess who escorted her the remainder of the way to the table. And as Rarity entered the restaurant proper, it did not disappoint: the tables were mostly gone, giving the place an empty, cavernous look; all the more for her to appreciate the ambiance of the place. At the back was an artificial waterfall, surrounded by several exotic ferns and other plants designed to add to the incredible look. If anything, it reminded her of a scene she saw in an anime once, and while that one had ended in a fight between giant steampunk robots, she was sure that this was going to be a much better experience…

…Especially when she saw the young man sitting at the table. She recognized him in a heartbeat as he stood up. Ohmigod that’s Blueblood! The son of a senator, he was well-known in social circles to be a prize catch. But a gentleman such as he should surely be spoken for, right? Unless…. Rarity tamped down a rising hope in her heart; the only reason he would have asked for a date was if his last relationship ended badly. This could be my chance! she mentally shouted in triumph as he approached her.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady,” he said, pausing before her and, taking her hand in his, kissed it gallantly. She tried not to swoon – not too much, in any case.

“I….” Rarity faltered, her well-rehearsed lines suddenly failing her.

He gave her a smile, looking at her with his beautiful blue eyes. “Nervous, miss? No need to be. I assure you, you are in quite good hands,” he told her as he escorted her to her chair.

With a start, Sunset suddenly woke up. The room was dark, the noontime sun having slid beneath the horizon and the moon starting its climb towards the apex. Hadn’t intended to sleep this long, she thought to herself. Well, I should go downstairs and have dinner and let Mo...Mrs. V. know that I’m okay. Sunset smiled to herself as she added, though I’m glad she worries about me.

As she got out of bed, she went to grab her phone, only to note a sticky note on it:

Well, that’s good, she thought to herself. Spike would probably insist I order a pizza or something, and I’m really not in the mood, nor do I want to walk the half-mile to the nearest Burger Shack. Tapping her phone, she noticed she had a message on it. Cueing up the voicemail, she heard a call from Minuette:

“Hey, Sunny, it’s Minnie. I know you still have my phone, but can you do me a favor and check the voicemail? I told Wai that my phone is elsewhere but she may have forgotten and I want to make sure that I didn’t miss any calls from her. I…I need to say something to her. Oh! And great news! The doctors took a look at my arms and said that they’re going to heal far better than they expected. There’s still going to be a little bit of scarring, but I’m not going to even need plastic surgery! Anyway, I’ll be back at school on Monday and I can get my phone back from you then. And I know I haven’t said it before, but thanks for being a friend – you really aren’t the same Sunset Shimmer you used to be. Anyway, talk to you later. Bye!”

Reaching into the drawer on the nightstand, Sunset pulled out Minuette’s phone. Good thing I remembered to charge it last night, she thought, or else I’d be screwed. Dialing in Minuette’s unlock code, she brought up the voicemail, punching in the code and putting the phone to her ear as the phone started playing the message.

“YOU HAVE FOUR NEW MESSAGES. FIRST MESSAGE.”

She didn’t expect to hear a boy’s voice on the phone.

“Minuette? This is…you don’t…fuck, I can’t do this anymore! Look, it’s Noteworthy. I’ve had a crush on you since Fifth Grade, and I’m calling because you’re in serious trouble. I know you didn’t sleep with Stylin’ on purpose. The reason I know is because…I’m the one who made the video at that, um, ‘event’. But I didn’t do anything, honest! I wanted to, especially with you, but…I like you and I want you without the drug.

“Yeah, I said ‘the drug’. A bunch of guys at school and at other schools got together and got our hands on a drug called ‘The Vibe’ – it makes roofies seem like water. Stylin’ tested it on you because eventually he wanted a three-way between you, he and Waterfire. But it’s…after that party, I started feeling guilty about it and after Blueblood gave me some so I could eventually hook up with you, I started feeling guilty and…no more. I just…I like you for who you are, and I hope you like me for who I am.

“Look: I need you to get a hold of three girls, because they’re in real danger. One of them’s Rarity – Blueblood herself is going after her; he’s dumping his current girlfriend and has his eyes on her. The other two are two girls from Zacherle, I don’t know how you’re going to get a hold of them, but I talked to Flash Sentry, and he says that one of the girls is named, I dunno, Starlight or Sparkle or something like that. The other girl – I don’t know who she’s going with, but her name is Musica, or Octave or something weird like tha—”

Sunset dropped the phone, her eyes widening in fear. “NO!” she screamed, getting out of bed, the sheets exploding into a blossom of tossed linens. Picking up Minuette’s phone, she immediately brought up the phone function and dialed the last received number.

“Yeah, this is Noteworthy – what’s u—”

“Noteworthy, this is Sunset Shimmer,” the ex-unicorn said, warmth draining from her voice as the anger and rage she once felt months ago returned to the surface – but now it had a different reason for its being. “My address is 482 Golden Oaks Drive – and your ass better be here in five minutes, got that?”

“How do you have Minue—”

“MY LITTLE SISTER, MY COUSIN AND MY BEST FRIEND ARE IN FUCKING DANGER BECAUSE OF YOU ASSHOLES,” Sunset roared, “AND IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THEM I WILL FUCKING BREAK YOU LIKE GODDAMN MATCHSTICKS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! NOW YOU’RE GOING TO HELP ME RESCUE THEM OR YOU ASS WILL BE GRASS AND I WILL BE THE LAWNMOWER OF THE GODS!”

“I, uh, I—”

“Four minutes, thirty seconds. The clock is fucking ticking.” Sunset’s eyes burned with cyan fire. Rarity, Tavi and Twily were in danger, she knew as she went to the closet to throw on some clothing.

No. Nothing’s going to happen to them, she vowed to herself. Nothing’s going to stop me from saving them. Ever!

January 11: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Racing down State Route 299 at an entirely unsafe speed, a beat-up, vintage 1970s Volkswagen Microbus rushed on, slaloming between the occasional groups of cars, its fading butter-yellow color making it look like a Twinkie moving at Mach 3. Within the car itself, the speedometer read 100 miles per hour – well over the speed limit – and the engine gauge indicated that it was redlined. Based on that, and a few other issues he knew about his vehicle, Noteworthy realized that once he got to his destination, it would be the end of his beloved “Lov’van”, as he called it, and either he would need to have it towed by the nearest AAA or have it sent directly to the nearest landfill.

Regardless, he didn’t dare to stop or even slow down. Not with the hellbeast in the seat next to him, glaring at him with the baleful eyes of the damned. He felt like he was Gandalf, in the Mines of Moria and facing the Balrog itself, just without the talents or weapons the fictional wizard had at-hand.

Then again, he died after that encounter, the azure-haired kid thought glumly. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if I get just that.

“Can’t this thing go faster? Or would it help if I got out and pushed?” Sunset Shimmer seethed at him. Noteworthy tried to shrink away from her while driving at the same time – it wasn’t easy, to say the least.

“Look, I’ve got it going as fast as I can!” he yelped. Part of him wanted to make a Star Trek engineering joke, but given the situation, all that would do is make her angrier – and that would, in turn, translate as extra pain to him in the long run. So he kept the joke to himself and instead said, “At this rate, I’m going to burn out the engin—”

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE!” she roared. She forced herself to calm down and said, “You and your group of fucking idiot buddies put my sister with my ex-boyfriend. If he touches one hair on her body, I will force feed you half this fucking van, understood?”

“And the other half?” he warbled, his voice wavering.

“Do you know what an enema is?”

“Look, I told you – I don’t want anything to do with them anymore! Not after what happened to Minuette. I…I really like her,” he told Sunset, “and she’ll probably hate me for being such a coward. But I want to do what’s right.”

“You should have done it beforehand. You don’t have the right to treat women like they’re bodyparts to keep you entertained – nobody has that right. And worst of all, you put my family and my best friend in the middle of this. I’m going to make you and your fellow idiot squad pay. You might not be hurting as much when I’m done, but you are not getting off scot-free,” she warned him as she started dialing.

“Who are you calling?”

“Trying to get a hold of someone who can save the others,” Sunset snarled in reply. “You might not give a fuck about them, but I sure as fuck do!” After a few minutes, she gave up; one too many “Sorry, your call cannot be completed at this time; please check the number and try again” canned responses were only adding to the hellstorm that was her anger.

Cadance sighed. “Shiny, I want you to know that I love you more than anything, sweetie. But do we have to sit in the car, across the street, in the parking lot, staking out Twily?”

Shining gave her a wounded look. “What, are you saying I’m too protective of Twily?” he asked.

“Oh, no, not at all,” she snarked. “Why should I say that considering that you’re an officer in the Canterlot Police Department and this is Horseshoe Bay, an entirely different city with its own police force and its own laws?” she groaned. “Look, if you’re that worried, why didn’t we just have dinner at the Chez Crabbé?”

“No, because that’ll look like I’m spying on Twily.”

“Yes, because sitting in your car, eating Chipotle, and staring at cheap bumper stickers on other cars in the parking lot is such a romantic way to spend our evening, dear.”

He sighed. “Look, Cady, if this was Sunny or Tavi, I’d trust them wholeheartedly.”

She gave him an arch look. “No you wouldn’t.”

“Okay, you might have a point,” he admitted, “but Twily’s really naïve when it comes to how the world works – she’s an idealist. Tavi’s at least got her sarcasm, and for Sunny…well, she already had a boyfriend, so she’s better off than either of them. But…Twily’s my little sister and I should be looking out for her.”

“Don’t you dare play that game,” Cadance warned him. “I’ve watched both Twily and Tavi since the first day your mother asked me to babysit. I love them as if they were my own sisters – and considering I’m an only child, it’s as close as I’m ever going to get.” She looked at him, her lilac eyes focusing into his blue ones. “But you’re going to suffocate Twily if you keep doing things like this – she’s not going to appreciate it. I know you mean well, but…she’s growing up, growing older, and you’re not always going to be there.”

A guilty look came onto his eyes. “I’ve just always wanted to protect her. You know that, hon.”

She nodded. “I know, believe me, I do. But we’ll have children of our own someday – will you be prepared to prioritize your then-adult sister over our children? Your father already knows that someday he’ll have to trust her safety to the guy she’ll love and marry – and you need to realize that as well.” When he looked at her as though he’d been struck, she added, “This isn’t easy for me, either. But I care about her – and Tavi and Sunny – to see her want to succeed in life. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You know I’m right,” Cadance told Shining.

“Doesn’t make it any easier to admit,” he replied.

“It never is.” She reached over and kissed him. “But that’s why I love you. You always do the right thing, even if it’s not the easiest path.”

“Well, I guess we can drop this,” he announced. “Dinner’s ruined, but why don’t we at least take a walk on the pier? It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful night tonight.”

She gave him that smile that he loved as she leaned in to kiss him once more, cooing, “I thought you’d never—” Her words were drowned out by the sudden loud screeching of tires as a beat-up van suddenly made a sharp turn, nearly flipping over as it turned onto Seaside Lane, pedestrians scattering everywhere to avoid being hit by the sudden new arrival. The vehicle came to a sudden, jarring stop in front of the Chez Crabbé, accompanied by four loud bangs as the tires, clearly overheated beyond the point of stress, popped from the abrupt halt.

“Oooooh,” Noteworthy moaned, dazed. Though he’d had his seatbelt on, he’d banged a little farther forward than he’d intended. He felt a warm, sticky wetness on his forehead and knew what it was, even though he couldn’t wrap his mind around that. He was barely coming to grips with the fact that his van was now a worthless hunk of metal. The stench of burnt rubber and smoldering oil filled the air and he still felt out of it. “I feel like I’m going to vomit,” he announced.

Sunset, having had the foresight to use an inertial dampener spell on herself, arrived in pristine condition. “Oh, quit whining. When the cops get here, tell them everything, got that?” she told him. Kicking the door open, she called back, “Thanks for the ride, Noteworthy!” as she rushed into the bistro, rage on her mind.

You’re not going to hurt her! Sunset snarled mentally. This is where it ends, Flash!

“What the hell was that?” Cadance asked, staring at the dazed driver of the now-ruined van.

Shining saw someone leap out of the van and rush into the restaurant – and that could only mean trouble. “Call 911!” he told Cadance as he popped open his glove compartment, reaching for his spare pistol and badge. “Tell them cop’s on the scene!” With that, he got out of the car and sprinted towards the restaurant, rushing to the side of the driver, a teenage boy. Pulling open the door, he helped the kid out of the car.

“What happened?” Shining asked him, noticing the huge bruise on the teen’s forehead, the cut on his scalp and the dilated look in his eyes.

“Stop her,” he groaned. “She’s…he’s….sto….”

“Watch him,” Shining ordered a bystander and rushed in, hoping that the worst wasn’t coming. If the individual that went in was armed, that could put the lives of every individual in the restaurant in danger.

Twily, I’m coming!

Twilight set her soda down, shaking her head slightly. “I feel…kinda…weird,” she said, blinking as if caught in sensoria.

“Yeah, me too,” Flash lied. “Wonder if the food didn’t agree with us?”

“Don’t wanna be sick,” she said, her voice slurring.

“No kidding. Tell you what: instead of getting dessert here, why don’t we take a walk along the boardwalk? There’s an ice cream place at the end of the pier and they get good reviews. Interested?”

“Yeah,” she said, stumbling slightly as she stood.

Flash grinned slightly; the drug was taking effect. Now to test it. Approaching her, he said, “Of course, a kiss would be nice, first.”

Twilight smiled softly, saying nothing but instead closing her eyes, leaning forward and puckering her lips. Something within her wanted to stop, wondering why she would kiss a guy she just met when she wasn’t that kind of girl, and yet she kept going. His words somehow compelled her, the only thing she heard as she awaited the tender brush of his lips—

—only to hear the fugue of shattered glass and broken porcelain as a jumble of unseen action occurred. She opened her eyes to find….

“Sunny?” she asked, smiling even as an emptiness took her.

Sunset didn’t even expend but a second to waste: the moment she came in, she spotted Twilight immediately – Those shocks in her hair are like a beacon! – and moved in for the strike. As the two moved to kiss – something she knew Twilight would never do normally – she lashed out like a viper, grabbing him, then flipping and pounding him against the table, snapping it like a twig. She then picked him up and threw him against the wall, patrons moving out of the way as they knew they’d gotten into the middle of something – or rather that something had gotten into the middle of them.

“You fucking bastard,” Sunset snarled at Flash. “What did you do to her?” Before he could even answer, she drove her fist into his stomach, making him gasp for air. “You used the drug on her, didn’t you!?”

“None of your business, you sp—” Flash managed to reply before she followed up with a fist across his face – hard.

“If you don’t answer me,” she said, whispering at him just so only he could hear before she roared the rest, “I WILL BREAK YOU LIKE A SPES MUHRINE RANSACKING ALL OF CREATION!”

“And what’re you going to do if I did?”

Her response was to punch the wall she pinned him against – and then through it. As his eyes went wide in surprise, she said in a dangerously calm voice, “Does that get your attention, fuckwad? You have no idea of what I’m capable of.” She bared her teeth as she added, “Twilight Sparkle is my little sister, and I will do anything and everything to protect her.”

He gave her a contemptuous look. “You and I aren’t dating anymore, you jealous cunt. And you might be her sister, but you’re not her mo—”

She answered that by delivering another slug across the face. “Don’t piss me off, Brad, or I will fucking go medieval on you like the fucking Visigoths during a Roman holiday!”

“I told you not to call me ‘Brad’,” he seethed at her.

“Would you prefer the things I’d like to call you?” She flexed her hand in front of his face. “Because the next thing I’d like to call you is ‘castrati.’”

“Sunny? What are you doing here?” a voice shouted behind her, and her blood ran cold.

Shit! I hadn’t expected him to be here!

“Officer!” Flash shouted. “This girl’s—”

“SHUT UP, YOU LYING ASSHOLE!” With a strength that surprised both, Sunset flung Flash against the opposite wall, where he crashed into several tables. Before he could even recover, she was already on him. “YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO TOUCH HER AGAIN!”

“Sunset, that’s enough!” Shining shouted at his foster sister.

“Shiny! He used The Vibe on Twily!” she shouted, not taking her eyes off Flash. “I know everything and I can prove it!”

“WHAT?!”

“I’ll explain later!” she insisted. “Just…protect Twily!”

Shining looked at his sister as she stood there, unmoving, like an automaton, a blank robot awaiting a command. “What’s going on?” he asked Sunset in a voice indicating he wasn’t expecting an answer as an older brother, but as a police officer.

“We gotta go,” she told him. “We don’t have too much time to save Tavi and Rarity. I’ll explain everything on the way, Shiny.”

“Tavi, too? And one of your friends?”

“Yeah. It’s a gang – and he’s one of the ringleaders!” she sneered, pointing a finger at Flash.

“Good enough for me,” he said to her.

“DON’T HURT HIM!” Sunset suddenly found Blossomforth standing in front of Flash, her arms splayed out in an attempt to protect him. “Please, don’t hurt him!”

“Blossom, what’s going on?”

“He…I still love him, Sunny!” she told her friend.

“No…what are you doing here?”

She sighed. “My parents and I usually have dinner here, but then I saw him with her—” Blossomforth said, pointing an accusing finger at Twilight. “—and then I saw you come in and attack him and even if he dumped me after dating so long, I still love him, Sunny!”

“You were dating Flash this past year?” When she nodded, Sunset’s eyes narrowed in anger. “So you were sleeping with me while you slept with her?” Sunset heard several gasps behind her, but she was too angry to care. “And then you were going to try to get into Twily’s pants? They’re going to have to invent a new word to explain what I’m going to do to you, you sick fuck!”

“It’s more than that,” Blossomforth said, her eyes tearing. “I’m…late.”

“Late for what?” Flash asked.

She blushed. “You know…late.” The room went silent enough to hear a pin drop – that pin being any chance that Flash had of talking his way out of this. While Flash still looked confused, he did notice the look of shock on the face of Blossomforth’s mother and the sudden look of rage on her father’s face.

But it was Sunset’s words that crystallized everything for him: “Congratulations…Daddy.”

“WHAT?”

Sunset’s anger suddenly turned into a malicious grin. “You know, Flash, I was worried about coming up with a suitable enough revenge. But seeing as how Blossomforth just threw one hell of a punch at you that I can’t even match – in front of her parents no less – I think I’m outclassed here. Besides, I have the rest of your messes to clean up.” She then turned to Blossomforth. “Blossom, I’m your friend. I’ll be there all the way for you. But if you think he’s going to marry you, well…he might be going to jail after all this.” Lastly, she turned to Shining. “We gotta go.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Taking Twily by the hand, he walked out just as Cadance arrived.

“Okay, cops’ll be here any se—Sunny?” Cadance exclaimed.

“No time to explain, love,” Shining told her. “Take Twily and stay with her at all times – she’s been affected by The Vibe. Twily, stay with Cady, okay?”

“I’ll stay with Cady,” she said, her voice small and childlike. Both Sunset and Shining looked at each other in worry: if the drug was doing this to her, how would it affect the others?

“I’ll have someone come and pick you up,” he told Cadance, “and I’ll call the local police department to explain. But right now, Tavi’s in danger and we gotta go!” Rushing to his car, Sunset immediately followed him as a completely confused Cadance watched them depart.

“Oh, Twily,” Cadance said, holding the younger girl close, looking at the ruined restaurant and the boy who clearly was at the center of it all. Their eyes met and the look of anger in Cadance’s eyes was enough to make him turn away.

A few seconds later, Shining’s Dodge Challenger raced eastward on the 299, the cherry light on top blinking, its built-in siren blaring. “Good thing the Department issued everyone removable cherries for emergencies,” he said as he continued to gun the engine. They were already flying at well over 135 mph and he was trying to plot the fastest course to downtown and San Palomino. “Where the hell did you learn to fight?”

She gave an embarrassed grin while she formulated yet another lie. “My…previous guardian – she insisted that I know how to protect myself. And before you ask, I got stabbed that time because I got ambushed by Gilda and Lightning. The story would have been different otherwise.”

“Well, if nothing else, I know you can take care of yourself,” he told her. “But as to this whole ‘Club’ thing? I’m having a hard time believing it. Sorry, but it sounds like something you see on a TV show, not in real life!”

“It’s true,” she insisted. “And I can prove it.” She then proceeded to give an explanation of everything she’d done in the past few days, from Minuette’s troubles to the issues that Celestia and Luna explained, to the research she’d helped the faculty with and finally Noteworthy’s own confession and how she drafted him into helping. She’d left out the magic use and explained the lucky break as due to the camera used as likely having light field capability, which was a new enough technology that could be plausible. “And that’s everything as far as I know, Shiny.”

The look on his face was one of complete shock. “Sunny, I’ll be honest: I don’t know whether to hug you for doing all this or be pissed as fuck with you for not telling me sooner. You were there when Sandy and I talked about it! Why didn’t you say anything that day?”

“Because back then I wasn’t entirely sure,” she admitted. “There was still a chance that Minuette could have been lying about everything.”

“Well, these guys picked the perfect night to do all this,” he told her. “Most, if not all of the force, is down in Eastside watching Canterlot Stadium if the Stallions win the football game. With the riots that happened last week in Charlotte after the Panthers won the NFC, mayor didn’t want the same thing happening if the Stallions go to the Superbowl. Plus, if that’s not enough, most of the ECSD is over in Norville at the Pavilion for the Mustangs’ game against the Knicks – tonight’s the night that Sureshot’s retiring from the Mustangs, so they’re expecting massive crowds at the Pavilion.”

“Shiny, I don’t care about that,” she said, as she tried to make another call, hoping to try to get a hold of Rarity, or Night and Velvet. Or someone – anyone – who could help. “What the hell’s with cell service today?”

“Probably overloaded for the same reason,” he reasoned.

She sat back in the seat, trying not to worry – but not doing a very good job of it. She then told him, “The worst part about it is what happened to all those girls while they were under the influence – you saw how Twily was reacting there, and that was just the start. What about someone who’s fully under the influence – or worse, is particularly susceptible?”

“I don’t even want to think about that,” he told her as they blew past the halfway point. “Frankly, I’d do this alone, but I can’t be in two places at once. So I’m going to need your help, Sunny.”

“Okay, let me handle saving Tavi, and you go after Rarity,” Sunset suggested. “The one with Tavi’s a girl, and for bonus points, she and I don’t get along, so if she tries something, I’ve got more than enough reason to get creative.”

“A girl? Tavi’s never expressed any interest in girls,” Shining said.

“Yeah, but Tavi likely didn’t know who her date was. And knowing Vinyl, she either doesn’t know, or given what the drug does, doesn’t care. But the one I’m really worried about is Rarity: she’s with a boy who not only can protect himself, but has some serious connections. His name is Blueblood and his old man’s Senator Quorum Call.”

Shining whistled. “Yeah, I can see how that’s an issue. Can you take care of this Vinyl girl? What if she’s armed?”

“Doesn’t matter if I can or not,” Sunset told him. “Tavi’s part of our family and nobody gets to hurt my family.”

He grinned. “You know, out of my sisters, somehow I’m not surprised to know it’s you saying that.”

She blushed. “Sisters?”

He chuckled despite the situation. “I’ve always thought of Tavi as one. And I’d be lying if I said you didn’t fit into our family just as well.”

“I’d hug you right now, but we’re doing multiples of the speed limit right now, so that might not be a good idea.”

“Ooooh,” Octavia said, feeling woozy. “I…I don’t feel very well, all of a sudden,” she told Vinyl. And things had gone so well, too. While she made it clear that she wasn’t interested in Vinyl, the two had got along charmingly and she felt she’d made a new friend, especially one that was interested in both classical and modern music. The fact that Vinyl played classical guitar and was a performing deejay intrigued the raven-haired girl.

“Yeah, sometimes the food here does that,” Vinyl said, feeling both anticipation and guilt at the same time. The blue-haired beauty felt her pulse quicken as the indicator that The Vibe was kicking in was clear. Within a few moments, she’d have complete control of Octavia. And I’ll have the girl of my dreams, the deejay thought to herself. But why do I feel so guilty about it?

It was because she’d gotten to know Octavia during the night, she knew. Octavia was no longer just some distant figure that filled Vinyl’s dreams of desire, but now was a girl who could possibly be a good friend, something that Vinyl wasn’t sure she’d had in a long, long time. The two had a lot in common and both loved music. But Vinyl saw Octavia’s luscious lips, sensual eyes and the curves of her body, and she was stirred by that even as she argued to herself that she’d be sacrificing the newfound friendship she’d made with her.

Maybe she’ll forgive me once she’s my girlfriend, Vinyl hoped. Or maybe she’ll hate me forever for what I’m about to do.

“Tavi?” Vinyl asked.

“Yes?” The voice was slurred, barely audible and confused.

“Kiss me,” Vinyl commanded, and Octavia, haltingly, hesitatingly leaned forward. Their lips met, a mere brush at first but soon full and engaging. Octavia, now fully under control of the drug, had no idea what was going on. But Vinyl felt the twin emotions of both desire and guilt waging a war within her. She now had her heart’s desire within the palm of her hands, but at the same time, was it truly the girl or just her body? Was her mind within – and given what Vinyl now knew about her, this was less becoming a triumph of Vinyl’s heart and more of a….

She kissed Octavia again, their lips intertwining, Vinyl’s tongue probing. As she broke it off, she said, “C’mon, let’s go to the hotel.” It had been yet another condition of the whole agreement that Blueblood had arranged for the penthouse suite at the downtown Renaissance Hotel. It would be two full days of complete and utter delight.

Vinyl’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of squealing tires as someone outdoors clearly was screwing around with their car. Great, some asshole’s skidding his car outside, she groaned. Not wanting to take a chance at accidentally getting hit by some muscle-car musclehead who couldn’t control his wheels, she opted to pay with cash, leaving a healthy tip for the host that thought them to be a cute couple. Finally, as the waitress dropped off the change and Vinyl got up, she whispered in Octavia’s ear, “We’re going to have fun toniiii—”

The next thing Vinyl felt was a fist right across her face, followed by a second to her gut. And since she was a lover, not a fighter, she tucked herself into a ball, looking up at the person who struck her and being completely stunned by who it was:

Sunset Shimmer.

The look in Sunset’s eyes was completely unreadable; the girl looked like she’d been running for quite a bit. And as she was panting, she said, “Scratch, I’m not going to let you hurt Tavi.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you bitch,” Vinyl snarled, “interrupting a date between me and my girlfr—”

“Don’t. You. Dare,” Sunset fumed, the anger clear in her voice. “For one, Noteworthy’s told me everything – you’re done for! Secondly, Octavia’s my cousin. I know her, and I know her well enough to know that she’s not interested in girls. And while she might have come initially because this was a blind date and she didn’t know who you were, I’m guessing that she stuck around because she thought she’d made a friend.” The grim line that was Sunset’s mouth became a sneer. “I guess we both know how wrong that is, huh?”

“Fuck you, Shimmer,” Vinyl snarled. “What, you think you know everything?”

“Yeah, starting with the fact that you were talked into this,” Sunset said. “Noteworthy told me that Blueblood told you that either you do this ‘favor’ for him, or he’ll get word to your parents that you’re a lesbian.” When Vinyl’s eyes became saucers of surprise, Sunset continued. “Listen: you and I don’t like each other – that’s probably never going to change. But because I care more about protecting Tavi than beating the fuck out of you like you deserve, I’m going to give you a chance. It’s more than you deserve, but I’m doing it because she gave you her friendship before you flushed it down the fucking shitter.” She held up two fingers, then lowered one as she said, “One: you let her go and I’ll make sure that you get protected as doing all this under duress. My brother’s a cop, and he’ll listen to me. Yeah, you’ll have to testify, and your secret will be exposed, but better that than jail…or Option Two.”

“Seems to me that I’m holding all the cards here, Sunset,” Vinyl said, sounding more confident than she was. “Besides, your cousin’s the hottest piece of tail I’ve ever seen. So why don’t you jus—”

“I’m not done yet,” Sunset said, lowering the second finger. “Then, there’s Option Two: If you so much as touch her, I will introduce you to the fucking wrath of a Goddamn pissed-off-as-Tartarus alicorn. Your ass is going to be Discord and I’m going to be all six fucking Elements of Harmony. I’m going to rampage on you like the Princess did against the Minotaur Invasion of 957. I WILL BREAK YOU LIKE SHE BROKE THE ENTIRE CHANGELING ARMY AT SADDLEBACK RIDGE, AND I WON’T FEEL AN OUNCE OF REMORSE DOING IT, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?”

Vinyl leaned back in surprise as she gasped, “What. The fuck. Are you talking about?”

Great – I’ve always wanted to use that threat, and now that I have, nobody has a single clue of what I’m referencing. Good job breaking it, heroine, she chided herself. “Let’s just say that hospitalization will be the least bi—”

“STOP!” a new voice roared. Both girls turned to find Cloud Kicker, looking as though she’d run all the way from her house, appearing completely ragged. “Vinyl…came to stop you,” she gasped, hunched over as she tried to suck in as much breath as she could.

Twice in one night? Sunset groaned inwardly. What is this, a fucking soap opera? “You okay, Kicks?” Sunset asked.

“Let…her…go….” Cloud Kicker panted, and both Sunset and Vinyl looked at each other in confusion before they realized that the winded girl was referring to Octavia. “This…this isn’t you, Vinyl. You’re not like this. I know you.”

“Why do you care?” Vinyl said. “Look, Kicky, you’re my friend and all, but this is all about my hear—”

“No!” Cloud Kicker shouted, reaching over and grabbing a chair. “This isn’t about your heart, it’s about you trying to take the easy way out of being loved. You’re infatuated with her, because you think she’s going to give you what you want. But it’s just an image, Vi, not the real thing! She won’t – can’t – love you!”

“And you know that, how?”

“Do you remember that girl I said I loved once and fucked that up with?” Cloud Kicker asked. “It was you.”

“What?” Sunset and Vinyl said simultaneously. The room then went silent as both girls realized what Cloud Kicker was confessing. For Vinyl, it may as well have been one of the signs of the apocalypse, while Sunset suddenly wondered if her life turned into the weirder sections of TVTropes.

“Yes, Vinyl. I love you,” Cloud Kicker said simply. “Look, I know I fucked things up in the past: I was afraid that going deeper into our relationship was going to fuck everything up, so I pushed you away – only to find out that every night after, every guy and girl I was with, didn’t mean anything as much as just holding your hand and brushing your cheek.” The blonde laughed bitterly. “Yeah – the nympho turns out to like tender moments. Who woulda thought that?”

“I….” Vinyl stammered, not sure of what to say.

“Vinyl, give me a second chance,” Cloud Kicker pled. “I’m willing to change this time. For you? I’ll give it up.” A second later she realized what she said, and revised her words: “I mean, monogamy, just you and me. Yeah, I like sex – I like the dick and the muff, and that’s never going to change. But what I like doesn’t compare to what I love – and that is you, Vinyl.” Cloud looked at Octavia. “Yeah, she’s hot – oh hell is she smoking….”

“Kicks….” Sunset said testily, feeling as though she’d been sidelined by the Cloud Kicker Travelling Confession Disaster Circus.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, giving her friend a smile. “Let her go, Vinyl. Take me back.”

“I….” Vinyl’s eyes started to water. “Oh, God…what do I do?”

“If you ask me,” Sunset stated, “you can force something – and they will hate you for it forever – or you can take what’s freely given and be the better woman for it. I have people who have taught me that lately, and it’s a lesson that I needed to learn. Don’t put yourself in the same position I was in.”

Vinyl looked at Cloud Kicker. “You’re serious about this?”

“Well, we can get all 1950s if you want and I can wear a promise ring, if it makes you feel better,” Cloud Kicker said, smiling softly. “But I want you back, Vinyl. And I’m not about to let you make a mistake that will hurt the both of us.” She then approached Vinyl and kissed her. Not passionately, but tenderly – the kiss of love, not lust. After a few seconds, Vinyl then joined in and as Cloud Kicker broke the kiss, she asked, “So does that mean yes?”

Vinyl nodded. “C’mon, I’ve got a hotel suite that’s mine for the next two days. We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Vinyl told her. “If things are going to be different this time…I want to be upfront. No more hiding.”

“Even if it means your mom will disown you?”

“I hate my mother anyway,” Vinyl answered, as she then turned to Sunset. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I owe you big time, Sunset. Please…tell Octavia that if she never wants to see me again, I’ll understand, but if she wants to be friends…I’d like that.”

“I’m sure she will,” Sunset said simply as she watched both girls depart. She then turned her attention to Octavia. The blank, empty look on Octavia’s face worried her. “Tavi?” Sunset said, worriedly.

“Do you want another kiss, Vinyl?” Octavia said, blankly. No trace of attraction, love…or anything. It was a simple statement, no different than if she’d been talking about the weather.

She’s been hit hard. As the restaurant staff began to gather slowly in the aftermath of the catfight that had just occurred, Sunset snarled at them, “Get the fuck out of here! Show’s over!” The staff scattered, and Sunset took Octavia’s hand. “Tavi, it’s Sunny. You’re safe now.”

“Do you want a kiss too, Sunny?” Octavia said, just as blankly. But when the raven-haired girl closed her eyes and puckered up, Sunset felt revulsion wash through her. Yeah, on the mental level we’re related now – yay for RSI.

“Okay, cuz, think we’ve had enough of this.” Sunset pulled Octavia out of the restaurant, giving the staff glares as they departed. She managed to get her as far as the nearest alley, glad that it was empty. With that, Sunset immediately cast a quick spell, placing her hand on Octavia’s forehead and hoping the magic would burn The Vibe from Octavia’s body.

This had better work, Sunset hoped. The spell in question was a cleansing spell, but these sorts of spells weren’t designed with human chemistry – meaning either the medicine or Octavia’s physiology – in mind. She would have used it on Twilight back in Horseshoe Bay, but there were too many people around; here, in the confines of the empty alleyway, she could cut loose safely enough.

Suddenly, Octavia stumbled and Sunset had to bend to catch her. Octavia blinked as her lavender eyes, showing signs of life once more, looked into Sunset’s cyan ones. She then grinned and said, “Sunny, I love you to death, but you are not my Prince Charming. And what are you doing here? Thought you were sick at home.”

Relief washed through Sunset as she righted Octavia. “Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but…you got dumped. Vinyl’s ex-girlfriend showed up and thought that the whole date was meant to make her jealous,” Sunset explained, feeling guilty about lying to Octavia, even if it was for a good cause. “But you thought it was sweet and just let them go.”

“I…um…I don’t remember any of that,” Octavia said, somewhat flustered.

“Probably because the waitstaff fucked up,” Sunset said glibly. “They poured you a Seven Blaster by accident.” The alcoholic drink, though tasting like a simple serving of 7-Up, was actually alcoholically potent enough that it could floor adults; it had been something that Night and Velvet had cautioned Octavia about prior to her date. Plus, as Sunset noted from experience, it was actually plausible and believable. Of course, Octavia would eventually find out the truth, but hopefully it would give Sunset enough time to formulate an excuse then.

“Oh. You’re not going to tell Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet about it, are you?”

Sunset shook her head. “No way. I’m just here to make sure you get home okay, since Cloud Kicker – Vinyl’s girlfriend – insisted you not be left alone while downtown.”

“Thanks, Sunny,” a relieved Octavia answered. “Well, uh, should we get going, then?” the musician asked before remembering, “Oh! Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet are just down the road at that Mexican restaurant. Maybe we can join them there?”

“Good idea; I’m starving,” Sunset said, as the anger and worry she’d been feeling mostly drained out of her body. Both Twilight and Octavia were safe, and while Rarity was still in trouble, she knew Shining Armor would live up to his name and arrive to save the day. Monday would be a hell – Well, even more than normal, Sunset mused – but the gears were now set in motion, the stage readied for The Club’s downfall.

As he came to a screeching halt in the parking lot of La Fantaisie, Shining knew this was going to be one of the more interesting arrests of his career. For starters, this wasn’t his jurisdiction; San Palomino was patrolled by the ECSD, and though state law allowed him to make an arrest as he was a sworn officer, there was also going to be a lot of questions as to why he just happened to also be involved with the situation over in Horseshoe Bay. He had no doubt that he’d be having one hell of a discussion with his lieutenant first thing on Monday morning – and after that, the paperwork would certainly be hell.

Still, Rarity was a friend of his sisters, and having left Octavia in Sunset’s care, that only left Rarity in need of rescuing – and against the most problematic one, if Sunset’s explanation had been correct. He’d be essentially placing his career in jeopardy by arresting the teen, but Shining was more than willing to take that risk if it meant saving an innocent in trouble. That was, after all, his whole raison d’ etre.

Leaping out of the car, he rushed to the restaurant’s front door to find a young woman stomping out of the restaurant, one of her arms covering her chest and the look on her face one of indignation. As he approached her, he asked, “Rarity? Are you alright?”

“Oh, Shining Armor! It’s a pleasure to see a friendly face here!” she said, a grateful smile on her face. They’d initially met in the wake of Sunset’s injury, and had run into each other a few more times since then. “I’m presuming you’re here to save me from that cheap, heinous, miserable cretin?”

It was then that he noticed exactly why she was holding her arms in such a rather awkward position: the front portion of her dress was missing, and clearly it hadn’t been removed voluntarily. Slipping off his jacket, he slid it over her shoulders. “Here – looks like you’re going to need this.”

“At last, a gentleman!” she said, with appreciation of his gesture. “Well, I suppose I should expect nothing less of my friends’ older brother…unlike that cad within!”

“What happened?”

“Well, a lady shouldn’t talk, but….”

“I’m a cop, remember?”

“That I do,” she said, smiling. “That’s the only reason I’m willing to divulge my horrific tale.” He diverted his eyes as she slipped on his jacket and zipped it up. “Thank you, Shining. It’s so refreshing to be reminded of what gallantry is from a true man of honor.”

“You were saying?”

“Oh, yes – forgive my slight verbal detour. In any case, it started when I arrived. I confess, I was quite smitten with Blueblood; he was debonair, handsome, charming and I thought I’d landed quite the catch. Unfortunately, I also feared that I was going to give him something else I caught that would have spelled disaster for the date.”

“What’s that?”

“A head cold, of course – it is January after all, darling. In any case, while I rushed off to the powder room to freshen up, I also took a couple Robitussin pills. In retrospect, however, perhaps I shouldn’t have done that; the drinks and the food had an odd aftertaste as a result.”

Shining kept a straight face, though inwardly he felt relieved as his mind put the situation together: something in the cold medicine, at least in Rarity’s case, had blocked the effects of the Vibe. There’s a happy accident if I’ve ever heard of one, he mused.

“You might not believe this, but that turned out to be the best thing you could have done,” he told her, without clarifying. “In any case, go ahead and continue. Try to remember everything, because you’ll need to repeat it again for your complaint.”

“Understood,” she continued. “So all the while we chatted, and had what I thought was a pleasant dinner, but as the evening wore on, he started looking at me…oddly.”

“Oddly?”

“Well, to use a turn of phrase, it was as though I’d become a piece of chattel. I thought I was imagining it at first; after all, he’s a man of means, so I thought that…well, never mind what I thought, because I was clearly wrong, and he proved it afterwards.” The relative smile disappeared from her face, morphing into a scowl. “After dinner, he ordered – ordered! – me to kiss him. Granted, I was still somewhat taken in by him, so I might have done so had he not been so, ahem, ‘forward’ about it; he could have at least waited until after we danced before hinting at that. Well, I told him no, and apparently that is not a word he’s accustomed to, because then he demanded that I do so. The nerve!

“So, after deciding that I’d had more than enough, I got up from the table, told him our date was over, that I did not wish to see him again, and that I expected that I’d be calling for a taxi to take me home, as I did not trust anyone in his employ, given the circumstances. Things…devolved…after that. He got up and insulted me, saying something along the lines that I was ‘too stupid for it to work’ and that he was going to have to ‘force more’, whatever that meant. He then grabbed me and…well….” She sighed. “And I’d specially ordered this dress from Hong Kong, just for such an occasion! Believe me, I will most certainly be sending him a bill for damages in addition to everything else!”

“So, where is he?”

“Well, after he assaulted me, I did what any woman in my situation would have done: I hit him with my purse.” She showed him the soft blue silk purse, which surprisingly had what looked to be blood spatter on it. “I struck him straight across the face with it before I stormed out. I hope I made my point!”

“I’m sure you did,” Shining told her. Especially since your phone was there, you probably broke his nose in the impact, he added silently as he jiggled her purse slightly, hearing seeing the vague rectangular shape slide with the motion. “Wait in my car until I get back and don’t open it for anyone other than me or another law enforcement official, okay?”

“Of course, Shining, dear.” She paused to reach up and give him a kiss on the cheek. “And thank you for coming to my rescue. You are a true gentleman amongst gentlemen and I daresay that I’m a bit envious of Cadance’s good fortune.”

Shining didn’t know what to say to that, so he simply nodded and escorted her to the car. Once she was safely within, he said to himself, “And now to deal with the problem child,” as he holstered his pistol and headed into the restaurant.

The first thing he thought when he entered was how opulent the place was: if Blueblood had been smart, he could have easily charmed Rarity with just what was on hand; of course, someone who was used to getting his way would have insisted on having the deck well-stacked in his favor, hence the use of The Vibe. As Shining entered the main portion of the restaurant, he noted that it was mostly empty, save for the upended table by the waterfall. Seated on a chair, apparently sopping wet – had Rarity knocked him into the decorative pool at the base of the water display? – was Blueblood, covering his face. His white suit and tie was stained with his own blood, and in a cosmic display of both guilt and irony, he was using the part of her dress that he’d torn off to cover his face in an attempt to stop the blood flow.

“Fubbin’ bichb!” he mumbled through the shirt top, so self-absorbed in his misfortune that he was unaware that he was no longer alone. “Gubba fub wib me bike thab? Goddab skabk!”

“Sounds like a broken nose,” Shining said to the pathetic young man in front of him. “I’m sure they can fix it after you’ve been bailed out of jail, kid.”

Blueblood froze as realization of a second person dawned on him. He then turned in the direction of the voice, and once he saw the muscular cop standing there – the same thug from his date with that peon Octavia Melody last year, no less! – looking less than pleased, he panicked, dropping the ripped cloth. The blood started once more, pouring onto Blueblood’s already-ruined white garments. “No!” he told the officer automatically, without even trying to come up with a plausible excuse. “I didn’t do anything to her! She started it – she led me on and framed me! I’m the victim, here! I dem—”

“Shut it,” Shining barked gruffly as sirens sounded in the distance. About time someone showed up. “Save it for someone who’ll believe it,” he advised the bleeding young man.

A second later, a familiar deputy rushed in, gun at the ready as she ordered, “ECSD! Freeze!”

Shining turned to look at her. “Heya, Sandy,” he called out, then fixed his eyes back on Blueblood. “Got a girl in my car who wants to chat with you about all this,” he told her.

“Oh, heya, Shining,” Sandalwood chirped as she holstered her service pistol. “Building’s alarm went off and this just happens to be on my beat. Saw the car there and came in all Missouri broadside. So, you mentioned a girl?”

“Yeah, just saved my sisters’ friend from getting hit by The Vibe,” he told her. He then pointed at the remains of the table. “Bet if you test the stuff, you’ll find traces, at the very least.”

“You can’t prove anything!” Blueblood yelped, his confidence now starting to kick in. “She assaulted me! And now you want to presume I’m guilty? I want to speak to my lawyer immediately!”

“Kid, if you already have a lawyer, you do know how bad that looks, right?” Sandalwood said as she reached for her cuffs.

“You can’t prove anything!” he yelped, completely in disbelief that he was about to be arrested.

“Not my job…but someone will,” she told him glibly.

The following weeks were a complete calamity for Equestria County and the various public and private high schools located within. By Monday, the suspected ringleaders of The Club had been arrested, and two days later, thirty-four boys – and one girl – were found to have been members. Between Noteworthy’s change of heart and Vinyl’s admission that she was under duress, the two immediately confessed to what they knew in return for being protected as witnesses, and by the end of the week, eleven boys were being charged as adults with a variety of crimes, while five more were charged as minors. Of the remaining teens, eight attending the public high schools were expelled and reassigned to the Blanks; or in the case of those attending Muenchinger, would now have to attend public school. The remainder were suspended and given additional punishment as necessary, including in one case a promising basketball player, who had been kicked off County High’s team; by the end of the year, many of the teams within the county would suffer quality drops in their sports programs due to the number of promising student athletes removed in disgrace.

For their parts in helping to identify the students involved, Celestia and Luna were given commendations by the district school board, the mayor of Canterlot, and the Equestria County Board of Supervisors; the various images they were able to pull from Minuette’s phone had been significant in starting the paper trail of investigation, even though many computer experts were amazed that they were able to find the once-in-a-lifetime image that started it all. But more significant thanks had come from their colleague, Thunderhooves, who broke down in tears of joy and gratitude when he found that the two eighteen-year-olds that had violated his daughter had been identified and were being charged.

Of the girls impacted, close to seventy in all had been affected. As the weeks passed, the parents of at least twelve of the girls moved their families out of the Canterlot metro area to avoid further trauma. The remaining girls that stayed were offered counseling and other avenues of assistance, especially as their names had somehow been leaked out; in many cases they had to deal with the ostracism of many of their unaffected peers. In particular, one case, Fleur Dis Lee, due to her high-profile status as a model, immediately ceased her work for the moment and stopped attending school, the Zacherle staff having chosen to pay for a private tutor for her in order to finish out the remainder of her senior year without further embarrassment. Those that knew her said that as she’d crossed into the age of majority during the whole situation, she was being prospected for what she referred to as “abhorrent and obscene offers from the adult entertainment industry.”

Closer to home, Twilight, Octavia, and Rarity had been horrified to discover that they numbered amongst the victims. For Twilight’s sake, had it not been for the presence of Cadance, she would have been in extreme danger. Rarity turned out to have inadvertently discovered a flaw in the drug; it was apparently easily neutralized by Promethazine, a compound commonly found in cough remedies. But it was Octavia who had been traumatized most: not only had her suitor been a girl, she’d been completely affected by the drug and momentarily abused by someone she’d thought was a friend. With Vinyl given legal protection due to her status as a witness, Octavia briefly took it out on Sunset, much to the latter’s sorrow; Twilight, knowing a bit more, jumped to her foster sister’s defense and for two days, the house was eerily silent as its three younger female residents stopped speaking to one another. But soon after, Octavia realized she was being unfair to the persons who saved her and who she cared about, so the trio mended fences quickly.

As for Sunset, very few knew of her involvement. Part of that was simply to prevent retaliation, but another part of it was due to the actions of both Celestia and Luna, who took pains to ensure that not only would the alien teen not be exposed, but that the evidence would be scientifically admissible – and would thus stick. Once Minuette was out of the hospital, she and her parents insisted on taking Sunset out to dinner for all of her help. But what the azure-and-cornflower-haired girl did for Sunset was even more invaluable: through her own word of mouth, Minuette’s recounting of her experiences informed more and more teens at the school that the former queen bee of Canterlot High was no longer the vicious harpy they all feared; as a result, Sunset began to develop a new reputation at the school: that of the girl you went to when you needed help. Sunset was embarrassed by the newfound attention, but her friends stood by her, insisting that it was for the best.

One thing that Sunset did consider as being in her favor was the schadenfreude of watching her ex-boyfriend deal with the repercussions of his bad behavior. Once Blossomforth decided that she intended to keep the child, her parents – especially her father, a pastor at a local church – insisted that there was only one way to resolve this. To Flash’s horror, his own parents agreed, and by the end of January, the young man found himself with a fiancée and a child due in August. Blossomforth surprised Sunset when she promised to name the baby after her if it was a girl. Additionally, because she wanted to start taking more responsibility in the wake of what had occurred to her, the floral-haired teen was now the latest employee at the Sugarcube Corner Café, whose business had picked up enough to justify Mr. and Mrs. Cake hiring a third employee.

Sadly, however, there was one loose end that remained untied: Blueblood appeared to have escaped his fate. Firstly, his girlfriend, Suri Polomare, told police that her beloved boyfriend had been framed, and that he could never have been the type of person that would commit such atrocious crimes; she even suggested that he may have even been drugged himself, because the accusations lobbed at him could never be done by a gallant and kind man like Blueblood – and he would most certainly never cheat on her. Her constant and consistent defense of him, combined with his sterling reputation and the best lawyers his family could hire, certainly cast a massive counterweight of innocence opposing the damning accusations leveled against him.

But ultimately, it had been the confession of a young female gangbanger named Crackle, attending Sunnytown High, who on the witness stand confessed that it had been her boyfriend, Sportin’ Life, that had bought the drugs from a gang in Cloudsdale, and had used a second boy named Rover to infiltrate The Club, which had been originally started by Blueblood and Flash as nothing more than just a group of like-minded guys hanging out together. When Blueblood had balked at what was occurring to his club, Crackle testified, Sportin’ Life had chosen to frame or ‘remove’ the top leaders of The Club so that they could be replaced with ones more pliable to the growing criminal enterprise. Though Sportin’ Life and Rover both insisted that they’d been framed and that neither had been to Cloudsdale before, the evidence against both boys was damning enough to send both behind bars for a while. Blueblood, once absolved of the charges, prevented his father from suing the local police department for ineptitude and corruption, stating that it was “in the interests of the sake of the victimized students” that things be let go and to allow the whole sordid episode be swallowed up by the past.

“Don’t ever do that to me, Minnie!” a tear-struck Waterfire embraced her friend fiercely, the two not having seen each other in over three weeks since Minuette’s suicide attempt.

“But I thought you’d hate me, Wai,” Minuette told her friend.

“I’d hate you more if you’d killed yourself! You were drugged and taken advantage of, Minnie! I could never hate you for that!” Waterfire reached over and wiped her friend’s tears. “Stylin’’s going to get what he deserves: a long, long time behind bars, hopefully.”

The azure-haired girl nodded. “He took a plea bargain: juvenile detention at the County Youth Rehabilitation Center until he’s 18, then additional probation for a decade and registering as a sex offender. I don’t think that he got what he deserved, but it’s better than nothing.”

Watching the pair from a distance away, Noteworthy felt like scum. For his involvement in the whole mess, even though he’d ultimately done the right thing, he was probably one of the most hated people in school right now; if anything, he seemed to have taken Sunset’s place in the pantheon of perpetual losers and basket cases. His friends – well, the ones that escaped being expelled or were now on trial, at any rate – had ostracized him, he’d been booted from the band he and Flash had played in, and removed from the school’s marching band as well. Plus, he knew that the colleges he’d applied to were likely aware of the events unfolding in Canterlot and it wouldn’t surprise him if come September the number of universities that would accept him would be far more sparse than he would have liked – if any would accept him at all.

“Crap,” he said, sitting down on the steps by the front of the school. He’d intended to apologize to Minuette for everything that she’d been through. It would never be enough, he knew, and his chances of getting to ask her out were now nonexistent.

“How long’re ya gunna watch’em?” a voice said behind him. He turned to find Applejack standing there, looking at him.

“Hey, at least if I sit here, I know that I don’t have to deal with being slapped,” he told her glumly. “Believe me, I want to apologize to her, but I already know she hates me, just like everyone else in this school.”

“Shucks, Ah don’ hatecha. Do Ah think y’ did somethin’ downright dumbass? Hell yeah!” she told him. “But we fergave Sunset all th’ things she did t’ us, an’ if’n y’ work t’ redeem yerself, Ah know folks’ll come ‘round in time.”

“You think so?”

“Ah know yer sweet on Minuette; Sunset told us so. An’ frankly, that gal needs someone who understands what she’s goin’ through, not jest like a pal like Waterfire, but someone she c’n talk to ‘bout this.”

“But that can’t be me.”

“In th’ end, y’ did th’ right thing, hoss,” she reminded him. “Go do it ag’in.”

“I see,” he told her as she walked back towards the school. Then, taking a deep breath as if for courage, Noteworthy started to walk towards Minuette and Waterfire and whatever happened next.

As Applejack stood there, she watched as Noteworthy finally spoke to Minuette. It did not go well, as he’d expected: Waterfire kicked him in the crotch, doubling him over and sending him sprawling to the ground. But then Minuette herself helped him up, and the trio talked, mostly with Waterfire standing between them as a protection for the victimized girl. But in the end, it appeared that she forgave him, and the trio departed, on at least what appeared to be friendly terms.

“That boy done did a whole world’s wortha stupid,” Applejack said aloud as someone came up behind her, “but least he’s smart enough t’ do th’ right thing in th’ end.”

“I’d still kick his ass,” Rainbow scoffed. “Guy doesn’t deserve to get away with it, AJ.”

“He’s not, Rainbow,” Applejack replied. “Boy’s payin’ fer his crimes; he jest got a lighter sentence ‘cause he tried t’ do th’ right thing.”

“Well, better him than me. I know I’d screw that up all twenty ways to sideways.”

Rainbow and Applejack were soon joined by Fluttershy and Pinkie, both of whom arrived in time to hear the gist of the earlier conversation. “But is it okay? How many of us were on that list? How many more would have eventually been targeted?” The look on Fluttershy’s face showed clear worry, and though no names were mentioned, the fact that half of their own social group had been involved in one way or another weighed heavily on the four girls.

Applejack was quiet for the longest time before she told Fluttershy, “Dunno, sugarcube. But Ah know whut yer thinkin’. And yeah, it ain’t right `that Rarity has t’ see counselin’ fer what happened t’ her, or that Twily an’ Tavi have to at their schools. But Ah’d rather that than whut happened t’ some of th’ other gals.”

“Ooooh, I wish I could throw a whole city-sized party for everyone!” Pinkie said somberly. “I hate seeing everyone so sad.”

“Well, Pinks – you’re on the cheerleading squad,” Rainbow started, “so why don’t you get—”

“Rainbow? Not now,” Fluttershy scolded. “Don’t even joke about it.”

Rainbow sighed. “Look, even I have my limits, Flutters. What I was going to suggest is that Pinkie and the rest of the cheerleading squad should bake some cupcakes or something and hand them around school – y’know, to help rebuild trust in everyone,” she said. “I know that I’m not the best in the kitchen, but I’d help, and I can probably get the girls on my team to help, too.”

A gear switched in Pinkie’s mind. “Rainbow, you’re a genius!” she giggled, happy to have a suggestion.

“Look, Pinkie, I know I’m just a dumb jock,” Rainbow told her, “but even—”

Pinkie hugged her friend. “No, silly – the whole idea! I’m sure if we suggest it to Principal Celestia, she can work something out with the other schools, too.”

“It’d be our school’s way of helping to heal the wounds!” Fluttershy said happily as she realized Pinkie’s idea. “Rainbow, that’s brilliant!”

“Well, let’s not go that…okay, let’s go that far,” Rainbow said, grinning.

“I’m going to talk to her right now, and then get a hold of the rest of the squad!” With that, Pinkie raced back into the school, headed for the principal’s office.

“Well, Ah’ll be glad t’ help,” Applejack said. The other girls nodded. “B’sides, this is fer all th’ girls, includin’ our friends, right?”

“Think Sunset’ll join us if we start this afternoon?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack shook her head. “She’s out today; off doing something important, she said.”

“So, this is it, huh?” Sunset asked Vinyl. The two were at Terminal Two of Canterlot International, awaiting the announcement of the latter girl’s flight. At the moment, Vinyl had a carry-on bag slung over her shoulder and was dressed far differently than she normally did; if anything, it seemed almost as if she was trying to completely move away from the brash party girl persona she’d had since Sunset had first known her.

“Yeah,” Vinyl nodded. “Already gave my deposition and testimony to the prosecutors, and they’ll allow me to testify via teleconference, but…yeah, I’m done.” She gave her former adversary a sad smile as she adjusted her glasses – regular eyeglasses, not the shades she’d perpetually been seen with prior. “Besides, there’s nothing left here for me, anyway. Mom’s rep is in ruins, or so she thinks – and she kicked me out of the house and disowned me the moment she found out everything. If it wasn’t for Kicky’s parents, I’d have been screwed the past couple of weeks.”

“Still, hard to believe that you’re starting a new life in Detroit, of all places.”

“Heh, not as bad as it seems, believe it or not: turns out Dad lives in Lansing, which is like San Palomino in comparison. Plus, I’m transferring now, which gives me plenty of time to get caught up with the high school I’ll be going to. Plus, Mr. Cranky Doodle, the trigonometry teacher, apparently knows the principal of the school I’ll be attending, so he’ll put in a good word for me. Besides,” she said, smiling, “I’m free now. I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not anymore. I don’t have to sleep with another boy just to keep my mom from guessing. And I’m not going alone.”

“Sorry I’m late!” Cloud Kicker shouted as she ran up to them. She was carrying a bag as well and like Vinyl, had changed her look for some reason, currently wearing a blouse and skirt. Stopping and kissing Vinyl on the cheek, she said, “Had to run over to Terminal Three, since the restrooms in this one are closed for cleaning.”

“Hey, missed you,” Vinyl said, taking Cloud Kicker’s hand and giving it a squeeze. Sunset surprisingly noted that on Cloud Kicker’s hand was a promise ring – just as she vowed she’d wear.

“You’re going with her?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah,” the blonde nodded happily. “My parents are idiots, but they do love me and since they’ve been planning to move to the hippie commune in Ukiah, they were worried I wouldn’t fit in. But now that I’m moving in with Vinyl’s family, I’ll be okay. Besides, it gives us plenty of time to work on the ‘couple’ part of our relationship until we can make something a little more permanent, like when we’re out of college.”

“Of course you’re invited, Sunset,” Vinyl interjected.

“Even still…I feel bad for abandoning Blossom,” Cloud Kicker said. “She’s got that asshole she’s with, and I don’t see that lasting.”

“She’s stronger than you think,” Sunset told her friend. “Besides, we’ll keep an eye out for her. She’s growing quite the spine now that she knows that she’s got more than just herself to take care of, and I can totally see her putting Flash in his well-deserved place.”

“Look, Sunset,” Vinyl began. “I know you and I….” She sighed and shook her head as if to dispel whatever line of thought she was following. “I’m…sorry. That night, I wanted Octavia. Badly. But I would’ve screwed it up, I know: you can’t start a relationship with someone if you’ve….” She shook her head. “Look, I can’t thank you enough for stopping me from what could’ve been a huge mistake, and I can’t apologize enough to Octavia, even if she’ll probably never see me.”

“I think you’d better tell her that yourself,” Sunset said, as she hooked a thumb behind her.

Seated on a bench, folding and then putting down the copy of the Equestria Daily, the city’s main newspaper, was Octavia. With an angry look in her eye, the teen, still dressed in her school uniform, walked straight up to the trio.

“Tavi,” Vinyl began, “I—” She was suddenly silenced as Octavia delivered a stinging slap, loud enough to ring through the relatively empty corridors of the airport terminal.

“I should hate you,” the raven-haired teen snarled, her eyes filled with hurt. “I didn’t like you in that way, but I was willing to be your friend. And all I was to you wasn’t even something to be a quick lay, but so that your buddies could rape my cousin and my friend?”

“Octavia, it wasn—”

“No, Vinyl! No excuses! I don’t want to hear anything from you – ever again!” She then turned to Cloud Kicker, saying in a curt tone, “For your sake, I hope she’s worth it. I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Kicker.” With that, Octavia left them and went back to the bench where she sat, picked up the newspaper again and hid behind it.

Vinyl started to move towards the distraught teen, but Sunset got in her way, shaking her head. Cloud Kicker then tugged her girlfriend’s hand, indicating that Sunset was right.

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS: UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 3456 NONSTOP TO DETROIT, NOW BOARDING AT GATE 6B,” a voice boomed over the airport’s intercom.

“That’s our flight,” Cloud Kicker said. She then stuck out a hand. “See you around sometime, Sunny.”

Sunset took and shook, then hugged the girl. “You know it, Kicky. Keep in touch.” She then looked at Vinyl, and offered her hand. Vinyl took it, and was surprised when Sunset gave her a hug as well. “Take care of her, Vinyl,” Sunset said. “She’s giving up everything for you.”

“I know,” Vinyl said in a hushed voice. “And I have to prove worthy of it. Take care, Sunset.”

As the two went off to catch their flight, Sunset sat down on the bench next to Octavia. “You okay?”

“No. I’m not.” Octavia lowered the paper once more, revealing that she had been crying. “I was violated, Sunny. Not as bad as other girls, but…how can you forgive her?”

“Because Rarity and the others forgave me,” Sunset replied, putting an arm around her pseudo-cousin. “And because instead of condemning me, they offered me something more potent – their friendship. I couldn’t be the person I am if I didn’t offer the same.”

“You know,” Octavia said, looking at Sunset, “I envy you. I thought I was strong; that I could hide behind my sarcasm and my attitude. But at the end of the day, I crumpled like paper. But you…you’ve dealt with worse and just kept on moving.”

“That’s not true. I was ‘managing’ because of my anger and rage…but that’s not the way to live life. But now I can do it because I have my friends and my family,” Sunset said, placing her head on Octavia’s. “Like a cousin who I care about as much as she does me.”

“I’m guessing you mean me, right?”

“Who the hell else should I be referring to? I’m an orphan, remember?”

“You know, I’m now going to tease you for saying that.”

“Funny, because Vinyl told me in great detail how great of a kisser you are, Tavi.”

Silence. “Okay, let’s just forget everything I said, then. You’re an ass, Sunny.”

Sunny laughed and hugged Octavia closer. “Love you too, cuz.”

The first thing that came to Blueblood’s mind when he woke up was a smug satisfaction: the lawyers had earned their keep and furthermore, the “discreet donation” that a friend of a friend of someone who might be a friend of Blueblood’s father had given that gangbanger strumpet in the slums ensured that Blueblood was well inoculated from the whole fallout – and the wealth of doctored evidence had ensured that the two delinquents would face their fates in the criminal justice system. Besides, it was only a matter of time before cretins like Sportin’ Life and Rover were set in a life behind bars; the evidence only ensured that it would happen faster, while Blueblood would successfully escape.

Well, not escape, per se. “Escaping” is for lesser folk, he thought. Better to say that those who deserved their fate got exactly what they deserved.

This line of thought, however, went away the moment he tried to get off his bed…and found that he couldn’t. Furthermore, he discovered that his hands and legs were tied to the corners of the bed, and he was bound in a manner most unbecoming. “The hell?” the teen spoke aloud.

“Well, dear, you’re feeling distraught still over your whole ordeal. Thankfully, your beloved girlfriend decided to take a couple of days from school to minister to your needs.”

Blueblood’s blood suddenly ran cold as he heard Suri’s taunting words. Sure enough, the girl walked in, wearing nothing but a negligee; in her hand she carried a small crystal vial, one that Blueblood was all-too-familiar with. After all, he’d used it on her several times.

“Well, my love,” she said in a voice that was half-venom, half-sugar, “I know you wanted me, but all you had to do was…just…ask. This,” she said, using her other hand to gesture to the vial as if she were a woman displaying a product, “was entirely unnecessary.” She then tossed the vial in a trashcan by the bar, as she sauntered over to it.

“Suri,” he began, trying to formulate a way of getting out of his current predicament, “I can explain everything.”

“Oh, you don’t need to,” she told him. “Everything has been taken care of already.”

What? he thought with surprise.

She smiled as she saw the confused look on his face. “What, you thought I was just a vapid little girl who wanted to be nothing but arm candy for the rest of your life?” She laughed softy, and the sound seemed all the more psychotic for it. “No, my dearest – you are the kind of sneaky, sadistic bastard that will likely make it to the White House someday – and I’m going to be there every step of the way.” Moving over to where there was a chilled bottle of champagne in a bucket, she poured herself a glass and held it up to her face, her eyes focusing on the sparkling gasses within the wine. “I talked to both your parents and mine and told them exactly what I want. And you know what? I got it.”

Blueblood lay there, waiting for her to continue.

She took a drink, then obliged her bound paramour. “I’ve moved in now, dear – we’re going to be living together, just you and I. Both your parents and mine will, of course, deny it all, as we still have our reputations to protect, but from now on, you and I are joined at the hip, dear. Once we get into college, then we can make it official. When we’re twenty, I’ll tell you exactly what kind of engagement ring I want. And once we’re done with grad school, I might even let you have some say in the wedding.”

Drink in hand, she sat down next to him on the bed, still holding a soft smile. “Then, while you work your way up the political ladder, I’ll be there, the dutiful, helpful wife that every politician would love to have. And eventually, you’ll reach the pinnacle; I know you will, because you’re a devious enough bastard that can make yourself look ‘authentic’ regardless of what party you run under or even if you believe any of what you’ll be selling the public. And I’ll be there, every step of the way. And when you’re done with your political career, you’ll be sure to support your loving and faithful wife as she starts her political ambitions, right?”

Blueblood had reached his fill. “Let me out of this, Suri – I’m warning you,” he told her.

But she didn’t listen, instead running her finger along his chest. “Oh, no, sweetie – now that I’m sober, we’re going to do things my way…and I like it kinky.” She paused in a clearly exaggerated thinking position, delicate finger resting on her chin as she looked skyward before saying, “Oh, and there’s one other thing that we should agree on: keep your mistresses to a minimum. I don’t care if you have any, but I do not want any illegitimate kids that will derail our…excuse me, my plans, hmmm? In turn, I promise I’ll be…attentive. Hell, if she’s cute enough, I might just join in.”

“You’re insane.”

“And you’re outclassed,” she said, the warmth dropping from her voice. “Did you and your father ever look into Crackle’s past? Or did you just assume that she’s just some streetwise slut living in the slums? Because if you had, you would have noticed one teensy little detail,” Suri said, squeezing two fingers together. She leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, “Crackle’s my half-sister from my father’s mistress.” Sitting back up, she added, “But Crackle and I get along well and sisters do share things. And because she knows everything, now I know – and I keep backups.”

A sudden look of horror came over Blueblood’s face, and as it did, she leaned down and kissed him. “Check and mate, dearest,” she cooed.

Author's Note

For those of you who think this couldn't happen in real life? I present to you exhibit A: Super Free - a Japanese "club" that had been run at Waseda University, one of the most elite schools in the country.

And while I was writing this, there was the Philadelphia high school and college drug ring bust, involving some of the city's top high schools.

And then while this arc started, there were the shootings in Santa Barbara, CA, because one guy with the mindset of a member of The Club decided he wanted revenge. How pathetic.

I could go on and on, but folks, in this day and age, we don't need to do shit like the first or third examples. We're better than that (and better than the second, as well.) Don't let it happen around you - you have more power to affect things for good than you know, if you're willing to speak up.

And now I'm going to get off my soapbox and get back to the next chapter, which will be lighter in tone - I promise. :twilightsmile:

February 8: I Think of You

“Dude!” Rumble let go of his controller in frustration. “How do you keep beating me?”

Pip looked testily at Rumble. “I told you that we should’ve ganged up on him first, you guys!”

Featherweight threw his controller own on the couch angrily. “He’s cheating! He’s gotta be cheating!”

Setting down his controller and with a wide grin on his face, Spike put his arms behind his head, leaning back against the foot of the sofa and grinning. “You guys are chump change, I swear.” To celebrate his triumph, he reached over and grabbed a Coke, grinning. “You guys just don’t like getting schooled in Super Smash Bros., do you?”

“Oh, shut up, Spike!” Featherweight groaned. “Besides, just because you think you’re hot stuff with Link does not mean that you’re going to keep beating us forever!”

Spike grinned. “Wanna bet? If I win, you guys are going to seriously owe me some favors.”

Pip looked at his friend. “And if you lose?”

“Heh – against you guys? I doubt I’ll lose, but if I do, I’ll owe you all favors.”

Someone knocked on the door to the house. “Hey, Sunny!” Spike shouted. “Your friends are here!”

Sunset poked her head out of the kitchen. “Spike, can you answer the door? Busy cooking in here!”

“I’m not supposed to answer the door, you know that!” Spike shouted back.

In the kitchen, Sunset groaned; he was right that he wasn’t allowed to answer the door after he’d slammed it in one too many people’s faces. At least with the Princess’ Spike, that was never going to be much of a problem for a dog. Heading over to the front door, she opened it, glad to see friendly faces. “Hey, glad you guys could make it!”

Standing at the door was Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity. “You promised us nachos,” Pinkie chirped, “and we have come in search of nachos!”

“That’s a good way of saying that Pinkie thought Blossomforth was okay enough to work on her own,” Rainbow said skeptically.

“She is trying,” Fluttershy said. “I think she’s still a bit sad that Cloud Kicker moved to Detroit last week. They were close, weren’t they?”

“Very much so,” Rarity said. “But since we’ve introduced her to Minuette and Waterfire, she seems to have taken to them fairly well.”

“Well, enough o’ that,” Applejack said. “Rainbow, let’s get t’ th’ reason yer here.”

“Do we have to?” the rainbow-haired athlete groaned.

“Yes,” five other girls announced at once.

An hour and several batches of nachos later, the six girls still weren’t having an easy time studying.

“Oh, c’mon, you guys! This shit is easy,” Rainbow said, “and I’m the stupid one here!”

“Yeah, but you grew up with Spanish,” Sunset reminded her, as she turned back to her book. “Fuck, this looks vaguely like Burroñeso, but the Princess never taught me that.”

“Burrah-what?” Applejack asked.

“Burroñeso. It’s the native language of the mules and donkeys,” Sunset told her friends. “Never really knew any of them, though.”

“I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around this, Sunset, dear,” Rarity said. “I mean, we know you’re an alien, but the fact that there are other species out there besides yours? It’s rather…disquieting.”

“It’s okay,” Sunset said. “It took me four years to get used to thi—”

“Hey, Sunny!” Spike shouted from the living room. “Do we have any nachos left?”

“Yeah,” she called back.

“Can you get me and the guys some?”

“Spike, I’m studying!” she retorted. “Get it yourself!”

“Yeah, but this is really important!” the young boy shouted in return.

Sunset facepalmed. “Why me?”

“Why are you watching Spike this weekend, anyway?” Pinkie asked.

The flame-haired girl started ticking the reasons off her fingers. “Because my foster mother’s in Salt Lake City for a social service workers symposium; my foster father is in Houston presenting a physics monograph before some bunch of self-important scientists; Cady and Shiny are too busy planning things for their wedding; Twily’s in Cloudsdale at the Regional Model UN Assembly; Tavi’s with her parents in Seattle this weekend for some parent-child charity performance; and since I didn’t have to work this weekend, guess who got stuck with the runt,” Sunset groaned.

“Sunny!”

Sunset buried her face in the book. “I’m too young to deal with children, I swear….”

“Let me take care of it,” Rarity said sympathetically. “I think we could use the break anyway.”

“Thanks, Rares,” Sunset said, wearily.

“Think nothing of it. I’ve had more than enough…experience…dealing with my sister’s antics from when she was that age.”

“No argument there!” Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all agreed in empathetic unison. As the other girls chatted, Rarity went over, placed the chips down on a platter, then dumped the copious amounts of condiments on the chips. It looked absolutely hideous, she thought to herself – there was really no way, in her opinion, to make nachos look good – but at least it tasted fair, even if Mexican food was not on her preferred palate.

Bringing out the plate, Rarity placed it on the coffee table. “Here you go, gentlemen: one nacho…er, whatever.” After a second, she caught what was on the screen. “Oh! Smash Bros. – I’m quite proficient from playing that with my sister at home.”

“Can’t be better than him,” Rumble groaned, pointing at Spike as Rumble’s character was kicked off the platform for the final time.

“Oh, I think I could do quite well, young man,” Rarity said, amused at the situation; apparently, young Spike was the videogame equivalent of the pool sharks she read about so often in her romance novels.

“Uh-uh,” Pip snorted, struggling to keep his character in play. “Spike’s just too good at this game.”

“Yeah, and there I go,” Featherweight muttered, as his character and Pip’s were wiped out at the same time.

Spike grinned cockily. “See? Toldja that you just can’t mess with the best.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be so cocky,” Rarity said. “Your defense was open at points, and you left yourself open to a few counterstrikes.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah – only a girl would say something like that,” Spike said, reaching for the nachos.

“Excuse me?” Rarity felt insulted. The kid was half her age and was acting…well, he reminded her a lot of that cretin she encountered last month; thankfully, he was facing criminal charges now. “Care to repeat your words?”

Spike looked at her coolly. “Sorry if I said anything rude; I didn’t mean to. Just that…well, girls really aren’t that good at video games.”

That was it. “Pass me one of your controllers,” she demanded of the other boys as she sat down; once she had said controller in hand, she immediately selected Zero Suit Samus. “I’m going to make you apologize for those words,” Rarity told him.

“Okay, since you insist,” Spike laughed. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Best of three?”

She was already staring at the screen, laser-like focus in her eyes. “It. Is. On!”

“Okay, you got lucky. Best of five!”

“No way! I’m just having a bad time. Best of nine!”

Spike stared in shock as he dropped his controller. There, on the screen, read her stats: she hadn’t lost a single bout since she picked up her controller. “But…but how….”

She grinned. “My cousin Techno Treat is a professional videogame player. Won the EVO Street Fighter IV and Super Smash Bros. tournament’s women’s divisions four years straight. When you have an opponent like that, well….” She lifted the controller as if it were a gun and blew on its edge. “It’s talent.”

“Rarity, we’re getting ready again!” Sunset called from the kitchen.

The violet-tressed girl tossed the controller back to Pip. “Well, let that be a lesson to you, young sir: never underestimate a lady.” With that, she got back up and went back into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Pip, Rumble and Featherweight were laughing at him. “She got you good, Spike!” Rumble crowed.

Spike hadn’t heard his friend as he watched the videogame goddess saunter into the kitchen. His voice was gone, and his heart seemed to skip a beat. “I…wow….” was all he could finally voice.

“Is something wrong with Spike?” Velvet asked the following day as she arrived home from the airport. Her son was currently holding his blue Wii U Pro controller, sighing wistfully as he stared at the title screen of the game currently selected, and doing little else.

At the moment, Sunset was setting the table for a dinner she made for the three of them, as neither Twilight nor Night would be home until later in the evening. “He’s been like that since one of my friends beat him repeatedly at Smash Bros. after something that he said.” Sunset then went on to explain everything that happened, or at least as much as she knew, and by the time she was done, Velvet was doubled over from fits of laughter.

“Well,” the matron said, wiping a tear of mirth from her left eye as she’d been laughing that hard, “normally I would ground him for being so rude, but it sounds as though he learned a pretty valuable lesson the hard way.”

“Most likely,” Sunset agreed as she pulled a lasagna out of the oven. “Anyway, dinner should be ready in a few minutes if you want to put your bag away and get ready.”

“Thanks; I appreciate it.” Velvet grinned at her foster daughter. “You know, I don’t ever recall you being so domestic, Sunny, but you seem to have gotten used to it. Wish I could get Twily or Tavi just as focused.”

“Well, a wise woman once told me that all you need is just to love someone enough to show them there’s a better way,” Sunset said, flashing Velvet a smile, and ended up getting a huge hug out of her quote.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the two women, Spike sighed. She…she beat me. I should really practice more, but…how? She…. He looked at the controller again and blushed. He couldn’t explain at all why his face felt flush, and he—

“Spike?” He looked up to see Sunset staring at him. “Hey, called you for dinner a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, you did?” He blinked. “Sorry.”

“Well, go wash your hands and join us at the table. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Oh…okay,” he said, reluctantly putting down the controller for some reason before wandering off to the bathroom.

Sunset watched him go, a strange look on her face. I swear, that kid…. She then smiled softly. Kid or not, he was her little brother…of sorts…and she had to wonder what he was up to. Turning off the Wii and the TV, she then went back to the kitchen.

“Rarity, what did you do to Spike?” Sunset asked her friend the next day at school.

“I only beat him at that game of his, why do you ask?”

“Because after you left, he started acting, well, weird,” the flame-haired girl replied. “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

“Of course not! He’s just a child – besides, if anything, losing to me should make him appreciate his friends more; it seemed as though to me he was being quite the bully to them because they weren’t as good at the game as he was.”

“Yeah, well, that can be Spike at times – always wants to look good, and he’s got an ego the size of a small planet. Twily told me one time that she was looking for her laptop since she couldn’t remember where she put it and when he found it, he referred to himself for a whole week as her ‘number one assistant.’”

“Well,” Rarity said, resting a delicate finger on her chin in thought, “perhaps he intends to best me once more? I can see it now: He’ll expect this weekend that I’ll come over and challenge him to humiliate him more and he’ll show up, likely dressed like a character from The Matrix or something equally ‘rugged and cool’ and demand a rematch. And then like something out of a bad 90s film, he’ll pull out a last-minute victory and I’ll be left broken and ruing the day when I ever cross….”

Sunset just stared at her friend as though she’d gone insane. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, dear…I’d forgotten you’re not exactly up to speed on older films.” A thought then came over Rarity’s mind. “You know…why don’t we do a marathon over at your place? I’m sure the girls and I can find a few older films you like.”

“That’d be nice,” Sunset replied. “It would make me feel loads better about having a clue what Star Wars or Star Trek is all about.”

Rarity blinked. “You mean in all this time you’ve never watched either of those series?”

Sunset blushed. “I’d…rather not talk about it.”

“Let me guess: Flash had you over to watch movies and….” Rarity then blushed herself as the inevitable conclusion to her thought processes occurred. “I…see. Well, I assure you that the eight of us will just be watching movies. Maybe order food, that’s about it. Just…don’t be surprised if Pinkie suddenly mentions anything about a slumber party.”

Pinkie seemed to teleport in from nowhere, surprising both girls. “Did someone say ‘slumber party’?” Pinkie’s sudden squee was high-pitched enough to make a few nearby dogs bark, had any been on the school campus.

“Well,” Rarity said, with a wan smile on her face, “at least she wasn’t too loud.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sunset said, rubbing her ears. Note to self: human or not, apparently my hearing is still in the pony range. Owww….

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too! Are too! Are too, with a thousand times to you!” The girl stuck her tongue at him and ran off.

“Am not!” Spike shouted, shaking his fist angrily as Dinky Doo ran from his part of the playground. In retrospect, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to ask her what was going on. Then again, girls were weird.

“Hey, Spike! What’s going on, dude?” Pip came up to him, with Rumble and Featherweight in tow. “You’re missing the most epic Pokémon tradeoff ever! I scored me some really sweet ones!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” he said. “Was kinda busy.”

“Busy?” Rumble groaned. “Dude, busy was what we were! You were busy playing kissy-face with Dinky!”

Spike’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Heh.” Rumble suddenly struck an authoritative pose. “Learned everything on this one from my big bro, Thunderlane!”

Featherweight looked at Rumble oddly. “Didn’t your brother get suspended from school two weeks ago?”

“No, that’s our cousin Thunderclap. And from what ‘Lane said, he totally deserved it, too. Anyway, that’s not the point.” He focused on Spike. “Thing is, Spike, you’ve got that friend of your sister’s on your mind, dontcha?”

“Well, yeah – she beat me! Of course I’m going to think about it! I want to play her again and beat her!”

“Well…” Rumble said, “we’ll make sure that happens. We’re friends, right?” he asked, looking at the other boys.

“Yeah!” Pip agreed. “We’ll make sure she knows not to mess with Spike!”

Featherweight brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Yup! Then after you beat her, Spike, then we’re going to beat you!”

Spike laughed. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”

Rumble placed his hand in the center. “Well, are we doing this or not?”

Spike placed his hand in. “You guys are the best friends ever – let’s do this!”

Pip was next. “Well, we gotta come up with a cool name for our group now!”

Featherweight placed his hand in last. “Well, what about ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’?” The other three boys looked at him as though he’d gone insane.

“You’ve been reading your sister’s Filly Funtasia books again, haven’t you?” Spike asked him.

“Well, yeah, I had to read something for my last book report!”

Pip rolled his eyes. “That stuff’ll melt your brain, Feather. Anyway, we really gotta come up with a team name!”

Spike had a sudden flash of inspiration. “What about…The Button Mashers?”

“Perfect!” Pip replied.

“GO TEAM BUTTON MASHERS!” the four boys shouted in unison.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Velvet said over dinner. “Especially since Night and I will be out of town this weekend.”

“You will?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, dear, or d—” Velvet immediately clammed up at her husband’s brief glance; she’d almost said Did you forget it was Valentine’s Weekend? But given all that had recently happened, it had been an unspoken policy in the schools in the area to very much downplay Valentine’s Day this year. And with both Twilight and Octavia seeing counselors for their near-misses, Night and Velvet admitted to themselves that there were some reservations about their weekend getaway to San Francisco, especially with Evening and Ballad also out of town for a pressing engagement they couldn’t get out of themselves. But with Sunset’s suggestion, things were looking up.

Sunset immediately caught was going on and decided to do damage control. “Yeah! The girls are insisting on me seeing a few movies I’ve never seen before, like Star Wars—”

“You’ve never seen Star Wars?” everyone at the table asked, perplexed.

Sunset blushed in embarrassment. “Or Star Trek, either – a lot of films, actually.”

Twilight said, “Well, then it’s settled, Sunny – we have to get you to see some movies!” She then turned to Velvet. “Mom, can w—”

“I was already going to say yes, Twily,” Velvet said, “if your father’s okay with it as well.”

“Are you kidding?” The look on Night’s face was comically sober. “I cannot allow a person in this house to not understand why Empire is the best of the series!” He looked at both teens. “Twily, I simply must insist that she see the Original Trilogy first. You can then show her the prequels if you get around to the bad films.”

“Well, I suppose that’s settled, then,” Sunset said, though she turned to Spike and asked, “I guess you’re going to spend a weekend over a friend’s place?”

“Oh, I’d completely forgotten about that!” Velvet said, her attention previously taken up by Sunset’s admission of a gaping knowledge of cinematic pop culture. “Spike, I can call Pip’s mother and see if you can stay there for the weekend.”

“Naaah,” Spike told her. “Actually, I’m guessing the guys’ll come over for an epic gaming session!”

“Well, as long as they don’t bother us or go into our rooms, I guess it won’t be a problem,” Twilight told her parents.

“I guess we should start making a list of what movies to watch?” Sunset started.

“I’ll call the girls,” Twilight assured her foster sister. “Don’t worry; we’ll make sure that you’ve got plenty of time to watch the best stuff.”

“Okay, so we gotta have her watch all of Star Wars! And then all of Star Trek – think we’ll have time to watch the all the series as well? Oh, and then we have to get her to watch a few Disney films! Then the Matrix trilogy! And there’s gotta be time for the classics – Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and of course several Monty Pyth—”

Pinkie’s mouth was covered by a very irritated Octavia. “Pinkie, we only have the weekend, not a whole month!”

“Plus, Ah’m guessin’ that sooner er later, we’re gonna wanna get a li’l shuteye now an’ then,” Applejack added, trying not to laugh.

“Still, I can’t get over the fact that Sunny hasn’t seen a lot of the stuff that we have,” Twilight commented. “I mean, I know she’s an orphan, but some of the stuff that she’s missed from the recent past…it’s almost like she’s from another world or something and just caught up on the past four years of pop culture.”

“You don’t say,” Rarity said, the tone of her words somewhat odd, though Twilight didn’t ask what she meant.

“Well,” Fluttershy suggested, “maybe her guardian was really strict about those kinds of things? I know my mother hasn’t been too happy with the violent movies that Angel likes watching. Maybe Sunny’s original guardian was even more, uh, reluctant to let her watch anything?”

“Or maybe they didn’t have TVs over in Ponyland!” Pinkie chirped. She then gasped and realized she’d broken her sacred promise, while the others looked at each other oddly.

Thankfully, Twilight and Octavia misunderstood completely. “Pinkie? I’m pretty sure they have TVs over in Ponyville – I mean, it’s just a hundred miles or so east of here, not Antarctica or anything,” Octavia drawled.

“Actually, I’m guessing they have TVs in Antarctica, too,” Twilight added flippantly. “But did Sunny actually come from Ponyville? I mean, that’s just the next county over – they definitely would’ve found her before four years. I would’ve thought she’d have come from a bigger town, like Cloudsdale or Portland, maybe Seattle, Frisco or LA.”

“You seem awfully curious about her past all of a sudden, Twily,” Rarity inquired.

“She’s family, Rarity – shouldn’t I be worried about her? I mean, there’s what you told us about her, and then there’s….” There was a sudden loud boom and all the girls looked in the direction of Rainbow Dash, who was engrossed at whatever was on her phone screen.

“Rainbow, y’ mind joinin’ us in th’ convo?” Applejack said testily.

“Um…yeah, sorry. Just downloaded the latest ep of an anime I’ve been watching lately,” Rainbow said sheepishly, “and I had to make sure it downloaded correctly.”

At that, Applejack rolled her eyes while Fluttershy just shook her head.

“So, you were saying, Twily?” Rarity asked for the other girl to continue.

“No,” she sighed. “I guess it’s not really important. I just….” She shook her head. “I just want Sunny to have the same kind of life that Tavi and I have had, and I’m sure you’ve had too,” she commented. “My brother and I were talking the other day and he told me he was completely surprised that she’d managed to live four years in the location she had, and that it was objectively impressive, especially given her age. But what I saw – what I still see – is that even though Sunny’s opening up to us, she’s still hiding something back. Was she abused? Or worse?”

“Twily, I think Aunt Velvet would have gotten that out of her by now,” Octavia told her cousin. “You really should let your mom handle that part. She’s the one who does it for a living?”

“I know, but….” The look on Twilight’s face was nearly heartbroken. “I just want to help her.”

“We’re doing that. Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet are doing it in the way only they can, and you and I and the others are doing it in the way only we can!”

“SLUMBER PARTY!” Pinkie cheered happily, using the full power of her cheerleading vocal ability, a near-deafening cry which many of the cheerleaders referred to as the “Royal Canterlot Voice” – Royal being short for “royally eardrum-shattering”.

Six other girls winced in sudden unison before Fluttershy massaged her ringing ears. “Maybe a little quieter, Pinkie?” she asked.

“Heh – so~rry!” Pinkie whispered, her cheeks running rose from embarrassment.

“You really haven’t seen Star Wars?” Blossomforth asked.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Blossom, what does that have to do with me asking you how your last checkup went?” She was now really beginning to regret having told anyone about the whole thing.

The floral-haired girl blushed. “Well, I’m still feeling queasy now and then and the doctor said I should be showing soon,” she admitted, patting her belly briefly. “I think now that my parents have adjusted to what’s going on, they’re looking forward to it – especially Daddy, since he really wants to spoil the baby.”

“And Flash?” When Blossom turned away, Sunset felt guilty. “Hey, look – you and the baby will be fine without that jerk,” Sunset promised. “It’s probably not going to be easy – just look at Fluttershy’s mom if you want proof – but I guarantee that there will always be someone there for you.”

“Really?”

Sunset nodded. “You’re covered, Blossom. I promise.”

“Good, you get to be the baby’s godmother, then,” Blossomforth insisted.

“Sure,” Sunset replied. A second later, she asked, “Uh, what’s a ‘godmother’?”

“Okay, here’s the answers to the math homework,” Featherweight showed the guys. The four members of Team Button Mashers immediately copied the answers, and then grinned. “And now, for the real homework.”

They were currently at Featherweight’s house. As his father was the station manager for one of the TV stations in town, the house had a particularly incredible setup. And that meant the largest Samsung-built AMOLED TV possible alongside the entertainment systems to go with it.

“You got your gear, Spike?” Rumble asked. Behind him, Pip pulled out his most valued treasure: the most recent and updated copy of The Vector Vixens’ Guide to L337 Komboz, written by none other than Techno Treat herself. Opening to the Super Smash Bros. Wii U pages, the shortest member of the four looked at Spike, determination in his eyes and said, “You will study these moves. You will memorize them better than your own name! And you will win, got that?”

Spike opened up his backpack in response, pulling out a small black case. Opening it, he reached in carefully and pulled out his masterpiece, the indicator that all bets would be off: his custom Wii U Pro controller, imported from Japan and designed to somewhat mimic the shape of the old Super Famicom control pad, a game system he wasn’t familiar with but something that his dad spoke of fondly during gaming sessions with Shining when the latter was Spike’s age. The controller, a Christmas gift from Cadance, only saw action when Spike was determined to win at all costs – it was an artifact of pure power, and Rumble even commented once that when used, the custom controller gave Spike the power of a dragon, or a pirate or…well, something really neat and cool.

Reaching in and attaching the USB cable to both the controller and the console, Spike stretched slightly, then curled his hands around the edges of his controller. His green eyes aflame with eagerness, he selected online play, and then started challenging other players at some of the highest difficulties.

His heart raged with battle hardiness. He would train for the next few days until Saturday, and then when the time came, he would win. Oh yes, he would taste victory and savor its potency.

“So you guys’ll have everything under control, right? You have Shining’s number in case anything goes wrong,” Velvet pointed out.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Mom, we’ll be fine, we promise.”

“Don’t worry, we have everything under control,” Sunset also assured. “You two go have fun and we’ll try not to burn the house down.” When Velvet gave her an askance glance, the flame-haired girl grinned. “Would I do that?” she said with a huge smile.

“Probably, if it means getting out of homework,” Night jibed in response. When Sunset shook her head in response, the man chuckled softly. “You girls aren’t the only ones with senses of humor,” he told them both before turning to Twilight with, “Why, your mother and I evolved them shortly after we climbed out of the primordial swamp and rode dinosaurs to high school.” Once both teens looked at him with disappointment, he tugged at his shirt collar, muttering, “Tough crowd.”

“Well, I still laugh at your jokes, dear,” Velvet said, mirth in her eyes before she added the finishing blow: “Well, sometimes, anyway.” She then went and hugged her three children goodbye, Spike as usual squirming in embarrassment as his mom kissed him on the cheek. “You have our number if anything goes wrong, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight assured them. Satisfied that everything was going to be fine, the parents went off, and a few seconds later the sounds of Night Light’s car was heard as the parents drove off to the airport. Stepping away from the door, Twilight sighed. “For a moment there, I thought they were going to change their minds.”

“Naah, you know how they are, Twily,” Sunset said with a grin. “They’re just worried about us, is all. And speaking of concerns….” She then looked at Spike. “You still planning to stay over at Pip’s place tonight?”

“Yeah, though I’ll be back tomorrow,” he told them.

“Well, go ahead and get packed and I’ll walk you over there.” Then, turning to Twilight: “I guess everyone should be here soon?”

Twilight nodded. “As far as I know. AJ said she’d pick up everyone and then head over, and Tavi will be here about eight, when her parents drop her off on the way to the airport, but she’ll call before she gets here so we can order the pi—” The violet-haired girl was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, a staccato beat that sounded more like a drummer on amphetamines than a newcomer. “I’m guessing that’s Pinkie,” Twilight cracked as she opened the door—

—and was nearly bowled over by Pinkie wearing a backpack which likely served as her clothing bag, and carrying several large, covered trays carrying a plethora of various confections. “Hi, Twily! Hi, Sunny! Hi…uh, whatever your name is again, ‘cause I can never remember it!”

“Spike,” the boy grumbled.

“Heya, Pinks,” Sunset said as looked in amazement at the sheer amount of baked goods Pinkie had brought with her – even with Pinkie’s well-known penchant for an epic sweet tooth, this was way too much. “Need a hand with that?”

“Naaah, I got two hands; don’t need any more!” the cotton-candy-haired tornado chirped. “But you could point me towards the kitchen….”

“Right this way,” Sunset said, as the mountain of pastries followed her.

Meanwhile, Twilight waited as the rest of her friends arrived. “Welcome, all!”

One by one the girls came in. Applejack had brought a couple of cases of the apple soda that Rainbow virtually addicted herself to; Rarity and Rainbow carried in the girls’ sleeping bags; and Fluttershy carted in a bunch of DVDs and Blu-ray discs. “So, where should Ah put these?” Applejack asked.

Twilight pointed. “Sunny and Pinkie are both in the kitchen. Girls, make yourselves at home; you have been here enough times that you know where everything is.”

“Thanks, Twily,” Fluttershy said, setting down the sizable collection. “Oh, I also brought some anime as well, just in case Sunny’s interested.”

“Great, here we go again,” Rainbow grunted. “Honestly, Fluttershy, I really don’t want to read anime, okay?”

“But Rainbow, watching it in the subtitled version lets you get all the nuances that English voice actors can’t explain! It’s only something that only seiyū can project to the audience!”

“Oh, great – because I really need you to go all weeaboo on me, Flutters!”

“Be glad I didn’t bring the raws.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Ms. Half-Japanese.”

“Quarter-Japanese,” the chiffon-haired girl corrected. “Only my grandmother is from Japan.”

“I didn’t know you were quarter-Japanese, Fluttershy,” Twilight said.

“Oh, yes. My maternal grandmother Kimono met my grandfather Tradewinds while he worked for a company overseas. They then got married and moved to Hawaii, where my mother was born before moving here to Grandpa’s hometown of Canterlot when Mom was six. Obāsan insisted I learn Japanese and all that goes with it, so it’s nice.” She smiled, then glanced at Rainbow, who was poring through the disc pile. “Besides, Rainbow tends not to complain whenever I’m scanslating something for her, so….” She shrugged.

Rainbow held up a copy of something girly looking; the cover was in Japanese and thus she couldn’t read it. “Do we have to watch this?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Well…there’s no action and really, the scene where the white-haired girl—”

“Subaru?”

“Yeah, Subbyroo. Anyway, she tells that guy she’s with that she’s going to love him forever? I mean, really?”

Spike at this point had tuned out his sister and her friends. He was going to have enough things on his mind unti—

“Excuse me, Spike?” He heard a familiar voice and he suddenly felt funny. His heart started thumping and he felt tingly all over. He turned and saw the girl who addressed him.

“Oh, Spike? Would you be a dear and help me move some of the furniture in the den so that I can make room for all our sleeping bags?” Rarity asked him.

Part of him wanted to ignore her; she was the enemy, after all. Plus, he had every intent of beating her tomorrow and regaining his title as the gaming champion of the house. But when he looked at her, strangely, nothing seemed to matter. He couldn’t figure out why, but somehow it made sense. Maybe it was that “cooties” stuff that Pip had mentioned; it sounded almost as serious as the flu.

“Spike?” Rarity asked again.

“Oh, yeah, uh, sorry,” Spike said, looking momentarily baffled as to what he was supposed to be doing. Whatever it was, it was probably importan—

“Spike?” He turned to see Sunset standing there, looking at him irritably. “I thought I told you to go pack, so I can walk you over to Pip’s place?”

“But I’m already packed!” he cried. That much was true; the moment he knew he was going to be staying over there, he made sure to have both his clothing and his gaming gear ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“Okay, let’s get you going before you annoy your waifu any further,” Sunset cracked.

“Waifu?” Spike asked, while Rarity facepalmed.

At that point, the jingle of keys could be heard in the door, and a second later, Octavia walked in. “Heya, I’m home.”

“Heya, Tavi,” Sunset said, followed in short order by the rest of the girls. “The girls are already here, as you can see. Twily’s in the kitchen with Pinkie and AJ prepping the snacks, and everyone except me was going to help rearrange the furniture so we can lay down the sleeping bags. And as for me, I was going to take Spike over to Pip’s house, since he’s staying there overnight.”

“Let me handle that,” the raven-haired girl said. “You’re the guest of honor at this little shindig, so you stay here, be lazy and figure out which movies you want to watch first, okay?” She then looked at Spike. “Grab your bags and we’ll head out.”

As the two turned the corner and started walking down Meadowvale Lane, Spike adjusted the straps on his bag, though in truth, he wondered about that word that Sunset had used. What did it mean?

“Hey, Tavi?”

“Yeah, squirt?” she asked as she carried his other bag. He’d insisted on carrying his gaming equipment – “Because it’s almost as important as my comic books!” he told her – and that was fine enough for her.

“I got a question about a word.”

“And you didn’t check a dictionary?” Octavia said, with a hint of disappointment. Like her cousins, she’d been instilled with the values that if she didn’t know what a word meant, she had to look it up. Her uncle, being a scholar, had been adamant about it and her aunt just as much so; the habit had come in handy over the years and it became something she appreciated.

“Well, Sunny mentioned it just before we were leaving, so I didn’t really have time to look it up.”

“Fair enough,” she replied. “What is it?”

“What’s a ‘waifu’? She said it when your friend Rarity was around and I really didn’t get it.”

Spike couldn’t understand why, a second later, his cousin had nearly collapsed onto the sidewalk in a fit of side-splitting laughter.

Sunset’s eyes blinked open at four in the morning. Something had caught her attention, and that thing had been the grayish-white light that was coming from the LED. She saw Fluttershy sitting there, watching a cartoon; it didn’t look like anime, because the style was too weird. As for the other girls, they were all still asleep, sprawled out in a tangled mass of bodies that…. Sunset shuddered; given that everyone was still recovering from the horrors of the past few weeks, best not let her mind go there, even if innocently.

So instead she sidled up to Fluttershy and asked, “What’re you watching?”

“The Last Unicorn,” the chiffon-haired girl replied. “You probably wouldn’t like it because….well, you know.”

“I think I can deal with the fictional treatment of unicorns here on Earth,” Sunset replied quietly.

“Well, if you’re interested, I just started it – I can start from the beginning again if you’d like.” When Sunset nodded, Fluttershy restarted the video. “I used to watch it a lot when I was my brother’s age,” she said, “plus, my Dad used to read me the storybook whenever he got the chance.” Fluttershy was hushed, quiet in a way she wasn’t normally. A second later, she realized what she said, and retracted with, “Oh my – I’m sorry I mentioned parents, Sunny! I didn’t mean—”

“It’s okay,” Sunset replied. “I’m more than aware that I’m an orphan. Believe me, I’m not offended.” She looked at the screen. “Though I am a little offended that they think we unicorns look like that. I mean, that’s gotta be cocaine-thin supermodel stuff.”

“I don’t think the author of the novel had you in mind when he created Almathea,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Yeah, but at least she was the last unicorn on Earth. I think it’s fair to say I’m the only unicorn,” Sunset said as she smiled briefly, though it soon disappeared as a recurring thought entered her mind. Though her nightmares had stopped months ago, the fact that she would forever be a marked mare back in her homeworld unsettled her; even with her intent never to return, the fact that Celestia could reach over to hurt her at any time frightened her.

“Does that make you our unicorn?” Fluttershy teased, unaware of her friend’s worries.

“Yeah, I’m the resident hornhead – friend and mascot rolled into one,” she chuckled as the pair watched the movie together, relieved that Fluttershy had changed the subject somewhat. A few more minutes of the pair watching the cartoon passed before Sunset finally voiced, “What made you decide to get up this early, anyway?”

“Just…couldn’t sleep,” she replied. “No particular reason, it just happens sometimes.”

“I don’t think I could eat another bite, Pinkie!” a stuffed Sunset told her friend the following morning. Around the table in the room were the others, all still in their relative sleepwear, which was convenient as they were all equally approaching postprandial, courtesy of Pinkie’s commandeering of the kitchen and the subsequent best stuffed french toast they’d ever had.

“Eyup! Ah’m gunna hafta do some extra hyeongs on Monday jest t’ make up fer this,” a satiated Applejack yawned, barely able to lift a forkful to her lips.

“Oh, dear, I’m going to need a diet after this – but it’s sooooooooo worth it!” squealed a happy Rarity. From the other girls came echoes of their friend’s statements, all of them in agreement that these were the best breakfast confections they’d had in quite some time.

“Oooh, but what am I going to do with all the cookies I brought? Or the cakes, or the doughnuts, or the beignets – say, aren’t beignets actually doughnuts? And then there’s the panini I was going to make us for lunch – except that should be called panino, because panini is singular, as far as I know. And isn’t ‘panino’ a weird word anyway? It’s like something out of a Spellbound book!” She began waving her arms in random directions, while incanting, “Panini, panino, paninu!’” She then looked at Sunset with a wild smile and said, “I guess I did it wrong. How do you do it, Sunny?” She then gasped again and said, “Dammit, I wasn’t supposed to say anything, was I?”

In response, Sunset merely facepalmed while the other girls in the know regarding Sunset’s secret groaned at Pinkie’s latest flub. As for Twilight and Octavia, they merely looked perplexed until Twilight said, “Uh, Pinkie? You do realize that Sunny’s magic tricks were just prestidigitation, right?”

Not wanting this to get further out of control, Sunset muttered, “Let’s just forget about that right now, okay?”

“Okay!” Pinkie said with a hint of gratitude, happy to be off the hook.

“So, what should we watch today?” Rainbow asked. “I’m all for watching something awesome, like Independence Day, or something with lots of guns blazing!” She pantomimed guns with her fingers, shouting, “Bang bang bang, muthafucka!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ms. Gangster Number One,” Octavia drawled. “May I remind you that we’re here for Sunny? She should be the one that chooses!”

“Well, Sunny, what do you feel like watching?” Twilight asked.

Sunset reached for the tablet on the table and looked at the list that Rarity had placed on there. “Well, we watched the Star Wars trilogy, then The Matrix—”

“Yeah, complete with Rainbow’s actin’ like she’s Neo,” Applejack teased, and her friend flipped her off in reply. The former farmgirl ignored that and continued. “But th’ sequels ain’t that great, so Ah s’ggest we skip ‘em.”

“Sure, I can go with that. What about Sta—” She was suddenly interrupted by the surprising opening of the front door; while she knew Spike had his own keys just in case, the fact that it was multiple footsteps sounding clearly that indicated something weird was about to happen.

“Good morning, Spike!” Twilight said, her voice chipper – if only because her little brother hadn’t started twanging her nerves like an electric guitar yet. But Octavia and Sunset recognized something in his eyes and looked at each other, knowing something was about to happen.

“Heya, sis – guys are here with me, because of something important,” he told her, his youthful seriousness etched on his face as he crossed his arms. Behind him, Pip, Rumble and Featherweight all mimicked his pose, the four of them looking like the junior-division of the A-Team. And with his team backing him up, a sly smile broke onto the face of the eight-year-old boy.

Thrusting an accusing finger out at his target, he bellowed, “Rarity…I challenge you to Super Smash Bros. Wii U!”

The room fell silent, briefly broken by a car driving down the street. Finally, a patch of snow fell off a branch on the tree by the front of the house, and that started things up again.

“Excuse me?” Rarity asked him, looking directly at her challenger, raising a single brow and looking straight at him.

The moment she set her eyes on him, however, all sense was lost to the youth. His mind went blank, and the speech he’d spent a whole hour working on had suddenly decided to take the next flight to the moon. He’d expected her to give up, or accept his challenge, but the moment she looked at him, it was like the world suddenly stopped existing, save for he and she. His heart began to accelerate, and he felt that weird tingly sensation again.

“Spike!” he then suddenly felt himself being shaken by Rumble. “Snap out of it! She’s psyching you out!”

“She’s…what?” Spike asked, confused, as he was being pulled from his reverie.

“Waifu?” Octavia asked Sunset, a grin coming onto her face.

“Waifu,” the flame-haired girl replied, one already on hers.

“Ladies, if you’ll excuse me,” Rarity said suddenly, waltzing off towards the direction of the bathroom. She strode past the four boys, three of which stared at her in anger, save for Spike, who stood there, slack-jawed, eyes glazed and clearly – to the older ones in the room – smitten.

“Spike!” Twilight said, somewhat shocked. “We need to—”

“But Twily,” Spike said, already prepared to defend himself, “she embarrassed me in front of my friends!”

“Yes, but from what I understand, you deserved it!”

“Uh, Twily?” Sunset suggested. “Let me handle this, okay?” When her foster sister looked at her curiously, she replied with, “I just have a feeling about this. Trust me, okay?”

“Of course, Sunny,” was the response.

“Thanks. C’mon, Spike – we’re going to go talk in my room. Have your friends wait in your room, okay?”

“Why?”

“Because the girls are still in their pajamas and…you know what? Nevermind. Just do it and meet me in my room in five minutes, got that?”

Twenty minutes later, she descended the stairs, headed back towards the kitchen. She’d thrown on a sweatshirt and yoga pants, though her hair was still a mess from the bedhead. Rarity, not surprisingly, was still in the shower, and all the other girls had thrown clothing as well, though all of them looked equally confused as to what was going on.

“Sunny, what is Spike up to, and do I need to ground him until next month?” Twilight asked as her foster sister entered the room.

Sunset shook her head, an irreverent smile coming to her face. “No, like every little kid that’s ever lived, he suffered a mortal wound at the hands of the fair maiden Rarity and now he seeks revenge – a trial of mortal combat if you will, a duel between to virtual opponents in an electronic field of battle.”

Rainbow blinked. “Someone want to translate that in English or Spanish for me? I don’t speak iTard hipster.”

Applejack bonked her friend on the head. “What Sunny’s sayin’, is that Spike thinks he’s been wronged by Rarity, an’ he wants a chance t’ get his licks in, amAhrite?”

“You could say that, AJ,” Sunset replied.

“Oh, poor guy,” Fluttershy said with some sympathy. “He must feel completely awful about having been embarrassed by Rarity in front of all of his friends. I can understand how he feels – the other day Angel got into another fight at his school because he had a few of his fellow students pick on him.”

“Flutters, I think there’s a bit of a difference between your brother standing up for himself against bullies and Spike not liking getting his comeuppance in front of his friends,” Octavia replied. “Your brother was probably in the right; I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. But Spike, from what Sunset said, got exactly what he deserved and I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for his situation right now.”

“Regardless, he feels that Rarity wronged him and he’s burning for revenge, he said,” the flame-haired girl informed her friends. “He’s not going to be happy until he completely humiliates Rarity in front of Pip and the others.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to accept the challenge,” Rarity said as she wandered into the kitchen. Though she had a towel wrapped around her head to dry her hair, she wore a pearl-gray shirt with a stylized diamond pattern on it and Hello Kitty yoga pants as well.

“Enter the waifu,” Octavia said, a hint of a sniggering smile coming onto her face.

“Someday someone will just have to explain to me what that means,” Rarity stated. “But as to our current dilemma, if young Spike feels that I have wronged him, then I suppose I shall have to accommodate him, though I must admit I haven’t been playing much Super Smash Bros. as of late – homework comes first.”

“Awww, c’mon, Rarity!” Pinkie said. “If anyone can do it, you can! Yay yay go go Rarity go!” Pinkie started bouncing around the room as though she was practicing a new cheerleading routine for her school. “Rarity, Rarity, she’s our…um…. Okay, nevermind that one. I do have others, though!”

“Not necessary, Pinkie,” Twilight told her. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

“No, no, that’s quite all right, Twily dear,” Rarity insisted. “If he wishes his challenge, then a challenge he shall have!”

“Aw, c’mon!” Spike groaned at the top of his lungs. Of all the times for his Wii U to start malfunctioning, it had to be now? He repeatedly jabbed the power button, hoping that somehow that would solve all the issues. Behind him, were the three other boys and eight girls that had been assembled for this battle royale.

“Spike, don’t do that, you’ll just break it further,” Octavia told him. She, like the other girls, had already grown tired of this irritating detour in their plans for Sunset. Only Rarity, controller firmly in hand, looking more bemused than anything else, failed to register the same emotion.

“Arrgh…stupid game! Why, of all times, is this doing it now, you da—” He stopped, mid-word, knowing that if he continued, it would be all over for him; one of his relatives would probably ground him just for that. “—dang game,” he bowdlerized, hoping they wouldn’t catch the pause.

“Well, Ah guess we’re jest gonna hafta postpone th’ grand battle, huh?” Applejack said, glad that this wasn’t going to derail their plans for the weekend.

“Awwww,” a dejected Pinkie intoned. “I was hoping to see Rarity get into the epic battle of epicne—wait, I’ve got an idea!” She suddenly rushed upstairs, and then a second later, carrying what looked to be an hourglass-shaped piece of plastic. “I always carry my Xbox 360 in case of Xbox 360 emergencies!” With that, she went over to the TV, unplugged the Wii U and started to hook up her system.

“Pinkie, when did you bring tha—” Spike started to ask.

“It’s Pinkie,” eight girls said at once without hesitating.

“Here ya go!” Pinkie said to Spike, handing him a controller. It was custom painted a bright shade of blue, and had baby-blue and butter-yellow balloon-shaped appliqués festooned all over it. This matched the butter-yellow controller Pinkie had just passed to Rarity and both tied to the bright pink painted XBox 360.

“Uh, Pinks?” Rainbow pointed out. The XBox is a Microsoft gig – Super Smash Bros. is Nintendo.”

Pinkie giggled. “I know that, silly!”

“Well, unless you’ve got one hell of a mod under that case, I have no idea what you’re up to.”

“Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll….” Pinkie answered, finger firmly on chin and stretching out that last syllable for all it was worth, “We know that Spike’s good enough to beat his friends at Super Smash Bros. and Rarity’s better, so it really wouldn’t be fair for any of us to see if they were good or not, because Spike’s probably practiced and I know Rarity had a heavy week at work, so….” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small pink stick, then flicked a button on the top. The stick turned out to be a remote control for her XBox, which switched on immediately. Punching a few more responses into the remote control, she brought up XBox Live Arcade and selected the game she wanted.

"Skullgirls?" Spike asked. “Never played it.” However, from the title, he sounded both intrigued and dejected.

“Ooh! I’ve so wanted to try this!” Rarity cooed, her fingers flexing slightly and wrapping around the control in a rhythmic motion.

“Well, get going!” Pinkie shouted joyfully. “Ladies and gentlemen – or is that ladies and gentlemen-to-be-eventually? – we bring you the Finest Fighting Exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtravaganza! In the blue corner, weighing…oh, I dunno, maybe sixtyish? pounds or so, we give you…Spike!” At that, the boys started cheering and shouting.

“And over in the yellow corner, weighing about one hu—”

“Pinkie!” Rarity admonished. “It is not polite to discuss a lady’s weight in public!”

“Uh, whatever,” Pinkie continued. “Anyway…Rarity!” The announcer’s grin on still plastered on her face, she briefly borrowed Rarity’s controller, setting it to versus mode. “Okay, combatants, here’s the deal: three-on-three, best out of five takes the trophy, got it?”

“There’s a trophy?” Spike and Rarity asked at the same time, confused.

“Well, duh! I do have a lot of cake and cookies and pastries and éclairs and doughnuts and empanadas and all that other stuff that we still have to eat! Winner gets the big slice of the gateaux that I brought!”

“What’s a—”

“Chocolate cake,” Twilight responded.

“That works for me!” Spike said, his voice showing sudden determination. “I’m going to take the cake and prove I’m the best!” As Pinkie finished the setup, both combatants started selecting their characters. Spike, in particular, was not happy in the roster. “Where’s all the guy characters?”

“Well, Spike,” Rarity said, without removing her eyes from the screen, “there is a reason the game is called Skullgirls, after all.”

After a couple of minutes, the two team rosters were set. Spike had chosen Big Band, Beowulf, and Robo-Fortune; the first two because they were men and the last because she was a robot and robots were definitely cool. Rarity, on the other hand, spent a bit more time going through the other characters, finally deciding on a trio of Parasoul, chosen with the chiffon-pink haircolor and butter-yellow dress, just to tease Fluttershy; Valentine, for the ninja-like look; and Eliza, the last one chosen because Rarity thought there was something interesting about the design.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” Pinkie sang along with the game’s built-in announcer, “IT’S SHOWTIME!”

Both Spike and Rarity let the fingers fly at that point, setting the two combatants against one another. Projectiles and fists flew, rocketing against one another, sending virtual opponents bouncing all over the Jazz Age-like sets. Orange-yellow healthbars began to shrink rapidly as combatants clashed and beat each other silly in a fugue of war.

The room fell silent, the eyes of the other ten bystanders caught by the enchantment of a young woman and a boy throwing down against one another, the battle of sexes come about in a new and digital manner. Blue and green eyes locked onto the screen, refusing to yield as the battle raged back and forth, both combatants learning the moves and continuing the fight while on the fly – since Pinkie explained the gameplay was like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, learning the battle of rhythm had been fairly fast – and neither giving ground.

Round one was a close win by Rarity.

Round two Spike won nearly perfectly.

Rarity retaliated in round three with a perfect.

And the two went back and forth, like a pair in a mad Wimbledon struggle. A variety of eyecolors were glued to the screen as the action continued. Five rounds became seven became nine became eleven became thirteen. The battle went on and on for hours on end, with the two players showing no signs of stopping.

Finally, five hours later, a well-placed dropkick from what Rarity had mentally referred to as “Fluttersoul” slammed Big Band to the ground, drawing the narrow win. As Spike was about to call for another round, his controller started to red-ring and then sputter out as the batteries in the wireless unit finally gave their last.

A collective sigh uttered from the group. Rarity stood, worn, hungry and parched, but victorious. Gently setting down the sweat-glistened controller, she nursed a reddened thumb that looked like it was going to be displaying a blister soon. “It is done,” she said, oddly pleased despite the stinging sensation she felt in the wounded digit.

“Wait! I‘ll get more batteries!” Spike said, frantic. He couldn’t lose. Not like this. Not to her.

How can I prove myself if I lose?

“Spike,” Twilight said, placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder, “I think you’re done. You’ve done nothing but play games for the past few hours, and took up a lot of time you should be spending with your friends. Furthermore, this weekend was for me, Tavi and the girls to show Sunny some movies she hasn’t seen before and now we’re going to have to skip a few.”

“But Twily, I—”

She shook her head. “Spike, you and your friends can head up to your room to game there for the rest of the day. But the rest of us should get back to our plans for the weekend, okay?”

Spike practically felt something in his heart snap. He’d lost face, not only in front of his friends, but in front of Rarity…who continued to make him feel very weird as she turned away from him, while Fluttershy started to bandage her friend’s finger, saying something that seemed so fuzzed out that the young boy couldn’t quite comprehend. He couldn’t comprehend much of anything anymore.

Not when his heart was shattering.

Spike sat in his darkened room. A glance at the clock some time ago told him that it was past eight o’clock, but he didn’t care. His friends departed shortly after the war, and why not? After all, he was a loser.

Maybe I can hide in here forever, he thought. Maybe if I stay here, Mom and Dad will forget about me so they won’t have to worry about me going to school and I can just stay in here for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, him being forgotten about wasn’t likely to happen, as there was a sudden knock on his door, followed by Sunset’s voice. “Hey, Spike? I brought you some dinner.”

“Go away. I don’t want any,” he said, hoping she’d leave. He was actually starving, and he’d eaten his emergency stash of candy he had in the room already. But he couldn’t face anyone right now…and perhaps never again.

Not asking again, Sunset opened the door, carrying a plate with a couple pieces of pizza and a can of Coke. “Hey, we tried calling you for dinner, but you weren’t answering. Twily wanted to talk to you about toda—”

“No!” he pled.

“—but I thought that I’d be a better person to talk to you,” the flame-haired girl offered, setting the food and drink on his desk. As he did, she turned away from him and she tsked in response. “Spike, talk to me, ‘kay?”

“I really don’t want to,” he said in response, though his tone wasn’t one of brattiness or anger – it was just someone wanting to be left alone.

“Hey, don’t do that to me,” she told him, reaching over gently to muss his hair. “You’re not in trouble or anything, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Squirt, I’m older than Tavi or Twily, so I get a few things they don’t quite grasp,” she told him. Of course, if you actually knew how old I really am, you’d probably freak. “But no, I’m not going to tell anyone.” She reached over and grabbed his food and drink and said, “So why don’t you munchasize while you tell me what’s going on, okay?”

He looked at her as though he was going to skip dinner…until his stomach growled. She laughed, saying, “Okay, Spike, I think we’re done with the pretending not to be hungry. Just eat something, please?” She sat patiently while he practically scarfed down the first slice, grateful for the dish.

Finally, he turned to her and said, “Look…Rarity beat me, okay? And I want to beat her back, to prove that I still got my gaming skills!”

“Spike, you game all the time – she doesn’t. And you held her to a near-standstill for hours on a game neither of you have played before,” she told him while he ate the rest of his dinner. “I don’t know about you, but to me that says awesome game skills, so I’m not sure where you’re going with that.” A soft smile then came onto her face as she added, “Unless there’s something else….”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Not sure how to explain it, though. It’s just that when I look at her, I feel kinda…funny.”

“Funny?”

“Yeah,” he said, a soft smile on his face. “I know it sounds weird, but it kinda reminds me when Mom and Dad are kissing – blech.”

She reached over and mussed with his hair, laughing at the fact that he didn’t realize what was changing in his life. “Spike, don’t ever change, okay? But anyways, I think you owe everyone an apology.”

“Why?”

“Well, all of them are going to say you owe me an apology for ruining my weekend, but I don’t care about that. But I think you do owe the others an apology for interrupting their plans. After all, I’m guessing your friends helped you plan for this stunt…but the girls had made their plans for our weekend for quite some time now and it’s not fair to them.”

He shook his head in agreement. “Maybe…maybe you’re right.”

“Trust me, I am.” As realization started to sink in, she then added, “And I think you owe your friends an apology as well. They helped you with all this and you let them down. Not because you didn’t win, but because you didn’t accept losing gracefully. Not everyone gets to win all the time. Some people lose, Spike and they lose badly. Trust me on this; I’m an expert at losing really bad.”

“But my friends will hate me, and Rarity—”

“Pip and the others won’t hate you, I guarantee. And if you apologize to Rarity, I know she’ll think better of you for it.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so, Spike.”

He shuffled his feet, but continued to look at the girls as he spoke. “…and I’m sorry for acting like a brat. I hope you can all forgive me.”

“Spike, I’m very proud of you,” Twilight said, beaming. “It takes a lot for someone to admit when they’re wrong, and I’m glad you did that.”

Octavia grinned approval as well. “You did good, squirt,” she told him. Suddenly, the other girls chimed in with their own words of agreement as well.

Sunset placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder as she stood behind him. “See? Toldja everything would work out.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” But then he went up to Rarity and said, “Uh, Rarity? I owe you an apology in pecific—”

“Specific,” Twilight corrected.

“—yeah, that. Anyway, I owe you that because I said you couldn’t play as good as a guy, and that’s not true. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

Rarity smiled softly. “Well, that’s very mature of you, young sir. I accept your apology.”

“Well, if that’s that, then I guess I should go to bed,” he said, yawning. “I have to go apologize to my friends tomorrow, if that’s okay, Twily.”

“Sure,” Twilight said. “But I already invited them over tomorrow to watch more movies with us, so you can talk to them when they get here, okay?”

“Really?” Spike asked. When Twilight nodded, his eyes lit up in relief. “That’s great, Twily! Thanks!”

“Don’t thank me,” she told him. “Thank Rarity – it was her idea.”

“Think nothing of it, Spike,” Rarity answered before he could say anything else. “If anything…think of it as my apology to you for embarrassing you in front of your friends. I may be good at games, but I’m older and I should have been the more mature one in this fracas. So I completely apologize for my behavior and hope you can forgive me.”

“Well, okay….”

“Thank you, Spike.” Suddenly, she stood up, walked over to him and, bending down, kissed him on the forehead. “You’ll be a gentleman amongst gentlemen when you reach the proper age, I can tell.”

Twilight, Sunset and Octavia at that point expected him to complain about cooties, try to wipe off his forehead, something/anything. Instead, he sighed, and with a glazed look on his face, practically waltzed upstairs towards his bedroom.

Where she stood, Applejack chuckled. “Looks like y’ got yerself a beau, Rares,” she teased.

Rarity shrugged elegantly. “C'est pas, c'est pas; c'est pas un rêve,” she replied simply.

March 22: Pacific Rhythm

“This is the captain speaking – we’ve arrived in sunny Los Angeles. The sky is currently overcast, but it’s expected to be a clear day tomorrow. On behalf of the crew, thank you for flying California Pacific, and we hope to serve you again, soon.”

Letting go of the virtual vice-grip she held on the seat, Sunset released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. How do they do this? she thought frantically while trying not to panic. She’d been miles up – as high as a pony could go – when she was with Celestia, and with nothing holding her onto the princess’ back except for the alicorn’s own magic, and that had felt exhilarating; it had been the greatest four hours of her life. But this simple two-hour flight from CJV to LAX had been two hours of utter hell – strapped down in a tin can with wings, hurtling at speeds only pegasi normally moved at, with nothing to save them should the plane plummet from the sky.

And this is normal for them! Sunset reminded herself, the first time in months where she was reminded that she wasn’t truly a part of the seven billion humans that called this world home; that she was, like Superman and all the aliens in fiction, a visitor on this world, though she hoped that like the character with the red cape, she could someday refer to herself as a native.

“Hey, Sunny, relax, we’re back on the ground.” Sunset suddenly felt a gentle hand on hers; she turned to see Octavia in the seat next to her, looking at her with a comforting smile. “You’re done with your first flight – I told you it wasn’t going to be that bad.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sunset lied as she thought, Let’s put you on the back of a pegasus, send you up to the troposphere and see how you like it! Even still, she knew she couldn’t be angry with Octavia; she was, after all, the reason the ex-unicorn was here in the City of Angels.

Octavia, meanwhile, looked out the window at the airport terminal. “You know, Sunny, I can’t thank you enough for coming with me. I really don’t like coming to these things by myself, because I’m usually the only one around my age,” she said. “And while Twily’s usually the one who comes with me to these things, she picked a really bad time to catch the chickenpox.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, genuinely concerned for her foster sister. When they’d left several hours ago, Twilight was in utter agony from itching and a blazing fever. But while Spike had caught it before and thus was immune, once Sunset admitted that she’d never had it before, Velvet all but insisted that Sunset go in Twilight’s place, something that both Evening and Ballad were all too happy to accommodate. Plus, when Twilight had found out that flying – well, in the human manner, in any case – was something Sunset had never done before, she’d insisted on it as well.

Sunset, having the week off for work – the Cakes and Pinkie closed the café for their trip to Arkansas – thought it would be nice to visit a new place in her adopted homeworld and she happily agreed. And while she was pretty sure she was immune to the chickenpox for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that she had the hornpox when she was just a filly of five, she wasn’t really willing to run that test against human pathogens, nor was she willing to explain her potential imperviousness.

“Well, I’ll have to call her and see if she wants us to bring her back anything,” Sunset said. Tapping a couple of quick commands into her phone, she turned off Airplane Mode – So that’s what it’s for, she realized – and the device went into Roaming Mode for the first time.

“You’d probably best wait until we get out of the airport,” Ballad said from her seat behind the teens. “It’s always hard to get a signal here, especially if you’re in Roaming.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be on the 405 soon enough,” Evening added.

“…and everything here is seriously cool, Twily! I know, I know, I sound like Pinkie right now, but color me impressed!”

Twilight stifled a laugh as she heard her overly-excited, almost girlish foster sister practically squee over the phone. It wasn’t something that she was used to hearing from Sunset, and she’d definitely have to tell her mother later. But then something flared up behind her back and she groaned, using every bit of her willpower to try to prevent herself from scratching at the whole-body itch that suddenly roiled through her. Fortunately – in a manner of speaking – the fever had left her too drained to do any complex movement to accomplish that.

“Twily? You okay?” Sunset asked over the phone.

“Yeah, but I could do without the illness,” she snapped. A second later, she apologized: “Sorry – shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”

“No, it’s okay, I know it’s gotta be hell just staying in bed all week.”

“Oh, no, sometimes I get to go take baths in oatmeal and then coat myself in calamine – I have new hobbies!” the bedridden teen snarked over the line. Though it wasn’t spoken, both were rather surprised at the caustic level of sarcasm Twilight had displayed.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, both Tavi and I wish you were here. Anyway, is there anything you want me to get you while we’re down in SoCal?”

“Maybe a doctor that knows how to make chickenpox go away magically?”

“No such thing as magic, Twily.” Sunset’s voice came over the line in a dry tone; it almost sounded as though she didn’t believe what she was saying. “But Tavi, her parents and I are going to be here for the whole week, so if there’s anything that you need, just send me a text or email, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Twilight promised.

“Good. Now you get some sleep, and I’ll call to check on you later.”

“Don’t worry; I’m not going anywhere, since I think my skin’s fused with the calamine lotion by now,” Twilight muttered. “Let Tavi know I said hi. I’ll talk to you guys later. Bye.” She sighed; being sick during spring break when everyone she knew wasn’t, was utter hell. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her friends were either on vacation, working, or staying away due to the illness, and even Spike was staying at Shining and Cadance’s apartment just to be on the safe side, leaving her completely alone in the home during work hours. She wasn’t much of a gamer outside of Disco Zoo on her phone, and she didn’t want to watch movies on her tablet or laptop.

Even though she didn’t want to, her only options were to read something, or to sleep some more, neither of which was appealing to her. Plus, she’d pretty much read everything on her tablet and in hard- or paperback copy in her roo—

A particular pair of books on the top right shelf of her book case caught her attention – Wait, I still haven’t read that one yet! Getting up despite her aching body, she went over and opened the case, grabbing the mimic copy of the book that Sunset had given her for Christmas; seeing as how an inspection confirmed that the book was a fake made in the mid-seventies, she had no qualms about handling it like any other book. Opening the page, she started to read the introduction:

Throughout all of Italian history, no other name has been met with mystery and legend than that of Baldassare di Cavalcanti. Known forever as a thorn in the side of the authorities throughout his lifetime, even today, many things about his life are still unclear….

Sunset shut off her phone and leaned against the balcony railing of the hotel room she was sharing with Octavia as she stared at the lights of the Los Angeles skyline. It’s incredible – I’ve never seen anything like this! she thought to herself. Even Canterlot – either of them – had nothing on this place…and this wasn’t even the largest city in the nation, much less this world. Fifteen million people, according to the lecture at class – seventeenth largest city on the planet. That’s about a tenth of the population of Equestria, at least when I was living there! I wonder if Princess Twilight ever realized how much larger Earth is than Equus.

“Careful,” Octavia’s voice said from behind. “Five story fall, and I’d hate to see you go splat.” The raven-haired girl joined her pseudo-cousin looking at the nighttime sky. “Sunny? I….”

“You’ve already said thanks enough times for coming with you an—”

“No, it’s not that.” Octavia never took her eyes off the glittering yellowish-white cascade of lights that made up the western LA skyline as she continued with, “I…I really haven’t treated you well since the whole incident back in January, and I’m sorry for that.” Her eyes looked like they’d been glittering as well, though more from a lachrymal response than anything else.

“Look, Tavi, we already went through that – I couldn’t be upfront with you at the time as to what happened. I’m just glad I made it in time.”

“Please, Sunny, let me finish.” She went over and embraced Sunset, admitting, “When I yelled at you for what happened, and Twily jumped to your defense, I…I felt betrayed. Twily’s more than a cousin to me; she’s practically my sister – and then there was you, this newcomer. I was acting like Spike for a little bit, and it didn’t help that you have so much more friends than I do….”

“They’re your friends as well,” Sunset pointed out.

“But they were yours first,” the musician replied. “Besides, that’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that…you were looking out for me and I’ve been acting like a royal ass. I’m sorry, Sunny. I really am. I’m sorry for being stupidly jealous that you were taking away both my sister and my best friend – only friend, when all you’ve been doing is the opposite.”

Sunset turned and embraced her back. “I was wondering why you’ve been so standoffish. And I thought we were doing well when you slapped Vinyl at the airport.”

“No,” she sighed, “that was me just taking my frustrations out on her. Believe me: if I had whatever martial arts skills you and AJ have, I would have done much worse to her. So, forgive me?”

“Nothing to forgive, and even if there was, I’d already done that when we made up after arguing the week of the whole mess.” The two stood there, holding each other on the balcony, rekindling a friendship. For Octavia, it was relief from weeks of anger, depression and guilt, while for Sunset, it was a unique experience, as the words of Twilight Sparkle – both that of the alicorn princess and Sunset’s foster sister – resonated through her once more.

Finally, after a few more minutes, Octavia yawned. “Sorry, but flying just takes everything out of me, and besides, we’ve got an early day tomorrow, so I’m going to go to bed.”

“It’s only eleven,” Sunset said, briefly looking at her phone. “You’re usually up later than that.”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” Octavia told her. “Besides, you’re the one acting like a kid in a candy shop – you’ve been out here since we arrived at the hotel. Trust me, this is La-la-land. I was born here. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

At those words, Sunset fought to keep a straight face: There’s more than this? Living in Canterlot – the human one – had, in comparison to the one she’d grown up in, spoiled her, but it was nothing compared to what little she’d seen so far. And there was more?

“I guess Celestia really doesn’t know how different this world is from hers,” Sunset murmured aloud.

“What’s that got to do with your principal?” Octavia’s voice suddenly sounded and Sunset froze. As she turned around, she saw Octavia standing there in sleepwear and a robe, asking, “You mentioned your principal, right? She’s Aunt Velvet’s friend.”

Sunset shook her head. Stupid time to open your mouth, Shimmer, she scolded herself. But the cat was out of the bag, of sorts. “No, Celestia – or maybe it was Celeste, I’m not entirely sure,” she lied, “was the name of my guardian. The one I ran away from.”

“Did she abuse you?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, the only abuse was what I did to her. But…let’s just say I’m never going back. And I don’t want to go back. You guys are my family now, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Well,” Octavia said, a grin on her face, “I’m not one to complain.”

The following day, after a light continental breakfast, the four headed off towards the Brentwood Museum. While the rented car wound its way up Beverly Center Drive, Octavia and Ballad tried to explain the whole of what was going to occur.

“So let me get this straight,” Sunset asked. “You and your mother are descendants of some famous medieval musician known as ‘La Musica’?”

Octavia nodded. “Which translates into English as simply ‘music’, if I recall correctly,” she said, looking briefly at Ballad, who nodded in agreement. “Let me see if I remember this all: she appeared some time in Castile around the early sixteenth century or so. For a woman of that time, she was an incredibly accomplished musician and composer, so much so that she performed for royalty and nobility throughout Europe and eventually married a Bourbon noble. She’s written some of the most enduring and alluring works of all time and most surprising of all, she did it as a Moor.”

“A what?”

“A Moor,” Ballad explained, picking up where Octavia had left off. “They were the Muslim rulers of southern Spain at one time, though by the time La Musica was around, they had long since been expelled from Europe. Anyway, they were darker-skinned than those in the northern part of Spain. She was always described as having dark skin and platinum-white hair with shocks of gold and scarlet in her hair, though she often insisted that she wasn’t a Moor; she didn’t even know who they were. But the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid recently came into possession of what they believe to be a picture of La Musica. The Spanish government recently signed a deal to have the Brentwood Museum display the picture, along with several instruments that she played over the years, and some other artifacts believed to have been hers.”

“Which is another incredible thing – even nowadays, multi-instrumentalists are uncommon. Back then, due to training, patronage and the way things were, it was practically impossible to play more than one instrument. But for a woman to be a multi-instrumentalist and a composer, especially in that time period? You can see why she became so celebrated in her time.”

“Okay, so we’re going to be seeing a picture of your ancestress, right? Anything else?”

“Yup! Another thing that La Musica was known for was having a large amount of issue, so there’s going to be several descendants of her bloodline there besides me and Mom,” Octavia replied. “Strangely enough, almost all of them are musicians, so this should be interesting.”

The car pulled up to the main entrance and Evening produced his special event pass. As the gate guard waved him through to continue past the public parking and up The Center Drive, until they pulled up in front of a huge group of modernist white buildings. Waiting for them was a small group and two concierges. As the car came to a stop and the four got out, a man came up to Evening, looking reedy, pale and wearing thick glasses; for some reason, he reminded Sunset of Mr. Bookbinder at the store where she’d gotten Twilight’s present.

“Mr. Sonnet? Hello sir, my name is Ancient Tomes, and I am the museum director,” he began, shaking Evening’s hand. “On behalf of the staff, I would like to welcome you and your family to the Brentwood.” He then turned to Ballad. “Ah, Mrs. Ballad. An honor to make your acquaintance,” he said, shaking it as well. “Your family is one of the first to arrive, though we shall be expecting others. And these lovely two women are?”

“Well, the dark-haired one is my daughter, Octavia Melody,” Ballad said, breezily, “and the flame-haired one is my niece, Sunset Shimmer.” At Ballad’s statement, Sunset tried not to blush or react otherwise; she hadn’t expected to be addressed in such a familial manner like that. She felt a quick tug on her hand, then turned to see a soft smile on Octavia’s face.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Ms. Melody, Ms. Shimmer,” the gentleman said, and both girls nodded. “Now if you’ll follow me, I’ll lead you to Exhibition Hall D, where we’re setting everything up for the Monday unveiling.” With that, the gentleman escorted them onto the grounds of the museum proper.

As they walked, Octavia whispered, “Surprised?” Sunset, not trusting herself to say anything coherent, simply nodded. “Even though you haven’t spent as much time with them as they have with Twily and I – and there’s not a lot of time there, either – they like you. And I know Mom has told Aunt Velvet that she thinks that they were right to bring you into the family.”

“Stop that; you’re going to make me blush!” Unfortunately, it was too late, as Sunset’s cheeks began to heat from her emotional state. Octavia merely smirked in response before both fell silent as they moved amongst the priceless artifacts of another time.

Moving through the museum, Sunset had an odd feeling of déja vu as she passed by the countless treasures mounted on the wall, seated on pedestals or encased behind bullet-proof polycarbonate. If she’d been asked, she would have said that it reminded her to a degree of the pieces on display at the Equestria County Museum of Art & History. But the truth was…so much of this made her reminisce about what she’d left behind. Trips with Celestia to the Royal Museum of Equestria. The private collections within the castle. Hell, her own apartments within the castle had contained more than a few works of art that probably fetched a pretty collection of bits. And what did she trade it all for? Four years of living in a toxic stew, on rat-infested beds in an asbestos-ridden building.

And the sad part was that I thought I was free, when all I was doing was tightening the own noose around my neck. And any day now Celestia will yank that noose. Will Princess Twilight protect me? Will my family? That in and of itself was a frightening thought: what if they found out what she was and disowned her? Twilight, Octavia and the others had become her family – she loved them, of that much she knew. But what if that love dissipated once they realized what she was?

“Sunset?” She turned and found Evening looking at her, as she had stopped in front of a bronze statue of a pegasus rearing. The pegasus was of the kind known here, the winged horse and obviously not anything like those she knew back in Equestria.

“Sorry, I…this piece fascinated me,” she told him, not entirely lying. “Something about it….”

“Well, I’d hope it was that and not something else,” he said with a smile. “And I apologize if Ballad offended you by being too, um, ‘informal’ back there.”

“No, I…I just didn’t expect it,” she told him. “I mean…I love Twily and the others and your brother and sister-in-law have been nothing but the best to me. They’ve been the family that I’ve needed…that I’ve wanted…and I….” She chuckled nervously, then shook her head. “It’s…it’s nothing. But thank you for your concern.”

“Well, if you need to talk, Ballad and I are available,” he told her. “You’re family now, and don’t ever feel that just because you’re not in Canterlot that you’re all alone here in LA.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling and meaning it. She could almost feel the despair that had started to kick in earlier dissipating. Maybe I shouldn’t worry about what my family thinks, she considered.

“You’re welcome. Now we should catch up to the girls,” Evening said, “as I really don’t want to miss this.”

A few seconds later, the pair arrived in Exhibition Hall D, where a bunch of museum employees scuttled around carefully, carrying various precious cargo as they placed the items on pillars and wall mounts. In the back of the room, hidden behind a sizable curtain, was the painting, which would not be revealed until the Monday reception. As they entered, they noticed Ballad talking excitedly with a few men, and looking over a display of what looked like a violin, was Octavia and another girl.

As Evening went to join his wife, Sunset went over to Octavia’s side, catching the conversation. “…and to think that she’d had nearly all her instruments made by Duiffopruggar! A Tieffenbrucker instrument is amazing enough, but one from Duiffopruggar himself!” the new girl squeed. “That, is like, totally awesome!”

Sunset looked at the girl: though she seemed to have the same general fashion sense as Rarity, she was reminiscent of a younger version of Vice Principal Luna. Her waist-length hair, tied back in a long ponytail, was of three different shades of dark-blue or indigo, and her turquoise eyes seemed to twinkle with girlish delight. “So, you recognize me,” the girl said, smiling. “Well, that or you’re checking me out – no worries, I get enough of that from guys and girls.”

“Huh?” was Sunset’s eloquent reply.

“Don’t mind her, Sunny, she’s just teasing you,” Octavia responded. “Anyway, Midge, this is my cousin, Sunset Shimmer. Sunny, this is Midnight Moondust.”

“Wait…the pop star that’s on Nickelodeon Teenclub?”

“Yeah, the one and the same,” Midnight said, rolling her eyes. “Thankfully, though, I’ll be leaving the show in two years – the contract’s only until I turn eighteen, and then afterwards, my little pop star tushie’s gonna be twerkin’ on a world tour. So I take it you’re a fan?”

“Not…really, but my friend Fluttershy is,” Sunset added. Though she wondered why her friend was watching a show actually made for preteens, but ultimately figured it was due to her watching it with Angel. “So, I guess you’re related to Musica Allegra as well?”

Midnight nodded. “I’m descended from her first daughter, Sweet Strings.”

“I think Mom and I are from her oldest child, Luthier,” Octavia added.

“Oh, so you’re from the bastard child,” Midnight replied. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Fuck you, Midge,” the raven-haired girl said testily.

Midge grinned. “Temper, temper, Tavi. I’ve never known you to be so…crass.”

Sunset looked at the other two. “You two know each other?”

Octavia nodded, saying nothing, but it was Midnight that answered the question: “Yeah. In addition to being distant relatives, we’re also more…immediate relatives. Her mother is my father’s cousin, so that makes us…second cousins third removed or something like that. I’m not a genealogist, so I don’t really care,” Midnight replied. “Anyway, you can just call me Midge; everyone who doesn’t make a paycheck off me shaking my ass does.”

“Don’t mind her, Sunny, she’s an idiot,” Octavia replied, teasing. “Anyway, as you probably already know, Midge attends the Archer School, which is a prestigious school here in LA, and she plays guitar and piano. She’s probably one of the more famous of those who are descended from La Musica. The other, of course, is Scr—”

“Don’t. You. Dare,” Midnight said, her eyes narrowing.

“Why are you so jealous, Midge? She’s your older si—”

“Now, girls, y’know better’n t’ fight,” a light, soft voice said.

Octavia suddenly grinned. “Wow, hadn’t expected to see you here, Fid.” Both Sunset and Midnight turned to see another girl approach. A near-duplicate of Octavia, she was only distinguished by her slate-blue eyes and navy-blue hair. “Girls, this is my cousin, Octavia Van Clef, though she prefers to go by Fiddlesticks. Fid, this is my cousin Sunset Shimmer, and our first cousin, once removed, Midnight Moondust,” she said, pointing out the correct familial term.

“Heya, gals,” Fiddlesticks said, then turned to Octavia. “Tavi, Ma an’ Ah’re here fer th’ same thing you an’ Aunt Ballad are – t’ find out ‘bout our ayncester. B’sides, she musta bin a pretty sweet gal, since her main instr’ment was th’ fiddle.” As if to illustrate the point, she rapped her fingers against the Lexan casing holding the ancient chordophone.

“Violin, Fid,” Octavia replied.

Sunset, however, had followed Fiddlesticks’ hand to the aged Duiffopruggar instrument, or so the plaque specified. She’d seen the 1669 Jove Stradivarius that was on loan to the ECMAH, and to Sunset’s untrained eye, they were practically one and the same. But her eyes wandered towards the base of the instrument, where there was a sigil carved into the wood: an F-clef superimposed over a six-pointed star, which had a smaller six-pointed star behind that.

Odd…that looks like a cutie mark, Sunset thought. Of course, the possibilities of that were remote; humans, after all, had no clue what a cutie mark was. “Hey, what’s that symbol on the violin?” she asked, curious.

“Oh, tha’s jest L’ Musica’s personal mark, Ah guess,” Fiddlesticks answered. “People back then weren’t none too much taught how t’ read er write, y’know?”

“But if Musica Allegra was a composer and musician, she’d have to know how to read and write, I’m guessing,” Sunset asked.

“Maybe she didn’t bother with school? I know I wouldn’t,” Midnight groaned.

“That’s because you’re an idiot, Midge,” Octavia said.

Sunset was about to ask something else, when she felt a brush of a hand past hers. “Y’know, yer real cute,” Fiddlesticks told her.

“Look, gals, Ah’m sorry,” Fiddlesticks told the pair a few minutes later. The four were now sitting in the museum’s café, having lunch while the adults were given the museum tour. Midnight, having seen it all plenty of times before, decided not to, and since Fiddlesticks and her mother had just arrived on the flight a few hours earlier, the four decided they could see the whole museum later, and would just spend time together. “Ah didn’t know y’ went through all that, Tavi.”

“It’s…okay,” Octavia said in that tone that indicated it wasn’t okay. “Just…neither Sunset nor I want to be reminded of the whole incident I went through,” she answered.

“Yeah, an’ here Ah wus hopin’ that Ah’d meet a gal that caught mah fancy,” Fiddlesticks groaned. “Jest too bad it’d happened t’ be mah cousin’s cousin. Ah’m sorry, Sunset.”

“Call me Sunny,” Sunset answered, “and I’m not offended, Fiddle, just not into girls is all. Plus, with Tavi and I being so close, even if it was, I’d just….”

“Yeah, Ah know. Jest broke up with mah girlfriend, an’ still hurting, Ah guess.”

“Well, as much as hearing about your love lives or lack thereof is fascinating – and by that I mean completely boring – something that Sunset brought up is curious,” Midnight commented, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes. “That sigil that La Musica had is practically everywhere on her stuff, almost like it was a sort of second signature.”

“Maybe she really liked the symbol?” Octavia inquired.

“Er maybe she was messin’ with future generashuns!” Fiddlesticks drawled.

“Well, I don’t know about you girls, but I think I’d like to see more about it all,” Sunset stated, her inquisitiveness rising to the fore. It really did look like a cutie mark. Maybe I’m just reading into things, but I swear I’ve seen something like that before.

“Well, I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Midnight told her. “As we were walking out, one of the museum employees stated that they were going to have to close off the exhibition hall if they were going to have it done in time for Monday’s reception.”

“Sunny, relax, okay?” Octavia said to her as they shopped for clothing for the reception the next day. “Fiddle’s apologized enough, and if you want to know what real sexual abuse is like, I can reintroduce you to that friend of yours.”

“Huh?” A second later, she realized that Octavia had been staring at her worriedly. “No, Tavi, it’s not that; plus, Vinyl was no friend of mine, Kicky was – and not in that way, thankyouverymuch. I was just thinking.”

“Oh, really.”

“Yes, really. That symbol that La Musica used…what, exactly, is it? I swear I’ve seen it before,” Sunset lied. Actually, if anything, she wished her friends were available, because anything she wanted to say, she’d have to definitely self-censor, lest Octavia think that she’d gone nuts. It was bad enough that she’d spent a good portion of the previous night abusing her iPad while trying to find anything out regarding La Musica, but her Spanish sucked and with Google Translate giving phrases like “The Music is the composer of the long-ago time and female of the composer”, she gave up rather quickly.

“Now that you mention it, it is familiar…” Octavia said for a second, before snapping her fingers in realization. “The La Musica guitar pick brand uses the symbol as their company logo. Can’t tell you anything beyond that, though, as I’m not a guitarist, but you knew that already, why?”

“It’s…just one of those things that just sticks in your head and can’t let go. You remember the week of Spike’s little gaming stunt about that GIF you saw on the net that you said kept popping up in your dreams, right? Something like that.”

“I see. Well, hopefully it won’t leave you humming ‘It’s peanut butter jelly time!’ ad infinitum.”

…and to this day, several questions about the life of Baldassare di Cavalcanti remain unanswered: was he truly, as he claimed to have been, the student of a black unicorn who taught him magical powers beyond the ken of mortal man? Or was he a hermeticist who fell afoul of the Inquisition at the wrong time in history? Or was he a monster, responsible for the murder of his wife Crisalide della Lucca in order to use her dowry to rise to the top of the nobility in the Florentine period? Researchers, even today, are looking at this very question and will likely do so for quite some time. One thing is for sure, however: the legend of the Mad Hermeticist of Cavalcanti endures.

Twilight set down the book on her nightstand, sighing and trying not to scratch an itch on the back of her right arm that had been bothering her on and off all day. So far she’d spent the time reading the book that Sunset had given her, then had a nice Skype chat with a few of her friends – Fluttershy, in particular, was worried about her, which made Twilight feel special – then did some gaming on her tablet before turning back to the book and finishing it.

Now, as she looked at the clock and how late it was, she lay back in her bed, wondering if she should go to sleep; it probably made sense, but she’d be doing more than enough of that this week and though she was tired quite a bit, sleeping all the time really never sat well with her, especially since Rainbow considered that one of her favorite hobbies outside of sports. And at this late at night, likely none of her friends would be online with the possible exception of Rarity, but Twilight didn’t feel like installing Steam on her tablet or laptop.

I guess sleep it is, then, she groaned as she reached over to turn off the lamp, ignoring the sudden severe itching that had migrated down to her legs. As she turned off the bedside lamp and leaned back, she thought about the book she’d read and all that. Magic…it was understandable back then why people believed in it; they needed something to explain how the world worked in a time where science was only known to a handful of people and not exactly accessible to the average person. But nowadays, in the age of the computer, DNA and spaceflight, magic made no sense. Sure, there was “magic”, as in prestidigitation – Sunset had a talent for it, though she’d never revealed where she’d learned her stagecraft – but actual thaumaturgy, sorcery, wizardry and all the –aries, –mancies and whatnot? No place for it in the modern world.

For a second, she tried to imagine herself as a powerful sorceress, with all the world’s magic at her fingertips. Yeah, right, she chuckled. I’m lousy at D&D – no way I’d ever be able to be a magician.

After a few minutes, her eyes fluttered briefly and then closed. Soon after, her eyes began to twitch with the namesake rapid eye movement as her mind entered the dreamscape.

Sunset suddenly sat up.

Twily?

As her eyes adjusted to the dark – it’d be easier to see if I had pony eyes, she thought to herself – she looked out the large glass doors towards the balcony and the early morning starscape of Los Angeles. All things considered, she was somewhat of a deep sleeper, and while she didn’t have Rainbow’s propensity to doze on a regular basis, she wasn’t exactly easy to wake up, either, and now she awake, at 3:34 in the morning, so said the clock.

She looked at her phone, thinking about suddenly calling Twilight, just to see how…. Sunny, you’re starting to act like Shiny, she chided herself. Let him be the overprotective sibling. You might be older than him in reality, but he’s got more practice. Besides, she had to admit to herself, the fact alone that she was worried about Twilight was a sizable indicator that she cared about her foster sister as more than just a foster sister.

I really wonder if Mr. Light and Mrs. Velvet would adopt me, she thought.

“Sunny?” Octavia’s voice said beside her blearily. Sure enough, though the room came with two beds, the girls slept together as was normal for Octavia…and becoming so for Sunset. “You okay?”

I wonder if that’s normal for siblings, the flame-haired girl thought idly about the sleeping arrangements; she immediately dismissed it as just another oddity in her life. “Just…can’t sleep,” she replied. “A lot of thoughts on my mind. Thinking about Twily and the parentals back home and….”

Octavia mumbled. “Just go back to sleep, okay?” There was silence for a few seconds, before the raven-haired girl groaned and turned over to look at her pseudo-cousin. “Aren’t you the one who usually sleeps like a brick?”

“Yeah, but….” A wistful smile came onto Sunset’s face. “You’re going to laugh.”

“Probably.”

“Gee, thanks. Anyway, I think…I think I’m homesick. It’s nothing I’ve really ever felt before.” Especially that I can’t ever feel that for Equestria, since I have a death sentence and all, so it’s an entirely new feeling for me. “I know, it’s stupid, but—”

Octavia sat up. “No, Sunny, it’s not. It means that you’ve really accepted us as your family. I know it hasn’t been easy for you, and I wish I could have been there back when you and Twily had that talk in the backyard, but….” She grinned. “You and I are cousins, sisters, whatever, Sunny. We’re family. Uncle Night and Aunt Velvet love you, so do Twily, Shiny and Cady – heck, I think even Spike would admit it. And I know my parents have told you just to call them ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ as well, right?” She patted Sunset on the shoulder. “You have a family now – you’ve had a family since the day you came into our lives, and it’s finally sunk in, hasn’t it.”

Sunset nodded. “Sometimes…sometimes I think I should be calling your aunt and uncle ‘Mom and Dad’; apparently I’ve had a few slips of the tongue in the past few weeks.”

“I know. Twily and I talked about it. Honestly, why don’t you?”

“Not sure they’d appreciate that. Besides, I think there’s something against it in the fostering rules or something like that.”

“Trust me, they wouldn’t mind – they’d probably prefer it, truth be told. But if there are rules about that, that sucks, but it’s understandable. Even still, no matter what, you’re family.” An impish grin came onto the face of the musician as she teased, “I don’t just sleep with anyone, you know.”

“That sounds so wrong, Tavi.”

“I know – that’s what makes it so fun. Besides…I know I have to get over what Vinyl did to me. And maybe making jokes about it is a crutch, but at least I know I can do that safely around you, right?”

Sunset embraced Octavia. “Yeah, that you can. So I guess we should just fall asleep in each other’s arms now?”

“Not on the first date.”

Sunset just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, just keep being a bitch, Tavi. At least you can be my bitch.”

“When did this turn into a prison dialogue?”

“The moment you started making stupid statements.”

“Fine.” Octavia mock-huffed, broke from the embrace and lay back down, facing the far side of the room. “Night, Sunny.”

“Yeah, night,” Sunset said, as she decided to try slipping back into the dreamscape.

The majority of the next day was spent getting ready for that night’s events. Very fortunately for Ballad and Octavia, Chanson and Octavia Philharmonica were unable to make the unveiling, as the former had a performance in Paris and the latter had opted to join her mother. Besides, for Ballad, putting up with her sister Rondeau was going to be enough of a mess; thankfully Octavia and Fiddlesticks got along or who knew if the museum would be knocked off its mountainside perch if all-out war began.

But with that in mind, there were still plenty of things to be done: Ballad, Sunset, and Octavia were joined by Rondeau (who called an unspoken truce with her sister for the duration) and Fiddlesticks as the five ladies got their hair done in preparation for the event. That left Evening to run around West Los Angeles in a frantic attempt to find a place that sold a tuxedo shirt in his size, as he’d had the worst luck and the one he’d brought with him turned out to have a previously-unnoticed stain on the front.

But finally as the sun set on the City of Angels and dozens of dignitaries and members of the well-heeled southern California elite arrived at the Brentwood, the group began to gather in Exhibition Hall D, looking at the various instruments and documents that had been found throughout the centuries regarding the mysterious muse known as La Musica. Sure enough, many of them had that cutie mark-like symbol on them, and many people thought it was a family crest, or a short-hand signature or a personal stamp, just as some Islamic cultures of the time had. But none of those answers made sense, and the thought that it was, as bizarre as it seemed, a cutie mark, continued to stick in Sunset’s head.

“Sunny, don’t frown,” Octavia chided, “or else you’ll ruin your makeup.” Not performing today, the teen had opted to wear a long, strapless scarlet gown, with matching heels and long gloves. It was slightly more risqué than Octavia would usually wear, but it was what passed for normal in Tinseltown, so she dealt with it.

“Sorry, cuz, just thinking.” Unlike Octavia, Sunset had settled on a variation of the little black dress, this one coming with a sheer top and sleeves, topped off with a black choker. The legspace was somewhat restrictive, but if Octavia was going to be dressed up tonight, far be it for Sunset to be outdone.

“Well, color me impressed,” Fiddlesticks replied. Her dress was conservative, a pale yellow, off-the-shoulder number that hugged her body frame well. For a second, it made Sunset wonder what Fiddlesticks would look like as a pony with a blue mane and a yellow coat, but she mentally laughed it off; Fiddlestick’s counterpart probably looked like whatever theoretical counterpart Octavia had. “Looks like everyone done came t’ th’ shindig.”

“And speaking of which,” Octavia said with a grin, “here she comes to make a scene.”

Walking down the hall, with several sets of eyes on her, was Midnight Moondust. Wearing a stone-gray and midnight-blue gown, both the front and the back of her dress had plunging lines, so much so that it looked more as though the fabric was holding onto the pop star for dear life rather than being a garment. It was scandalous to wear, especially for a sixteen-year-old, but that was normal for people in Midnight’s profession, and if she was laying the groundwork for her eventual career in adulthood, the better to move away from the cute girl-next-door bit now.

“Heya, Midge,” Sunset teased as the girl arrived. “When do you plan to get dressed for this event?”

“Cute, Sunny,” the pop star replied. “Thought I’d sneak in because I didn’t want to deal with the paparazzi, to be honest. I’ll let my parents handle that stuff. And between you and me, I really don’t like wearing this – too drafty – but I have to start putting on the ‘bad girl’ image for the press if I’m going to be taken seriously in a couple of years.”

“So, at whut point’ll ya be doin’ th’ hooch an’ th’ blow?” Fiddlesticks teased. Midnight facepalmed at that point and both Sunset and Octavia giggled.

“So, I wonder what the big thing they’re going to reveal is,” Octavia mused, looking around at the various instruments, documents and other relics of a woman that lived centuries ago.

“Well, isn’t there the picture?” Midnight asked. “I haven’t seen anything like that.”

“You’re right; I’d forgotten about that,” Octavia admitted. “I’m guessing that’s what they have ensconced behind the curtains over there.”

After a few more minutes of chatting, a soft chime came from the front of the hall, and everyone turned to face the museum director standing there, alongside what appeared to be several members of the Spanish government and apparently some other people as well.

“Distinguished guests,” Ancient Tomes spoke, his voice clear despite its reedy timbre earlier – Maybe public speaking is more his style, Sunset mused – “On behalf of the staff and patrons of the Brentwood Museum, the Kingdom of Spain and the City of Los Angeles, I’d like to thank you all for coming to this special function tonight for the opening of the Brentwood’s latest exhibition, ‘La Musica Leyenda: The Life and History of Musica Allegra’. We would especially like to welcome those of her descendants, the sons and daughters of Luthier, Sweet Strings, Toccato, Symphonic Belle, and Minor Key – most of which are musicians and composers in their own rights.

“As you can see, there have been many things about Musica Allegra, known by her sobriquet of ‘La Musica’: her instruments, which she used to delight and enthrall the crowned heads of state of many a European nation. Her texts, poetry and compositions, many of which are still famous even today – amongst them, Symphony No. 17 in D Major, the ‘Unicorn’s Gavotte’; String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat Major, the ‘Ballet of Pegasi’; the Cassation in D Major, ‘Recollective of the Shining Citadel of Yore’ and so many more. And despite all this, she was a wife and mother; a woman who spoke fluent English and Spanish, yet claimed to be from neither place and whose origins and nationality have been lost to time.

“But, when the Spanish Royal Academy of Fine Arts came into possession of what is believed to be a picture of La Musica, painted by none other than the legendary Lucientes himself, we at the Brentwood knew it was our honor and privilege to have this picture displayed at this exhibition of the life and works of La Musica. This is the first time since its discovery that it has been revealed to the public and now, it is my honor to show you the only known image of Musica Allegra herself!”

Driven by mechanical casters, the burgundy curtains parted, and an image of beauty, derived from oil laid onto canvas centuries ago, appeared behind a climate-controlled polycarbonate cover. The woman, dressed in a somewhat plain burgundy gown, rested two hands upon a violin seated in her lap. The woman looked serenely at the audience, her soft blue eyes standing out like glorious gems of lapis against the earthy, deep mahogany tone of her skin. Her head was framed by a cascade of long, platinum-white hair, save for two shocks of scarlet and gold, as if she meant herself to be the precursor of the Spanish flag. The expression on her face was calm and placid, regal, ethereal.

But as Sunset gazed at the picture, a word that was likely not in the human lexicon immediately came to mind: monocereal. She fought to keep the look of shock on her face as she realized what she swore she was seeing before her: a human woman who had once been a pony. She had to be: although human, the way she held her hands was that of the way noblemares traditionally placed their forehooves when posing for portraits. Furthermore, her hairstyle, long and flowing, wasn’t in sync with the buns, bonnets and other hairstyles of women of the same era as La Musica was from.

But ponies did, as did their modern-day counterparts – emphasis on “modern day”: Sunset's foster sister had the same hairstyle, more or less, as the alicorn princess did. As did Principal Celestia and Princess Celestia, and likely her own counterpart, still somewhere else on this world.

Or, Sunset chided herself, maybe she had that style because she had a pony counterpart in Equestria? But even that didn’t quite make sense: if so, then why all the cutie mark-like symbols? Was that normal for that place in time? Or was it that of a woman who was once a mare, endlessly remembering the symbol that she’d had on her flank, now gone forever but ever etched in her mind.

Sunset’s eyes briefly drifted to her own hips, where her cutie mark had been. With the exception of the brief time she’d returned to Equestria to steal Princess Twilight’s crown, she hadn’t seen it in four years. She’d been so proud when she got her mark, an eclipsed sun – or what they’d call a yin-yang here on Earth – flaming with a prominent corona. When she’d arrived here and become human, she freaked out about its loss so much, for a while she’d drawn it everywhere she could, and at one point, even got a purple t-shirt with the mark printed on it; that shirt had been lost when the warehouse fell. But, if she’d spent years obsessing over its loss…wouldn’t another pony?

She looked around the room, and all the descendants of La Musica, identified by the white rose corsages or boutonnieres they wore. Dozens of them in the room…including Ballad and Octavia. And these were just the ones who could attend.

Tens of thousands of people, over generations, all potentially with the heritage of ponydom within their blood.

“Excuse me,” she said to her company. “Gotta go use the powder room.” She had no idea what that meant, as it was something she’d heard in a movie she and Twilight had watched, but it sounded like a good enough excuse. With that, she departed the room, walking out and towards the information desk in the lobby of the museum.

“Good evening, miss,” the woman at the desk said, cheerful and perky as always – she’d noticed that much about the staffers prior. “What can I help you with?”

“I need to do some research on La Musica for my family,” she said glibly. “My aunt and cousin are descendants and I think that it would be a great thing to do some…um….” Suddenly the right word wasn’t coming.

“Genealogy?”

“That’d be the one, thanks,” she said with a smile.

“Well, it’s closed for the evening, but the Brentwood does have a research institute here, and as the exhibition will be ongoing for the next few months, the Spanish government has asked the staff of the BMRI to research as much as they can about La Musica’s life. We have nearly all the documents that were sent over from Madrid, and they’ll be available to researchers tomorrow. But I’m afraid they won’t just let anyone look at them, miss.”

“But I—” Sunset began.

“Hey, let the girl do it, ‘kay? Clearly she’s doing this for her family, and I think that’s totally cool,” a voice announced from behind Sunset.

The woman at the desk suddenly looked as though she’d seen a ghost. “I…uh….”

“For that matter, can you check to see if I’m still on the list for tomorrow? If so, go ahead and add her, okay? That’d be really awesome if you could. Thanks.”

Sunset turned around to thank her sudden benefactor. “Thanks, uh….”

The moment she realized who she was about to thank, her jaw dropped.

Author's Note

Well, lucky you - I get to be out of town for a few days, so you get a chapter early!

As of the April 2014 World Population Report, Los Angeles (counted as the Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernadino, Riverside and Orange counties), is the 14th largest metropolis in the world, with 17.3 million people.

The "Brentwood Museum" is actually The Getty Center, half of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. "The Getty", as it's called, is situated in the Brentwood district of LA.

The Tieffenbrucker family was a famous family of luthiers that moved from Germany to Venice and prospered until the 17th century. Of the most famous of those was Kaspar Tieffenbrucker, who moved to France, renamed himself as Gasparo Duiffobruggar, and started a branch of the family, known as the Duiffobruggars, whose fame eventually eclipsed the main one.

Nowadays, the only musical instruments that are worth more than Duiffobruggars or Tieffenbruckers, are those made by Antonio Stradivari and his descendants - the famous Stradivarius violins.

So, who's the individual Sunset just ran into? :pinkiegasp: Stay tuned!

March 25: Song Yet to Be Sung

The woman lowered her glasses and said, “Yeah, I get that all the time. Don’t sweat it, kid.” Eyes of purple gazed at Sunset, the woman’s face framed by long – long – flowing tresses of amethyst and white, almost down to her shins. She wore a black leather jacket similar to the one Sunset originally owned, and underneath that a t-shirt that said I’M INSANE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?, strategically-torn jeans, and skater sneakers.

Sunset couldn’t believe her eyes. Standing right in front of her: Screwball herself, live and in the flesh. Screwball, the lead guitarist for Discord’s band. Screwball, who had replaced Discord’s original guitarist Tirek when he went off to start his own band, Evil Centaurs Incorporated. Screwball, who Kerrang! magazine had named 2012 Guitarist of the Year. Screwball, who was named number one in Rolling Stone’s 2013 Women in Rock issue. Screwball, who was probably the best damn guitarist of her generation, period.

Sunset immediately tried not to squee like she was Pinkie while on an ultra sugar high of fudge-dipped chocolate frosted sugar bombs.

Screwball then looked at the information clerk. “Anyway, I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Dr. Paperchase regarding the Musica Allegra archives, and I’d appreciate if you added Ms.—” Screwball then turned to look back at Sunset.

“Oh!” Sunset snapped back to reality, figuring that it would be best to ask for autographs, pictures and all that later. “Uh, Sunset Shimmer.” She pulled out her ID.

“Contact phone number, please?”

“232-903-5769,” Sunset replied.

“Okay, you’re all set, Ms. Shimmer,” the lady replied, handing Sunset her identification.

“Thanks,” Sunset said to the guitarist.

Screwball waved it off, grinning. “Hey, if I overheard you right, you’re doing this for your…cousin? Honestly, I think that’s pretty damn cool,” she said, nodding her head with approval. “Plus, you’ve got your head level – most kids your age go ga-ga or freak the hell out because, well, I’m me.”

“Well, I didn’t want to make a scene, and….” Sunset began.

Screwball laughed in response. “Didn’t want to make a scene? You must not be a local. This is LA! Everything is a scene!”

“Yeah, I’m not from around here,” she admitted. “I’m visiting from Canterlot.”

“I’ve been there before. Kinda nice town.” She pulled out her phone, looked at it, and said, “Well, I gotta head out. Gotta meet a friend. But we’ll talk in the morning.”

“Wait, aren’t you here for the reception?” Sunset asked. “I’m assuming you’re a descendant of La Musica.”

“Well, I am, but…I don’t do parties. At least not this type,” she replied. “Don’t get me wrong: I know there’s a time to dress up and look good – like the Grammys and shit, but…let’s just say that I don’t do frou-frou very well-well. Anyway, I gotta get going. See ya tomorrow, kid.” With that, Screwball began to descend the steps; the valet noticed her arrival, made a call on a radio and a second later what looked to be the weirdest-looking car Sunset had ever seen in her life came out of the valet parking area. Screwball got into the driver’s seat, gave what looked like a huge tip to the valet, if his wide smile was any indication, and with that, gently eased the alien automobile out of the parking circle and down Center Drive and towards the Los Angeles streets.

“Hey, Sunny!” Sunset turned to see Octavia, Fiddlesticks and Midnight approaching her. “Did you see her?”

“See who?”

“Screwball,” Fiddlesticks answered. “Some’ne said she was jest here a minute ago.”

“Uh, yeah,” Sunset answered. “I…I’m meeting here tomorrow for a research project. Uh, don’t ask how I got wrapped up in that.”

“You are?” Octavia asked. “Wow, that’s great! And to think you were going to be bored all day because Mom, Dad and I are performing tomorrow.”

“You are? I didn’t see you bring your bass.”

Octavia nodded. “Since we’re travelling, I brought my electric upright. It’s easier to bring on flights, good for informal performances, and I can borrow an amp from the museum. I guess my parents and I kinda forgot to mention it, since it’s usually Twily who comes along and she either reads a book or twelve or explores the museum. Sorry.”

“No biggie,” Sunset replied, waving off the concern. “Besides, I got this. I’ll be right as rain tomorrow, just watch.”

“Kid, you can relax, okay?” Screwball told her as the pair walked from the main buildings of the museum towards the research center on the other side of the museum grounds. “At the end of the day, I’m just another chick who can play a guitar. Nothing big.”

“Nothing big, you say,” Sunset said, feeling as floaty as an alicorn – she practically swore her feet weren’t touching the ground. “Weren’t you just the one who took the MTV Music Awards prize for Best Guitar Solo?”

Screwball shook her head. “Look, Sunrise—”

“Sunset.”

“Yeah, that. Yeah, okay, I’m famous. But I worked for that fame. When Tirek left to go start ECI, the bossman held a huge contest globally to find the right kind of guitarist to replace his old buddy. And frankly, Discord and Tirek had just gotten the band started while I was still in grade school gnawing on a popsicle. So with someone that famous? You better believe people came out of the woodwork to try to earn the spot in Discord’s band.” The look in the woman’s eyes was nostalgic as she said, “A lot of people performed for those two weeks, including me. And I’ll be honest – as good as the media says I am, as good as the awards I win are? There were a ton of axeslingers better than I’ll ever be. People who can play with technical perfection and people who know a broad variety of techniques – there was a guy there who could play a line just like Geezer.” The look on Screwball’s face was priceless. “I can’t even play like Geezer – the man’s a legend!”

“Then how did you get the job?”

“Because of something that the D-man really appreciates: he likes his musicians well-rounded. Discord doesn’t just play rhythm guitar; he also plays the piano and drums. While Screw Loose is our drummer, she also plays the banjo and double bass. And though Freebase plays the bass guitar, he also knows how to rock the flute – seriously. As for me, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the job if I hadn’t been shooting the shit with SL and told her that I also play the guitarrón and the violin. Once Discord got word of that, I got the slot. I can even remember what he told me: ‘Guitarists are a dime a dozen, even the good ones. But musicians – musicians are what make the difference between a good song and a damn good song.’”

“Well, if it’s any opin—”

Screwball stopped and sighed. “Look…Sunset. Do me a favor, okay? Just…just act like I’m not famous. Hell, you can even call me by my real name if you want.”

“I thought your name was Screwball,” Sunset said.

The rockstar shook her head, curls of amethyst and ivory jittering everywhere. “Who names their kid Screwball? It’s actually a stage name, just like Screw Loose uses – only Discord and Freebase use their real names. I got the nickname from a tattoo I got when I was drunk and doing something stupid in Tijuana the month before I got the gig. But…I’m sure you’ve heard this from watching celebrities pretend to be normal people during TV interviews, but for those of us in the band? It’s just…at the end of the day, we just want to be normal. We’re musicians who just happen to be rock stars, not rock stars who just happen to be musicians. Besides,” she admitted, “my fame’s cost me quite a bit.”

“It has?”

“Don’t really want to talk about it right now, okay?” Screwball said. “So, let’s start this again.” Screwball removed her shades, sticking them in her jacket pocket. “Hi, my name’s Summer Violet,” she said offering her hand.

Sunset looked at “Summer Violet” curiously. “Summer Violet?”

“You should hear my kid sister’s name,” Screwball replied with a grin. “I got named after our great-grandmother. She got her name because she was born at an ungodly hour in a small desert town while me and my parents were coming home from a weekend trip in Vegas.”

“Fair enough,” Sunset said, taking the guitarist’s hand and shaking. “So, how much research material are they giving us access to?”

“Well….” Screwball said with a thoughtful look, “fame does come in handy on occasion. I spoke with Drs. Paperchase and Fuente Documental – the latter’s the representative from the Spanish government – and they were willing to give me access to everything that they brought along. Granted, we’ve got to be careful with the stuff – we are talking about priceless antiques, after all – but they’ve also got some computer databases that haven’t been made public yet.” A thought suddenly came to the musician. “How’s your Spanish, by the way? I’m sure not everything’s translated.”

“Taking it in high school,” Sunset explained. “Not the greatest or anything, though.”

“Well, at least you’re learning,” Screwball laughed. “I had this guy I used to date when I was in high school who blew it off because he didn’t think it was necessary. Then he joined the Air Force and got stationed in Spain. Ran into him at the base he was stationed at when we played a USO gig last year – he admitted he’s done fucked up but good, especially since his Spanish wife got on his case about him not being able to speak to her parents or family.” As the duo arrived at the research building, Screwball motioned towards the doors. “Well, we’re here, so…let’s go…researchize or something.”

“No arguments there,” Sunset agreed as she and Screwball walked through the sliding glass doors into the circular building that was the Brentwood Research Institute.

“Sunny, I swear I should hate you or something!” the excited voice of Rainbow Dash said over the phone when Sunset called her friend during her lunch break. “Pics or it didn’t happen, Shimmer!”

“Turn on video chat, will ya?” Sunset brought up the screen’s video call mode, then the moment Rainbow’s face appeared on-screen, turned the view-facing camera towards Screwball. The musician, knowing something was up, threw the horns and then waved. Sunset then turned the phone back to herself and said, “See?” When the flame-haired girl was rewarded with utter silence, she said, “What, Rainbow, quiet for a change?”

“I…Sunny, if our friendship means anything, you will get me an autograph right this second, okay? Immediately if not sooner!”

“I’ll ask,” Sunset replied, “but for now, lunch just arrived. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Sunny, I’m beg—” Sunset never heard the remainder of Rainbow’s statement as she disconnected the call and slipped the phone back in her pocket.

“Sorry about that,” Sunset apologized. “Rainbow pranks me often enough that I thought this would be too perfect of an opportunity to get her back.”

Screwball smiled wildly. “Hey, I can go with that. Bossman’s quite the prankster himself. I remember when we were laying down the vocal tracks for ‘Of Course!’, out of nowhere he stops singing the lyrics we’d written and breaks out into the opera ‘Oberto’ by Verdi, and both the producer and engineer are looking at him like he’s insane, but he’s just singing along. Hell, I don’t even know where the fuck he learned how to sing in the operatic style.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope. You familiar with the song ‘Sonata’ by Sapphire Shores? The opera singing in the background is Discord’s; Sapphire was in the recording studio down the hall from us and when she heard it, she asked to dub it in for her song.”

“Really? I did not know that,” Sunset said as the waiter placed her lunch in front of her. She’d heard the song several times courtesy of Rarity abusing it to death, but little did either girl know that Sunset’s favorite singer was behind the more quirky part of that pop song.

“Yeah. And I wanted to tell my sister, but….”

“But…?”

“No, it’s nothing,” Screwball said, immediately shutting up. “Let’s just enjoy our lunch and chat about what we researched. What were you able to find out?”

“Well, I found a PDF scan written by Duke Almirante’s brother, Viscount Coronel, claiming that there was no way that Musica Allegra’s son Luthier was Almirante’s offspring. However, Coronel’s charges are believed to be spurious, as if Luthier was believed not to be Almirante’s son, then Coronel’s own son, Potestad, could have made a claim for Almirante’s lands.”

“Yeah, I saw the same thing. Fortunately, Almirante claimed Luthier as his son, and then afterwards, Almirante and La Musica had Sweet Strings, Toccato, Gran Valz, Adagio and Canto Allegre, thus preventing Coronel and his line from inheriting the Duchy of Najera.” A thought suddenly came to mind: “You know, I bet I could make a bitchin’ solo album out of all this – theme album, too.”

“Medieval soap opera?”

“Hrm…well, if I use that for the title of the album, I’ll make sure you get credit,” Screwball said with a laugh. “Anyway, I did notice something that I really hadn’t before.”

“What’s that?”

“She had an unhealthy obsession with unicorns and pegasi. Looking through her compositions, nearly all of them had something to do with unicorns, pegasi, horses, or some gleaming castle. And keep in mind this was centuries ago, well before the Disney Princess crap we have nowadays; she lived in the era where indoor plumbing was science fiction. So I don’t get why she had anything like that in mind.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Sunset said, though she knew exactly what Screwball was talking about.

“Makes sense, since you’re not a musician, but check this out.” Screwball pulled out her phone, brought up Spotify, and selected a few songs. “This is an album of selected movements of her works that were recorded by the String Cheese Quartet. Just listen to the music and look at the track names. I have to wonder if we should also credit her with the discovery of marijuana, because I swear the woman was high, just from her compositions.” Handing Sunset her phone and headphones, Screwball insisted that she take a spin at the tunes.

Sunset listened to the tracks while Screwball munched on her turkey and brie. And as surprise appeared on the face of the flame-haired teen, the guitarist grinned and said, “See? What’d I tell you? Very evocative music – and I don’t even listen to classical on a regular basis. It’s almost as if I can see those pegasi and unicorns she kept trying to image in her music.”

Not hearing Screwball’s words, Sunset began to play with the controls as her mind reeled from what she was listening to. That’s….that’s…. She looked at the song currently playing over the earbuds: Symphony No. 17 in D Major, the “Unicorn’s Gavotte”. At least, that’s what the name of the song she was listening to was. But that wasn’t what she was hearing. That’s the Royal Anthem of Equestria – “In Regnum Aeternum Solis”! By a force of habit long unused, she mentally sang along with the song, the lyrics from her memory fitting all-too-easily with the song:

“Hail our Eternal Sun,
Ne’er Her reign be undone,
Peace with each daily morn,
For hoof, wing, and spiraled horn
Yea, will all souls sing praise
For the Princess of our Days!”

She forced herself to stop, switching to the next selection, the String Quartet No. 5 in E-flat Major, the “Ballet of Pegasi”. Sure enough it was the ballet of pegasi – the music was that of the Banquet of Clouds, a well-known aerial ballet that pegasi often performed on the Day of the Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia had taken her, when she was ten years old, to see a performance in Cloudsdale, and to her young eyes, it had been the most beautiful thing ever; Sunset had briefly wanted to be an aerial ballet dancer, until the princess dashed her dreams by explaining that only pegasi could do so.

Ignoring the memory of that heartbreak, she then went to the next selection, part of the Clarinet Concerto in A Major, “The Palladium on the Mountain”. She recognized that as an almost note-for-note copy of “Ode to the Capital of the World”, a song composed by Golden Tones upon the founding of Canterlot. Sunset remembered it well: it had been the last time she and Celestia had attended a recital together, their relationship already strained. The following week would be Sunset’s critical mistake, leading her on the path that set her here.

As she forwarded through the tracks, she listened to each selection briefly. Some of them were similar to songs she’d heard; some were near-outright copies, including the Symphony No. 6 in F Major, the “Pastoral Symphony”, which conformed to the song by Bella Sonata known as “The Romance of the Farmer’s Daughter”; she’d heard Celestia hum the first movement often. A few were ones she wasn’t familiar with, but it only deepened the mystery.

Was La Musica a refugee from Equestria? And how? And why? What drove her here?

“Sunset!” The teen finally snapped out of her thoughts as Screwball reached over and pulled the earbuds out of Sunset’s ears. “Hey, Earth to Sunset. You okay?”

“Huh? Oh – sorry, just got lost in the imagery,” she lied. “But yeah, I could almost see the pegasi and the unicorns in the music.” As well as the earth ponies, but let’s not get into that part, shall we?

“Well, tell ya what,” she said, looking at her phone. “I have to be in Seattle tomorrow – making a guest guitar appearance on Trickyfingers’ new album, so let’s call it a day for now, since I have to head home and pack. You have access to all the records still, so feel free and keep working if you want, or just take the day off and we can get back to everything on Thursday, okay?”

“I’ll keep looking,” Sunset promised. “Wouldn’t want to let you down.”

“You’re not letting me down,” Screwball assured her. “It’s not like….” Screwball sighed again, more audibly than the last time she’d caught herself.

“Not like what?”

“Just…don’t worry about it, kid. Adult shit, and you’ve got a few more years before you have to deal with this kind of crap, so….”

“And yet you’re clearly bothered about it,” Sunset said. “And do me a favor – don’t just dismiss me as a kid just because you’re older than me.” Especially since I’m probably older than you. “I was living on my own from the age of twelve – yes, twelve – as a runaway until I was taken in by my current family. I spent four years living in an abandoned warehouse with scant utilities, so I know hard.”

The look on Screwball’s face was priceless. “You’re… you’re shitting me.”

“No. Ask the folks I came here with. I call them my cousin, aunt and uncle…but really? They’re just extended foster family, no real ties. Doesn’t mean I don’t care about them at all, just that…a year ago, at this time, I didn’t have anyone in my life.” Sunset opted not to tell the whole details for obvious reasons, but she figured an edited version would suffice. “So I know hardship.”

“And you’re not shitting me?”

“Hey, it’s like the lyrics in ‘Attitude Adjustment’: ‘You have no idea the shit I’ve been through/And it sounds like a lie, because it’s all true.’”

Screwball sat there for a few minutes, as if in thought, then started to speak. “Yeah, so here’s the deal: my parents were this 70s soft rock duo. Not the biggest group out there, but in the early to mid-70s, they did fair enough. Ever heard of Afterschool Special?”

“They’re the ones that recorded ‘Skyrockets at Night’ and ‘Sunflowers and Sunshine’, right? My foster father has one of their CDs.” Sunset suppressed a shudder; she remembered the time that Night Light had given her a lift to school and had it on; she didn’t want to tell him that he had absolutely zero ability at singing. Thankfully the torture had been brief, and that he didn’t try to sing anything else.

“Hell, didn’t know my ‘rental’s albums were already on CD – must be on a legacy label. Anyway, since then, they seem to think that they know how to manage their kids’ careers. My older brother was a disappointment to them, mainly because he had no interest in music. He’s a firefighter in Santa Monica, by the way. As for me, once I learned how to play the guitar, my parents insisted on trying to get me into every kid’s band possible. I was actually on NBC Saturday Kids’ Zone for a while as part of the band, and I hope nobody ever taped those.

“But finally, I got a gig with Flaming Ravioli, and we had a hit, though that band didn’t last long. That’s what led me to my spot with Discord. But during all that time, my parents had an unexpected third kid and they’re pushing her hard to follow the typical teen path to stardom – sweet coquettish ingénue, bitch who flashes her tits the moment she gets out of her contract, then drunken party whore until her career flatlines and continues into the Adult Contemporary comeback album. But she doesn’t want that, no matter how much my parents insist that it’s the best way for her to do her career.

“What makes it worse is that I’m trying to get her to come live with me so she doesn’t have to hear Mom and Dad’s drunken-ass recollections of when they were on the cover of Teen Beat and Bananas and all that. But she thinks I’m trying to corral her career and tell her what to do, and she gets enough of that shit from Mom and Dad. And I’ve talked to the bossman for advice, but he’s already got shit with his wife and kids—”

“Wait – Discord’s married?”

Screwball sighed. “Keep that under your hat, okay?”

“He was just in the National Enquirer last month – a scandal about him snorting cocaine off a porn star’s tits…and he’s married?” Sunset practically shouted.

“Keep it down!” Screwball growled. “He doesn’t want it to be public info, because he’s trying to keep his family shielded from all this. And…truthfully, his attorney’s suing that rag. The guy in the photo’s a lookalike, and I know it, because when they claimed that drugfest in Brazil happened? Discord was working on lyrics while on vacation with his wife in the English countryside.” The guitarist gave the teen a hard look. “Remember when I said all this stardom is just bullshit and appearances? The Discord the public sees – the party guy, goes on stage with a bottle of tequila and all that – it’s a lie. In his free time, he reads 19th century novels – he’s a real fan of Walden Pond and other authors of the time – and writes songs for other artists that he knows he can never record himself. The song ‘Just an Appalachian Gal’ by Twangy Tunes? He wrote that – yeah, it’s a country song, but he wrote that and gave it to Yellow Rose and her band because it’s never going to end up on our albums.

“And that’s the shit that my sister’s being made to wallow in. Discord’s bottle of tequila onstage is actually herbal tea, so it soothes his voice. But that CNN article on my sister misbehaving in Miami during winter break – that was real gin and juice, and she’s only sixteen and she hates alcohol. But Mom and Dad told her and her friends to go get plastered in a hotel room and that they’d bail them out.” She buried her face in a palm as she shook her head. “My parents insisted my sister and her friends – all of which attend an elite school here in LA and thus can be very conscious about their images – go to Miami for Christmas by themselves and go get fucking drunk in a hotel room…because it would look good for my sister’s career. Can you imagine how all twenty ways of fucked up that is?”

Sunset put two and two together instantly. “Midge is your sister, isn’t she?”

“Now, I didn’t claim to be related to Midnight Moondust….”

“And yet you departed on Monday evening just before she and the others came looking for me. Hell, you didn’t even attend the opening ceremonies for the exhibit, even though you were obviously on the guest list. And I have yet to see you go near the exhibit – would that be because Midge is very interested in it?”

“Yeah,” Screwball admitted. “Look, I love my little sister very much and I don’t want her to have to be a slave to what my parents think fame and fortune is. If she becomes a rock star like me, fine. If she wants to be a session musician and that’s it, fine. Hell, if she doesn’t want a career in music at all, I’ll back her. But this!” Screwball said, waving her hands to encompass the museum, “is the legacy of my family – everyone’s practically in the Goddamn music industry and some have it far worse than others.”

“You’re quiet tonight,” Ballad said, looking at Sunset and her mostly untouched appetizer plate.

“Sorry, just had something on my mind,” she said, glumly.

“I can imagine – you’re missing all this,” Evening said, his hand motioning at La Mare on the Pier, the seaside dining destination at the Venice Pier. Honestly, we thought you’d enjoy the place.”

“I do!” Sunset defended. “It’s just….”

“I know,” Ballad said, looking at her own daughter. Sunset looked at both and realized something had happened that she’d not been privy to, and as she looked at the other three at the table, she wondered if her own concerns were about to take second place compared to what she’d missed.

Finally, she got her answer: Octavia, uncharacteristically, looked at her parents with anger. “Didn’t it ever occur to you to ask me what I want?”

“Dear, this is a great opportunity,” Ballad explained, “and it would be a once in a lifetime chance for you as we—”

“No, it’s not!” Octavia shouted, catching the attention of everyone in the restaurant. “I don’t want to! I have a life – a home – and you’re acting just like your sisters, Mom!”

“Octavia Melody, that is uncalled for,” Evening said in a firm tone. “Now you will sit down, apologize to your mother and – where do you think you’re going, young lady?” The last was said as Octavia got up from the table and walked away in a huff.

“What’s going on?” Sunset said, never having seen Octavia act…so…bratty? she thought, trying to grasp for a word.

“I….” The look on the adults’ faces was one of…guilt? Sunset tried to wade through the conflicting emotions she felt, the concern about Screwball’s issues now definitely being shoved into the back seat for now. Getting up from the table, she said, “Have them cancel mine and Tavi’s orders. I’ll talk to her and give you a call when I’ve got it sorted out.”

“We…didn’t come here entirely for the exhibition,” Ballad began carefully.

Sunset didn’t waste a second more; she was out of the chair and headed towards the door as fast as she could without causing a further scene. She’d failed Octavia once, in her opinion. There wasn’t going to be a second time.

Sunset found Octavia, a second later, leaning by the edge of the pier. As she approached, the raven-haired musician never took her eyes off the undulating motion of the Pacific. “I wish I was like you,” she said softly. She then turned to look at Sunset, her eyes showing a girl lost. “I wish I had the strength to run away.”

“Tavi, don’t ever say that,” Sunset said, slipping an arm around the girl. “So, want to tell me what happened?”

“I…I thought it was a lie, but I guess not,” she said, her voice flat. “Despite everything, Mom’s still in that competition with my aunts, and I thought that she really was better than that, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Losing me here.”

“My parents were really here to discuss joining the Runaway Symphonic. It’s an elite orchestra, travels worldwide and plays in places you wouldn’t believe – they only accept the best of the best musicians, and they made an offer to both Mom and Dad to join.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Sunset asked, knowing full well that wasn’t the case; if it had been, Octavia wouldn’t have exploded like that.

Sure enough, she shook her head. “No. The Runaway is based in Paris, which means we would have to move. And yes, I said we – I overheard Mom talking to the music director of the Runaway about some school there that I could attend, the Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye – I’m not even sure I’m pronouncing that right.”

“Well, before you continue, let me stop you right there and go get us fed. Fatburger sound okay with you?” Sunset asked, pointing towards a familiar red-and-yellow, diamond-in-a-circle logo.

“On one condition: I want a strawnana shake.”

“A what?”

“C’mon,” Octavia said, grabbing Sunset by the hand and heading towards the pierside burger shack. “They’re to die for.”

“How can you eat that?” Octavia asked as she watched Sunset finish off a XXXL Fatburger with fries and a large dulce de leche shake.

“I was hungry,” Sunset said, leaning back in her seat after demolishing the fully-loaded triple quarter-pounder cheeseburger. Other patrons were looking at her with a mixture of awe and confusion. “Now, before food coma sets in, want to tell me what’s bothering my favorite cousin?”

“I’m your only cousin, Sunny, and really, not even that.”

“See? You get favorite by default. So earn your prize and start talking.”

“I don’t want to go, okay? I like living in Canterlot, with my aunt and uncle and Twily and Spike and Shiny and Cady…and you too,” Octavia said, with a grin. “I like going to Zacherle’s and having a normal life. I don’t want to be a part of whatever war my mother and her sisters have – and that my cousin Octavia’s dead-set on being a part of, too! My grandmother’s a bitch who was successful at her arts before she gave it all up for kids, and now she’s determined to make sure we all continue the tradition of La Musica her way!”

Sunset sat there, having listened to every word Octavia said, but recalled the words that Screwball had said just hours before. And as Octavia continued, Sunset had to wonder: was this the kind of legacy that La Musica wanted to leave behind? Forget about whether she was a pony or not – was this nothing but a legacy of pain and misery that everyone with Musica Allegra’s bloodline had to endure?

Finally, as Octavia finished speaking and dived back into her turkeyburger, Sunset said, “Tavi, I think you should talk to your parents.”

“About what? I’m going to have to learn French within the next few months because Mom and Dad care more about their careers and this whole bullshit than about me!”

“You know that’s not true,” Sunset countered. “They love you, totally and completely – I can see it in their eyes when they talk to you. You said it yourself: they probably would have had more kids were it not for their schedule, so they dote on you as much as they can. I know they wish they could spend more time with you – what’s wrong with that?”

“Because I’m almost an adult now,” Octavia said. “And isn’t it unfair to uproot me from the life I’ve had all these years just to go to some country where I can’t speak the language just to make my parents look good?”

“Well, in fairness,” a soft voice said behind her, “you’ve been doing that for years, Tavi.” Octavia turned and looked to see her parents standing there. Wordlessly, Sunset gestured to empty seats, which they both immediately used.

“Sweetheart,” Ballad said, “I know what you’re thinking – and you’re wrong.”

“Oh, really,” Octavia said acidly, only to get a punch in the shoulder from Sunset. “Hey, whose side are you on?” she snarled at the other teen.

“Be polite,” Sunset reproached, to which Octavia groaned.

“Thank you, Sunny,” Ballad said, continuing. “Anyway, I know that you think we intended to place you at the Saint Germain school there…but that was never the case. The representative from the Runaway suggested it because…well, they were hoping that if you were close enough to us, once you graduated from college, you’d join the Runaway as well. But I don’t want that for you, Tavi.”

“We want you to have a normal life,” Evening said, “and though I hadn’t mentioned it yet because I was waiting for the right time, I asked Night and Velvet if they’d be willing to have you live with them permanently until you went to college. Since they were planning to do some redesigning of the house this summer, we’re going to pay for them to have a room added to the house so you can have your own place there, too. I know you’re happy in Canterlot and we want the best for you, Octavia.”

“But I…but you….”

“I know: you thought that because of my bickering with my mother and sisters that I wanted in the fight as well. I don’t; in fact, the only time I ever participated in any of their shit was when it came to your name, not that I regret that. But I don’t want you or Fiddlesticks to be a part of this orchestrated rivalry my mother’s come up with, and I’m sickened that Chanson’s allowed Octy—”

“Octy?”

Ballad laughed. “You really didn’t believe your cousin only went by ‘Octavia’, did you? No, I overheard Chanson call her ‘Octy’, and it sounded as though it was a normal thing.” Seeing the look on her daughter’s face, she added, “Anyway, that should be clear that grandmother’s gotten her hooks into the next generation, but I don’t want you or Fiddlesticks involved. And while Rondeau might want to, thankfully your uncle refuses to let Fiddle get involved in it.”

“I see.” A second later, she lowered her head in shame and said, “I’m sorry. I was stupid.”

“No,” Evening said. “You were a teenager, doing teenage things. And we want you to keep doing teenage things. And we want you to be happy, whether that’s as a performer or a music teacher, or even a bricklayer. We just want you to be happy, Tavi. That’s all we want.”

“Thanks,” Octavia said, blushing. A second later, she heard a soft murmuring, and said, “And now we should probably get Sunny to bed, since she just slipped into food coma.” Sure enough, the flame-haired teen was dozing off, leaning back in her chair, the postprandial somnolence having gotten the better of her.

“Heya, gals!” Fiddlesticks said, practically giddy as she met up with the girls the following day at the Brentwood. “Guess what?”

“You look happy,” Sunset said, looking up from her tablet.

“Ah am. Mah ex called me up an’ says she made a mistake an’ wants t’ get back t’gether ‘gin!” Fiddlesticks chirped, brushing a lock of hair out of her face before tying it back in a ponytail. “Ginger said she was afearin’ that Ah’d leave her fer some California beach bunny an’ she jest realized Ah’m only here fer a spell.”

“No offense, Fiddle, but your girlfriend sounds like a complete ditz,” Midnight commented.

“Ah never said she was a rocket sci’ntist,” the violinist admitted.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to go see Aunt Rondeau perform,” Octavia said. “I’ve only seen her play at family reunions, so I’m interested to see how she does in front of an audience.”

“Ah’ll go with you,” Fiddlesticks replied, though she added, “But Ma’s only a technical player. Granny sez she ain’t got no verve er somethin’ like that.”

“Well, I’ll wait here for Midge and then we’ll join you,” Sunset said.

“Thanks, Sunny,” Midnight replied, continuing to munch on a crepe as the other two girls departed.

Sunset waited until both were gone until she said, “Midge, why do you hate Screwball so much?”

“Screwball? Actually, I love that old comedian – have all his films from the 40s an—”

“Does the name ‘Summer Violet’ ring a bell?” A second later, Sunset was treated to a slap in the face. “Well, I see that got your attention,” she said, nursing the blow.

“How dare you,” Midnight snarled. “Did she put you up to this? Or was all your research a lie just so she could try to use you as an intermediary?”

“For starters, hit me again, and pop star or not, you’ll be on camera with a black eye,” Sunset retorted calmly. “Secondly, I’m doing this on my own. I idolized her, never knowing she was your sister – and not knowing that she’s trying to save you from whatever your parents’ plans are for your stardom.”

“Yeah, just so she can throw hers at me,” Midnight said sullenly. “Not that it’s any of your business, Sunset, but I see what my Mom and Dad are trying to do. Make me and Screwball famous so they can use that as a vehicle for their own careers. This is LA – people do this shit all the time. Hell, Tavi and her parents don’t even live in LA and they’re doing the same thing!”

“Shows what you know: They would never do that to her, and I was there last night when they explained that she’ll be living with my family until she finishes school. They care about her future, not what her future can do for them. Now, I don’t know your parents, and I barely know you or Screwball.”

“Not Screwball,” Midnight hissed. “Violet – I don’t bother with her stage name.”

“Fine, Violet. But you weren’t there when she and your brother were kids. You don’t see what your parents have done to her – and frankly, neither have I. But I’ve learned a few things over the past year. Family’s important. And even if you don’t agree that she’s trying to protect you, or that your parents aren’t trying to screw you over, understand this: Violet loves you. I’m a stranger – and yet she asked me for advice because she wants to protect you, just like a big sister should do. I respect that. Question is: do you?”

Nothing further to say, Sunset got up from the table, leaving Midnight to stew in her own juices. After a few minutes, she took the last bite of her crepe, fished in her pocket for her phone and then dialed a number. The phone rang for a few minutes, and finally a voice answered on the other end. “Heya, Screwball here.”

“Violet?”

There was silence on the other side for a few, before there was a slight shift in the voice on the other end: warmer, less rehearsed and “wild”. “Heya, Middy. What’s up?”

“I…when you get back to LA, can we talk?”

“Excuse me, Ms. Shimmer?” She looked up to see a member of the research staff standing there, holding a package. “We just got this priority delivery for you.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, receiving the UPS package and opening it as the man walked away. A second later, she popped open the envelope and read.

Sunset pulled out a small flash key that had a sticker on it labeled “SHE MADE AN ALBUM!” DEMO, and slipped it into her pocket. Whatever it was, it was clearly going to be interesting. But more importantly, she felt as though she’d just done something that was more worthwhile than anything else.

“And I’ll bet you didn’t get her autograph for Rainbow, did you?” Sunset suddenly froze and turned towards the voice, her eyes pinpricks of embarrassment before she did a slow-mo facepalm. Seeing the maneuver, Octavia laughed. “Don’t worry, got it covered – I didn’t know you knew Violet, so I got ones for you and Rainbow.”

“Thanks, bu – wait, you know Screwball?”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Remember: Midge is a distant cousin, and Violet and Midge are sisters, so….” Octavia giggled at Sunset’s second facepalm. “But seriously, I didn’t know you were being a busybody here as well.”

“Busybody?”

“Well, aren’t you the one they’re calling ‘The Advice Girl’ at your school?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Rarity’s been talking again, hasn’t she?”

“Complete with a copy of the school newspaper, with a picture of you talking to another girl – or giving her advice as the Canterlot High Pony-Express captioned it.” The musician grinned. “Twily and I were quite proud of you, you should know. Seriously, though, I’m glad you were able to help Midge and Violet. And talk me out of what I’d said to my parents.”

“Tavi, I didn’t do anything with you or Screwball that Cloud Kicker didn’t do with Vinyl Scratch.” Immediately, Octavia’s smile fell, replaced with a scowl. “Don’t do that,” Sunset admonished.

“What do you mean ‘don’t do that?’ You’re comparing me to an attempted rapist, Sunny.”

“No, I’m comparing the situation that everyone’s been in. Basically, it boils down to parents being overbearing on their children – or in your case, the appearance of such. Kicky wanted to protect Vinyl from destroying herself, whether it was by harming you, or worse. Scre…er, Violet, wanted to protect her sister from making mistakes she can’t recover from; you hear about all those teenage stars who burn out and become drug-and-alcohol-fueled wreckage on the highway of life, and despite her image, Violet’s not like that, so to watch their parents insist that Midge go that route frightened her. And as for me, you were worried that your mom was vested in her tiff with her sisters enough to sacrifice you, when that was never the case. And I wanted you to know, that no matter what, Twily and I were going to go to bat for you.” There was a flicker in Sunset’s cyan eyes, as though she realized something else about the situation, but if she did, she didn’t say anything further.

“Really?” Octavia prompted.

“Hey, what’s the Eightmazing Eight without you, Tavi?”

“God, I hope Pinkie realizes how much I hate that name for our group.”

“No one likes it either, but…it’s Pinkie,” Sunset said, as if that explained it all. “Well, what’s on the agenda now?”

“Well, Midge is going to be performing ‘modern’ takes on La Musica’s songs, and I can’t wait to see how badly she butchers them. She was telling me that she turned ‘Unicorn’s Gavote’ into some R&B-infused dance song called ‘Unicorns’ and I can’t imagine how much our ancestress will be rolling in her grave.” Octavia gestured in the direction of the Lecture Hall, where the performances were. “Shall we?”

“Do I have to?”

“We’re cousins and like sisters, right? If one has to suffer we both have to, right?”

“Is it too late to change my mind on that?” Sunset groaned.

“Yes, it is,” Octavia said, grabbing her hand and dragging an annoyed Sunset towards the lecture hall.

Author's Note

Screwball's reference to "Geezer" is that of Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath fame, and whose stage name already sounds ponified (though he's actually a bassist and not a lead guitarist.)

As to what Discord's band sounds like, I always pictured them as somewhere between Iggy Pop, Jane's Addiction, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tirek moved on and his new band, Evil Centaurs Incorporated, has a much harder sound like Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, or similar bands.

Teen Beat is a magazine I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with (even if you don't want to admit it.) :rainbowlaugh: But there was a similar competitor in the 70s by the name of Bananas, edited by R.L. Stine, who went on to greater fortunes as a horror writer.

And lastly, in case anyone's curious as to what Screwball's driving, it's a Mitsuoka Orochi.

April 5: Breaking the Girl

The house was deathly still as Sunset trudged up the stairs, in desperate need of sleep. It had been a long day: doing the laundry with Twilight, going with Blossomforth to her pre-natal checkup, then a full day at work made longer by the store’s annual inventory for tax purposes, and by the time she’d arrived home at 11:30, anything else was far from her mind. The only thing she wanted to do was throw herself in bed and dream of whatever bizarre things that her subconscious decided to bombard her with.

As she went up the stairs, she looked briefly at the open door of her foster parents’ room. Both of them were out for the weekend: Velvet was going to be in Denver for the week at a conference sponsored by the HHS; Night Light, as a physicist, was attending some experiments at Fermilab and teaching his classes for the week via remote from there. Thankfully, Twilight was here for the weekend helping to watch Spike, and either Shining or Cadance would be shuttling the youngest member of the family to-and-from school for the duration of the week. Sunset could take the subway to school, and one of the seniors at Twilight’s school, Champagne Dreams, offered to give her lifts during the course of the week. All in all, it was going to be a dull week at home.

Reaching the top of the flight, she could hear games coming from the room with a woodcarving of a cartoonish dragon holding a sign that said SPIKE’S ROOM. She knocked once, saying through the door, “I must be imagining things – I swear I’m hearing videogames when someone should have been asleep a while ago, right?” Suddenly on the other side of the door there was commotion, the kind only made by an eight-year-old throwing everything into a corner before hastily throwing himself under the bedsheets. After waiting a few seconds more, she opened the door, seeing him in his bed, fast asleep…or at least credibly faking it.

“Yeah, must’ve been my imagination,” she said to no one in particular as she started closing the door.

“Thanks, Sunny,” he whispered.

“No problem, squirt,” she told him. “Now get some sleep this time.”

That sidetrack dealt with, she went towards her room, when she heard some odd moaning from Twilight’s room. At first she thought…. No, not Twily…and it’s probably going to be hugely embarrassing for both of us if she is doing what I think she’s doing. But amongst the moaning she thought she heard the words, “No, go away!” and that was more than enough for her to change her mind.

Making sure that Spike wasn’t going to come out of his room all of a sudden, she put a palm against Twilight’s door, splaying her fingers. As Sunset closed her eyes, a soft cyan glow began to envelop her hand, for a brief span of a second, the whole door was wrapped in the same mystic aura before the magical flash winked out of existence. Well, at least it’s not that. Opening the door, she poked her head in just in time to see Twilight sitting up, breathing heavily, soaked in sweat and a terrified look on her face.

Sunset was at her side in an instant. “Hey, you okay?”

“No….” the bedraggled girl said, pushing the mop-wet hair out of her eyes. “I…I went to bed early because I wasn’t feeling well, and…nevermind. It’s nothing.”

“You sure?”

A minute’s worth of silence compressed into a few seconds followed. “I’m…sure,” came the hesitant response.

Sunset reached over and took her foster sister’s face in her hands. “No, you’re not. I know you better than that.”

“You’re going to laugh.”

“No, I won’t, especially if it’s something that’s really bothering you.”

“O-okay,” Twilight began. “I was in this dark, smoky place. It wasn’t dark like night, but dark, as in horror-film dark.”

“Were you watching horror films with Rainbow again?”

The plum-haired girl shook her head. “No,” she insisted. “But, in my dream, I was in this dark, smoky place. It wasn’t dark like night, but dark as in horror-film dark. Nothing around, like walking at the bottom of the ocean. And after a few minutes, I thought I saw…well, I saw three figures before me, running towards me, shouting something that I can’t quite understand.

“The figures…they’re horses, but not like horses. They were smaller than ponies, about…maybe the size of German Shepherds or so, but definitely equine. Well, at least in body shape, because they didn’t look at all like any horse I’ve ever seen: smaller snouts, rounder heads, thicker legs, and their manes and tails were groomed like…well, like people do with their hair, as weird as it sounds. And if that wasn’t enough, they had these…freakishly huge eyes, almost like a squid’s, and the eyes were in a predatory place on the face, not on the side, like normal horses…it was almost like they were human or something.” She paused for a split second, thinking further about the strange creatures. “Also, the colors on these things…the first one looked normal, gray coat and black mane. The second one, however, had a maize-yellow coat and a mane of red-and-yellow, kept in a feathered hairstyle. Actually, she kinda reminded me of you, for some reason,” Twilight admitted. She paused once more, again wracking her brain for further details. “Oh, and that yellow horse-thing was a unicorn, if you can believe that.”

“Go on,” Sunset said dully, while her mind was floored by the descriptions Twilight had given her. Maize-colored unicorn? That’s me! But…but how?

“There was also a third one, lavender, with a mane the same color and cut as my hair…but it wasn’t me,” Twilight continued. “She was a unicor – no, scratch that. She was a tulpar.” Twilight nodded her head in confirmation. “Yup, definitely a tulpar, now that I recall.”

“A what?”

“It’s a Kazakhstani term for a unicorn with wings – I think you called it an…alicorn?…in the story you told the kids at the Christmas party.”

At Twilight’s words, Sunset fought to keep the look of confusion that was roiling within her off her face. Twily, you’re describing yourself. Or rather, not exactly herself, Sunset knew, but her otherworldly counterpart: Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Anything else?” she asked, just to cover her silence.

The sweat-soaked teen suddenly became deathly quiet as she murmured, “And these three almost managed to reach me…until they stepped in something like tar, or smoke or some sort of gooey sludge-type thing. And like quicksand, it’s dragging them down, so they can’t move towards me any further, but I can see the fear in their eyes – they’re worried about something. Then I try to run over to them, but they get pulled into the gunk, and by the time I get there, they’re all gone and I’m alone.

“But not for long. Then I feel…it. There’s…there’s something behind me. I turned and ran, but when I look back, it’s another unicorn…but this one is, it’s evil. I just know it was, don’t ask how. And while it looks vaguely like the yellow one, the colors are all…wrong. Dark. Twisted. And I just kept running, but each step just seemed to slow me down further, and I can’t get away!”

“Twily—”

Twilight never heard Sunset, her mind completely entombed in the nightmare; her eyes were pinpricks of fear, constricted by the force of terror. “The creature – it’s trying to ensnare me in some sort of smoky tentacles and I ran and I feel my skin being sliced to ribbons while the thing behind me was laughing and I’m screaming for help for those other unicorns to save me but no one’s there and I suddenly feel stabbed through the chest and I look down and there’s this giant bloody spike of red that punched through me and ohmiGod ohmiGod I’m screaming and there’s blood and I feel something sharp against my neck and I’m screaming for help and begging for my life and then there’s nothing and I—” Unable to take the memories any longer, Twilight glomped Sunset, crying into her foster sister’s shoulder hysterically as Sunset held her tightly and caressed her.

Sunset spent countless minutes holding Twilight, cooing, “You’re safe, Twily. Nothing’s ever going to get you. I’ll protect you. I promise.” At the moment, Sunset felt very ineffectual; Twilight had helped her countless times, but now that she needed the emotional boost, Sunset felt completely unable to do anything. Save her from Flash? Sure, bring it on. But to save her from nightmares, as Twilight had saved Sunset herself?

I wish Tavi were here, Sunset groaned inwardly. Unfortunately, Octavia and her parents were back in LA for more stuff regarding the La Musica exhibit. And all of their mutual friends had very busy schedules this weekend. All in all, Sunset was going to be very alone on this one, and while she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation, this was her family – to her, it was a do-or-die situation. She then winced inwardly at her mental choice of words, given that Twilight had just had a nightmare where she’d apparently been decapitated.

Meanwhile, Twilight started to calm down. Letting go of Sunset, she said in a tiny voice, “I…I think I’m okay now, Sunny. Thanks.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, just a weird dream. Besides, I can logically know what a nightmare is, even though my subconscious disagrees with me, and it’s just my neurons processing the sensory input.”

“Yeah, that sounds like the Twily I know,” Sunset said with a smile. A second later, she said, “C’mon – change into some dry nightwear and you can sleep with me tonight, okay?”

“You don’t mind? I might have another nightmare.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t. Besides,” Sunset said with a grin, “it’s always better when sisters are together, right?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Of course not. Now get changed – you’re sweating enough that you probably need a shower, too.” Scooting the purple-haired girl out of her room, Sunset immediately stripped Twilight’s bed, noting that the sweat had soaked almost all the way down to the mattress. Yeah, this is going to need some airing out. Rolling the sheets up, she went downstairs to toss them in the laundry room, glad that this episode was over.

“That’s your third cup of coffee,” Sunset noticed as Twilight poured herself another one. “You almost never drink coffee.”

“Yeah, I’m…I’m just tired,” she mumbled, pouring in cream and enough sugar to make Pinkie pause. “Sorry about last night, sis.”

“Hey, it happens.”

“But it’s not supposed to,” Twilight moaned. “I should be able to control my dreams!”

“No one can, Twily,” Sunset said flipping the omelet in the pan. “Besides, you’re only human.”

“I know, but this is the third time already, an—”

“Third time?” Sunset arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah. It started the week I had chickenpox. If I remember correctly, the first one I had was the night after I finished the translated copy of the book you bought me for Christmas.”

“Have you talked to the parentals about this?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, Mom’s focusing on making sure that everything’s ready to go for our trip in June, and Dad’s got a lot on his plate, since they offered him the Science Department Head job. Besides, it’s just a nightmare, Sunny. I’ll be fine.”

“Fine? Twily, you held onto me for dear life last night at one point. I woke up this morning and you had a death grip on me! Granted, I’m used to sleeping with you at this point – and oh boy does that make for one hell of a porntastic comment – but you were seriously freaking out. Sorry if I’m worried, but that’s just how I feel.”

“I’ll be fine, Sunny, I promise.”

“Look…just, when you get a chance, talk it over with your parents. They’re older and wiser, so they might have some idea on how to fix that damaged brain of yours,” Sunset said with a slight grin, hoping to turn her foster sister away from her gloomy mood.

Unfortunately, Twilight was either too tired or too fried to appreciate the humorous comment. “Hey, I know you’re going to work in an hour, but do you mind if I just crash in your room? I’m sure my bed’s still airing out.”

“Yeah, knock yourself out. Spike’s probably going to be asleep for a couple more hours anyway; caught him playing games well past his bedtime. Don’t worry, I chewed him out over it, but if he does it again, I guess we’ll just have to ground him.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, draining her mug, then looking at the empty ceramic, then the Mr. Coffee machine again.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Sunset said, swiping the mug from her. “Go to bed, Twilight. Now. I’ll put your breakfast in the microwave so you can just nuke it when you wake up.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“Hey, trust your older sister, okay?”

“Older?” Twilight asked. “Since when are you the older one?”

“Your birthday’s, what, August 5th?”

“Yeah, and Tavi’s is July 16th, why?”

“June 27th,” the flame-haired girl replied. “So that makes me five weeks older than you.” Sunset knew in truth she was far more than just thirty-nine days older, but June 27th was the date showing up on her records. She wondered if that was the actual birthdate of the human Sunset Shimmer, wherever she was in this world. But she was more than content at this point just to be a teenager physically if not in reality and just be a part of this family.

Besides, right now, that wasn’t an issue. Pointing to the stairs, Sunset ordered, “Now get!”

“Yes, grandma,” Twilight cracked.

“You know, that was almost funny.”

“I thought so.”

“That’s because you’re addled due to sleep deprivation. Now get going so I can eat and get to work.”

“Have you heard a single word I said, Sunny?” Rainbow asked as she momentarily removed her mouth from the straw of her cookie cream Frappuccino.

“Sorry, I was working,” the flame-haired girl said tartly, as she paused to drop off a slice of cake for Rainbow. “You have to remember, I’m not carrying this tray for nothing, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you don’t see Blossom or Pinkie worried about it,” the athlete replied.

“As if the Cakes are going to fire their niece or the pregnant girl,” Sunset drolled.

“Well, they won’t fire you – you’re like the more better employee of the three.”

“‘Better’ or ‘best’, Rainbow – not ‘more better’,” Sunset corrected. “And people say my grades are pathetic. So, now that I’m done lecturing you on that, what brings you here?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was just getting to that. Anyway, there’s an exhibit that just arrived at the museum that I wanted you to go with me.”

“The museum? Thought you didn’t care for all that ‘egghead’ stuff, quote unquote.”

“Hey, I put up with you, Twily, and Tavi all the time!” Rainbow reasoned. “So I can deal with eggheads, okay? Besides, this is supposed to be really cool stuff and…well, I really wanted to know if the magic was real or not, okay?”

Sunset just shook her head. “Look, it’s a really busy day today,” she said, waving her hand to encompass the whole of the café’s interior space, “and with Pinkie at Cheerleading Camp this weekend and Blossom having the weekend off because of her checkup, things are busy. But once I’m off for the day, you’ll have my undivided attention, okay?”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise – just don’t make me say that weird-ass rhyme Pinkie came up with last week, because that’s not happening,” Sunset insisted.

“I’d almost forgotten about that!” Rainbow laughed. After Pinkie’s announced distaste for the childhood promissory swear, she’d spent some time formulating a new one and had come up with it last week, vowing to make it her goal to have children everywhere swear by the new one. After her friends had heard the “Pinkie Swear” and its innovative use of hoping to fly and sticking cupcakes in one's eye, Applejack insisted the old one was fine enough – after all, nursery rhymes never made sense, anyway – and that no kid was going to take either of them seriously.

Finishing her drink and cake, the rainbow-haired Latina rose from her chair. “Anyway, I’ll see you at six, okay? Hell, I’ll even treat you to dinner, okay?”

“If you’re paying, I’m okay with that.”

“You know, Rainbow, sometimes you amaze me,” Sunset said as the two waited just outside the Alamo Drafthouse’s Canterlot location. “And I really appreciate you offering to pay for the three of us to see the new Captain America film. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out the concept of superheroes anyway.” A slight breeze blew past the pair, its brisk edge reminding both that spring had not entirely set in yet. Even still, the sky was clear, and despite the light pollution, Orion’s Belt was visible this evening.

“Well, yeah, I’ve been dying to see this film for the longest time. Was going to see it with my sister and parents, but with Scoots doing some weird girl scout thing this weekend, I figured I can just catch it again with them later on. ‘Sides, I’m sure you and Twily and Spike don’t mind getting out of the house and having dinner at the movies, so….” Rainbow’s eyes wandered towards a particularly cute guy smiling at her; she waved back…much to the irritation of his girlfriend. “And lastly, I figured you’d owe me if I did this.”

A genuinely hurt look came over Sunset’s face. “Rainbow, we’re friends. All you had to do was ask.”

“I know, but…look, just…I didn’t want you to laugh at me when I mentioned the favor I needed.”

“You know me better than that. So what’s this thing?”

“I was playing a pick-up game the other day with Mystic, Roseluck and Glass Slipper, when Glass mentioned that some artifacts from Italy are coming to the Equestria County Museum of Art and History. Then Mystic pipes up all about it being the stuff from some ancient sorcerer from Flomens—”

“Florence.”

“—yeah, that place. Anyway, Mystic’s a little funny: She’s one of those conspiracy nutbars who thinks that an ancient civilization of magical beings from another world brought magic to people and did it via….” Rainbow suddenly trailed off when she realized who she was talking to. “Heh, so anyway, she’s insistent on it, and I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t true and stuff.”

“Why?”

“Because I have a $50 bet riding on it?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Rainbow, what’s the chance that any of that is true?”

“Says the girl who would be doing grocery shopping at Petco if she was in her normal form,” Rainbow jibed.

“Okay, point. Fine, I don’t have to work tomorrow and we can go after school, unless you’ve got something going.”

“Naah, our team’s got a light week other than a game against Whitetail Woods High on Thursday.”

“Well then, we’re all set,” Sunset said as she saw Twilight and Spike approaching in the distance. “Now let’s get the tickets and get in line so we can get the really good seats.”

Throwing on her sleepwear, Twilight pulled the sheets back on her bed and crawled in. She didn’t tell anyone, but she’d gone into her parents’ medicine cabinet and took the bottle of Xanax from when her mother was having sleeping issues a few years ago after minor surgery. The hypnotics would still be effective after all this time, and while Twilight didn’t think she’d need them, they were there just in case. The only concern she really had was if Sunset found out about it; that would take some explaining.

Looking at the clock, she caught it as the time rolled over to 11:00 PM. Well, Champagne will be here at 7:30 to come get me, so I’d better get in a few hours of shuteye. She reached over and turned off her lamp, letting herself drift into sleep.

She immediately sat up a second later. The room was dark – darker than night – save for two red dots, close together, facing her. They disappeared for a split-second before reappearing and Twilight suddenly realized they were eyes – very unnatural eyes – peering at her.

Stalking her.

She felt a soft exhalation of warm mist on the back of her neck. Like breath.

She turned around, just in time to see the dark unicorn of her nightmares once more, leering at her. “I wonder if you taste as good as you look?” the creature said before smiling with multiple, shark-like rows of jagged, bloodstained teeth. Then the mouth opened, the maw unnaturally large as the jaw dislodged, showing even more unnatural rows of teeth and a tongue like that alien from the same movie. “Let’s find out!”

Twilight didn’t have time to move as the teeth clamped down on her face, ripping it off in one blow.

But she did have time to scream.

“TWILY!”

Twilight suddenly felt herself being shaken and she did the only thing she could – something she’d learned from both Sunset and Applejack in the wake of her near-miss two months ago. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed in terror, lashing out with a fist driven of fear and terror.

“OW! Twily, what the fuck?” Twilight suddenly blinked, realizing she was shivering. Laying on the ground by her bed, hand covering her eye, was Sunset; and standing by his bedroom door, looking completely confused, was Spike.

“Twi—”

“Spike, go back to bed,” Twilight ordered.

“But Twily—”

“Go back to bed, Spike!” both girls said as one. Realizing it wasn’t a good idea to have either of his sisters angry, he took the wise route only children knew and beat a hasty retreat back into his bedroom.

Twilight was out of bed in an instant. “Oh God, Sunny, I’m sorry!” She grabbed her sister, embracing her both out of worry and fear. After a second, she said, “Here, let me look at that.” Sunset pulled her hand away from her eye, which was already swelling. Twilight knew she’d inadvertently just given her sister a nasty shiner, and looked at Sunset in horror. “Sunny, I’m….”

“It’s okay, Twily,” Sunset said in a voice that indicated that no, it wasn’t okay. “It…it was an accident. I know that. I’m not blaming you; it was a once in a lifetime hit.” Her good eye fixing on the purple-haired teen, she asked, “Was it another nightmare?” When Twilight nodded again, Sunset said, “Fine, let’s get to sleep.”

“We should have that chec—”

“I’ll go to the school infirmary in the morning, okay?”

“You promise?”

“You think I want to go to school looking like this?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Look, just…just shut up, get in bed, I’ll join you and you’d better sleep, okay,” Sunset grumbled, her anger briefly getting the better of her. As Twilight complied and Sunset got off the floor, she flicked the bedroom light off before crawling into her foster sister’s bed. And as Twilight’s arms wrapped around her in a gesture of comfort, there was little to be had by the flame-haired girl. The eye was already stinging like hell and it was the least of Sunset’s concerns right now.

No, what was on the ex-unicorn’s mind was that Twilight’s nightmares were becoming more and more prevalent, and it was starting to affect her. I’m going to have to talk to Mom and Dad when they get back, she vowed, or else this is going to start getting out of hand.

But what’s going on that is making her do all this?

Sunset’s day had already started bad the moment she walked onto school grounds. Standing over by the apple tree planted by the parking lot in front of the school, Lightning Dust shouted at her, “Nice shiner, you bitch! Finally get what you deserve?”

I see this morning’s already turning out to be one huge fucking mistake, Sunset grumbled, wondering why she hadn’t bothered to bring sunglasses with her – or conjured them along the way. “Shut the fuck up, you frigid-ass lesbo cunt!” Sunset seethed, glaring at her enemy and feeling pretty vindictive at the moment.

“You see, that’s your fucking problem, you Goddamn skank,” Lightning snarled back. “You just don’t know when to leave well enough alone. Bad enough you got me kicked off the track team and put my Olympic dreams in danger. But then you had to get my best friend kicked out of school – and then you chased off Cloud Kicker. Do you know how good of a lay she was? Actually, I guess you wouldn’t, given that you’ve already got some hot action in the privacy of your own home, don’t you? So tell me, is your sister a moaner, or do you prefer your cous—”

Sunset strode right up to Lightning, her good eye narrowing – her bruised one wasn’t that far from doing so already. “Just keep pushing your luck, you idiot. You’re lucky that you and Gilda aren’t behind bars.”

“You deserved it for being such a bi—” The runner was suddenly interrupted as she felt someone tapping on her shoulder from behind. “Yeah, what?” she asked, turning to face the person wanting her attention.

“Better be careful where ya step,” a laconic voice said, as two hands suddenly shoved Lightning. The blonde fell, landing in a nearby puddle of mud thanks to a faulty sprinkler, and a teal t-shirt and white jeans became various shades of mud brown.

Applejack looked down at her, chuckling. “Whoops,” she said, a smile forming on her lips.

“You’re going to pay for that, you freakin’ hick,” Lightning snarled.

“Ah don’ think so,” the freckled blonde replied. Applejack then turned to Sunset and said, “C’mon, Sunny – y’ don’t need t’ be ‘round this mess.” As the two walked towards the school, Applejack asked, “So whut’s with th’ shiner?”

“Accident. Twily had a nightmare and popped me one while I was trying to wake her up,” Sunset said, sighing.

“Cain’t y’ jest…?” Applejack wiggled her fingers in a hint.

“I could, but then I’d have to explain why a black eye went away instantly.”

“Eyup, Ah c’n see how that’d be a doozy of a probl’m,” Applejack said sympathetically as she fell into stride with her friend. “Well, if’n it helps any, they go away in ‘bout a week. Got one last year while sparrin’ with Mac. Wasn’t pretty.”

“I remember: I called you ‘raccoon face’ all week,” Sunset said, the guilt from that time finally setting in. “You know, I never did apologize for teasing you like that.”

“Water unner th’ bridge,” Applejack replied laconically as they reached the front doors, where Rainbow waited for them.

“Heya,” the athlete chirped to her friends, then seeing Sunset’s face, added, “What the heck happened to you?”

“Fist of Accidental Twilight,” Sunset said, getting a little tired of having to explain the black eye – and this was just the fourth time this morning…and it wasn’t even eight yet.

“Man, that has got to suck,” the rainbow-haired athlete said, before a look of recall crossed her face. Slipping off her backpack, Rainbow then opened the front pouch, producing a pair of Ray-Bans which she immediately passed to Sunset. “Here – don’t say I never covered for ya.”

“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver,” the flame-haired girl replied, gratefully slipping on the shades.

Looking at Applejack, Rainbow continued. “Considering who that freakstick is, AJ, I’m surprised you showed…destaint.”

“Restraint?” Sunset corrected.

“Yeah, that. In any case, I’d have messed her up but good.”

“Weren’t ya th’ one who got her butt kicked by Lightnin’?” Applejack teased gently. Before Rainbow could rejoinder, Applejack continued. “But Sunny’s our friend, an’ we stick t’gether.”

“Yeah, that we do,” Rainbow agreed.

At that point the warning bell rang and Sunset looked at her friends. “Well, time for science class,” she groaned. “I hope Dr. Hooves isn’t going to be too confusing today – I swear, I wonder if that man forgets that he’s teaching at a high school, not a university.”

Later that afternoon, Sunset and Rainbow arrived at the Equestria County Museum of Art & History. The centerpiece of Exposition Park, ECMAH also had a rose garden and was adjacent to the Three Heroes Memorial. Rainbow insisted their first stop be the memorial, and to Sunset’s surprise, the athlete was carrying a batch of red roses.

Sunset, who’d never been to the memorial before, looked at the three marble statues: a man dressed in what was a WWII US Navy officer’s uniform, a second man dressed in the fatigues of a WWII soldier, and a well-dressed woman standing regally, holding a wreath in her hands. She then read the plaque at the base of the statue:

CMDR. Hurricane, USN
August 7, 1908 – October 14, 1944
Commanding Officer, USS Steel DD-421
Posthumous Awardee: Medal of Honor

SSgt. “Chancellor” Puddinghead, USA
March 21, 1924 – March 20, 1945
Company F, 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division
Posthumous Awardee: Medal of Honor

Princess Platinum
August 9, 1911 – January 6, 1996
Founder, United Service Organizations and Senator, State of California
Awardee: Presidential Medal of Freedom

OUR HEROES

Sunset watched as Rainbow stopped in front of the statue of Cmdr. Hurricane and gently placed the flowers, pausing to look up with a gaze that was unabashed pride, a look Sunset was unaccustomed to seeing on her friend’s face.

Without taking her eyes off the statue, she said, “He was my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. My grandfather never knew him, though he grew up with some stories, which he passed down to my mom, who passed them on to me. I know, it seems maudlin, but…sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be in his shoes.”

“Rainbow, you could always join the military once you graduate,” Sunset said.

But the athlete shook her head. “Naah, Mom and Dad would kill me if I even thought of it. And besides, I don’t have the grades or the smarts to be a fighter pilot; plus, I’m probably going to be a pro soccer player for a living. But….” She paused. “You know, sometimes I’m a little jealous of you. You know what it’s like being someone else – twice, if you want to count the time you were possessed. And sometimes, I wonder how different my life would be if I was someone else.”

“Something wrong, Rainbow? You know I’m always here if you need an ear.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Naah, just…thinking, ya know? I know I’m not the ‘deep’ type, but sometimes….” She shrugged. “Anyway, nevermind. Let’s go check out the thing I wanted to see, okay?”

“Sure,” Sunset replied, filing the conversation away for later. If something was wrong with Rainbow, she would have to be convinced to admit it later.

A few minutes later, the two were in the main building, walking towards the special exhibition space. Looking at the pamphlet that was provided by the entry window, the two passed by countless paintings, sculptures and historical artifacts as they made their way towards the Aquapasto Exhibition Hall. Normally, the room hosted the artworks of famous Renaissance artists such as Aquapasto, Gouache, and Fresco Colore, but those were currently held in storage for ECMAH’s guest exhibition: Italian Sorcery: The Life and Times of Baldassare di Cavalcanti (1533 – 1603). There, in the room, amongst the scrolls, related paintings and the artifacts from the life of this strange man, a person who, according to the pamphlet supplied, believed he got all his magical powers from a unicorn.

Even I can’t believe that, she laughed inwardly, and I am a unicorn!

Part of Sunset noted the striking similarity between this exhibition and the last one she’d been to, namely that of Musica Allegra. It was likely for show, and thinking back to her trip a few weeks back made her wonder how silly it was that she’d been concerned that La Musica – and thus some of her descendants like Octavia, Midnight and Screwball, had pony heritage. Truth was, after she’d had some time to think about it for a while, she had to realize that she wasn’t a perfect copy of a human: sure, it was thankfully more than enough to make her appear so, even to somewhat intrusive medical examination, but that was just the basics of her biology. She’d never gotten pregnant after all the times with Flash – thankfully so, though she worried about Blossomforth’s situation – and in hindsight, it was possible that she didn’t have that capability.

Maybe La Musica was just a normal human with a penchant for a cutie mark-esque sigil and I’m overthinking the whole thing, Sunset considered. Besides, she had more important things on her plate right now: mainly the fact that she was going to have to do summer school; and how to talk to her foster parents about Twily’s condition.

Halfway through the exhibition hall, both Sunset and Rainbow suddenly heard voices bickering:

“Look, I’m telling you, unicorns are real! They had to be, to create something like this! You of all people shou—”
“I of all people should ‘what’, praytell? Look, yeah, I’m into magic, but really, this is no more real than what I do onstage!”

Finally, standing by a glass case pedestal displaying grimoires and a large dais towards the back of the room, were two teens. The first one, a fair-skinned girl with a short, unruly mop of celeste-and-ivory hair, wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that read Horse_ebooks 4Eva! She was currently glaring at her friend, her citrine-colored eyes radiating both annoyance and mirth. Meanwhile, her friend, a girl with light tan skin, expressive blue eyes, and waist-length Alice-blue hair and wearing a magenta polo and white jeans, just shook her head, though it was clearly not entirely meant in disdain.

“Oh, hey, someone with brains,” Trixie Lulamoon spoke up, seeing the two new arrivals. “Hey, Sunset, tell this idiot that magic doesn’t exist except for what we do on stage?”

Lyra Heartstrings rolled her eyes. “Jeez, Trix, why do you have to be such a bitch?”

“Hey, Lyra,” Rainbow teased, “you cheating on Bon-Bon again?”

Lyra’s eyes narrowed. “I oughta beat the shit out of you for that,” she snarled.

“Hey, let it go, Ly,” Trixie answered. “She’s just messin’ with you. So, what brings you two here?”

Before Rainbow or Sunset could answer, Lyra perked up. “We’re here researching this Italian guy! He said he was trained in magic by a unicorn, so obviously it proves that unicorns exist!”

Rainbow and Sunset merely looked at each other, sharing a glance. They then looked back at Lyra and Rainbow replied in a dull tone, “Lyra? Are you off your meds?”

Trixie stifled a giggle while Lyra looked fit to be tied. She then patted the taller girl on the shoulder, saying, “See? And this is why Bon-Bon didn’t want to come. I swear, just because your mother’s a fantasy author, does not mean that unicorns are real, am I right, Sunset?”

“I plead the Fifth,” was Sunset’s only answer.

“But anyway, you know why Lyra’s here. As for me, I was fascinated at the Gematria that Baldassare was into.”

“Ge-what?” Rainbow blurted.

“Gematria,” Sunset repeated. “It’s a divination system using numeric values assigned to the Hebrew alphabet.” Sunset then looked at Trixie. “How’d you know about that?’

Trixie shook her head. “Uh, my Mom runs the freaky New Age store with all the crystals and tarot cards and shit? Look, I love my Mom, but she’s a nutcase, and neither Dad nor I believe in any of it. But I did promise I’d look this stuff up for my uncle, who has a magic act in Vegas. Uncle Presto’s always interested in this stuff, so he can mention it in his act.”

“Wow, that’s neat!” Rainbow said, while Lyra merely rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Trixie said, a smile on her face coming to the front as she had a genuinely interested audience now, “if you look at the computer that has scans of Baldassare’s personal notes, as well as his grimoire, you’ll see a lot of references to this symbol,” she said, pointing to Hebrew letters she’d written down on her copy of the pamphlet:

ס וֹ מ ב רַס

“What’s it mean?”

“Well, I could be wrong, as I’m not really into Gematria, but numerically it means 253, which can translate to either ‘beginning and end’, ‘despair’, ‘I am the magician’, or ‘the black seed’, all of which sound really freaky, if you ask me,” Trixie replied.

Pinpricks started to crawl up the length of Sunset’s spine for some reason. I know I’ve heard the term “black seed” before, but where have I heard it?

“Hey, guys,” Lyra said, “check this out! Now this proves that he had to have learned something from a unicorn, right?” The celeste-haired girl pointed them towards a painting, entitled “The Young Bride with His Master” by Zampieri. The image was of a young woman in the blush of her late teen years, blonde with soft brown eyes, gazing longingly into the eyes of a black-and-gray unicorn. A sign next to the painting indicated that it was reputedly of Baldassare’s wife Crisalide della Lucca with the unicorn that had taught Baldassare his magical prowess.

But Rainbow saw it differently. “Uh, is it just me or do they look like they’re about to jump into bed together?” she asked.

“Rainbow?” Trixie said, not taking her eyes off the painting. “That is the freakiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah, I think I’m done now,” Sunset muttered, blushing furiously…but not for the same reasons that the others were. Ohmigod…flip the genders and that’s me and Flash. Granted, Flash didn’t know about Sunset’s true nature nor did he think she was anything but human, but…. I think I’m going to be sick.

“Hey, what’s that?” Rainbow asked, looking at a final display against the far wall. Unlike the others, there was a black fabric sheath over it. Based on the rough shape, it looked like a triptych or a screen.

“Well, I’m guessing that’s The Mirror of Cavalcanti,” Lyra said, looking at her pamphlet. “According to this, it’s the mirror that the black unicorn appeared from and approached Baldassare in order to make him his pupil.”

“Wonder why it’s covered? They afraid that another black unicorn’s going to walk through?” Trixie cracked.

“Actually, the security guard just happened to mention it: they’re still fine-tuning the laser tripwire net around the dais and getting a bulletproof case for it. Supposedly they’re going to be working on the former tonight and there’s a case being lent to the museum by the Smithsonian, but that’ll take a couple of days to get here. He did say that it should be on display about sometime late next week, though.”

“Spike, just…look, do me a favor and go order a pizza, okay?” Sunset pled.

“But I…!” The look on the boy’s face was worried.

“I’ll take care of this, okay? Just…just do it, okay?” Finally Spike agreed and went downstairs, leaving Sunset staring at the bathroom door. “Twily?” she said, knocking. “Look, I’m coming in, okay?”

“No! It’s going to get me!” came the ruffled reply from the other side of the door.

“Twily, you’ll be fine,” Sunset insisted, jiggling the locked door in the hopes that it would open. “Please, sis, let me in.”

“No!” The voice on the other side of the door sounded terrified. Whatever was going on, Twilight was completely and utterly terrified.

Sorry, Twily, but I gotta do this. Sunset’s hand glowed cyan for a second, allowing her to unlock the door. Once the familiar click of the lock sounded, Sunset opened the door and walked into their bathroom…which could politely be called hell.

The mirror was smashed, there was blood all over, and lying naked in the bathtub in a fetal position, with both the showerhead and the bathtub faucet on, was Twilight. She was covered in bloody scratches and trying to crawl away from Sunset in the shower. Immediately, Sunset turned off the water, grabbing a towel and looking at her foster sister with complete and utter shock. “Twily?”

Twilight’s immediate answer was to grab Sunset and hug her for dear life, crying in incomprehensible, unintelligible sobs. Sunset held her close, trying to towel her off while promising, “You’re okay, Twily, you’re safe.” She then turned her head and screamed, “Spike!”

“Yeah? I just ordered a deluxe from Pizza Guys,” the boy called up. “Is that okay?”

“Forget about that!” Sunset shouted. “Call Shiny or Cady now!”

“I’m okay,” Twilight insisted half an hour later. She was laying in Sunset’s bed, dressed in a bathrobe, holding a paper plate with pizza and a Diet Coke.

“Twily, the mirror’s shattered, there’s blood all over the place and you’ve got scratches all over your body,” Cadance said, a concerned look on her face. “If Sunny hadn’t broken into the bathroom, you could have drowned in all that water! Don’t you think we have a right to be a little worried?”

“But Cady,” she began.

“‘But Cady’ nothing,” the older girl replied. “I’m taking you to see the doctor tomorrow, okay? I don’t want to hear any argument about it.”

“Fine,” Twilight groaned in a petulant tone.

“Look, get some sleep and I’ll be by first thing in the morning; I’ll also call Tavi’s parents and have them let your school know.”

“Fine,” Twilight repeated, in no mood to argue.

“Okay, I gotta get home, myself. I’ve got some paperwork to do for a case this week.” Kissing Twilight on the forehead, Cadance stepped out of Sunset’s room, heading downstairs, to where Sunset was eating dinner with Spike. “Sunny, good call,” she told the teen as she pulled up a seat and grabbed a slice of pizza. “If you had called just a few minutes later, I would have been so buried in legal documents I wouldn’t have bothered to answer the phone.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Spike asked.

“She’ll be fine, Spike,” Cadance replied. “But just in case, I’m going to take her to Dr. Zecora’s first thing tomorrow. I’ll tell Shiny and he can call your parents,” she told both Sunset and Spike.

“I’ll see if I can switch with Pinkie, for tomorrow,” Sunset said. “I probably should be home just in case.”

“Good idea. We’re going to have to rely on you a lot, Sunny; Shiny’s on-loan this week to the Red Bluff PD on a big case, so he’s not going to be of much help here. Normally I’d stay over, but the documents I have are sealed by the court, so I can’t have them laying around, sorry – I’ll have to work at home. But I’ll make sure I keep the phone on – and don’t forget, in an emergency you can call your aunt and uncle.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, “but I’d really like to know what’s bothering Twily.”

Making sure both Twilight and Spike had gone to bed, Sunset braved walking into the shattered bathroom to clean up the broken glass and the blood. Mom and Dad are not going to be happy about this, she thought to herself. Pouring water into the soap-filled bucket, she dunked a sponge in, ready to wi—

What. The. Fuck? Sunset hadn’t paid too much attention to the blood spatters that coated the wall, as she’d been more focused on Twilight at the time. But now that they were the center of attention, what she saw unnerved her.

253, the blood splatters spelled out in various places on the wall. And carved into the wall with one of the shards of glass, were the symbols that Trixie had pointed out earlier in the day: ס וֹ מ ב רַס

What the fuck is going on?

“What are you reading?” Rarity asked as she sat down next to Sunset at the lunch table the next school day. She was engrossed in her iPad, with what appeared to be a book on-screen.

“Hey, I’m just amazed that Baconhead is reading at all,” Rainbow teased.

“Hey, I learned to get past Dick and Jane, okay, Ms. Living Gay Pride Flag?” Sunset teased back before she went back to her iPad. Changing the page, she said to Rarity, “Reading a book on a subject that involves another book I got Twily for Christmas. Something bothered her about it and I want to know what it was.”

“What’s it called?”

“Baldassare and the Black Unicorn: The History of Italy’s Infamous Hermeticist, by Dr. Wisdom Seeker, a medieval historian over at Harvard. The book I’m reading also includes the whole text of the book I got Twily, along with some extra information that’s been found since.”

“Yer awfully protective ‘bout her, Ah noticed,” Applejack said. “Big sis complex firmly in place, Ah see.”

“Guys, you forget that in reality, I’m pushing thirty,” she reminded them. “You could say I’ve got that complex towards you all already.”

“TMI,” Pinkie said. A second later, she asked, “Why do people say that? It’s just a website.”

“That’s TMZ, Pinkie dear. TMI means something else.”

“Oh.”

“I hope it’s nothing serious,” Fluttershy said.

“Well, so do I, to be honest. I mean, it’s just the histo….” Sunset’s words trailed off as she read the text of the book:

It was in approximately March of 1541 that the first reports of Baldassare’s statements of meeting with the black unicorn on the other side of his mirror came about. The mirror, which historians have dubbed Lo Specchio di Cavalcanti (The Mirror of Cavalcanti), in and of itself is a simple glass mirror with silver backing, typical of the looking-glasses of the era. But it was the frame of the mirror that has given researchers pause: a wooden frame covered in gold-leaf, with five ornately-carved cardinal gems set into it, some in familiar shapes, and others the meaning of which is still unknown to researchers. Clockwise, from top, they are: ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst and diamond.

On the next page was an image of the mirror, taken when the first edition of the book was made, around 1997. As described, the mirror had the cardinal gems set into it, and that wasn’t really a big deal. But what had caught her attention were the shapes of the gems: the ruby at the 12:00 position was carved into a circle that had curved, parenthetical-shaped spikes on its sides; what it meant she didn’t know. The sapphire and the emerald – a rare blue-green emerald vice the normal deep green type – at 2:00 and 5:00 respectively, both held the same shape, that of a rounded cloud with a crescent-moon sort of sigil in the center of it. But it was the amethyst at 7:00 – a pinkish-lilac color instead of violet – and the diamond at 10:00 that gripped her attention: the lower one set in a fanciful sunburst design, while the diamond was carved into a quill and inkbottle.

She knew in an instant what these were: cutie marks. Worse, the cutie marks on the mirror’s left-hand side…were Celestia and Faust’s cutie marks.

“Sunny? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I have,” she said, turning her tablet so the others could see. “I know these marks.”

“Well, duh,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “It’s a sun and an inkbottle and quill. Even I know that and I’m not the egghead you guys are.”

“Rainbow, they’re not just symbols, they’re cutie marks.” Sunset gave a quick explanation as to what they were, then continued. “And this one is Princess Celestia’s cutie mark, and the one above it is that of her mother, Queen Faust.”

“Are you sure? Could it be a coincidence?” Rarity asked.

“The guy claimed to have learned magic from a unicorn back in the 16th century. I’m a unicorn. I wonder if somehow there’s a second mirror that leads to Equestria – could Star Swirl the Bearded have created one of his own?”

“Who?”

“Nevermind, I’m just thinking aloud,” she said, as she continued to read. After a second, she said, “Wait – the principal and vice principal are originally from Italy, right? Maybe they know something about it?”

“Sorry, Sunset, I can’t tell you much,” Celestia said as the two and Luna were sitting in her office after school. “Luna was only five and I was just barely shy of eight when we immigrated to the US, and other than the fact that we can speak Italian, we really don’t know much about our heritage.”

“If you want, we can put you in touch with our sister Armonia,” Luna advised. “She was twelve when we left, so she should have a better memory of things – she still has a slight accent, even. But even still, the castello was only open on special occasions and I doubt she’s ever been there. I’m sorry we can’t be of further assistance.”

“What’s this all about anyway, Sunset?” Celestia asked.

“Um…believe it or not, I was doing some research for Cadance’s trip – since they’re all going, and I can’t, I thought I’d at least try to dig up some stuff for them.” She opted not to tell either woman the real reason; while both had seen her magic first-hand, the possibility of having to deal with another evil magic source might be too much for either of them.

“That’s very sweet of you, Sunset, but both my parents and Armonia are going with your family and Cadance – trust me, by the time they’re done, mamma e papà and Armonia will have talked their ears off in English and Italian.”

“And for what it’s worth, Celestia and I would have preferred you go as well,” Luna added. “While summer school is commendable, there’s nothing for gaining worldly knowledge via travel…even for aliens from other universes.”

“But don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be okay,” Celestia assured her.

I’m afraid it won’t be, Sunset thought to herself as she nodded in gratitude to the principal. I’m afraid it won’t be at all.

May 7: Throughout the Dark Months of April and May

“I’m too young to go to summer school,” Sunset groaned.

The look on Velvet’s face was sympathetic. “I understand, dear, but Tia told me that if you really want to go to college, you need to improve your grades, and summer school is the best way.” After all, the conversation that Velvet had with Celestia started innocently enough; the former had taken the latter out to lunch for her birthday, and during the course the meal, the conversation between the two women ultimately ended up on Sunset, in particular the teen’s appearance last week at Celestia’s office to ask what she could do to improve her grades to get into college. After admitting to Velvet that it wasn’t something that Sunset had asked for prior, Luna and Celestia spoke with Sunset’s teachers to see where the teen’s academic standing was. That Saturday, the sisters had dinner with Night and Velvet to explain the improving-yet-still-abysmal grades Sunset had and what she could do to at least make it into a mid-level university.

Truthfully, Celestia had explained, it was going to be a mixed bag: while Luna was acting as Canterlot High’s summer school principal, Celestia – who was serving as the assistant superintendent for the school district’s summer school system – would help tutor Sunset when she could. With the help of both women, as well as Sunset’s own recent desire to change her scholastic status, she still had a chance to catch up. Unfortunately, that also meant that Sunset would miss the family’s planned vacation to Italy in a few weeks. As Shining and Cadance were planning to get married in the town of Vincigiliata, Italy, where Cadance’s family was from, just about everyone involved was going. As far as Velvet was concerned, however, the fact that Sunset would not get to travel would be a huge shame considering her recent and coincidental interest in the Castello di Cavalcanti and its history.

Sunset sighed. “Well, I wasn’t going to be doing much travelling anyway, since I don’t have a passport and you made these plans well before I came into your lives,” she told them. A part of her was depressed at being unable to go, as now that she’d had a taste of travel when she went to Los Angeles back in March, she wanted to see more of her adopted homeworld at large. It’s funny: nine months ago I wouldn’t have really cared about any of this, since if it didn’t lead to power, it didn’t mean a damn thing to me. But now, I want to go, just for the experience. She realized this was just another way in how much she’d changed in the past year.

In his chair, Night shifted uneasily, as if trying to find a positive spin on things. Giving up, he gave the closest he could. “Well, if it’s any consolation, you’ll be here for Tavi when she needs it to the most,” he told her. “Remember that her parents are moving to Paris at the end of August, so she’s got a lot on her mind as well. Heck, that reminds me that I’ve got to talk to the contractor sometime tomorrow and make sure all the paperwork’s been completed so we can make the necessary changes to the house.”

But seeing the look of disappointment on Sunset’s face made Velvet equally dour. “I promise that I’ll make this up to you, somehow,” the older woman told the younger. “I know going probably would have meant a lot to you.”

“You don’t have to,” Sunset assured them, feeling slightly guilty. “You all do so much for me, and I don’t deserve it.”

Night shook his head. “Sunny, you’re a part of this family, and I think Vel would agree with me when I say that we wish you didn’t have to miss moments like this. As far as I know, the only place that you’ve ever been outside of the Canterlot metro is LA, correct?”

Well, other than coming from an entirely different dimension? Not really, no. “If I ever have, I don’t recall: I was either too young, or my mind might be blocking something.”

“I wish you would tell us more about where you came from, dear. I understand they’re probably painful memories, but we want you to be happy,” Velvet insisted.

“And if you’re afraid of someone coming back to get you, that’s not going to happen,” Night insisted. “You’ll stay with us no matter what.”

“I just wish I could remember,” Sunset said in a mock-frustrated tone, hating every syllable of that lie. Her friends all understood why she was doing it; even Applejack, a stickler for honesty, sympathized with Sunset for being unable to tell her loved ones the truth, but if she did, who would believe it? It wasn’t as though unicorns were commonplace; much less ones that had decided to live their lives as teenage humans. “Even if I could, though,” she continued, “I’d rather just forget about it. If anyone was really looking for me, they would have said something by now.” If nothing else, Sunset knew her next words were at least true: “I’m an unwanted orphan, with nothing to go back to.”

Velvet rose from her seat, going into the kitchen to pour herself more tea. “I hope you realize that you’re not unwanted, Sunny – you have us,” she replied. “But even still, I would hope that there’s someone out there looking for you: a relative of some stripe, maybe even one of your parents, who loves and misses you.” There was a slight catch in Velvet’s voice as she spoke the words, but as Sunset was lost in her own thoughts, she never heard it.

“If that were true, she would have found me by now.” Sunset repressed a shudder; she knew the only reason she still remained alive was that Princess Twilight had prioritized the saving of her crown over bringing back Equestria’s most notorious criminal. But I came too close to Princess Twilight bringing me back there in chains and a hobble.

Night said, “But no matter what, you have a home with us – don’t ever think otherwise. Now, before we end this, is there anything else we need to talk about?” At once, Sunset was about to open her mouth as if to speak, but in the end just nodded silently. At that, both parents knew what was coming next, and decided to tackle it head on.

Velvet ran a finger around the rim of her teacup; it was an ingrained habit she often performed when discussing uneasy issues with her children. “I know you’re worried about Twily; we all are, to a degree. But I can promise you that this is just a phase that most girls go through. I can’t tell you the number of case files I have where some girl went through something like this and oftentimes it’s stupid. I know you can’t understand it, but that’s because you had a much more…stringent…youth, shall we say. But girls at your age often do stupi—”

“But she didn’t do something stupid!” Sunset cried. “She shattered the bathroom mirror, cut herself up, carved weird-ass runes in the wall, then painted on the wall in her blood – and then tried to drown herself! Doesn’t that sound a little out of the ordinary?”

“It does,” Velvet replied patiently, “on the surface. And I will admit, with many of the other things Twily’s done as of late, were it any other girl it would sound very much like a cry for help worth being concerned about. But you have to remember: I am well-versed in these things, and even if I wasn’t, I had the, er, ‘luck’ to grow up with Tia and Lulu back in San Diego. Tia and I had to deal with the absurdity of Luna’s ‘Nightmare Moon’ phase, complete with the black makeup, lousy clothing, and singing the Sex Pistols at the top of her lungs. Thankfully, she eventually grew out of it.” A second later, Velvet added, “Well, after the broken arm and Tia being grounded for the better half of eternity, but that’s beside the point.”

“Also, we’ve talked to Twily’s teachers,” Night added, “and while she’s been falling asleep in class and even failed a test as of late, they also note when some of their students are going through spells like this. It’s not even going to count against her grades, since she’s so far ahead of everyone else in her classes, the teacher considered the failed test a practical joke on her part and didn’t even count it.”

“But—”

“Sunset, while it warms my heart that you’re very concerned for her well-being, the worst that’s going to happen is that we’ll go into her room one day and find a joint or two. While we’ll certainly be disappointed, I’m not going to lie and say I’d be completely surprised.”

I would, Sunset thought, though she didn’t say a word.

“Well, it’s late, and you’ve got school tomorrow; you should probably call it a night. Oh, and don’t forget that Night, Spike and I will be leaving early tomorrow, so you and Twily are on your own for breakfast,” Velvet told her.

“Got it. I’ll call Fluttershy in the morning and see if she can give me a lift. She’s been dying to give her car a spin since her mother got her one for her birthday.” Sunset got up from the table, kissing her foster parents on the cheeks. “G’night.”

As she headed up the stairs, Sunset didn’t even bother to walk to Twilight’s room to check on her foster sister; after all, for the past few weeks, it hadn’t really been used. Instead, Sunset went to the bathroom, took care of her personal needs, brushed her teeth and washed her face, then looked at the new mirror – she really preferred the older one, but it was out of stock at Home Depot – and glanced at the plastered over scratches on the wall that would need to be painted over.

With that, then she went into her room, which already had a light on and a familiar form within the sheets.

“Twily…for the umpteenth time, please try sleeping in your own bed. Not that I mind you being here, but…this isn’t healthy,” Sunset said, sitting down next to her foster sister in what she already knew was a futile effort. It hadn’t worked the first time, or the second, or the third. Finally, when she put her foot down, Twilight just slept outside her door, hoping that being just around Sunset would be enough to keep the monsters in her mind at bay.

But for now, she sat there on the bed, looking haggard, as if she was almost as old as Sunset actually was. Her eyes were puffy and rimmed with dark bags underneath them, and her hair looked shaggy and unkempt. If anything, a casual viewer would have thought that it was Sunset that had lived a life here in the house on Golden Oaks and Twilight a refugee from the long-demolished warehouse. She finally turned to look at Sunset, with wild, fearful eyes, her normally beautiful violet orbs mere dots of fear. “Can I—”

“Sis, just…look, I have a test tomorrow, and I need my sleep,” the flame-haired girl began, knowing it was a lost cause the moment she opened her mouth. “Nobody’s goi—”

“NO!” Twilight yelped. “You don’t understand! Every night – every Goddamn night – it’s looking at me! If I close my eyes, it’s going to kill me! I know it!”

“Twily, I—”

“Please!” Twilight looked at Sunset, utter fear in her eyes. What the hell was going on that was utterly destroying her…and why the hell weren’t their parents worried about it? Likewise, talking to Cadance and Shining hadn’t been much help either; both of them were so focused on other things going on in their lives – Cadance had a large case she was working on for the DA’s office, while the case that Shining was assisting the Red Bluff PD with had just gotten bigger, so he was completely absorbed by that. Even Octavia, who’d been incredibly stressed out, wasn’t over much, preferring to spend as much time with her parents before they moved overseas.

More and more, Sunset felt she was the only one dealing with Twilight’s currently shattering mind…and she was well in over her head.

Thankfully she had one last card to play, one she’d been working towards…and tonight she was going to deal that card.

It was the last thing that Sunset owned that tied her to Equestria: a grimoire she’d brought with her as a failsafe. For years she’d kept it not at the warehouse she’d called home, but at school, in her locker, where she disguised it as just another one of her textbooks. But to the person who could undo the glamor charm on it – and not likely anyone present – they would be holding a copy of the Clavicula Stella Cano, the legendary spell book compiled by Star Swirl himself. Even hundreds of years later, the grand majority of these spells were the most powerful ones around and only the highest-level unicorns could cast them…even if her former nemesis, the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, had probably made a few obsolete with her own creations.

Sunset’s copy had been a gift from Celestia – another thing that brought her guilt nowadays; the fact that she was about to use one of its most powerful spells on the human Twilight Sparkle was another point of anxiety. Even still, it was just the fun of being up at three in the morning on a Wednesday to see if this last ditch effort would succeed.

Okay, let’s see if I got this right, Sunset thought to herself. Laid in a five-point pattern around the room were the five stones she needed for this spell. In Equestria, she wouldn’t have need of the stones, as her magic alone would have sufficed. But here on Earth, where things were vastly different, she had to improvise: she charged five “gems” with her magic over the course of the week, waiting until the full moon, when she was at her magical apex, to perform the actual spell. Of course, she was already heavily improvising; as there were few gems that were even as remotely as pure as Equestrian ones here on Earth – and those that were cost an enormous fortune – she had to use surrogates. The diamond was a ring that Twilight had received from her grandmother two years ago yet rarely wore. The ruby was from a brooch that Velvet once owned and had since given to Sunset as the woman thought it looked better on her. The amethyst was from one of Cadance’s earrings that she’d luckily left by accident the week before. The emerald was the easiest: it was a large, unpolished stone that Night used as a paperweight in his home office and had been a gift from a Brazilian professor he’d once met. But it was the sapphire she was unsure would work: it was the screen from her cellphone, which might be a synthetic sapphire and thus completely unsuitable. Still, her phone held the magic charge, so she hoped it would work.

On the bed, as still as could be, was Twilight. Sunset had used yet another sleeping spell on her, but that wasn’t helping – a sleep spell offered neither the clarity of REM sleep nor the refreshment of delta pattern slumber; it was in essence no real difference from keeping one’s eyes closed for hours on end, and in Twilight’s case it only served to worsen her situation. But after this last spell, hopefully this would end the crisis tearing her apart for once and for all.

Closing her eyes and focusing on the moon, Sunset’s hands began to glow with the cyan power of her birthright. Bidden by her magic, the gems began glowing as well, five celeste fireflies in a room otherwise lit by the white of the moon. Blobs of magic began to break off from her aura and the gems, settling on Twilight and eventually covering her in a translucent sheen of aqua, which soon vanished as it melded with her. The spell had taken an agonizing hour to accomplish vice the normal fifteen minutes, and from the dampness of her brow, even with all the factors in her favor there was still no guarantee this would work.

Still, Nimble Nebula’s Nonpareil Nightmare Nullifier has to work – it’s the strongest anti-night terror spell there is! This spell wasn’t meant to be used on children afraid of what was under the bed or even psychiatric patients suffering from noctophasmophobia. No, this spell was meant to repel a direct mental assault that the target of the spell was under; according to notes she’d written years ago, the last known case of the spell’s use was three hundred years ago in Trottingham, when Celestia’s archmage Wisteria the Wise used it to defend a young filly from a coven of windigos that were using her to return to the mortal realm. While Sunset was certain that wasn’t the case, here, something else could be attacking Twily and it was better to use the spell and overreach than not.

Finally, as the spell completed, Sunset put the equipment away, slipped her phone into its charger and crawled into bed, hoping to get at least a couple of hours of sleep. It would take a couple of days to make sure if the spell had worked. But if it did, Sunset could sleep soundly knowing that she’d saved her foster sister.

Breakfast just a few hours later was, not surprisingly, strained and quiet. Night had to leave early, as he had a budget meeting first thing in the morning with the university’s penny-pinchers. As Spike’s class was going on a field trip today, he and Velvet had already left, opting to eat on the way. Octavia’s parents would be by in thirty minutes to pick Twilight up; and as for Sunset, she confirmed Fluttershy was on the way.

As Sunset wandered into the kitchen, she saw Twilight, with her head down, staring at her bowl of cereal. That in itself dampened Sunset’s spirits; the plum-haired girl had been doing this frequently since this whole ordeal began. Nuking a couple of breakfast Hot Pockets, Sunset sat down across from Twilight and said, “Hey, you ok—”

“No.” The sound was cold and empty. “I…I dreamt last night that the creature was back. And that instead of trying to kill me directly, it made five…monsters out of jewels. They…they…they tore me apart.” Tears started to stream down Twilight’s cheeks. “I…I can’t take this anymore, Sunny. I just can’t.”

“Twily, it was just a dream,” Sunset said, restraining the urge to cry as she realized the spell had failed. Her strongest effort against the darkness assaulting Twilight’s mind and she failed. She’d tried everything that she had at her disposal, based on years of training under the second-most powerful alicorn in existence and whatever she’d gleaned from her time on the human world, and yet nothing had helped…and she knew time was running out for Twilight.

She was going to need some help with this…and that was going to be the hardest thing of all.

“I need your help.”

Sunset found herself that afternoon at the Equestria County Children’s Center, over in the eastern neighborhood of Maybrook. The building served both as the county’s orphanage and an administrative center for processing foster children through Equestria County’s social services system. If things had turned out differently, Sunset knew, she’d have found herself here as yet another ward of the state, seeing the woman that was her foster mother only from a distance and not with the full warmth Sunset had received this past year. Seeing the children of various ages here gather around the volunteers made Sunset appreciate all the more how lucky she was.

“Trixie will be right with you,” the girl with the hair a delicate shade of Alice-blue said over her shoulder, just before she turned back to speak to the children present with warmth in her voice, “And that’s all the magic that The Great and Powerful Trixie has for the day. But remember: if you truly have love in your hearts, someday your dreams will all come true – and that’s the greatest magic of all!” Trixie gave them all an encouraging wink and a smile, and as the boys and girls bounced around, happy as larks the teenage magician stood there, a satisfied look on her face.

But before Sunset could speak again, Trixie raised a finger and stated, “Just one moment while the children depart; Trixie always wants to make sure she answers any questions they might have.” When none stayed to ask anything of her, she then turned to face Sunset. “Sorry about that,” she said, “I just wanted to make sure that the kids have my full attention.”

“No problem,” Sunset replied, “but what’s with the third person? Thought only self-absorbed celebrities did that sort of thing.”

Trixie laughed. “Well, in Trixie’s case, it’s a little something she picked up from her uncle – he said that when doing it on stage, the audience focuses so much on the performer’s flamboyant personality, they don’t catch the cues that presage the actual magic tricks.” But then Trixie’s smile disappeared, and with it went the bravado, leaving behind a shrinking violet of a personality. “So…what brings you here?”

Sunset steeled herself for what she was about to ask. “Like I said…I need your help.”

“No – you don’t need my help. You’re Sunset Shimmer, after all: former bully gone good-girl that everyone else turns to when they’re down. You certainly don’t need my help at all.”

“Yes I do – you knew in a heartbeat what the Gematria meant, but I didn’t. And while I just happen to know what Gematria is, I’m not versed in it and I don’t have time to sit there for days to learn everything the hard way. I have a growing crisis on my hands – one of a personal nature – that I need help with, and you’re the only one I know who can do that!”

Trixie suddenly found something more interesting towards her feet as she added via mumble, “Perhaps Lyra would be of more use?” The shakiness in her voice sounded too much like Fluttershy’s, save that Sunset knew her friend would come through when needed – she had no confirmation Trixie would. “Lyra and I grew up together and she’s been around my mother enough to memorize a lot of the same things I know. It could even be said she’s the better choice since she actually believes the stuff my mother taught her an—”

“No, it has to be you,” the flame-haired girl interjected. “Don’t get me wrong: Lyra’s smart, but Bon-Bon hates me for something I did back then – and she’s not likely going to forgive me anytime soon – so I don’t want to cause any friction between her and Lyra. So it has to be you, Trixie. Please.”

“I can recommend others,” Trixie said nervously, now looking around for an escape route. “Perhaps Velvet Beret, or Novaburst—”

Sunset then did something she’d never thought she’d do in her life: she got down on her knees to beg. “Please – I’m begging you. I can’t stress how important this is! Fuck, I’ll pay you, hook you up with a date, whatever – anything short of sleeping with you—”

“Look, just because my best friend is a lesbian doesn’t mean I am,” Trixie retorted.

“And I didn’t mean it that way; sorry if I offended you.” Sunset sighed. “I…this is important to me, Trixie, and truthfully? It’s not easy for me to rely on someone outside my circle of friends. I know I still have a lot of enemies, people who will never forgive me. Maybe you’re even one of them – Lyra didn’t think you were – and I’m making a huge mistake. But I have to do this. I don’t have a choice.”

“Just…please, get up,” Trixie said, gazing to and fro, but this time in the hope that nobody was looking. She then fell silent as Sunset got back to her feet, and was quiet for so long, Sunset wondered if the other girl was merely trying to find the nicest way to turn her down. But then Trixie opened her mouth, cautiously. “Okay, I’ll help you, but on one condition.”

There was no hesitancy on Sunset’s part. “Name it.”

There was a tiny, hopeful smile on the smaller girl’s face. “I heard about a magic trick you did back in December for a children’s performance – something involving manipulation of images?”

Sunset relaxed slightly. Oh, the magical constructs. Thankfully, Sunset had done some research to cover herself in that department should a valid explanation be required, and had found a reasonable answer, all thanks to Velvet’s preference for watching foreign films. “Oh, it’s a paper folding technique based on Chinese bian lian theater. I had a mentor who learned the art as a child and she taught me years ago.” Reaching into her back pocket, Sunset quickly prepped a spell, then pulling out her hand quickly with a flick of her wrist and an audible snap, she produced a poster-size paper, multiple folds and all, before Trixie. Hopefully, she won’t touch it, or else she’ll find out there’s nothing there but pocket lint with a glamor charm on it. But before Trixie could reach out, she reversed the process, adding, “I could probably perform full Chinese mask opera if I wanted, but I’m just happy enough for making it seem like I can pull images out of thin air.”

“Wow,” Trixie said excitedly. “I figured there was a wrist technique involved, but I had no idea you could do it with things that big!”

“Well, if you help me with my issue, I’d be more than happy to teach you the technique.”

“Deal!” Trixie chirped.

Twenty minutes later, the pair departed Dark Roast’s Java Joint. Sunset had concocted another story in order to explain her situation to Trixie and now she was starting to feel like a black widow in the center of a massive spider web composed of nothing but falsehoods and deception. But she was willing to do just about anything short of returning to the person she’d been if it meant saving Twilight; she might feel horrible about it afterwards and there would most certainly be repercussions for her actions, but better that than watching the person she was closest to fall apart bit by bit.

“So, let me see if I have this straight,” Trixie said, switching her frozen mocha from one hand to the other. “Your sister is under some sort of psychological delusion left over from the, uh, ‘events’ from a couple months back and her psychiatrist thinks it’s a coping mechanism based on magic?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said; at least her emotional distress regarding the situation was real enough.

“But as in real magic? That Age of Aquarius, New Age, Lord of the Rings kind of stuff?” The tone in Trixie’s voice was odd, to say the least.

Sunset nodded, uttering a faked laugh; she felt sick about not telling the truth, as though it was a precursor for returning to the bad old days – something she was vehemently against doing. “Yeah, funny, huh? You and I know that magic’s just finger tricks and various stagecraft, yet when someone mentions Gematria or brings a Ouija board to school for fun, it’s been making Twily freak out, which is why the doctor thinks it has something to do with magic, mysticism, or something like that.”

“Ouch, sorry to hear that,” Trixie replied sympathetically. “Well, even if I hadn’t wanted to know that Chinese folding trick, I’d still have helped regardless – can’t turn down that kind of request.”

“The bian lian? I’d have taught you if you just asked,” Sunset said, then took a drink from her own frozen mocha, the taste of white chocolate and raspberries a balm for her situation at the moment.

“But I’ll be glad to help, though to be honest, I’m not sure how much assistance I can be,” Trixie replied. “I mean, while I enjoy helping Uncle Presto with the research, and I love performing, I’m not exactly sure I’m ever going to perform on Broadway. For starters, most of the stuff I know, well, is just knowledge – while it might make me invaluable to fantasy, horror, and occult writers, it’s not exactly useful for practical skills.” Trixie took another drink of her mocha before adding, “Besides, if I have to be honest? What you said last year about me being a braggart on stage but with less of a spine than Fluttershy? You might have meant it in spite back then, and you might not even mean it anymore…but you weren’t exactly lying.”

What little smile there was on Sunset’s face vanished as she realized a comment she’d made when she was nothing more than a virtual monster on the verge of becoming a literal one now came back to haunt her. Bad enough that she’d already learned in several ways when her own actions eventually bit her in the ass – the scar she still carried from last November’s attack would be a lifetime reminder – but now, something she’d said was going to do far more damage than she’d ever expected…because it wasn’t her that was going to suffer, it was Twilight.

“Trixie,” Sunset began, knowing she had to tread carefully, “don’t take what I said back then seriously. I may have meant what I said…but I was wrong. This past year? It’s been an eye-op—” She never got to finish her sentence as it was suddenly cut off via a fist across the face. The flame-haired girl crumpled to the ground, her iced mocha becoming a wet stain on her shirt.

“Trying to turn another one of my friends against me, Shimmer?” an angry voice snarled. Sunset looked up at the speaker, and standing there with a haughty look on her face was one very angry Vietnamese-American girl with soft curls almost perfectly split between cobalt and fuchsia.

Wiping what was probably blood from her lips, Sunset looked back at the girl dully. “Guess I deserved that one,” Sunset muttered.

“You deserve much worse,” Bon-Bon replied as she narrowed her eyes. “Now get up – unlike you, I prefer to fight fairly.”

To Sunset, the irony was palpable. “Fair is sucker-punching me when I don’t expect it?”

“Trust me, you deserve much worse,” Bon-Bon said, flexing her fist. “And I aim to show you just that.”

To the surprise of both, Trixie stepped between the two combatants, asking, “Bonnie? What’s going on?”

“Trix, stay out of this – it’s between me and her,” Bon-Bon seethed as she slid into a stance. Sunset recognized it as a martial arts stance of some kind; after lying to Shining about having training, she then spent some time watching the Apple siblings practice TKD in their backyard so she could at least pick up a little bit about it. But whatever art it was, it wasn’t one that Sunset was even remotely familiar with.

Well, time to get this over with, Sunset mused sadly as she stood up and dusted herself off. She really didn’t want a fight, but she wasn’t about to let Bon-Bon get in the way of stopping her from helping Twilight. “I don’t suppose an ‘I’m sorry’ is going to clear things up, is it?”

“As if I’d believe you anyway, you lying sack of crap,” Bon-Bon retorted. “Besides, even if you did, it’s too little, too late.” Then, in a kinder tone, she said to Trixie, “Trixie, please move. I don’t want you getting hurt because of her.”

But to both girls’ surprise, Trixie continued to stand her ground. “Not until you tell me what’s going on! Bonnie, I just want to help!”

“Do you remember when I had all those guys hounding me around this time last year?” Bon-Bon said in a smoldering voice. She then pointed a finger at Sunset and accused, “Because she told everyone I was Sweetie Drops!”

“Who?”

Sunset facepalmed. Not one of my better moments. Sighing, she said, “Sweetie Drops, if I recall correctly, is the professional name of Tính từ Kẹo, a Vietnamese, uh….”

“Go ahead and say it, you skank,” Bon-Bon seethed. “You didn’t seem to have a problem saying it when you were telling every guy in school!” Another thought came to her and she added, “I have to wonder if you were going to get me involved with that shit back in January!”

That pushed a button for Sunset. “You really don’t want to piss me off right now, Bon-Bon,” Sunset warned. “I’m trying to apologize for what I did, but don’t you dare accuse me of being part of The Club.”

“You even know the name! That should prove you’re with them! Do you know how many girls got sc—”

“Shut the hell up! You know nothing about the shit I had to go through to save my family and friends!” Sunset snarled. Getting up as close as she could to Bon-Bon without pushing Trixie out of the way, the flame-haired girl snarled, “This is a subject you want to drop, or else I will drop you.”

At that point, Bon-Bon lost her temper. “Drop this!” she shouted, throwing a fist without thinking. Unfortunately, Trixie was still in the way, and by the time the confectioner had realized it, pulling it back was going to be too late—

—so it surprised everyone when Sunset was suddenly in front of Trixie in a flash, holding Bon-Bon’s fist in her hand, an inch away from Trixie’s face. “Punching without thinking? Some friend you are.”

“I wasn’t aiming for her!” Bon-Bon cried, a little shocked at losing her temper to the point where her friend – her girlfriend’s best friend – could have been seriously hurt. “I was trying to hurt you!”

“You can’t do that,” Sunset replied in an empty, sober tone, “because I feel it every Goddamn day for what I’ve done. The Club’s activities back in January? One of my best friends, my cousin, and my sister were affected by that! All you got was a little worried because of that earlier mix-up – which I wholeheartedly admit was my fault – but I had much worse! My ex-boyfriend, who I might add, was cheating on me the whole time we were together, tried to drug my sister so he could have his way with her!”

Sunset then used the opportunity to get straight into Bon-Bon’s face. “You want to hit me? Fine – I’ve already been stabbed by Gilda and Lightning Dust, since you remember that. And yes, I’m sorry that I compared you to a Vietnamese porn star that almost looks exactly like you, though people don’t seem to quite realize that she lives in Hong Kong! So yes, I’m sorry, and nothing I say or do is going to make you believe me – I’m fine with that, because I’ll never change your mind.

“But.” Sunset ended the word intentionally, giving it emphasis. “I’m here with Trixie trying to find a solution for my sister’s problem. I would do anything for her, and while I know I deserve to be wiped on the floor because of whatever righteous anger you have, I don’t have time to waste. So either hit me now, or get the fuck out of my way. Because if you’re trying to block me while I’m trying to save Twily, there will be two hits: me hitting you and you hitting the ground.”

Bon-Bon, still shocked from nearly hitting her friend inadvertently, looked at Trixie with a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. “What’s going on?”

“Funny,” Trixie said in the shaky tones of someone who had just dodged a bullet, “I seem to recall asking you that, Bonnie.”

Bon-Bon pulled her hand away. “Okay, you have five seconds to explain,” she said to Sunset, “and the clock is ticking.”

The look on Bon-Bon’s face ten minutes later was priceless. “You’re not pulling my leg on this one?”

Sunset sadly shook her head. “No. Part of me thinks I deserve all this for what I did in the past…but I deserve it, not Twily.” And this time, she wasn’t lying. Why wasn’t it me? Why am I not the one being haunted by night terrors? Why won’t whatever it is leave her alone?

“She’s not lying,” Trixie said. “I can read a person pretty well, and unless she’s a sociopath or an actress—”

“My bet’s on ‘sociopath,’” Bon-Bon smirked.

“Bonnie….”

“Fine. Okay, because my friend is sticking up for you, I’ll forgive you. Don’t think this means I trust you, though.” She offered a hand.

“Hey, it’s a start,” Sunset replied, taking and shaking. “But I always thought – no offense – that Lyra was the more mercurial of you two.”

“And the more tomboyish, generally,” Bon-Bon admitted. “But considering you mentioned her, I’m guessing she already forgave you – and while I love that girl of mine, I also have to admit she’s a bit on the naïve side.”

“Well, let’s head to my place,” Trixie replied. “Besides, Lyra’s probably there, since Mom just hired her.”

Bon-Bon facepalmed. “Wait – she got fired from the music store that she worked at? She didn’t tell me that.”

“Well, more like she got laid off when the place went belly up. Besides, Mom and Lyra are two peas in a pod, you know that.”

“I have this funny feeling I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” Sunset asked.

“Trust me, I’ve known these two since Fourth Grade – I already do,” Bon-Bon groaned.

A couple of minutes later, the trio found themselves in front of a store; specifically, the storefront entrance to Trixie’s home upstairs. During the walk, Sunset and Bon-Bon had talked a bit more and while Bon-Bon still seemed a bit standoffish, naturally, it appeared that one of Sunset’s biggest issues was about to be resolved, much to her relief. Sunset had told Bon-Bon and Trixie about her living situations, for reasons she wasn’t sure of but in retrospect was glad she did. Bon-Bon sympathized a little; while she’d lived her entire life in California peace, her parents and grandparents had come from the old country – her maternal grandfather having been an ARVN general that had participated in the evacuation of Saigon long ago, while her parents had met here in Canterlot.

“Shit.” The look on Bon-Bon’s face was completely different a few minutes later as Sunset finished her explanation. “I…I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t exactly advertise my status as a foster child,” Sunset admitted, “and I’m not about to fall on it as an excuse for what I did in the past. But in any case, apologizing to you has been coming for a long time now.”

“Eh, I slugged you in the face. That should cover it,” Bon-Bon replied breezily.

“So if you’re Vietnamese, what’s with the French name?”

Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. “Well, there’s a reason they used to call it ‘French Indochina’, you know. My parents run a French-style chocolatier down on Butternut Drive. And to be honest, Bon-Bon’s my secondary name – my first name is actually Kẹo Dừa, which is a tongue-tripper if you can’t speak Vietnamese.”

“I…see.” But before she could say anything further, Sunset’s attention was taken up by the painted sign on the storefront window. “Wiccan Wonderland?”

Trixie facepalmed. “I’d say it’s one of my mother’s phases, but…her whole life is a phase,” she groaned. “Mom thought the name was all ‘mystical’ and full of ‘positive vibrations’, but the fact that Wicca practitioners are completely insulted by it doesn’t seem to sink into her mind. Hell, we had Fluffy Bunny come in the other day and demand the store change its name or the local coven is going to boycott the store.”

“Does Velvet Beret know about this? Mrs. Bunny is her mother,” Bon-Bon said.

“I dunno. Either way, Mom’s oblivious and Dad thinks any publicity is good publicity so long as we don’t get our asses sued off.”

“What does your Dad do for a living, anyway?” Sunset asked.

In response, Trixie pointed at the sign on the business next door: CASHFLOW, CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT & TAX SERVICES. “Dad was the black sheep of the family,” she said with a sly grin. “Never could figure out magic, so he learned out to make magic out of numbers instead. C’mon, let’s go in.”

As the three entered the store, Sunset was immediately assaulted by the bizarre, bric-a-brac nature of the establishment: the store smelled deeply (some would say stank) of myrrh and cardamom. Various small marble and wooden statues of various religions were on shelves, as well as dozens of religious books, most of them not of the Judeo-Christian bent. A group of glass cases arranged in a square in the middle of the store showcased dozens of “enervated” crystals and gems, from the $20 “crystal energies” quartz-and-pewter dragon necklace to a $15000 phone-sized mystic topaz, elegantly faceted and, if Sunset had learned anything from Rarity, worth far more than what the store was actually selling it for.

But before the flame-haired girl could utter a single word, she was immediately embraced/besieged by a woman with long, dirty blonde hair held in place by both a bandana and a ponytail that almost touched the ground. She wore round, rose-tinted glasses and was dressed in a burgundy tangzhuang shirt with beige piping and a free-floating reed-hued skirt. She looked like a bargain basement version of that 70s singer Mystic Gypsy, and, like the store, she reeked of myrrh and cardamom, with a bonus scent of sandalwood as well. “Welcome, welcome! Are you my dearest Beatrix’ paramour?” she said in a lilting, mellifluous voice. Without waiting for an answer, she then turned to Bon-Bon. “Or have you four created a coterie for yourselves? If so, I approve.”

“Mom, Sunset is just a friend!” From the look of frustration on Trixie’s face, it appeared this was an old argument. A second later, as Bon-Bon blanched to Trixie’s mother’s statement, the look pretty much confirmed that.

“Oh, you don’t have to hide it, dear; I’ve always wanted you to express yourself and find your inner soul. And whether you choose Lyra or Bon-Bon or this new girl or decide on an Ishtarine coterie—”

“Mom, for crying out loud, I am not having sex with Lyra, Bon-Bon, or Sunset!”

“Well, dear, you can’t fault a mother for worrying about your late-blooming era. When so many of your peers have already discovered their alpha or lambda selves, it is my duty as your mother to ensure that you are to be united with your overself someday and find the inner peace that we all so very much strive for.”

“What-ever,” Trixie snarked. “Anyway, Mom, this is Sunset Shimmer, a friend from high school. Sunset, this is my mother, Harmonic Convergence.”

“A pleasure to meet you, young Miss Shimmer,” Harmonic said, a smile on her face. “Have you come in search of a crystal? Or perhaps a new Tarot deck? We just received the newest designs from Wheat Grass’ Groovy Arts Collection. Or….” Harmonic bent over, looking at Sunset critically. “Oh, dear, oh, dear.”

“Is there something wrong?” Sunset asked.

Harmonic pulled back, a look of dismay on her face. “Oh, dear – you have no magic within you. I can see it as clear as day: your chakra is completely unaligned, and the moon is moving from the House of Cancer.” Harmonic embraced Sunset as if holding a horribly afflicted child. “You poor, poor thing! How could you have survived this long without feeling the mystic force that envelops us all?”

“Somehow, I’ve managed,” Sunset replied sarcastically, wondering if the woman would register it.

“Well, as much as I’d love to hear about all this, we have to do some research for a project,” Trixie told her mother. “Do you know where the Big Book of Gematria is?”

“Yes, it’s upstairs on the kitchen table,” Harmonic replied in a soft voice. “Enjoy furthering your karmic interludes, my dearest daughter. And, Miss Shimmer, perhaps when you come again, we can give you a karmic crystal infusion – those are simply delightful for improving one’s chi!”

“Uh, thanks. I think,” Sunset replied dully.

Meanwhile, Bon-Bon saw Lyra stacking boxes over in the corner. “I’m going to go flirt with my girlfriend for a bit. I’ll join you two upstairs later.”

“See, I knew—”

“She didn’t mean it that way, Mom!”

Not wanting to get further into this…whatever it was, Sunset wordlessly followed Trixie upstairs to the residential part of the building. There, seated at a dinner table that looked like it was fashioned from a ring cutting of one of the smaller redwoods in the Everfree, was a man who was most likely Trixie’s father, based on the resemblance. Looking at him, Sunset noted the huge contrast between Trixie’s parents: where Harmonic screamed “flower child hippie leftover”, Cashflow, with his rugged looks and well-coiffed green-and-bronze hair, looked every bit the kind of person who was a captain of industry. He looked up from his work, removed his glasses, and for a second, Sunset admitted that he looked attractive.

Great. No time for teenage hormones to kick in, she chastised herself.

A wide smile came onto Cashflow’s face as his daughter went up to hug him. “Heya, princess,” he told her gently, “new friend?”

“Yes – and no, still not gay,” Trixie said in a huff.

“Never thought you were – at least not with all the boys you talk about,” he said with a smile. “And you know your mother means well. She’s…well….”

“Flighty?” Trixie offered. “Dad, I love her to death…but I’m not blind, you know.”

“Again, farthest thing from my mind. Anyway, so who’s your friend?”

Another quick – and more positive, in Sunset’s mind – round of introductions ensued before the Alice-haired teen came to the crux of the matter. “So, where did Mom leave the Big Book of Gematria?”

“I put it on the coffee table,” he told her. “Doing more research for your uncle?”

“Sorta,” she replied. Turning to Sunset, she said, “Go ahead and have a seat. Want a Coke?”

“Sure, thanks,” the flame-haired girl said, as Trixie went over into the kitchen. As Sunset sat down on the couch, she looked at the massive tome on the coffee table, probably taking up a third of the total size. To say that the book was big was an understatement: if Sunset had to guess on its size, the thing was about three feet by two feet, with a thickness of almost a foot. If she were in her unicorn form, forget about carrying it in the traditional manner of by mouth – she’d probably exhaust herself hefting it by magic. The coffee table must be of solid oak to hold this thing!

“Yeah, amazing, isn’t it?” Trixie said from behind her. Sunset turned to see the teenage magician set a tray down with a few Cokes and several packets of Goobersnax, that crackers-and-peanut butter snack that she was almost always seen buying from the school’s vending machines. “It’s about 150 pounds, at least a hundred years old, and is a copy of the original in the Royal Mysticism Museum in London.” Sitting down, Trixie opened the book.

Hours flew by as the smaller girl explained everything there was about the Assyro-Babylonian numerological system that had been absorbed into Kabballah and later mystical systems. As the night went on, the two girls must’ve consumed a twelve-pack of sodas and quite a few Goobersnax – well, Trixie ate the majority of those, Sunset admitted silently; she didn’t care for them herself. Eventually, they were joined by Lyra and Bon-Bon, the former of whom really did turn out to be just as informed in the subject as Trixie was, much to Sunset’s surprise.

After an order of pizza for dinner, courtesy of Trixie’s parents, the ex-unicorn continued to get a crash-course on a non-existent magic system that had been within humanity since time immemorial. Lyra occasionally butted in with some weird statement about a “unicorn kingdom” that sounded more like that Filly Funtasia TV show than her native homeland of Equestria…or even the ancient kingdom of Unicornia that had preceded the modern monarchy. Fortunately, it was something that Bon-Bon had heard many a time before and thus had figured out plenty of ways to silence her chatty girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Sunset continued to soak up everything that Trixie – and occasionally Lyra – was saying, because it was looking more and more like the evidence was inexplicably leaning in this direction and improbable or not, it would be the way Sunset would have to go. She’d already exhausted herself trying to find a way to save Twilight through every means she had at her disposal; now she’d start the wild goose chase if there was a chance of helping.

Sunset jolted awake from the sharp rap of a metal ruler being slapped against her desk. An arch voice above her intoned, “Ms. Shimmer, while you’ve made wonderful strides to improve your behavior from the previous year, now is not the time to slack off. Please do not sleep in my class, or I will be forced to have to re-familiarize you with the concept of detention.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Chalkboard,” a bleary-eyed Sunset mumbled, looking up at the teacher. She’d left Trixie’s house with a ton of books on various human magical disciplines thanks to the generosity of Trixie’s mother, who looked at the ex-unicorn as a truly wounded individual for not “having the mystic oversoul that resides within us all” – whatever that meant. And surprisingly, Bon-Bon had warmed up to Sunset almost as much as Lyra already had, to the point that Bon-Bon had admitted that there had been a silver lining to the whole “Sweetie Bon” scandal in that it made Lyra and Bon-Bon that much more “eager” to explore that part of their relationship. By the time she arrived home, Sunset had decided two things: she’d done the right thing in apologizing to Bon-Bon…and that she’d learned a lot of things about Lyra and Bon-Bon that could best be described as “too much information.”

Unfortunately, the remainder of the evening had not gone as well. She’d spent the rest of the night using a speed-reading cantrip that she’d developed during her younger years and it helped her to go through at least five of the thirty books before the evening was done. At least, that had been the plan until Twilight had yet another round of nightmares, this one ending up with going into the kitchen and returning to bed with the santoku knife – to protect herself with, she claimed. Thankfully – or maybe not, given that Sunset was now beginning to suspect large-scale issues affecting everyone but her – no one had been awoken by Twilight’s screams or Sunset’s own when she realized Twilight had come to bed with a sharp object, so Sunset used the sleeping spell on her once more and fixed everything. Again.

Needless to say, she’d gotten no sleep that night. And now with the moon entering its waning phase, she couldn’t risk using her magic on something as trivial as a refresher spell, in case something happened to Twilight again. But sleep had to come sooner or later, and she was never one for early mornings to begin with….

“Well, don’t let it happen again,” the teacher said and walked back to the front of the class, leaving Sunset to wonder if she was going to beat this crisis, or become its next victim by proxy.

“Psst….” Sunset looked out of the corner of her eyes to see Fluttershy, seated next to her, with a worried look on her face. “You don’t look so good, Sunny,” the chiffon-haired teen whispered. “Are you o—”

“Ms. Fluttershy,” Dusty Chalkboard called from the front of the class, “while you are one of my best students, the same conditions apply to you as well.” Fluttershy immediately froze, then tried to crawl into the crevasses of her chair, away from the prim and proper teacher’s gaze. Chalkboard then fixed her glare on the whole of the class and pronounced, “Class may be out in two weeks, students, but until that time you are still in school and it is still my responsibility to educate you. So, please focus.”

Sunset gave Fluttershy a brief glance that indicated they’d talk later at lunch; with that, Sunset went back to trying to stay awake while focusing on the class. Admittedly, while she was deficient in US History for obvious reasons and she couldn’t see what use whatsoever it would be for her in the future, at the same time she also had to admit that with her life now permanently grounded on this world, if there was any reason she could need it in her (human) adult years, she’d need to add it to the list of things requiring a change. Her personal plan was to once again reclaim her mantle as the top student in the school, just as she’d been during her education in Equestria.

Besides, she now had a family she didn’t want to disappoint.

“Here,” Fluttershy said, handing a coffee to the half-dead Sunset. “This should make you feel better.”

“Thanks, Flutters,” Sunset gasped in relief before downing the cup of brown joy as though her life depended on it. “I swear, trying to find out what the hell is going on is killing me. I’m getting no sleep, and even when I am, I’m either serving as a body pillow for Twily or having to restrain her before she does something insane again.”

“So, you’re your sister’s dutch wife?” Rainbow cracked. “Did you at least get to put on a bikin—”

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy warned, glaring at her friend. For reasons that no one could understand, when Fluttershy glared at someone, people tended to feel very uncomfortable at best, if not outright panicky. Nobody knew who had come up with its nickname “The Stare”, complete with implied capitalization, but to all who had fallen into its gaze, it was an accurate assessment.

“Hey, I was just kidding. But seriously, Sunny, you look like shit,” Rainbow replied, feeling a little guilty about introducing her friend to the museum. Whether or not Twilight’s issue was related, seeing Sunset run herself ragged brought out a protective streak in the rainbow-haired athlete.

“I most definitely agree…though I wouldn’t be as, ahem, ‘earthy’ in my description as Rainbow is,” Rarity agreed, her voice filled with sympathy. “I haven’t seen you in this bad a condition since…well, since the Homecoming affair. Even during your hospitalization, you were in much haler than this, Sunset, dear.”

“Maybe you should relax a bit, Sunny,” Pinkie added, her eyes radiating concern. “Twily’s important, no doubt about that, but you can’t help her if you wear yourself out!”

“Girls,” Sunset said in a tone that edged on the desperate side, “something is hurting Twily, something that can’t be stopped by conventional means. Don’t you think I would have done something else if could? It’s been going on for weeks! I’ve worn out all my options! It has to be magic and I’m the only one who can stop it!”

“But Su—”

“No! I can’t let Twily down! I can’t just sit here and watch her fall apart!” Tears started welling in Sunset’s eyes, but whether it was due to the exhaustion or the grief, she wasn’t sure – and she didn’t care anymore. “You guys don’t understand: I finally have a family now, and to lose them…I don’t know what I’d do.”

Applejack nodded. “Eyup, Ah c’n sympathahze. Ma an’ Pa were in a car accident when Ah was ‘bout nine or so. Doctors said they weren’t gonna survive, but thank th’ Lord they came through. Ah can’t imagine whut’d be like t’ not have parents, an’ Ah know how y’ feel.”

“But Sunny,” Fluttershy reminded her friend, “you’ll always have us. Don’t think you’re alone. Whatever we can do, you’re our friend…and so is Twily. We won’t let you be alone on this, we promise.” As one, the other four girls nodded without hesitation.

“Thanks, girls,” the former unicorn said once more, glad as always to have the five in her corner. With that, she almost felt as though she stood a chance of beating this, no matter the odds.

“Tavi, I can’t believe you just said that!” Sunset hissed over the phone. “We’re talking about Twily here!”

“Sunny, you’re overreacting,” the voice on the other line retorted. “And frankly, I don’t know why the hell you’re freaking out about this. Like Aunt Velvet said, this is just a phase. I know I went through one when I was younger because of my…well, you know. And you went through one as well; far worse than I did. Twily’s just late to the party, so to speak. But I’ll tell you what you once told me: that’s life, and you can’t avoid it.” A pause of silence filled a few seconds’ time, before Octavia spoke again. “I’m sorry, okay? I’ve got my own issues right now, like trying to figure what I’m going to move into the new bedroom at your place. Plus, I want to spend as much time as I can with my parents before they leave, because I don’t see them enough as is and Skype is a poor substitute for having family around.”

“Fine,” Sunset growled. Part of her wanted to be furious with Octavia’s callousness, but she knew her friend and near-cousin better than that. Octavia always used brusqueness and sarcasm as a defense, and not only was it something that wasn’t going to change overnight – Sunset knew that better than anyone – but she was probably also feeling a little left out of things, given how close she and Twilight were.

“Sunny, I’m not trying to be a bitch. You’re not the only one who loves Twily, you know, and it hurts for me to see her like this and not be able to do anything,” Octavia admitted. “But I promise she’ll be fine once she heads on vacation. All she needs is some down time to unwind, something all of us could use right now – it’s been a hell of a year for all of us. And my situation isn’t going to get any easier anytime soon, so…well, weren’t you the one who told me just to roll with the punches?”

Yeah, I did tell her that, Sunset recalled, though she said nothing.

“Look, my parents want to go the movies, and…look, we’ll talk later, okay? Just, please, Sunny, relax. I’ve already got one cousin unraveling and I feel almost there myself. I don’t need you to go bugfucky on me as well.”

“Okay. Talk to you later then,” Sunset said as she clicked of the line. Slipping the phone back into her pocket, she went back to waiting the tables. It was a slow day at Sugarcube Corner Café, or else she wouldn’t have had the time to call.

“Problems at home?” Blossomforth asked. With both Pinkie and Mrs. Cake not on-schedule today, that left the two of them to pretty much run the place while Mr. Cake was doing paperwork in the back office.

“Yeah, just a few. But nothing I can’t handle,” Sunset replied with a smile.

“That’s good.” The floral-haired girl looked down at her swelling belly, and at the young life nestled within. “I want this little one to grow up to be as tough and reliable as her – or his – Auntie Sunny,” Blossomforth said with an infectious smile which soon disappeared as she added, “It’s just too bad the baby won’t have much of a father to rely on.”

Sunset caught that tone immediately. “Need me to talk to his Royal Dickheadedness?”

Blossom shook her head. “You were right, Sunny. Flash isn’t the person I thought he was. I know that he didn’t want to be a father, but I’d thought that at least the fact that I was going to keep the child might bring him around. But that was stupid of me. And all I’m going to be is just another unwed teen mom.”

“Not just another one,” Sunset said with a grin. “One with friends who care about you.”

“Yeah! Totally!” a familiar voice said behind her. “Oh, and speaking of which, we’ve got the baby shower set for July 12. My aunt and uncle insisted on closing the café just for the occasion and we’re going to have everyone over!”

Blossomforth giggled softly. “You didn’t have to, Pinkie, really!”

“Actually, if you want to thank someone, thank Minuette and Waterfire. They both insisted on it, and….” Pinkie suddenly trailed off as she looked out the window and gasped. Someone was standing in the middle of the street, as if playing a deadly game of chicken with the cars. The person swayed back and forth as though he (or she; it could be female, Sunset admitted) was intoxicated, and given that, they likely weren’t in the best of conditions to tell right from wrong – or suicide from wisdom. The person wore a pristine white hoodie covering his/her head, one that was likely going to be stained with his own blood soon if someone didn’t do something.

Blossomforth suddenly gasped in shock, but Sunset reacted instantly. Racing through the door, she sprinted into traffic towards the person, hoping to pull him or her out of the street before he got pancaked. As Sunset got closer, she realized the figure was likely a girl, after all, given the body frame; and she didn’t seem to care that she was at risk of being killed by a car at any moment; that was bad enough. But as Sunset got close enough to see a tri-colored lock of hair, all of purple hues, poke out of the hood, her heart went into panic. Fighting the ice water now roiling through her veins, she pushed herself even harder.

Just then, a semi lumbered towards the girl, unable to stop; the girl in question didn’t have time to move. Sunset grabbed her and with the only thing she could think of to do: she began casting teleportation, a major-level spell. She didn’t have the strength for it, she knew; through all these years, she was restricted to just the most basic of spells, and when she tried to cast something stronger, like the mid-level spell she used to identify the members of The Club, that had drained her for most of the day. But while teleporting was something only the most powerful of unicorns could accomplish – fortunately, she was one of those – here on Earth, where there was no steady magic she could draw from, it was suicide at best.

But a life was at stake. There was no choice, and she couldn’t duck two people under the semi. Closing her eyes as she could hear the squeal of a truck hitting the brakes, she let the magic flow over her whole body and that of her counterpart. The cyan energy poured through both in the fraction of a second and they bounced—

—across the street, hard against the pavement. To a casual-onlooker, it looked almost as though Sunset had a near-burst of inhuman speed – freakish, but not unheard of – and crashed just while on the pavement. In Sunset’s eyes, the world spun and the edges of her vision danced in a red haze before she passed out.

“Sunny!”

Sunset opened her eyes. More along the lines, she was woken by drops of water splashing on her face. It took a second for her to realize they were tears. It took another second to look up into the face where they were coming from.

“I almost got you killed Oh God I’m so sorry,” Twilight moaned as she fiercely hugged Sunset, crying up a storm. “It was just supposed to be me, Sunny! Just me!”

What? Sunset’s brain shut down as her foster sister’s words echoed in her mind. Twilight had just tried to kill herself, and it had only been by the purest fraction of luck that Sunset had pulled a rabbit out of her hat. She felt as sore as if she’d run a marathon, and she felt like she wanted to vomit – and likely would if she moved. But none of that mattered compared to the confession Twilight had just made.

“Why?” Sunset was too burnt, too exhausted to be afraid or angry. It wasn’t as though she didn’t care; quite the contrary. But she couldn’t bring herself to summon the strength for an emotional outburst.

“Because it’s going to kill me,” Twilight sobbed. “I can’t sleep anymore. I’m afraid every moment – I can’t focus anymore! Sunny, I…I want to die. It’s the only way I’ll be free—”

“NO!” Sunset grabbed Twilight by the shoulders, shaking her violently. “Don’t you dare say that, Twilight! Don’t do this to me!” she moaned, on the verge of breaking down herself. Twilight had just tried to kill herself – and it had only been by a miracle that Sunset had been able to save her. As the crowds started to encircle them, Sunset wanted to shout at them, Where the fuck were you when she was in danger, you tools? But the truck was already gone, the driver not wanting to stick around lest he have to explain his side of the story. Others, now realizing both girls were okay, went back to their normal routines, figuring that someone else would take care of it. Problem was, that someone else was now reaching the end of her own rope.

“Twily?” Sunset could suddenly feel Pinkie’s arms around them both, holding them and lending what strength she could. Sunset wanted to cry both in anguish and relief at that point, but she dared not, not in the condition she was in right now and not with Twilight needing her to be the strong one. As she forced away the tears, Sunset turned to look at Pinkie, who had a worried look on her own face. Behind her, was Mr. Cake, having been apparently told what was going on.

“Twily? What happened?” the cotton-candy-haired girl asked once more.

“Pinkie, I—”

“She’s not feeling well,” Sunset interjected. “If you don’t mind, I think I should get her home.”

“No argument there,” Carrot replied. “C’mon, let’s go back to the café. I’ll give you two a lift home.” Pinkie said nothing, instead looking sadly at Twilight, having been appraised earlier of what her friend was going through. Instead, the cheerleader glomped her friend, cooing, “Don’t give up, Twily! Don’t give up on us!”

Sunset didn’t know what to say at that point, but she knew this much: she was damn lucky to have Pinkie as a friend.

“You’re grounded,” Night said angrily. “No afterschool activities until school lets out for the year.” Twilight looked at him with fear as he added, “Go to your room, and don’t come out until you’re ready to apologize for what you did.” Sighing in resignation, Twilight trudged up the stairs like a prisoner headed towards the execution chamber.

Sunset looked at her foster parents with aplomb. All they’re doing is just grounding her? What the hell? At that point, Sunset would have cast a spell if she could to see if they were brainwashed, but even with a full moon, she’d drained herself so thoroughly that she felt like a cellphone with too little power to boot properly.

“Sunny, sit down,” Velvet said in a gentle but firm tone. Sunset did, her foster parents joining soon after. “Honestly, after what Mr. Cake told us, I don’t know if I should hug you forever or ground you as well. That was stupid of you to do – you could have gotten yourself killed! But at the same time…you saved Twily, and I can’t even begin to thank you.” The look on the matron’s face was an emotional spectrum, as though she’d gone on a rollercoaster ride of the psyche and was just getting off.

“I think we should let you know: we went through her room today, but didn’t find any drugs or alcohol. We’ve asked the school to go through her locker there as well; her principal was stunned, but they complied. I’ve also asked Evening and Ballad to go through Tavi’s room, too, since while I don’t think she’s involved, I do know she’d cover for Twily if anything was happening. Obviously, we don’t suspect you, but we would like you to check the house while we’re on vacation. There are plenty of places she could have hidden anything – obviously, she’s a smart girl.”

“But she just tried to kill herself! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Sunset broke down in tears at that point, both from the emotional drainage and the confusion of what was going on.

“It’s why we’re grounding her, dear.” Velvet got up and embraced her foster daughter. “I know it seems…odd…but you have to trust that we’re doing the right thing, Sunny. We’re not going to just let this go: Twilight is still seeing a counselor for the January incident and while that was supposed to be wrapping up at the end of the school year, we can request it be continued once we return from vacation.”

“Maybe Twily just needs someone else to talk to in order to get this off her chest,” Night suggested. “There are always things that you’re afraid to talk about with your family, that you can’t bring yourself to say no matter what.”

“I guess,” Sunset replied, not wanting to think about the things she was hiding from them at the moment.

“But no matter what, Sunny, we’re proud of what you did today. Don’t forget that,” he told her, while Velvet gently kissed her foster daughter on the forehead.

“I…I won’t,” Sunset said, her heart sinking. What was wrong with her foster parents? Why couldn’t they see Twilight was falling apart? Why did they insist this was a “phase”? Sunset wanted to scream and demand they get help for Twilight, but…what if they were affected as well? They likely were, she knew.

What if I’m the only one inured from all this because of my magic? And….

She went to bed that night with even less answers than before.

May 26: The Mirror Conspiracy

As usual, the last week of school was filled with mostly goofing off and trying to keep the students under control while the promise of summer beckoned. Today was no different, being a school-wide field trip to the Equestria County Museum of Art & History. The reason for this was the full unveiling of the whole Baldassare di Cavalcanti exhibit, including the legendary and mysterious Mirror of Cavalcanti. For that reason alone, Sunset made sure she was going, though every instinct screamed at her to take the optional study day so she could sleep in the library.

As expected, most of the teens were interested in the Baldassare exhibition for no other reason than to make jokes about the historical old dude who thought he was an all-powerful wizard thanks to a unicorn he Tivo’d in a mirror. Waterfire encapsulated the whole thing perfectly when she commented, “Y’know, if I had a mirror like that, I think I’d have asked for something more practical, like being made Queen of Italy or something.” However fearsome his reputation had been during his lifetime, centuries later, he probably would have been less than enthused to know he was considered a historical joke, while his contemporaries John Dee and Giordano Bruno were thought of much higher than he…if he was even thought of at all.

Of more interest, however, was the painting that depicted Baldassare’s wife, Crisalide della Luca, looking at the black unicorn as though she’d planned a romp with it of an entirely different kind. Many of the students made classy and erudite remarks such as “we know where that horn’s going” as well as similarly bawdy jokes. One or two boys commented that if she was that interested in the unicorn, she would have run off with one of them first, because they were far more “packed” than any unicorn. A few of the girls made fun of the period clothing, figuring that even though that was contemporary fashion at the time, honestly, could she have tried to look a little better considering she was the wife of a supposedly all-powerful wizard?

Strangely enough, a few students were even interested in the exhibit for what it was. Trixie and Lyra continued their arguments on all things mystical and hermetical while Bon-Bon waited alongside the two with the patience of a saint. Derpy Hooves looked at the astrolabes Baldassare had commissioned and was interested in the computational aspects of them; her friend Carrot Top, however, looked bored as hell. Even Snips and Snails were taking a scholarly note of it all; Sunset had been surprised when Ms. Cheerilee had informed her that since she’d turned the corner on her attitude, she was having an effect on the two boys as well.

But none of that was important to Sunset at the moment. At the nonce, she was engrossed in the display of a computer screen showing high-resolution scans of Baldassare’s notes. As she tried to piece together what Trixie and Lyra had taught her about traditional Gematria and its Italian variant, she rifled through Google Translate on her phone, then filtered it through a Gematria app she’d downloaded. As expected, some of it made sense – one numerical value translated to “I am the eternal shadow” – while most of it didn’t – she had no idea what “the crystal heart sings proudly” meant, though it was likely random gibberish. Either way, she continued to take notes in the hope that some of it – any of it – would give her some clue how to proceed further in protecting Twilight.

“Curious?” Applejack’s voice rang behind her. As Sunset turned to face her friend, Applejack said in a soft tone, “Heard whut y’ did yest’rday. Ah have t’ say Ah’m impressed – an’ not jest ‘cause she’s yer sister. But…next time, jest be careful. Ah’d hate t’ see any o’ mah friends hurt.”

“I’m already hurting, AJ,” Sunset said in a small voice, “and it has yet to stop.” At the moment, she was feeling a sense of anxiety, as though she needed to run out of the room as fast as she could and never come back. She wasn’t sure what it portended, but whatever it meant, it was coming from the other side of the hall – where the mirror was.

“Sunny, Ah thought y’ understood y’ ain’t alone in this,” Applejack said, patting her friend on the shoulder. “We ain’t lettin’ ya go alone on this one.”

“Really?” Sunset retorted. “Because do you understand any of this? Because I am a unicorn, one of the best unicorn mages short of Princess Twilight, and I have no idea what any of this means! It’s all obscure references and ersatz comments from some weird guy who lived in the Florentine Republic and might have gotten ancient obscure wisdom from a unicorn who may or may not have gotten some nookie from the guy’s wife – the same wife the guy’s supposed to have killed!”

Applejack just looked at her friend, not knowing what to say. Finally, she voiced, “Doesn’t mean we aren’t here fer ya, Sunny.”

“I know,” Sunset said quietly, “and I love you all for that. But I’m already in over my head – you guys will drown in whatever’s going on.” An uneasy silence sat between the two girls before Sunset said, “Well, time for me to see what I came here for.”

“An’ that is?”

“The mirror. Something’s wrong about it.” And as the words left her mouth, she realized what the anxiety she was feeling was: it was her natural instincts as a pony, normally suppressed by her human body, telling her to run, that there was something powerful, evil, and dark in the room. She then looked in the direction where most of the people were: by the mirror. Even though it was safely behind bulletproof glass, she could see it even from where she was, across the room by the information terminals.

“I have to get closer,” Sunset insisted.

“No, y’ don’t,” Applejack countered as one of her eyebrows rose in reproach. “Ah know that voice, Sunny. Yer gonna do somethin’ stupid, aintcha?”

“AJ, you’re one of my best friends, so…what do you think?”

“Ah’ll go with ya. Someone has t’ keep ya out o’ trouble,” Applejack said with a grin.

Slowly making their way through the groups of museum visitors, the pair made their way to the riser overlooking the restricted area where the mirror sat behind bulletproof polycarbonate. And with just a few steps, Sunset Shimmer found herself facing the Mirror of Cavalcanti, the possible source of everything that was happening to her sister. At first glance, the whole display was nothing special: The mirror stood about six feet in height, and was for the most part a typical construct of its time, composed of wood, glass and silver. But it was the details that made it stand out from typical mirrors of its type: the wood was covered in gold leaf and various symbols, many of which Sunset did not recognize, were carved into its face. The gems carved into the shapes of the cutie marks – and they were cutie marks, she was sure of it – were much larger than expected; typically here on earth, the largest gems rivalled golf-balls in size on average. But the five present here…by the size of them, roughly the same diameter as softballs, they had to be from Equestria, where small gems tended to be the size of hooves.

One of the gems, the ruby cutie mark, had been removed and was sitting on a burgundy pillar inside a glass case next to the mirror display. By them both, a sign read:

The central gem, known as Il Rubino delle Ombre (the Ruby of Shadows), fell out of its socket unexpectedly while at its normal display location in the Castello di Cavalcanti on November 10, 2012. Two of the other gems, the Emerald of Night (Lo Smeraldo della Note) and the Diamond of the Arts (Il Diamante delle Arti) are loose in their settings but have not fallen out. The remaining two gems, the Amethyst of the Sun (L’Ametista del Sole) and the Sapphire of the Moon (Lo Zaffiro della Luna) are still firmly attached.

Finally, Sunset looked at the mirror itself. But where people saw their reflection, she saw her reflection: the maize-hued unicorn that she used to be. She let out a slight gasp, completely shocked.

“You okay?” Applejack whispered.

“I see myself. As in kinda fuzzy?”

Applejack knew in a heartbeat what that meant. “Yer kiddin’.”

“No, I’m not – take my hand and I’ll cast a truesight charm on you.”

“No offense, or nothin’, sugarcube, but if’n Ah do that, people’re gonna think we’re like Lyra an’ Bon-Bon.”

“Good point,” Sunset answered. “Okay, then this: I’ll put my hand on the rail, then you ‘accidentally’ brush yours against mine and I can quick cast it then.” Without waiting for an answer, Sunset leaned forward on the rail, placing her hands down for support. Applejack leaned in a second later, “inadverntently” placing part of her hand on Sunset’s. Applejack then felt a tingle in her hand, and as she looked into the mirror, she saw herself standing next to an adorable little unicorn, leaning up just over the railing. A second later, the former farmgirl broke contact with a faux-embarrassed mutter of, “Whoops, sorry.” However, she continued to see herself and the unicorn Sunset in the mirror, the spell still holding.

“How long does this last?” she whispered.

“About an hour or so,” Sunset replied, “but you’ll only see my true form in reflections.” However, her voice quavered as her mind roiled with the realization that she now had proof: the mirror was a doorway to Equestria, just like the statue in front of the school. However, while that door remained closed for another two-and-a-half years, this one was wide open…and something from the other side was coming through to hurt Twilight.

Could this be the start of Celestia’s attack on me? Is she finally coming for my head? The thought gripped Sunset’s heart in panic in a way not even demonization had done. But…the princess would never attack an innocent just to get to me, would she? No, she’s not like that – she only hates me, and I don’t think she’d ever allow an innocent, even one tied to me, to get caught in the crossfire. Besides, Princess Twilight is her surrogate daughter, the pony I could never be – and she wouldn’t raise a hoof against Twilight’s counterpart.

No, she decided, that had to be it. Celestia might hate her with every fiber of her being…but she could never hate Twilight, even an alternate universe version of her. So it couldn’t be her, Sunset realized. But even that line of thought led to madness. What if something else is attacking her? There are plenty of other monsters in Equestria, if not on Equus, and any number of them would be willing to try something. Sunset remembered that long ago a monstrous centaur, whose name she could not recall, would have destroyed Celestia had it not been for the monster’s brother changing sides and joining Celestia’s army. Though the monster was likely sentenced to Tartarus, could he have escaped and discovered a path to Earth? But if so, why harm Tw—

Because she’s the alternate version of Celestia’s own daughter, Sunset realized, her blood running cold. It doesn’t matter that Twilight and Twily are different – it’s their similarities that such an enemy would throw in the Princess’ face. Plus, her mind added, it might not be that enemy. It could be another changeling army; after all, we don’t know much about them and even the similar myths on Earth are better documented than we had in Equestria. The Minotaur King might have his eye on conquest once more. Hell, I think I once read about an evil, dark alicorn that challenged Celestia for the supremacy of the skies – could that have been the “black unicorn” Baldassare meant?

Sunset lost her footing, collapsing at the realization. She wasn’t just a single unicorn like Star Swirl the Bearded, facing against the world’s evils and monstrosities; she was an incompletely-trained archmage candidate – and a fallen one at that – with nearly all of her power stripped away, facing a new doorway to the world she came from…a world she knew to have far worse evils than anything on Earth. A few weeks back, Rainbow, after having watched the new Godzilla movie, asked Sunset if there was anything in Equestria that could take on the giant lizard. Sunset answered honestly that an Ursa Major could…and would likely win. Lunch that afternoon had been subdued after that.

I have no power to save my sister, Sunset thought, her body going numb as she sat there on the floor, curling into herself. Something’s attacking her, and I’ll never know the reason why – just that if I can’t stop it somehow, she’s going to die! But I can’t…. No…I can’t let Twily die. I’d never forgive myself. I…she’s my sister. Foster, whatever – she’s my family, and I….

“Ms. Shimmer?” a gentle voice said, as she felt gentle hands pull her up. “Come with me, please.” She turned to look at Principal Celestia, looking at her with concerned eyes.

Sunset wasn’t sure how long she was in the so-called “easy room” at the museum. The room was set up for those who had vertigo or anything that would require a museum visitor to rest until recovered or paramedics arrived. Each of the four buildings that made up the ECMAH campus had one, and Sunset was in the main one, nestled within the building’s administrative spaces.

“Good, you’re up.” As Sunset sat up, she saw Celestia standing there, a bottle of water in her hand. “Drink this. It should make you feel better.” Sunset gratefully took it, and as she unscrewed the cap, she heard the principal say, “Applejack was kind enough to explain that you were feeling weak from lack of sleep as of late…but she couched it in a manner that makes me think something else is the matter.”

Sunset wordlessly nodded, but asked, “Where are my friends?”

“They’re waiting outside. The buses departed back to school an hour ago, but they refused to leave, so Luna and I offered to remain and watch over you six. I also contacted your parents; while Velvet’s in a meeting over in Chico, I managed to get a hold of Night’s office and he’s ending his class early so he can come get you.”

“Thanks. Can you call the gi—”

“SUNNY!” A high-speed magenta blur slammed into Sunset, knocking her off the bench. Sunset found herself looking up into the very worried eyes of Pinkie Pie. “Are you gonna be okay?” she asked.

“Well I was,” Sunset winced, “until you rocketed into me at about a hundred miles per hour, Pinks.”

“Oh, sorry. Oh! But at least you’re okay!” Pinkie said, then liberally applying a bear hug to Sunset.

“Not if you’re intent on putting me back in the hospital, Pinkie!” Sunset grunted.

“Sor~ry!”

“Okay, Pinks, that’s ‘nough,” Applejack replied, gently pulling the cheerleader off Sunset. “How y’ holdin’ up, sugarcube?” she asked.

“I’ve been better, considering I just found another open door to Equestria!” Sunset explained.

“What?” the whole room asked in unison.

Sunset then explained everything that she’d discovered in the past couple of months. For Celestia and Luna, they were both shocked that Sunset had been dealing with everything the whole time – and both promised to speak to Velvet and Night about it. As for the others, they were of mixed emotions; they were already worried about Sunset running herself to the point of exhaustion, but glad that she was willing to do so for someone she cared about.

“Ya know,” Rainbow chimed in, “Since Twily’s dealing with all this crap and you’re burning yourself out from something that supposedly comes from your home planet, maybe we can send word to Princess Twilight for help?” As Sunset glared at her, Rainbow shrugged and said, “Hey, Sunny, you and Twily are my friends and I don’t like seeing my friends get thrashed by some puto I can’t deal with. So since I can’t, all I can do is suggest someone who can.”

“I also think it would be worth the effort,” Rarity advised, “to get word to Princess Twilight. I, for one, would be glad to see her again, and I daresay she has a vested interest in keeping this doorway closed so it will not be abused.”

“I agree that we should ask Princess Twilight to step in,” Fluttershy added, in unison with Rarity and Rainbow. One by one, the others in the room also decided the same thing.

All that is…except for Sunset.

“I want to destroy that thing,” Sunset said. “It’s the only option I can think of.”

“Sunset, as proud as I am of you thinking about it, I cannot condone this,” Celestia stated, giving the former pony a stern glance. “You do realize that you are talking about a priceless foreign antique, right?”

“No, I’m talking about a gateway from my homeworld that is killing my sister – you know, the daughter of your best friend?” Sunset retorted. “If I just sit here and do nothing…Twily will die, whether by her own hand or from something using the gateway. And I won’t let that happen!” The tears from earlier came back with a vengeance, and a single rivulet cascaded down Sunset’s cheek. “I’ve used every spell at my disposal to stop it, and I can’t!” She looked at them all. “Twily just tried killing herself last week! She did it in order to escape whatever she was running from. It was a miracle that I was able to save her – and it came close for both of us. The next time…I might not be there! The next time might be too late!”

The room fell silent, save for Sunset’s sobbing. After a few more minutes, she recomposed herself and said, “I have to stop that mirror, one way or another. This isn’t about my past or whether I made up for it – it’s about saving Twily. And I’m willing to pay whatever price it takes to save her.”

“Does that include killing everyone on this world?” Luna asked. Sunset suddenly looked as though she’d been slapped. Now assured that she had the teen’s attention, the vice principal continued. “It wasn’t that long ago that when people first considered splitting the atom, they were afraid that the explosion would set off a chain reaction that would melt the world. And these were the finest minds that humanity had at the time. Now, you may be very skilled at what you do on your world, Sunset; I don’t have that proof, and we largely have only your word to go by. But even still, can you confirm that simply breaking the mirror will cause no harm to anyone on this world – the world you yourself have chosen as your home? You may save Twilight from what’s disturbing her, but you may doom us all in the process.”

“My sister’s right, Sunset – if what you’re saying is true, that mirror was made centuries ago, by another one of your kind. Unless you know exactly what to do to shield the damage, you might end up making things worse,” Celestia added. “Granted, I know nothing about magic, but I suspect it follows the general same rules as anything else in life – that there are many different ways of accomplishing the same result.”

“Plus, Sunny,” Rainbow piped up, “you have told us that you’re not as strong as you used to be because your magic is weaker here.” For that, she got a glare from Sunset, but the athlete stood her ground. “Look, I know you love your sister and your family, and I respect that – you know you’re one of my best friends and you know that I’m happy for you. But I love my family as well and as much as I hate to say it, I have to think of them as well.”

“But I know it’ll work!” Sunset insisted.

“No you don’t,” Pinkie replied. “Do you remember when you were going to smash the school statue with a sledgehammer? Twilight told us that though she’d forgotten at the time, ultimately you wouldn’t have succeeded; the magical shield was too strong. And what if it’s the same in this case? What if you have to use more magic than you have in order to break it? You could hurt yourself – and then there would be nobody to help Twily.”

“I know a lot of magical theory has changed since the last time I was home on a regular basis,” Sunset said, grasping at straws, “and I know a lot of that had to do with Twilight’s work. Besides, the mirror’s ancient – the magic has to have worn off.”

“An’ yet y’ could feel it ‘cross a packed room,” Applejack added. “Not tryin’ t’ shootcha down er anythin’, Sunny, but mah very uneducated guess is that if’n th’ mirror could do that, then there’s no real chance it’s weak sauce, either.”

“But I have to put a stop to it somehow!”

“Then you’ll come up with a way,” Celestia said, encouragingly. “Despite all the…trouble…you’ve been over the years, I have never been able to deny that you’re a very inventive girl with a lot of potential, Sunset. And in the past year, you’ve gone a long way towards proving that. I don’t doubt that you’ll find a way to solve this. Sunset Shimmer…I believe in you.”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Sunset heard those words from an individual of authority named Celestia. And while she knew the one who she’d once known wanted to kill her, this one at least wanted her to succeed. And succeed, one way or another, she would.

The drive back home was subdued. Celestia and Luna explained to Night that Sunset had passed out from exhaustion and that she needed some rest. While that much was true, both women knew that the whole explanation was not going to be forthcoming, and both of them hated to lie to the man who was essentially now Sunset’s father, and a dear friend before that. They had also had a more personal talk with Night about everything that was going on in their household, and while Night had convinced her that they were doing everything they could to help Twilight through her difficult time, Celestia assured Sunset they would continue to monitor the situation. While there was nothing much they could do about it from her point of view, as Velvet’s friend and Sunset’s educator, she was determined to do whatever she could.

As Sunset got out of the car, Night said tiredly, “Well, since your mother is on the way back home, I told her to stop at Golden Scimitar’s to pick up kabob for all of us, if that’s okay with you.”

“That’s great, thanks,” she said, noticing that he’d called his wife her mother, a sign of how much she now belonged with them. Moreover, she didn’t bother to correct him, not wanting to. Technically none of it was true – but technicalities, Sunset had long since learned, were just speedbumps in the overall reality of life.

“I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit,” she told him. Not because she was lying – she genuinely still felt a little punchy from the afternoon’s events – but because she needed to get back to her studies of the situation, though now she realized that her initial approach of shielding Twilight from the damage wasn’t going to work. Instead, her focus now lay in trying to destroy that thing, both before it destroyed Twilight and before it caused any further damage.

“Sunny?” She paused, looking back at Night. He looked at her with a forlorn look on his face. “I know this doesn’t seem normal or right, but…all families go through rough patches. My parents were heavily set against my brother going into the military. Vel’s parents weren’t happy about her turning down Princeton just to attend Canterlot State because Tia decided to come here. My parents wanted me to be a medical doctor instead of a scientific one. Even when Shining was your age, he and Twily used to bicker, not much differently than you two and Spike now. It’s just the way things are.”

Sunset stood there, not knowing what to say. What could she say? She never knew her birth parents, and while she was at the Canterlot Orphanage for the first five years of her life, she had never recalled it being a hardscrabble life there, as the caretakers worked on all hooves to make sure the children were happy. And then her successive years as Celestia’s student, everything had been perfect, though in the end she had no one to blame for having no friends or fellow students to work with. Even Twilight, who had begun her tutelage under Celestia when Sunset was sixteen, could have served as a surrogate little sister to Sunset.

But now a very different Twilight was serving that need – and that Twilight was in danger, and there was no way to get a hold of the one that defeated her. Her only hope was severing the connection between Equus and Earth, for once and for all. It would leave her permanently stranded on Earth, but it was an option she was willing to live with.

After all, I have nothing back there.

Sunset stood on a burnt, blackened cliff, overlooking a blasted plain that was half-glass. The area around her had looked as though it had been the result of a thermonuclear explosion – while she’d never seen anything like that in real life, over the past few months she’d watched enough movies that displayed the ravaging effects of humanity’s most powerful weapon. It both shocked and horrified her that her adopted species could come up with something that rivaled the worst of black magic in destructiveness, but war was never something that made sense anyway.

The sky looked unnatural as well: mammatus clouds of burnt umber, with searing stitches of green lightning racing across their lengths. The whole vista, when taken together, looked more like something out of a heavy metal music video than anything else. She halfway expected Evil Centaurs Inc. to start performing “I Ate It All” with Tirek’s growling, bassy voice belting out the lyrics while slamming down on his throbbing, thundering guitar.

“It’s sad, isn’t it?” a voice said. Sunset turned to see Twilight Sparkle – the alicorn – standing next to her in her full regalia. Curiously, though, she wasn’t wearing the tiara that held the Element of Magic, but instead a crown of a different kind, a spiky lattice that contrasted with Celestia’s rounder, softer crown. The flame-haired girl figured that made sense; after what Sunset had once done, it would make sense to keep the Element of Magic under safer wraps; and besides, the spikier crown much more befitted Twilight’s status as Equestria’s warrior princess.

“What’s sad, Twilight?” Sunset asked. Hearing the alicorn’s voice…it was hard to separate her from Twily. Normally, she could, but for this one moment in time, somehow, it seemed impossible.

And maybe I shouldn’t, she reasoned. They exist to fill the same niche. But they are different people, she then realized a second later. Being princess of the United States wasn’t exactly going to be Twily’s destiny. President, someday? Maybe, who knew? But Sunset’s foster sister wasn’t set on a course for alicornhood anytime soon.

“What you did, Sunset,” Twilight responded, lifting a hoof, then sweeping it through the air. “While I was only here a short time, I remember it being beautiful in its own way,” she said mournfully.

“What are you talking about, Sparkle?” Sunset asked, as she turned to face Twilight. But as she moved her foot, it clanged against something metal. Sunset looked down, and her heart suddenly stopped. The metal was twisted and blackened, but the field-green paint of the background was still somewhat present, as was the white reflective tape that read

C a n t e r l o t
CITY LIMIT
POP 468,200 ELEV 495

What? But…! Sunset looked at the sign, then to the cliffside she was on and then the valley below. But it wasn’t a cliff and a valley – she stood on the lip of a massive blast crater, with the blackened rocks in the center now revealed as the last remnants of the tallest building of what had once been America’s thirty-seventh largest city.

“How?” she asked, not comprehending.

“You destroyed the mirror,” Twilight Sparkle said. “You tried to save the sister you loved so much, and yet in doing so…you doomed two worlds.”

“Two worlds?”

The alicorn nodded. “Didn’t you ever wonder what the mirror was connected to? Not all portals are the same way, you know.” Twilight fixed her eyes on the horizon and said, “I once found a portal that was connected to a bottomless pit on the other side. Only flying creatures could make the four-mile journey upwards to escape it. But in the case of the mirror? You thought it was connected to the Black Unicorn, didn’t you? It wasn’t.”

“What w—”

“Steeplechase Mountain.” When Twilight uttered the words, Sunset’s eyes opened wide in horror. Steeplechase Mountain was the largest mountain on Equus, far larger than Earth’s largest mountain – Everest, K2 or Mauna Kea, depending on who you asked – and if anything, was closer in size to Olympus Mons, on Earth’s neighboring world of Mars. But Steeplechase was a dormant volca….

NO!

Twilight nodded as she saw realization bodyslam itself onto Sunset’s features. “The mirror awoke Steeplechase, made it erupt in the worst way. Equestria, Minos, so many nations – all gone now. I survived by escaping through Platinum’s mirror, but now I’m trapped here on Earth – forever. All my friends, all my family…Celestia – gone. And without her or me…Equus’ sun will spin out of control, and everything on the planet will die.

“And as for here…Earth escaped the backlash, but not by much. You’re standing at the southernmost part of the crater, which stretches as far west as Horseshoe Bay, north to just past Brambleton, over the Oregon state line, and all the way east just short of Ponyville. The authorities estimate that about two million people, all in all, died.”

“Died?”

“Died…because you wanted to save your sister. And that’s two million humans, by the way,” Twilight spoke, an anger climbing into her voice. “Meanwhile, back on Equus – the world you came from – the two billion inhabitants are dead or will be soon.” Sunset looked as Twilight looked at her, anger in her equine eyes. “You killed millions! Who gave you the right? You killed both of your kinds – pony and human – just to save one life! One single life! You committed genocide. Was it worth it?”

Sunset stood there, looking at the Element of Magic, now the former ruler of a soon-to-be-dead world she couldn’t return to. Sunset couldn’t find the words to say – “sorry” wasn’t simply going to be enough – it would never be enough.

“I never wanted this!” she finally said, pointing at the destruction. “I wanted to save Twily! Wouldn’t you have wanted to save your family if you were in my shoes?”

“But you couldn’t even pull that off,” Twilight said, pointing to a grave on a solitary hill. Withered, weakened grass, the only thing growing in this blighted land, surrounded a weathered and worn gravestone. A gravestone that read

Here Lies
TWILIGHT SPARKLE
Beloved Daughter, Sister and Friend

“You couldn’t even save her!” Twilight screamed. “The person you loved most and you killed her – because you know nothing about complex magic!”

Sunset dropped to her knees beside Twily’s grave. Her hands shook. “I…I can’t have done this! I was trying to save her!”

“YOU CAN’T SAVE ANYTHING IF ALL YOU DO IS DESTROY!” Twilight roared at her.

Sunset sat up, gasping for air. It was just a dream, she told herself. Just a dream. But even then, she knew she’d gone full circle: when she first arrived, she’d been the one to have nightmares on a regular basis. And now it was Twily doing so, and finally Sunset herself once again. None of this made sense anymore.

“Are you okay?” Sunset suddenly felt Twilight’s arms around her, holding her close.

“No, just a nightmare.”

A soft giggle. “That’s my job,” Twilight replied. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be the strong one?”

“The strong one?” Sunset asked. But I’m not. I can’t do anything to help you, Sunset thought ruefully. If I could, I would protect you from all this. “I’m not strong,” she finally voiced.

“Yes, you are,” Twilight responded. When Sunset looked at her with surprise, Twilight just seemed to look out the window at the fading moonlight as she said, “Whenever I need you, you’re always there.” She then turned to Sunset and said, “The one who’s not strong is me. I’m always leaning on you or Tavi for support. If anything, Fluttershy’s got a stronger spine than I do.”

“But Twi—”

Twilight put a gentle finger on Sunset’s lips, a tender touch that could easily be misunderstood if anyone else was present. “You think you’re lucky because you have us. It’s wrong. I’m the lucky one…because I have you. I would have died that day – I still want to, sort of. But you won’t let me. You protect me – even when I don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve it, sis,” Sunset replied, her heart welling. “You deserve to be happy.”

“As long as we’re together, Sunny,” Twilight said, “I’ll always be happy.”

“As long as we’re together, I’ll always be happy” rang in Sunset’s ears as the two sisters embraced. As they both lay down once again to try to get some sleep once more, Sunset lay in bed, eyes open.

I finally have something in my life that’s worthwhile, Sunset said, looking at the still form next to her. I finally have a life worth living. And I can’t lose it – no matter what. If I can’t destroy the mirror safely, then….

She gulped. Only one choice – the unthinkable – remained.

School’s out now, Sunset rued to herself. The school year’s over, Pinkie’s planning the party of the year tomorrow…and I’m here at the museum. Staring at my bane, and my sister’s potential killer. Indeed, the museum was fairly empty, leaving Sunset virtually alone in the Cavalcanti exhibition, with the girl staring into the mirror and the unicorn she used to be looking right back at her.

She looked away from the mirror, towards her hand as she flexed it. One single outburst of energy. It would drain me, since the moon is just coming off its new phase, but it would be enough to destroy the mirror. She sighed. But if I did….

A phrase suddenly came to mind and before Sunset realized it, she’d voiced it; it was from a documentary they’d watched in History class a few days ago: “‘We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”’”

There was an unexpected clapping sound behind her as a woman said in a sultry, accented voice, “I’m quite impressed: I would have expected that from Velvet’s other daughter.” Sunset turned around to see a woman standing there. She was clearly in middle age, but no less the more beautiful for it: she looked like a slightly-aged version of Cadance, but with Celestia’s hairstyle and a nebulous, flowing, sparkling look to her hair not unlike Luna.

“Do I know you?”

“No, but I am aware of who you are; my daughter talks about you often.” As Sunset hadn’t offered any divulgence of her identity, the woman grinned slightly and said, “I know you know who I am, you just can’t believe it, can you?” She chuckled, gracefully covering her laughter behind a hand. “Yes, I’m quite aware that I look younger than I am; Cadenza gets her beauty from my side of the family instead of my husband’s – though I must admit he’s quite easy on the eyes.” She stepped forward, offering a hand. “Well, let’s dispense with the informalities. My name is Armonia, and you are the older, adopted daughter of my sisters’ best friend, Twilight Velvet – Sunset Shimmer, am I right?”

“Well, more like fostered, not actually adopted,” Sunset admitted, shaking her hand. “But they apparently love me enough to think that way.”

“They do, I can assure you; else I wouldn’t know about you. I am not as close to Velvet as my sisters are, but Tia and Lulu have talked about you throughout the years – and I’m glad to hear that you’ve turned yourself around, young miss. Very much so, considering that you’re here in the museum when your fellow teenagers are far more interested in running out there amongst the streets and late spring entertainments that a post-school-year timeframe has to offer.”

Okay, I can see why Principal Celestia said she and Ms. Luna are nothing like their sister. She wasn’t kidding. For that matter, she isn’t much like Faust, either – I wonder why I thought she would be, Sunset considered. “Well, I like the museum.”

“But you don’t like this exhibition,” Armonia replied. “No, no need to deny it, I can see that in your eyes. You work at a museum long enough, you get to have a feel for people and how they think. And I see something in you that this exhibit brings a primal feeling out. I can’t say I blame you; I don’t care for this place, either.”

That wasn’t something that Sunset had expected to hear. “Why not?”

“Well, when it comes to traveling exhibitions, museums are just like any other business, in a sense: We have a finite amount of money with which we must use to catch the public’s attention. And while many of us would like to call in the classics – there’s a touring La Balançoire exhibit currently in Cloudsdale that we could have had – sometimes we must use what’s at our disposal. In the case, the board of directors overrode my suggestion on the La Balançoire and decided on this…mockery.”

“Mockery?”

“Of course, what else would it be? I know you’re aware that my family is from the same town that this idiot was from; there’s even a possibility he may even be a distant ancestor. But if so, he was a stain on his lineage, a man who believed that he could take short-cuts towards achieving his goals, regardless of whether or not anyone close to him suffered the consequences.” Armonia moved right next to Sunset, looking at the mirror. “Did you know that most historians believe that he murdered his young wife, either because of an affair she was having or because she could not bear an heir. However, one variation of the legend says that he gave her to the Black Unicorn as a gift in trade for more power, and that Baldassare watched as his wife and the Black Unicorn…consummated…before leaving through the mirror.”

“W-who would do anything like that?” Sunset wasn’t sure of what to be more disgusted by, the inter-species relationship (which was definitely impossible, insofar as human morals currently stood), Baldassare agreeing to the wife swap, or that he watched.

“Read up on the Ballet of Chestnuts sometime, young lady,” Armonia suggested. “Nobility of the time thought they could get away with anything – and given how the law was structured back then, they very well could. “In any case, it was also rumored that the Black Unicorn gave Baldassare ‘one of the earth’ – whatever that means – to take as a bride. What we do know, is that Baldassare’s second wife, Bruyère, despite her name was not of French birth; and that her birth name might have been Suolo di Cavillino. That last is important, as my family has Di Cavillino ancestry.”

“I see,” Sunset lied, focused more on the hated object before her.

“In any case, if all of it is a sham, then he was a charlatan and a fraud, possibly a murderer and an utter fiend. If any of it is true – which is impossible – then he was much worse than we could have ever imagined…and that thing,” she said, pointing to the mirror, “is a dangerous abomination that should not exist on this world.” Sunset was about to say reply, but Armonia sighed and then added, “Of course, none of it is true – the very existence of unicorns is preposterous, is it not?”

“I’m not sure I can answer that,” Sunset replied with a soft, nervous smile. “I could give an answer…but I’d be lying either way.”

Armonia chuckled, a grin breaking onto her face. “Small wonder mi amore thinks so highly of you. But, regardless of our little out of the way conversation, how much have you learned?”

“Learned?”

“Learning is a lifelong process, young lady. Just because you’re done with your school year – or even finish your scholarly pursuits within the next decade, doesn’t mean the learning has stopped. It only ends when you are dead.”

“Well, I’ve learned that this thing,” she said, referring to the mirror, “is something that I intensely dislike and that it bothers me.”

“And anything else?”

“That you’re corrupting my students again, aren’t you?” Celestia’s voice sounded as she approached the pair.

Armonia smiled. “Of course, cara bella – she’s your pupil and Velvet’s daughter, is she not?” she said with a saucy wink.

Celestia facepalmed. “And to think that I’m here to go over any last detail before your trip to Italy tomorrow,” she groaned.

“Of course. Well, I still have a museum to run,” Armonia said, “so I’ll leave you two here to sort out the detritus. See you later.” With that, the older woman sauntered down the steps, walking through the nearly-empty hall, leaving educator and pupil alone on the overhang.

“I know why you’re here,” Celestia told Sunset flatly, “and I cannot let you do it. It’s too dangerous. I don’t know the first thing about magic, and yet I have a feeling that you’re messing with things that you shouldn’t be trifling in, Ms. Shimmer. I know you want to sa—”

“Don’t,” Sunset said in a firm tone. “Just…don’t. Nothing you do or say is going to change my mind.” She turned away from Celestia and leaned on the railing sadly. “And I have to do this.”

“I will not let you destroy the mirror, Sunset. There are too many unknown variables, the least of which being that it’s a priceless antique.”

“Fine,” Sunset said, staring at her principal right in the eyes. “Because I came to a decision that…you’re right, I can’t destroy the mirror. Not in time to save Twily.”

“That’s a relief,” Celestia started. “Because for a moment, I thought you were going to do something ill-advi—”

“I’m going back to Equestria to fight whatever it is that’s hurting Twily. I’m going back through the mirror.”

“ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?” Rainbow railed at her friend. “What the fuck kind of crack are you on?” The rainbow-haired athlete got right in her friend’s face. “You are not going anywhere, and that’s final,” Rainbow seethed. The look in her burgundy-colored eyes could have been easily confused for rage, to someone who didn’t know her. But Sunset knew better: it wasn’t fury that was held fast in the eyes of Rainbow Dash, but worry.

She looked at them all, the majority of them having just stepped through the door at the empty school. The moment Sunset informed Celestia of her decision, the older woman did something completely unexpected: almost exploded with anger and worry, then ordered Sunset into her car, where the pair then drove in tense silence back to Canterlot High, where Sunset was parked – “for her safety” – in the faculty conference room while Celestia immediately called Luna, and then each of the girls. Thirty minutes later, the arrivals came…and they were not happy.

“I have to go back. It’s the only way to save Twily,” Sunset insisted as she spoke to them all. She could see the confusion in the eyes of the adults, and the worry and anger in those of her friends. “I’m out of ideas, and it’s the last thing I can think of.” She looked at her dearest friends, almost like sisters themselves, and just as dear to her as her family. Part of who she’d become now was due to them, and for that, she owed her friends a debt she could never repay.

“Sunny,” Applejack said, her voice genuinely quavering, “Ah don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Sunny, d-d-don’t g-go.” While Rainbow was agitated and Applejack concerned, Fluttershy was downright horrified. “Please!”

“It’s not permanent, girls,” Sunset said with a confidence she didn’t really feel. “This is my home now. I may have been born a unicorn, but now…well, I like who I am now, and I wouldn’t give that up for the world.”

Pinkie, however, reacted with her usual aplomb: “But she’ll kill you! You said so!”

“She’ll what?” both Celestia and Luna gasped.

Before Sunset could lie, Rarity interjected. “Sunset isn’t quite who she says she is. Her parental figure, as it was, is Princess Twilight’s mentor – Sunset was actually Princess Twilight’s predecessor. And said parental figure’s also the queen of the realm, if I understood the earlier explanation correctly.”

Luna looked at Sunset with disbelief. “You’re a princess?”

Sunset sighed, then glared at Rarity, who returned the reaction. Breaking off the look, she said, “No, I’m not a princess. I was just raised by one, the Grand Princess Regnant of the Dominion of Equestria. And if you must know, I’m a baroness. Or, well, I was going to be, but that’s all in the past now.”

“I sense there’s a story,” Luna replied.

“Yes, there is.” Sunset’s tone indicated that she wasn’t in the mood for a retelling.

In response, Celestia crossed her arms. “We have time.”

Twenty minutes and yet another brief retelling of her life, Sunset finished up with, “and that’s the whole thing. Now you know who I really am. Well, was – as far as I’m concerned, Sunset Shimmer the unicorn no longer exists. I’m just me, with a family, friends, and a very reluctant need to go back to face my past.”

“I’ll be honest, Sunset,” Celestia spoke. “I’m of two minds about this. Velvet is my best friend, and you are her daughter – in heart, if not legally. To see you risk your life against this ‘Princess’ who threatens you is something I don’t really care for.”

“Are you sure that Princess Twilight will not help you?” Luna asked.

“Twilight won’t go against her mentor,” Sunset said firmly, noting that for the first time, Celestia had called her by her first name; while the principal typically did that with most of her students, she never did with her “problem children” and to hear the change, it was the final indicator that Celestia now truly saw her as a troublemaking alien student a distant second, and as Twilight Velvet’s daughter first. “She might try to help change her mind, but in the end, she won’t stand against the Princess,” Sunset explained.

“Then we’ll go with you!” Pinkie declared, and as one, her other friends nodded in agreement. Even Fluttershy, who would be the last to agree to anything risky, stood with them.

“You can’t,” she told her friends. “You have families that rely on you all in some way or other. And I might not make it back, which would break my family’s heart. Fluttershy, who would watch Angel if you vanished? Pinkie, your aunt and uncle need you to help with the twins! Rainbow, Scootaloo looks up to her big sister – I couldn’t take that away from her. Applejack and Rarity, your families need you, too!”

“And Twily and Tavi both look up to you,” Rarity countered. “You can’t abandon them, Sunny!”

“No, but I don’t want to attend Twilight’s funeral by the end of the month, because if we’ve reached that point, who knows what the fuck is going to happen! Do any of you understand? I am a wanted fugitive by the Crown of Equestria, and I am only safe while I remain here on Earth! But to me, my family – my sister! – is more important than my own life!” Sunset slammed a fist against the particle board of the conference table, and while it didn’t break, she left a decent indentation. “I’d risk my life for any of you! But I can’t bear to live with survivor’s guilt. I’ve put up with too much already. I can’t afford to lose anything I love anymore.”

“There has to be some—”

“No! There’s not!” Sunset screamed. “There’s…not,” she added, modulating her volume. “Either I do this, or my sister dies. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I feel as though my life is no longer mine, and I’m just being dragged along on a predestined course without thinking it all through. I just know that I’m out of options….and Twily’s out of time…and I’m tired of justifying things or making excuses.” She flopped back in her chair.

“Either you help me or I’ll break in,” she swore. “And I will take on any- and everyone in my way that will prevent me from saving my sister. They gave me a life…and I’ll give mine to save Twily’s. And that’s all I’m going to say from this point.”

“If that’s your final decision—” Luna asked

“It isn’t. But it’s the only one left,” Sunset interjected.

“Then let us think about this,” Celestia said, feeling the tension in the air. “While I have no experience in any of this – who actually would? – I don’t like the idea of sending you to what might be a one-way ticket to death.” With that, she walked towards the door, opening it. “Step out for a second, would you, Ms. Shimmer?”

Sunset wasn’t sure how long she was out there. But it was Rarity who came out to get her. “Principal Celestia says she’ll come up with some way of getting us private access to the museum. It might be during the upcoming Summer Teen Super Session, though.”

“The what?”

“You know, for a person who’s spent a lot of time at the museum as of late, I’m surprised you missed that. It’s the annual teen party the museum throws in order to help get people our age more comfortable with museums and culture.”

“Oh. Well,” Sunset said, blushing, “I, uh, didn’t exactly care much about that in the past.”

“I quite understand. In any case—” Rarity began.

“What Rares is tryin’ t’ say, is that we don’t want you to go, Sunny; yer our friend.” The girls now stood there as well, and behind them, just departing the conference room, was Celestia and Luna. “Are ya sure this is th’ only way?”

“If there was a way to signal Princess Twilight for help, I would,” Sunset said, “but I can’t. My only option to save Twily is go back – and do or die trying.”

“Well, don’t you dare get yourself killed, Sunny,” Rainbow threatened, “or I swear I’m going to kick your ass from here to Ensenada!”

“Yes, because threats are soooo going to be constructive to someone reluctantly returning to the land of her birth while under a death sentence, Rainbow,” Rarity drolled, rolling her eyes.

“Sunny, dear, you’re awfully quiet this morning.” It was the following day, Saturday, May 31. At the end of the day, Sunset would be seeing her family off at CJV, then head to Octavia’s for the week. She still had yet to pack for that trip, ostensibly because she couldn’t figure out what to take, but she knew where she’d be going, the bag would be cumbersome, mostly because she could never fit into the clothing while in her other form.

“Other” form, she mused grimly. There was a time when it was my only form, or when I referred to it as my real form. Is this who I am now? Am I more human than unicorn? Even though I’m about to return to Equestria, I’m planning to come back. Does that mean I’ve turned my back on who I was? Was what I said yesterday – that the Sunset Shimmer I was, the one I’m about to become again – true?

“Ow!” She rubbed the sharp sting on her shoulder, noticing Spike’s look at her. “You know, squirt,” she said angrily, “if you weren’t going on vacation, I’d force-feed you that spoon right now.”

“Well, it’s your fault you were spacing out!” her foster brother said. “Mom’s been trying to get your attention for the past few seconds.”

Sunset blinked, then looked at Velvet. “Sorry – deep thoughts for a shallow mind,” she said with genuine embarrassment.

“Saudade,” Twilight suddenly said before anyone else could comment.

“What does—” Spike began.

“It means that she misses us,” Velvet said, sadly. “We’re not even gone yet, and you miss us.” Velvet looked at her foster daughter, a loving smile on her face. “Which is natural, I guess: when you’re apart from the people you love, you start to miss them even when they haven’t quite departed, because you’re not eager to see them vanish.”

“Am I that transparent?” Sunset replied, astonished. A year ago, she prided herself on being cryptic. Even Flash, arguably the person she was closest to at the time and often only separated from her by the occasional thin layer of latex, knew almost nothing about her other than the lies she wove. But in just over seven months, her world had changed so radically, she wouldn’t have believed it if it wasn’t for the fact that she lived it. But she couldn’t deny now that the day that she lost everything…she gained everything.

Sunset wiped a tear from her eye. “I…I….” She couldn’t say it. Why the hell couldn’t she say it? She might not ever see Twilight again. She might not ever see her family again. In a day from now, she was crossing the dimensional veil, headed back to Equestria, and the first thing she might see was the enraged eyes of Princess Celestia a nanosecond before the Alicorn of All incinerated Sunset for her countless sins. And yet she couldn’t voice the words she wanted to say most right now.

I’ll miss you all. I love you all.

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, rising from her chair to embrace Sunset; though Twilight looked like she was barely awake and probably the last person who needed to get up from her chair, she did so, just because she knew someone she loved need a hug. “We know, sis. We know.”

Neither Sunset nor Twilight knew how long they were there in that motion, just holding each other, until Spike said, “Hey, I’m going to eat your sausages if you don’t stop getting all Care Bear on me!”

“Spike!” both girls said, more amused than irritated.

As their three children started to bicker at the breakfast table, Velvet looked at Night and said, “Did you?”

“I’ll let Evening explain,” was Night’s answer.

Author's Note

The phrase Sunset spoke was originally delivered by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer after the first atomic bomb was tested. You may have heard it recently on the Godzilla trailer.

May 31: Absence Heard, Presence Felt

Amongst the crowds in Canterlot International Airport’s Terminal Five, two sisters looked at each other. The younger one, looking almost like a walking zombie, was nearly dead inside, just one stroke away from being murdered by the thing that haunted her dreams. The older one had a fiercely protective look on her face, and even though it was the younger who would travel and leave the elder behind, the flame-haired girl would do anything to protect the happiness of her plum-haired sibling.

“Italy sounds great, and you’ll only be gone for a week,” Sunset said. “Besides, you could use the vacation.”

“Sunny, what if—” Twilight started, but was hushed by a gentle finger placed on her lips.

“I promise, you’ll be okay.” Sunset reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, Beanie Babies-esque plushie that looked vaguely like her unicorn form. “It’s dangerous to go alone – take this,” she said, giving Twilight the mini-Sunset.

Twilight started giggling, much to Sunset’s puzzlement. “I love it,” she said, “both the plushie and the joke. Where did you get this thing?”

“Bought it from a custom plushie maker on DeviantArt,” Sunset replied; in truth she had done just that, finding it freakishly odd that someone’s “Fantasy Style Unicorn” collection included a dead ringer for herself – she’d noticed a few other colors that wouldn’t have been out of place back in Equestria.

“I’m going to miss you,” Twilight said, embracing Sunset. “I…I don’t know if….”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll only be gone for a week and things are going to be boring as hell at summer school. Ms. Luna says she’ll try not to kill me too much.”

“Besides, Twily,” Octavia said, finally interjecting herself into the conversation, “I’ll keep her out of trouble, I promise. You just relax and enjoy your vacation, okay?”

Standing a distance away, Night, Velvet, Shining, Cadance, Evening, and Ballad were all talking.

“You know, if it weren’t for your assurances that this is just a phase,” Evening said, “I might be worried. Twily does look a little rough.”

Velvet sighed; she’d been through this a dozen times with Sunset – though, admittedly, she was absolutely proud at how much Sunset had assumed the ‘protective older sister’ role – and she didn’t want to deal with it again while on the cusp of a vacation.

Cadance then spoke. “I guess you haven’t checked your email then: Sandy sent us a DEA report and I forwarded it on. Seems that one of the components in The Vibe contains an LSD precursor and apparently affects a small amount of the populace.”

Shining nodded. “One of the victims attending Sunnytown High apparently had a bad case as well, though fortunately that got sorted out.”

Night looked at his son. “Are you telling me your sister is basically having a delayed acid trip?”

Ballad put two and two together. “Wait – if that’s the case, then why didn’t it happen to Tavi?”

Shining attempted to explain. “Just like actual LSD itself, the percentage of people feeling extremely delayed effects is miniscule. I’m presuming Tavi metabolized it faster since she had a more adverse reaction when she first consumed it. But Twily just got over the chickenpox a couple of months ago, and that probably depressed her immune system to the point where the precursor was able to act – didn’t this all start right around the time she was sick?”

Velvet looked at Twilight, then at Sunset. “Is there anything else we should be aware of, Shiny?”

He shook his head. “Not really. Once it’s finally out of her system, it’s gone. Could be during the trip, could be after, could be years – just like some really delayed LSD flashbacks; there are cases of it happening. But I can say one thing for sure, Mom,” the young man said as he looked at the three teens standing just away from them, “Sunny will be there for Twily.”

“Speaking of which,” Night began, “did you…?”

“Don’t worry, Night, I didn’t forget,” Evening replied. “Though admittedly, you guys could probably do it easier. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure that it’s taken care of…well, at least started.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate that.”

“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS: DELTA AIRLINES 981 NONSTOP TO NEW YORK CITY, NOW BOARDING AT GATE 5D.”

“That’s our flight,” Twilight said softly, not wanting to go. She felt safe, protected around Sunset, as though her foster sister was the only thing keeping whatever was haunting the teen at bay.

Sunset was equally reluctant to let her go. Finally, she embraced Twilight, telling her, “You’ll go, have fun, and forget to bring me back something. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

Octavia embraced Twilight as well. “You’d better bring us back something, Twily, or I’ll make you walk back to Florence to do so!”

Twilight laughed. “Yeah, right.”

The drive back to Canterlot was as quiet as a tomb. Sunset sat there, uneasily, not knowing what to say.

“You really are worried about her, aren’t you?” Octavia said, her voice sounding a little guilty. “I’m an idiot, I swear. If I’d just listened to you, I’d….”

“It’s okay,” Sunset said, giving Octavia a wan smile in reply.

“No, it’s not okay! She and I have been together through everything, and for her to just think I abandoned her….” The guilt was ripping through Octavia now that she’d heard about everything that had happened to her best friend and cousin’s near-suicide two weeks before. “We’ve always been as thick as thieves before, and for the past couple of months, I’ve pretty much just abandoned her!”

“Tavi!” Sunset’s voice was sharp. “Be there for her when she gets back. It’s too late to do anything now, but it’s not too late once she gets back. Trust me, do you remember what I told you when we first met? That a friend of mine once told me that friendship is magic? Being there for her will be the strongest help you can give her.”

From the driver’s seat, Evening said, “Yup, listen to Sunny, Tavi. She knows what she’s talking about.”

“But I should have been there for her!”

“Don’t worry – in a couple of days this will all be over,” Sunset said in a tone that brooked no argument. Octavia looked at her with surprise; even Ballad, peeking over from the passenger seat, wondered what the older teen was talking about.

“How can you be so sure?” Octavia asked.

“Because this has to end one way or another,” Sunset said in a firm voice, “and I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure it does.”

The following morning, June 1st, Sunset left her “aunt and uncle’s” place early in the morning. She had a breakfast date, she replied, and though Octavia teased her a bit about that, she was honestly glad that Sunset was able to bounce back from yesterday. The older teen had very much taken to her foster family and last night looked absolutely forlorn from being away from them, even though in truth she’d already done so just mere weeks before. However, if Octavia had actually known who Sunset’s “breakfast date” was with, it might have given her pause. Frankly, Sunset knew, her companion was seriously risking both her career and even her freedom doing just what she was doing right now.

Thankfully, no one ever seems to eat at El Torito for Sunday brunch, Sunset thought, which is a shame, because it’s not bad. Lifting a bit of huevos con chorizo to her mouth via fork, she heard what her tablemate had to say.

“So there’s nothing that Tia or I can say to persuade you otherwise?” Luna spoke, looking at the young girl before her. She’d disguised herself well, wearing a smoky purple wig that she said came from her “Nightmare Moon” days; she’d kept it for nothing more than nostalgia purposes. Combined with the sunglasses, the sundress and the subdued look, she kinda sorta resembled that British actress from the 50s, Blue-Eyed Beauty. Sunset idly wondered if Luna had a counterpart back in Equestria, and if so, what she did for a living. Probably a schoolteacher as well, Sunset reasoned. After all, she’d never heard of a “Princess Luna” back in her day, even amongst the minor princes and princesses of the ancien regime.

“No, Ms. Luna,” Sunset replied honestly. “I am the person I am today partly because of my friends, but more so because a family took me in, not knowing who or what I really am, and not caring about any of that – only caring that I needed someone. They gave me that someone, and now, her life is in danger in a way that only I can save her from.”

“And now you’re throwing yourself to the wolves to save her,” Luna said, somewhat impressed. When she’d encountered Sunset Shimmer nearly five years ago, the young girl had been just enrolled in Central Junior High on the other side of the combined campus, and CJH’s principal, Cherry Jubilee, had warned Luna that the girl was a handful. Having seen her on school grounds a couple of times afterwards, by the time she advanced to Canterlot High, Luna knew that the young girl would be a problem child the likes of which she hadn’t seen before in her educational career.

But in the past year, to realize that this “girl” was in truth an alien – a unicorn, a creature out of mythology, no less – and never really had anyone in her life who loved her, was startling enough. But then she’d been taken in Luna and Tia’s childhood friend, and Luna had watched as the alien from another world became so human that she was now willing to risk her life for someone who wasn’t even related to her by blood.

And yet Luna still had to inquire, “And you’re absolutely sure that you’re not risking everything just for the sake of something overblown? Sunset, did it ever occur to you that this could be a very elaborate trap set for you?”

“You’re not going to make me change my mind. Because what if Twily’s just the first? How do I know this isn’t just the start of something? No offense, Ms. Luna, but you have no idea of the kind of things I’ll be facing.”

“You’re right, I don’t – but from everything you’ve told the others and what little you told both me and Tia, this other princess, Princess Twilight’s mentor, will kill you on sight if you so much as attempt to return. If that’s the case, you’re walking into a death sentence, and….” Luna sighed. “Please understand. I’m not just speaking as a teacher here, Sunset. I’m speaking as your foster mother’s best friend: you’ll break her heart if anything happens to you. And what will happen in the end is that Vel will lose not one, but both her daughters. Can you accept that?”

“No. No I can’t. But neither can I live with watching Twily be torn apart while I have a chance to save her,” Sunset answered. “Besides, I remain hopeful. Maybe Twilight’s created some in-roads for me. Maybe I have an opportunity to convince the Princess just to leave me in exile. And before you ask, no, I don’t believe that.”

“So it’s Bambi going up before Godzilla,” Luna estimated.

“Maybe,” Sunset said, before taking a drink of her horchata. “But I saw that old cartoon. And you know what the problem was? Bambi didn’t have something to fight for. I do.”

Luna was quiet for a few minutes, realizing that Sunset’s choice was already made. She was already taking a huge risk: she was the summer school principal and Sunset was one of her students, both in the summer semester and regularly. And yet? For the Sunset Shimmer that had existed a year ago? It wouldn’t have been the bother. But for this one, who was kind and gentle, loving and friendly – the very antithesis of what she’d been before – Luna would sign her job away in a heartbeat. The Sunset Shimmer of the past had been a loner, and Luna wouldn’t have cared for that girl…but this Sunset Shimmer was Velvet’s daughter, and for her, Luna would move the moon if she could.

“Okay. Celestia’s at the museum. Fortunately, with Armonia being the director, they know us well – to the point that they’ve left us alone there quite a few times; hardly the smartest thing to do, but they trust her and they trust us. The only issue will be the security systems, which per state law cannot be turned off an—”

Sunset grinned. “Don’t worry, I called in a favor.”

The things I do for my friends, Rarity thought, gingerly lifting up a box of CD-ROMs, setting it somewhere in the sea of technological bric-a-brac. Finally assured that she’d cleared up at least a small spot on the couch in the room, she took a chance and sat down. She then looked at the girl in the gray tank top, backwards Canterlot Colts baseball cap and designer eyeglasses. “And you’re absolutely sure that you’re not going to get caught?”

Pinkie, who was with her, happily munched on a banana nut muffin that she’d brought along. Its siblings had been given to the owner of this bedroom about five minutes prior, and Pinkie grinned looking at the techno-insanity of the whole place. “Trust me, Rarity! She isn’t going to get caught.”

“Everyone gets caught dear,” Rarity said reproachfully. “It’s just a matter of time when.”

“How about somewhere between ‘fuck no’ and ‘never’?” the girl in the tank top said. She fixed Rarity with a look behind eyeglasses, then removed them. As she removed her spectacles, her warm citrine eyes revealed a slight case of strabismus, enough of one to go away while wearing the corrective lenses, but bad enough to return back to their original position otherwise. Looking right at Rarity with those eyes, she said, “Lemme guess: because everyone knows about my bad eyes, I look like some sort of mouth-drooling retard, right? Can barely take care of myself? My best chance at survival is if someone can get a guy to play hide the sausage with me while putting a paper bag over my head?”

“No, quite the contrary, Derpy. I know you better than that,” Rarity replied. “Given that you’re still one of the smartest girls I know.”

“One of the?”

“Well, no offense, but although she really doesn’t apply herself, Sunset Shimmer is brilliant; and her sister, Twilight Sparkle, is an absolute genius.”

Derpy grinned. “Eh, don’t worry, I’m not offended, and we’ve known each other since kindergarten. But most people just see my eyes and take me for some kind of short-bus basket case at worst or Asperger’s special at best. They never bother to figure out why I’m taking AP Physics, or Computer Programming or anything like that. I mean, hell, I’m ‘only’ sixteen and I’ve already got my own software company just waiting when someone in Silicon Valley decides they want to pay me a few cool million for it.”

“You’re joking.”

In response, Derpy turned and tapped a few things into the browser bar. A page from the Equestria Daily came online and Derpy gestured towards the screen with her head. “Kid down south in Orange County just sold his app to Google for $200 million – oh, and did I mention he’s younger than me?”

“Sounds like I’m studying for the wrong profession,” Rarity said, half-jokingly.

“Naah, don’t worry about it. Ya gotta have a love for this sorta thing. I built the W4LL3Y3Z app because I wanted to and I could, not because I expect to be rich off it – though that would be a nice side-effect; someone’s gotta pay for my sister’s college fund, and Dad really doesn’t make enough to cover his dreams of Dinky going Ivy League.”

“I see. So then you’ll do it?”

“Hah, do it? Already did.” Derpy leaned back, and tapped the ENTER key on her keyboard. “ECMAH’s security systems will have a unique and special snowflake crash by six this evening. They won’t be able to bring it back up, and they won’t be able to find me – because I’m behind seven proxies!” She winked and, making a gun-sign with her fingers, blew on the ‘muzzle’ as if dissipating smoke.

“So how much do we owe you for this—”

“Don’t bother – you couldn’t afford it,” Derpy said in a serious tone. “Taking down a security system? Violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and who knows how many state and local statutes, so it could cost me a lot if I get caught, not that I’m going to. And I don’t play that Anonymous-Lulzsec crap, so I don’t care about that.”

Pinkie then looked at Derpy and asked, “Derpy, I know you’re the forgiving sort, but why did you agree to this?”

Derpy looked at Pinkie and then said, “Three reasons. One: you forgave her, and while you’re a little naïve sometimes – no offense – if you’ve really been her friend all this time, then she’s probably really turned the corner. Second, after all the abuse I put up with her since seventh grade, she came up to me back in mid-December and brought me these.” She removed the glasses, handing them to Rarity.

“Prada?” Rarity asked as she took and inspected the glasses. “Wait – I was there when she ordered these from the optometrist! They were expensive as hell and, well, at first I thought she’d ordered them for her foster mother, or for me, since I wear contacts.”

“Nope. They were meant to be a replacement for the glasses she broke back in junior high. She knew that glasses really improve my eyesight, but I couldn’t get any really good ones, since my parents aren’t the richest folks in town – that’s why I wore those glasses with tape around the bridge for the rest of the year, looking even more dorktacular than I normally do. But she brought them to me and said she knew they would never be enough of an apology, but she wanted to make one all the same.”

“That sounds like Sunset,” Rarity replied as she handed Derpy back her glasses. “But what’s the third reason?”

“That would be me,” a girl at the door said. She had flaming red hair and brilliant green eyes, topped by a tanktop that rivalled Fluttershy’s in chest tightness and nearly wasp-waisted jeans. Rarity recognized her instantly as Derpy’s best friend Golden Harvest, though everyone in town tended to call her “Carrot Top”, seeing as how her hair was roughly the same color as that of the namesake comedian.

“How so?”

“I was one of the girls that got it the worst from that Club,” she said sadly. “Because I tend to dress in a certain way and I tend to be flirty with guys, some idiots made connections, and….” The look in her eyes was lost.

Rarity understood that look. “What did they do, dear? I…was nearly one of their victims as well.”

Derpy looked at Carrot Top and asked, “Can you get us something to drink?” When the redhead departed, Derpy looked at the other girls and said, “She was hospitalized for a month from a fractured pelvis. I’m sure you know what that means, right?” From the looks of horror on both Rarity and Pinkie’s faces, it was very clear what that meant. Seeing that, Derpy continued. “Carrot and I…she’s my best friend. I love her like a sister and I would do anything for her. Anything. But I couldn’t save her from what she went through thanks to that asshole boyfriend of hers.”

“Derpy, I—”

“No. Peppercorn…I thought he was a genuinely awesome guy, because he seemed to treat Carrot like his queen. But he turned her into….” Derpy turned away and for a second, Rarity thought she saw a tear slide down the girl’s cheek. But Derpy wiped it away and turned back to them, a stoic look on her face. “Whatever Sunset did to me – or anyone else in the past – I don’t care about. And do you know why? Because she took them down. I know, nobody’s willing to admit that for real. But Noteworthy has confessed, as have a few other people in the know. The cops didn’t do anything about it, the teachers didn’t either. It was all Sunset Shimmer. She got revenge for Carrot. And even if nobody else knows or appreciates it…I do.

“So do you want to know why I just hacked the museum’s security systems? Because whatever reason it is – and frankly, I don’t give a damn what it is, so long as it’s not illegal – Sunset Shimmer needs me to. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.”

Stepping out of the subway station, Sunset stood in front of the entrance to the Equestria County Museum of Art & History complex. As she walked through the fancy wrought-iron gates of the main entrance, she moved towards the marble steps rising to the Doric-columned entrance to the original ECMAH building, the classically-designed structure holding all the antiquities and fine works of art. From where she stood she could see the three other buildings, like compass points, all surrounding the central rose garden building during the 80s. To the south was the warehouse-like building that held the modern art and the museum’s restaurant and gift shop. On the far side of the garden, at its eastern end was the glassy, U-shaped building that was the Canterlot branch of the state’s Science Museum, complete with its centerpiece display of the space shuttle Stargazer. Finally, at the northern end of the park was the multi-building Exposition Center, where concerts, trade shows and conventions were held; it shared a large parking lot with the Equestria County Coliseum – “the Palace”, as the local sports fans called it – where Canterlot State’s football team usually got their ass handed to them in Division I NCAA.

She slowly turned around to see the skyline of the city, its concrete, glass and metal spires reaching towards the sky. She looked at everything, because this was her home – this Canterlot, this everyday, average city of roughly 468,000 people nestled in the shadow of Mount Shasta – this was where she belonged.

But now she was about to leave it, perhaps forever. It was very possible that this would be the last time she ever set her eyes on what she now considered her true home; if so, she wanted her last memories of it to be the peace and joy she never felt when she first arrived on this strange, magically-deficient world she’d come to love.

“Hey, Sunny, you okay?” Octavia asked. When Sunset arrived home and mentioned that she was heading to the Summer Teen Super Session at the museum, Octavia, who hadn’t seen the newest exhibits – including the Cavalcanti displays – insisted on going as well. While Sunset wanted to think of a dozen reasons why she shouldn’t come, the truth was that Octavia was her cousin – in heart, if not legally – and the last member of her family she might ever see. That alone was reason enough to let her come, though the flame-haired girl would have to make sure she somehow ditched her cousin at some point. During the subway ride to the museum, Sunset sent a text message to her friends in the hope that they could find a way to distract Octavia.

“Oh, girls, there you are! What a relief!” Both turned their heads to find Rarity, standing by the van her employers usually used for work, a look of reprieve on her face. “At last, someone I can actually count on!”

“Oh, heya, Rarity,” Octavia called out as both approached. “You here for this as well?”

“Well of course, Octavia dear. But unfortunately, I could use some assistance, if you wouldn’t mind. You see, the boutique I work at is supplying the sundries – tablecloths, napkins, that sort of thing – for this whole event and while I’d asked Pinkie to assist me since she wanted to come as well, unfortunately she disappeared ten minutes ago – something about needing to use the facilities – and my employer will simply harangue me to no end if I don’t get the linens up there in time.” A wry smile then came onto Rarity’s face as she added, “Then you can help me take it out on Pinkie afterwards, seeing as I’ll wager that her attention was dragged away by something ‘shiny’, as though she were a magpie.”

“Sure, we’d love to help,” Octavia replied.

“Absolutely,” Sunset replied, before a voice called to her from the top of the steps, by the museum’s entrance.

“Sunny! Get your ass in here!” Rainbow shouted from the top of the stairs. “Ms. Luna’s looking for you and if you don’t get in here, she says she’s going to make sure you don’t get class credit for this!”

“Wait, this is counting as class credit?” Sunset shouted back. Sunset hadn’t expected this little stunt on her friends’ behalf, but she knew that they were certainly creative enough; in hindsight she should have realized they had a knack for troublemaking no different than she did back then, save for where they focused said mischief.

“Hey, I’m not going to risk my grades if your happy ass ain’t getting up here!” Rainbow shouted back.

Sunset looked at Octavia and Rarity.

“Go – I can handle this,” Octavia told her. “As soon as we’re done we’ll join up with the rest of you guys, since I’m guessing the others are here.” Sunset’s response to that was a shrug, before she turned and sprinted up the stairs, hoping to look like her academic career counted on it.

As she reached the top of the steps, she asked Rainbow, “She didn’t really, did she?”

“Of course not,” Rainbow said with a grin, “but it got you up here without Tavi staring down your back, right? C’mon – Principal Celestia’s cordoning off the Exhibition Hall so they can bring in the tables while everyone else is taking a tour of the other buildings. Ms. Luna, Pinkie, Flutters and AJ are already in the Hall, waiting for the rest of us.”

“What about Rarity?”

“She’ll be there, don’t worry – we got my sister’s girl scout troop to help with organizing the tours, and we gave them some extra money to make sure that they keep Tavi busy. I have no idea what they’re going to do, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be illegal or anything, though your cousin might hate us for a little while.”

“They’re not going to hurt her, are they?” Sunset remembered when Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo asked for her help the week after her return from Los Angeles – because they needed a “mentor” who they weren’t related to – to supervise a girl scout badge project, which was community service via a car wash they’d set up. By the end of that day, Sunset had repeatedly apologized to several people whose cars had somehow inexplicably been turned into a glaringly bright color of lime-green because the three young teens had thought to get the science badge as well by coming up with their own mixture of “detergent”. At least the strange coating washed off, though only through the use of an actual car wash, the costs of which ended up being double what they’d made in the car wash stunt to begin with.

“It’s the girls – what do you think?” A quiet glare from Sunset caused Rainbow to say a second later, “Don’t worry, we have 911 on speed dial.”

A few minutes later, they were all in the Exhibition Hall, which was closed to the general public for the event. As promised, the room was being set up for the teen banquet afterwards, and most of the floor displays had been carefully moved out of the way, so the tables would be brought in twenty minutes from now. As Sunset and Rainbow entered via a backstage doorway, the flame-haired girl had noticed that the security camera by the door, normally swiveling to get a wide view of the room, was down and dead. Guess Derpy really did come through for me, she thought with a smile.

The moment she entered the hall, however, she was virtually bowled over by the power radiating from the mirror, a magic the strength of which she hadn’t felt since the day she left Equestria. Do humans block magic that much? she wondered. It was possible, given that the first time she saw the mirror, the room was crowded; but then again, when she was here the last time it was almost entirely deserted, so that couldn’t be the answer. Could it be that humans were always meant to have no magic? I’m having a hard enough time as is with just what little I have now; I don’t think I could live a life entirely magic-free. Just as quickly as the thought came to her, she put it away. Humans couldn’t have become what they were without magic – it was just a magic of an entirely different sort. Funny that in coming to a world that seemed so magically dead that she would finally learn about the most powerful magic forces that existed: friendship and love. But even still, the line of thought brought new questions: If I return from Equestria, will I be forever stuck with a lower level of magic for the rest of my life? Perpetual “magical kindergarten”, as the old jokes went?

“When”, Shimmer, Sunset reminded herself. “When”, not “if” – you’ll be back once you solve this problem. Don’t give up hope. Closing her eyes for a brief second, she reminded herself that if she gave up now, Twilight would be as good as dead – and Sunset wasn’t going to let her sister down.

As she crossed the length of the room, she could feel each fall of her human foot. I may have been born a unicorn, she mused as she walked towards the mirror and seeing Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy trying to budge the glass screen out of the way, but I also feel human. I guess, in the end, as much as I feel I belong here, I have to wonder…do I?

“Sunset.” She heard a voice and turned around to see Principal Celestia standing there, next to Ms. Luna. For a rare change, both looked sorrowful – and it was a mild surprise when she realized she was the source of it, but not for the same reasons as in the past. “I’m…I’m not saying this as a principal or any kind of authority figure, but as your mother’s best friend: don’t do this. If anything of what you’re saying is even remotely true, you’re walking into nothing less than a death trap.”

Luna’s voice actually cracked as she spoke. “You’ll break Vel’s heart if you don’t come back.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to come back,” Sunset said, sounding a bit cockier than she felt as she ascended the dais to the mirror. Walking over to the glass case, she said to her friends, “Here, let me.” Her hands glowed, and with an ease she hadn’t felt in a long time, she effortlessly moved the polycarbonate screen via telekinesis.

“Whut th’….” Applejack said, completely shocked at what her friend just did.

“The mirror’s radiating full magic from Equestria. Between that and the current lunar phase, I’m almost back at my old magical strength, though I am a little out of practice,” she said, as the screen wobbled slightly when she set it down.

At last, she stood between her friends and the mirror. She could hear Rarity running, making sure that she made it in time. Gasping for breath, the violet-tressed girl said to the others, “We’d better do this soon: I overheard a member of the museum staff say they’ll be bringing in the tables in twenty minutes.”

“Then we’d better get this over with,” Sunset said, casting another spell. At once, the glass of the mirror began to swirl and ripple, before turning into a renaissance version of Stargate SG-1.

“Don’t go,” Rarity said, embracing her friend. She didn’t have long before the other girls did as well, Sunset finding herself in a huge group hug. The first time she’d done so with her friends, she found it stupid and embarrassing. Now, she’d have given anything to tell her past self just to shut up and enjoy it.

“I have to. My sister’s life’s on the line, and…well, eventually I knew this was going to come,” she said, her voice quavering. She forced the tears away – she would not cry in front of her friends. That vow only lasted as long as it took for her to notice that they were doing so, unabashedly, and even Celestia and Luna’s eyes were moist.

“You’d better come back,” Rainbow sobbed, comically crying and trying not to sound like she was crying at the same time.

“What, to where I belong? Of course I’m coming back,” Sunset said, the tears streaming from her eyes. Looking at Celestia and Luna, she said in a soft voice, “The last thing I need is to be marked absent from school – my parents would ground me for eternity.”

“Well,” Fluttershy said, finally letting go as the others did, “you’d better go soon. We’re going to have to push this thing back into place.”

“Besides, Ah dunno if that thing’s safe to’ keep like that much longer,” Applejack added, pointing at the undulating surface of the mirror.

“Yeah,” Sunset said, looking at her friends. She owed them more than she could ever say, and it was for their sakes that she had started on the journey from fallen alicorn wannabe to normal member of human society. “I’ll be back. I don’t know when, and I hope it won’t be long…but I’ll be back, one way or another. You can count on it.”

“And if you don’t?” That last came from Celestia, who looked as though she would jump at any moment to pull Sunset away from the mirror; Luna held the same gaze in her eyes. It was in that moment that she knew how lucky her foster mother was to have friends like that, friends like the ones she had – family in all but blood.

Sunset gave them all a beatific smile. “Then tell them everything. Everything. And then…” Sunset paused, in order to finally say the words she never could. “Tell them I love them, more than I could ever say.”

And with that, Sunset Shimmer jumped through the mirror, returning to Equestria.

High above in the late afternoon sky, there was a double crack of thunderous sound as two blasts of prismatic color suddenly filled the air.

“Double Rainboom!” a chirpy voice cried. “OhmiCelestia! So intense!”

“Pinkie, dear, it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before—”

A pink earth pony began hopping around like a live wire on cocaine, a green baby alligator holding onto her magenta mane like a living hairclip. “Ooooooooh…ohmiCelestia ohmiCelestia! Wooooooah! Double Rainboom all the way! Wow!”

Rarity looked at Applejack for help, but the farmmare just shrugged it off. “It’s Pinkie,” she replied. “It’ll wear off in a few.” At her side, Winona barked in agreement.

“Well,” a soft-spoken voice said, “all my animal friends agree: this is the perfect place to hold this year’s Summer Sun Celebration.” There was a sudden raspberry sound, and Fluttershy turned to her left, looking at a particularly impertinent bunny. “Angel, be nice.”

“Well, as soon as our two royals arrive, we’ll inform them,” Rarity answered. “It will be nice to have finally chosen a suitable spot, if only so we can attend to the other tasks Luna has assigned us regarding the Celebration’s planning. I, for one, need to liaise with Tents & Dishtowels to make sure they’ll have all the pavilion tents we’ll need ready.” She heard a hiss behind her, then rolled her eyes. “Yes, Opal, dear, we can go to the pet spa so Tender Paws can give you a makeover.”

A slight distance away, two ponies casually walked down the path towards the Whitetail Woods, miles away from Ponyville. The first, a raspberry-colored unicorn, walked unsteadily, thanks to a limp mostly taken care of by the brace she wore. The other, a lavender alicorn, fanned her wings out occasionally, as if exercising them.

“Thanks for waiting up for me, Razz,” Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, told Raspberry Beryl, Princess in Pretense of the Crystal Empire, as the two friends walked towards where the rest of their group met. “Still haven’t gotten used to flying long distances, so the trip from Canterlot took far longer than I’d have preferred.”

“Oh, it’s not like I had much of a choice; Heelee wanted to play a prank on me by hiding my brace,” Raspberry replied, half-scowling at the young emerald-and-gold phoenix curiously perched on her horn. As if to continue his prank, he took to the air, rocketing off towards where the others were. A second later, he was joined by Twilight’s pet owl, Owlysious, as they headed off towards the pet playdate.

“Well, since the girls wanted to make the search for this year’s spot for the Summer Sun Celebration and our pet playdate one and the same, you can’t blame him for being too rambunctious.”

“That’s certainly true,” Raspberry agreed. “He’s been spending a lot of time indoors ever since we permanently moved into the Inn, an—” Raspberry paused, frozen as if something suddenly struck her. She then turned to look at Ponyville, distant on the horizon, and the black line just behind it – the Everfree Forest.

“Is something wrong?”

“I…for a moment, I thought I felt the use of black magic,” Raspberry replied.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, suddenly concerned. Raspberry was the most knowledgeable about the dark arts, though she personally did not walk the Left Hoof Path. If something was threatening Equestria once more….

Meanwhile, Raspberry blinked. “Odd….” she murmured, then turned to Twilight. “Maybe I’m just imagining it. After all, there’s nothing nearby that could be problematic.”

“Are you sure?”

Raspberry smiled. “Positive. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note

How will Sunset fare back in Equestria? Will Celestia do her in? Will she be able to counter the threat to Twily? And what does Razz have to do with any of this?
Read on and find out!

October 19: When It Falls

As the crumbled concrete and broken rebar began to settle, Sunset Shimmer wiped tears from her eyes, wondering how she’d come so close to changing her stripes – and now had everything thrown back in her face, despite her vow to change.

It had been just about four years ago that she’d been the prized pupil of Princess Celestia, Mistress of the Sun and Moon and Regent of Equestria, the pony powerful enough to hurtle the celestial bodies in their orbits around their world. To be chosen as her protégée was an honor above honors, especially for a simple filly from an orphanage, and for years under Celestia’s metaphorical and literal wing, the alicorn had been more than just a mentor – she’d become a mother figure to Sunset, enough so that at least once somepony broached the question of whether the princess had plans to outright adopt the young filly as her daughter. That thought in itself brought the unicorn a pride that she could never quite express.

But pride, sadly, always came before the fall, and it was in the nature of things for a daughter to eventually come to blows with her mother. And so it was with Sunset: eventually, blinded by her own growing talents and showered by the attention of the nobility due to her status as Celestia’s pupil, she became obsessed with the trappings of her station, consumed by power, and began disregarding the warnings of her mentor. With increasing frequency – and certainly without her mentor’s permission – Sunset had gazed into a mirror once owned by Princess Platinum, which depicted her as an alicorn above alicorns, far above her mentor – possibly even more powerful than Celestia’s vaunted mother, Faust, herself.

Eventually it came to blows, quite literally: Celestia, angry at Sunset’s repeated abuse of the authority given to her, sternly admonished the younger mare, only to be blasted by a bolt of magic from an enraged Sunset’s horn. Hurt by her pupil’s betrayal, Celestia did the only thing she could: she ordered the Guard to restrict Sunset to her room while the sun alicorn began the procedures to expel her from both her position and her duties. Unfortunately, the princess couldn’t have expected the rebellious unicorn to outwit her escorts and to flee through the very mirror she’d first glimpsed her ideal destiny in, a mirror which turned out to be far more than a mere looking glass.

Eventually she arrived in a new reality, housed in a strange, non-equine body and a place with foreign and byzantine customs. And yet it was strangely familiar in its atmosphere: the City of Canterlot, while neither the capital of this world nor even its most important, seemed as though at times that it was here merely for Sunset’s comfort and succor – it had certainly been an eye-opener. Somehow, she’d found herself in the life of another girl with the same name as she, and so the former unicorn portrayed herself as somepon…no, someone who had run away from home the year before and had now returned. The truth, of course, had been different; Sunset had never determined what had happened to her counterpart in this world, but it was enough that she had a paper trail that the former pony could easily step into.

She’d parlayed that into a life, opting to continue her education at the local high school – which, much to her chagrin, was run by a headmistress which was entirely too much like the maternal figure she’d left behind. Even still, she determined to make the most of her life here and work her way to the apex of this world; if she could not have the other, she would have this one. She used everything in her arsenal to rise to the top, methods of both the carrot and the stick, and by her sophomore year had become the most socially influential person within the school – the kind of individual that even seniors, who longed to move beyond to the world of college, curried favor with and occasionally feared.

Even still, she knew her situation was precarious: no one had ever questioned where she lived or who her family was, and they never checked that the address she’d listed didn’t actually exist. Far from the supposed address of 11218 Primrose Court, Sunset’s real address was quite a different one: 306 Industrial Road, specifically the former warehouse of Flim-Flam Bros. Manufacturing Co. The company had been an appliance maker decades ago, but whoever owned the building now clearly retained it for the value of the land, leaving the structure itself to rot. For Sunset, however, it was home – a hellhole of one, she’d readily admit to herself, but the only thing she could claim; and thankfully one where, due to the incompetence of some corporate stooge, the utilities had never been shut off in the small living quarters for overnight shift workers, giving Sunset the closest thing she could have to her own apartment.

But in the past few weeks, everything had fallen apart – brutally so. Through divinations, she’d learned that she’d been replaced as Celestia’s student by another young mare named Twilight Sparkle…and the pony had become everything that Sunset felt she deserved, even to the point of ascension, becoming an alicorn! With that, at the first chance she had, Sunset returned to Equestria briefly to steal the new princess’ crown, and by that act, set herself on a course of wrack and ruin, which would ultimately end up with her being possessed by an evil power and having everything Celestia – both Celestias, actually – warned her about thrown in her face…

…only to be saved by the pony that she hated most: Twilight Sparkle. It had been Twilight that had united the five girls Sunset had picked on the most and turned them into close friends within a matter of days. It had been the six of them together that had harnessed magic – something that was not native to this reality – and undid Sunset’s wanton destruction and cured her of her demonic possession. It had been Twilight who had tasked the other girls to watch over Sunset, both as a type of jailer and an instructor, to lead her back to the path of light. And it had been Twilight that had asked Sunset to give not only the world but her own self a second chance; to become a better individual, whether that individual was a pony or human.

Sunset found herself in the days after agreeing to that, paying her dues and penance, and reaching out to the others; she wasn’t completely sure they were her friends, not yet, but maybe in the future she could have that confidence – especially Pinkie, who had been kind enough to put in a good word with her aunt and uncle, landing Sunset an afternoon job at the Sugarcube Corner Café, since bullying students out of their money wasn’t going to be Sunset’s primary means of earning cash any longer.

In the days and weeks to follow, life became a little more bearable, a tiny bit more tolerable: while few remembered that she had been the cause of the school’s damage, they certainly remembered that she’d been upstaged at the school’s Homecoming and Fall Dance – though curiously, the identity of the person who upstaged her no one could really remember – and that the queen bee was now reduced to nothing but a mere drone. Had it not been for the other five girls, the sharks that had begun to swim around her would have most certainly moved in the direction of the blood in the water.

And as the leaves on the trees fell, signaling the switch from September to October, and autumn’s brisk breezes and crisp air heralded the changing of the seasons once more, Sunset felt she was almost free of her past. She’d never quite be free; she knew that her only safety was remaining here in exile away from the maternal figure she’d once scorned and the certain punishment that awaited her if she ever returned. But for as long as she kept to her side of the metaphysical line and did not wander back to a world that didn’t want her, she was safe and continue to live unmolested. And with her almost-friends by her side, she even dared to believe that she found a tiny bit of redemption for all she’d done, both there and here.

But life wasn’t as simple; there would always be a monkeywrench in the works.

Unbeknownst to her, an audit had discovered that a squatter had used the building. Going in while she was at school, they’d found her clothing and assumed it to be a flop-house or a crack den or who knew what. The easier thing to do would have been to lock the door and cancel the long-used utilities, writing off the latter as an unexpected expense for the past four years. But the building’s current owner decided it wasn’t worth the effort and opted to sell and let the new proprietor deal with the issue. They were more than covered by plausible deniability, anyway.

Either way, it mattered little: a wrecking crew was now here, tearing down the old building as well as a few other adjacent ones. Down the building went in a cloud of gray smoke, her bastion and sanctuary pulverized to dust by the swings of a wrecking ball and the not-at-all gentle ministrations of bulldozers and demolition engineers. And then, as if injury needed to be compounded by insult, on a slightly overgrown patch of land in front of the complex a second group of workers were erecting a sign proudly announcing that Barnyard Bargains Inc. would be building a new warehouse and distribution center in town, providing jobs and opportunity for the community.

Jobs and opportunity for others, yes. But for Sunset? Loss and hardship – somewhere under the rubble was everything she owned, the meager possessions she’d built up over the past four years. Thankfully, she’d left her schoolbooks in her locker, but that was a small comfort: just about everything the former unicorn had spent years creating herself into a young woman named Sunset Shimmer was gone, leaving her once again as an enigma and question mark in the world.

She couldn’t cry. She didn’t have the strength left to do so. She could probably convince Pinkie or Fluttershy to let her stay over for the night, but what after that? Where could she go? To tell the truth was at best madness, or worse, could reveal that she wasn’t the real Sunset Shimmer of this world. And what if they found the actual Sunset Shimmer? Would some girl in Chicago, Vancouver or El Paso suddenly wonder why she had a doppelganger assuming her life in the town she once lived in? And if so, what would be the former pony’s ultimate fate then?

She was so focused on her misfortune that she barely felt the tap on her shoulder. She turned to find a police officer standing there, looking at her with eyes that seemed to bore into her soul. She read the thin plastic nameplate on his deep-blue shirt: S. ARMOR.

Great – one of those kind of cops who’s practically born for the job, she thought, glumly. Could her day get any worse than this?

“You know, miss,” he spoke in an oddly bemused tone, “we usually don’t get people down here on this side of town, especially on a Saturday afternoon. Usually only demolition workers are here, and while you’ve got the orange shirt down pat, leather jackets, skirts and knee-length boots aren’t typical OSHA-standard safety equipment.”

“Gee,” she drawled, her mouth working on overtime as usual, “I must’ve missed the memo.” The moment she’d completed her sentence, it was all she could do from facepalming; Principal Celestia had warned her repeatedly that her penchant for caustic sarcasm was going to get her in trouble someday – and it looked like that day had just arrived.

The cop, continuing to hold the stoic look on his face, folded his arms across his chest. “Way I see it?” he began, “You’re either really desperate to turn tricks if you’re working this part of town at this time of day, or based on the stuffed animal over there—” he pointed to a torn teddy bear sticking out from under a slab of concrete and glass, “—you were living in that warehouse. I’m going to take a guess and say it’s the latter, because if it’s the former, I really am not in the mood to write all the paperwork to explain why I just arrested an underage prostie.”

She didn’t say anything further, just looking at him, waiting for the cuffs to be slapped on and her life made worse. Countless seconds passed as she waited for his demand to put out her wrists so she could be shackled, or for him to lead her to the backseat of his police cruiser.

But instead, a patient smile suddenly etched itself on his face. “C’mon, we’re done here,” he said. “I was about to go get lunch, and you look like you could use some yourself.”

A few minutes later, they were having lunch at the Burger Shack. Seated by the window, Sunset looked particularly nervous, because she was just a block away from the Sugarcube Corner, and though she wasn’t scheduled to work today, all it would take would be Pinkie’s aunt or uncle walking past the Shack and getting the wrong idea about Sunset being with a police officer to end that job.

“So,” Armor said, looking at her, “tell me the truth: runaway or abandoned by your parents?”

“Don’t have any,” she told him. “No, I wasn’t abandoned, and I’m not a runaway.” Technically, I’m a fugitive, not a runaway, she mused to herself, though she didn’t share that info. “I’m an orphan.”

“From where?” The cop’s answer was met with a silent stare, and he sighed. “Look, kid, I’m just trying to help, okay? Don’t give me a hard time.”

“And why should you care about me?”

“Well, one, it’s my job. And two, aside from that…I have a sister and a cousin, both about your age, and if they were in this situation, I know I’d hope that someone would care about their safety. Look, do you have anyone you can turn to? It seems like you’re getting help from somebody.”

“My age?” Oh, that was a point of contention with her if there ever was one: technically, she was almost thirty by her count, at least insofar as the Equestria Standard Calendar was concerned. But somewhere in the reality-shifting, morphing from pony to human bodyframe, and the like, when she stepped onto this world, she’d reverted in age by at least a dozen years or so, along with all the fun of having to relieve the biological “joys” of pubescence once more. Now, apparently sixteen – or so her faked ID stated – it always irked her that everyone assumed she was younger than she actually was…and every time she’d heard that, she found herself practically wanting to reach for a cider – and not of the non-alcoholic variety, either.

She gave him a vicious grin as she told him, “So what if I told you I was actually in my late twenties and that a magic spell made me look like I’m just barely north of fifteen?”

Of course, somehow he’d already expected that and had a pat answer ready: “I’d have to say you need to stop reading those Spellbound novels that are popular with girls your age, since they seem to be a bad influence; also, you’d be an adult and I’d have to arrest you for trespassing at that abandoned warehouse,” he told her. “But anyone can clearly see you’re still just a high school student, so you’re lucky I’m not buying that. Anyway, again, is there anyone you can turn to?”

“No, not really.” Now more than ever she didn’t want any of her “friends” to walk by the shack, not a single one of them. Not just because they’d think the worst, but she didn’t want to be responsible if one of them decided that they wanted to take pity on her and beg their parents – or in Pinkie’s case her aunt and uncle, since her family lived on a farm in Arkansas – to take her in. She was already a drain on them by dint of their vow to Princess Twilight Sparkle; how much worse would it be if she ended up living with one of them?

“So you’re getting your stuff by shoplifting, then?” he wondered aloud. “The mall has reported a rash of thefts lately, and the main suspect is a girl, if I remember the videos on the security cameras….”

“No! Are you kidding? I’m in enough trouble as is!” she spat. If anything, she wouldn’t be surprised if it pointed to someone like the school’s resident juvenile delinquent, Gilda; as bad as others considered Sunset, she was merely a problem child, while in Gilda’s case, there was a girl who was probably destined to spend extensive time behind bars in her adult years, if not worse.

The officer did not look convinced. “Then how did you—”

“There was a stash of money in the warehouse,” she interjected. Fortunately for her, that had been true: when she replaced the stained mattress she’d first used with another one from one of the unused beds in the factory bunkroom, she found a stash-hole in the first. Within it had been about $1000; it had been a fortune during the 70s or 80s, based on the age of the bills, but for a young woman alone in her first days in a new world? It was a fate’s wheel turning in her favor.

Seeing that he was still expecting clarification, she added, “Look, it was sitting there forever, and I’d been living there…awhile…so, finders keepers, right?”

“Okay, I’m going to let that one slide, since I’ve no idea if you’re telling the truth, and trying to find out is going to open a whole new can of worms on top of everything else.” He then stared at her again and asked, “You didn’t find anything else in there, did you?”

“Yeah, I did, but I flushed it all down the toilet – I want nothing to do with that kind of stuff.” Admittedly, at first she had no idea what they were, merely plastic bags filled with white powder and dried leaves, and she’d assumed it to be alchemical gear left behind by a shaman, similar to the zebras on her world. But as she didn’t want to risk that they could be volatile, she disposed of them. Years later, when she realized what they were, she was glad she got rid of them, though based on what she’d been told, she could have really used the money for what their street value had been.

“Smart kid,” he answered. “It’s clear that you’ve been taking care of yourself, and if I had to guess, you’re probably an alright person, just a kid on the rocks trying to escape some orphanage for some reason.” He took a sip of his soda, then finished off his burger before continuing. “Even still, you’re just a minor and that means you need help. So….”

“So?”

He shook his head and she heard him mutter under his breath, “Can’t believe I’m even about to do this.” He then looked at her and said, “Look, I’m going to make a call outside, so I’ll be right back. Meanwhile, finish your lunch and you can wait right here.”

Once again, her mouth was running ahead of her brain: “And if I don’t?”

“Then you’d better hope you remembered everything you just told me, because you’ll be repeating the same thing in front of a judge at Juvenile Hall.” The tone of Armor’s voice indicated that he was serious, and in that statement Sunset realized she was now trapped. Wordlessly she nodded agreement, and with that, he stepped outside and pulled out his cellphone to make a call.

Seconds turned into minutes, and by the time he finished and went back in, the call was about thirty minutes of an agonizing wait, three of which were spent cringing into her seat as none less than Applejack and Pinkie walked past the Shack’s window, with Pinkie looking in for reasons that were, as usual, only obvious to the cotton-candy-haired girl. Fortunately, her attention had been pulled elsewhere and Sunset had escaped being noticed, thus saving her the embarrassment of not only having to explain her situation, but also why she was eating lunch at the Shack instead of Sugarcube Corner Café.

As Armor returned to his seat, he said, “Whenever you’re done, we can get going.”

“Where?” she asked. “Social? Didn’t know they were open on weekends.”

“Always a problem somewhere in town,” he said sadly. “Luckily for you, that won’t be the case. That is, unless you’d prefer going there.” From the look on his face, it was clear she wasn’t going to get any other answers immediately, so that avenue was closed.

Looking at her half-eaten burger, what was left of her appetite vanished, replaced by a sense of dread. “Well, I guess I’m ready for wherever, then.”

Wherever turned out to be not quite what she’d been expecting.

“…and you’ll also be expected to help around the house and some other chores,” a woman told her, brushing locks of purple and gainsboro away from her lively ice-blue eyes. “Otherwise, we’re not going to impose anything on you that we wouldn’t on our own daughter, or our niece, since she stays over often.”

Standing there, Sunset didn’t know whether to praise or curse her luck. Wherever turned out to be the home of the cop’s parents, in the affluent suburb of San Palomino – 482 Golden Oaks Drive, to be exact. To make matters both better and worse, it turned out that Armor’s mother was the assistant director for Equestria County’s Department of Social Services. While Twilight Velvet, as the woman was named, had a Ph.D. in Child Psychology, more importantly she had the expertise that could only be gained by raising three children of her own. Furthermore, her husband, Night Light, was the physics professor over at Canterlot State University, just down the road and was clearly just as involved in his childrens’ lives as their mother had been.

Standing next to her, Night grinned as Sunset squirmed slightly. “You can relax now. You’ll be fine here, I promise. Of course, as my wife mentioned there will be some adjustments: for example, you’ll have to adjust with sleeping in a boy’s room for a while…provided that my son did clean up his room.”

Armor rolled his eyes. “Dad….” he groaned. “You know, there is a reason that Cady and I moved in together….”

Night just chuckled. “And here I thought it was because you wanted to keep your brother from getting into your comic book collection.” As the son rolled his eyes once more, Night addressed Sunset again. “Don’t mind Shining, miss. He’s a good kid and he’s marrying a wonderful gal. And I trust my son’s judgment, so if he says he thinks you’re okay, then you should be.”

A thought suddenly came to Velvet’s mind. “Oh, also, where are you attending school? Canterlot, County, or one of the ones outside the city?” the older woman asked.

“Canterlot, ma’am,” Sunset replied. As her eyes darted around, looking at the police officer, the older gentleman and the woman, there was something about them that the former pony couldn’t put her finger on, something that seemed unnaturally familiar about them that she couldn’t yet define.

A light blinked on in Velvet’s mind. “Oh! Tia! That will make things easier, then!” Seeing a confused expression come onto the teen’s face, Velvet explained, “Your principal is an old friend of mine. I guess I should call her and let her know about your change of status.”

Sunset’s eyes suddenly widened in panic – if things were problematic before, things just went nuclear, as far as she was concerned.

Twenty minutes later an all-too-familiar white Hyundai Tiburon was parked on the street behind Shining Armor’s police cruiser, its owner now sitting at the table and looking intently at Sunset.

“I should have known there was a reason why I’ve never been able to get a hold of your parents,” Principal Celestia said, sipping from a cup of coffee. Sure enough, once informed of the situation, Celestia was over in less than twenty minutes. “You know, you could have told me,” the headmistress said, an apprehensive look etched on her face.

Sunset could barely meet the educator’s eyes. Please don’t look at me like that. It might have been human eyes that Sunset was facing, but all she could see were the eyes of an alicorn a reality away, gazing at her with sorrow, hurt, and disappointment. I never meant to hurt you, Princess, Sunset wanted to say. I never had the chance to say how sorry I am…and I’ll never have that chance now.

“Is there something you wish to say, Ms. Shimmer?” Celestia inquired. Sunset turned her head away, lest she let something slip that might cause even more of an embarrassment, if not make the situation worse.

“Well, if there’s nothing else for me, my shift ended an hour ago, so I’m headed home,” Shining said. “Mom, you know how to get a hold of me just in case.”

“That won’t be necessary, son,” she replied.

“Actually….” Night dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing over a credit card to his son. “She’s probably going to need some replacement clothing and other things, so do you mind taking her? You can use my car.”

“Yeah. Are my spare clothes still in Spike’s room?” When Velvet nodded yes, Shining added, “Okay, let me change real quick, then call Cady and let her know I’ll be home late.” As Shining stepped out of the kitchen, the three adults then chatted breezily about other things in the meanwhile. This, more than anything else, set Sunset on edge, as she knew the topic would change the moment she left – and the new topic would be her. How much would the principal tell them? That she was a hellion, or that she was an extradimensional being that had briefly become a monster due to her own greed and failings? That she was being kept under control by five other girls, who served as both her friends and her wardens?

Part of her wondered at that point about the life that had been buried under rubble just a few hours ago…and if it would have been better if she’d been buried along with it.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Armor said to Sunset ten minutes later as the pair turned off of Appletree Road and into the parking lot of the local Target.

“Yes, officer, I’m wondering how much of this Faustian bargain I’m going to survive,” she muttered. Part of her statement made her wince inwardly again; though “Faust” on this world referred to a book written centuries ago, shame coursed within her as she recalled when she looked into Platinum’s magical mirror ages ago and saw herself as an alicorn outstripping even the most powerful of them all – Princess Celestia’s mother, Queen Faust.

He gave her a smile. “Hey, you don’t have to call me that while I’m off-duty, especially since you’ll be staying with my family. You can just call me Shining, okay, Sunset? It is Sunset, right, or do you prefer something else?”

“Sunset’s fine,” she muttered.

“You don’t need to be so defensive,” he told her. “I understand this isn’t going to be an easy adjustment for you. And even I wasn’t aware that your principal and my mom have been friends since childhood. But this won’t be a cakewalk for my family, either: Mom and Dad…well, I’m out of the house now, my sister will be going to college in a few years, and all they’ll have left is my little brother, and frankly, he can be a handful at times. But I know my Mom: when she wants to do something, she’ll do it, logic be damned.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Hell, I just vouched for you with my parents, which probably is pushing mine and Mom’s luck, considering our jobs. After all, I’m a cop and you can’t just take strays in, and though my mom’s the assistant head of Social Services, even she’s gotta play by the rules. What we both should be doing is taking you down to the local family shelter until Social Services can find a foster home for you. But I meant what I said earlier today: I can see something in you that says you’re a decent girl at heart – but it’s clear you need help and I think you’re worth the risk.”

“Thanks,” she blurted as they parked, blushing slightly at the compliment. It had been quite a while since she’d had an authority figure of any kind give her a response that wasn’t disdain, scorn or apathy.

“Tia, tell me everything – don’t leave anything out.”

Celestia looked at her oldest friend. “Fine, Vel – part of me wants to tell you to have your son drop that kid off at the family shelter while you still can.”

“You know I’m not going to do that,” Velvet said, taking a drink from her own coffee.

“Tia, I’m getting the feeling there’s something about her that’s more than the obvious, isn’t there?” Night asked.

She nodded. “Well…if she was just a mere queen bee, I wouldn’t be too worried.”

Velvet blinked. “Wait – she’s just a sophomore, if I’m guessing right. She’s the school’s Alpha Bitch?”

Celestia nodded. “You got the sophomore part right. As to the other part, she was. Remember the incident at my school? That happened the night of the Homecoming Dance, and apparently the students got fed up with her and elected someone – anyone, I really don’t remember who – as Homecoming Queen. Which brings me to my other concern.”

“Which is?”

“She’s got a temper on her. You could say it borders on the demonic.” Celestia paused to gather her thoughts. “Velvet, you and Night are my friends. I was your bridesmaid at your wedding. You were there when I broke up with Discord—”

“Still don’t know what you saw in him,” Velvet said.

Celestia laughed. “Vel, you do know that he’s a world-famous hard rock musician now, right?”

Velvet shrugged. “Sorry, always preferred jazz to rock.”

“Well, I’m cautioning you as a friend: I’m not really sure this is worth it. I have dealt with that girl since she was in Seventh Grade and she is a problem, a disaster in waiting. I have two female students at my school that are huge fucking problems, both of which will likely end up in jail or dead…and Sunset Shimmer is a hair’s breadth from becoming number three.”

Velvet sat there, quiet for the longest time. Night sat there, also quiet, but his silence was different, Celestia knew. When it came to her old friend, it was because she was about to “pull a Velvet”, as people were fond of saying even as far back as high school. When it came to Night, his thoughts mainly involved trying to figure out how he was going to keep the two women from arguing.

“Tia? Fuck you,” Velvet said simply.

“That’s real mature, Vel.”

“You’re like a sister, which is why I’m being nice. But I’d like to remind you that you’re a school principal. You chose this job in order to help grow future minds and shape the course of young minds – hell, if you didn’t do this, you’d probably have become a politician or something. But I can’t believe I’m hearing someone I know so well give up on a girl.”

“She’s not a normal girl.”

“No, she’s a girl that’s been living on her own for at least, what, four years that you’ve known her? Can you imagine what that would do to a little girl? She probably had to face tons of things completely by herself, and many of them are not nice, especially when you’re female.” Velvet rose from her seat, her face scrunched in anger. “Tia, I am not giving up on that girl – someone has to be there for her…and I suspect she’s looking at you for guidance.”

“Me? That’s rich.”

“Have you fucking looked at her – really looked at her? She can’t face you! Every time you looked at her she flinched like she was afraid of you!”

“Me? But I—”

“I dunno. Maybe you remind her of her mother or someone important in her life for some reason. Or maybe you’re the first major authority figure in her life that she hoped she could reach out to for help…and here you are, telling me to give up on her? Really?”

“I know what I’m talking about,” she insisted.

“Just like when Lulu was going through that Goth phase? Using black makeup left and right and insisting everyone call her ‘Nightmare Moon’ – and your answer then was to pound some sense into her…literally. Tell me, does she still complain about the arm you broke still twinging now and then?”

Tia rose from her seat. “That’s uncalled for, Vel – besides, my parents and my older sister chewed my ass off over that. Or did you forget that I was grounded for a whole month because of our fight?”

“Yeah, and you deserved it for being such a bitch – and Luna ended up spending a week at my place because she was afraid of you!”

Night rolled his eyes. “Ladies? Every time you argue, you bring this up – which means that you’ve already blown your tops and if you were still younger, you probably would have thrown punches. Good thing I’m here to remind you that A, you two will have to explain black eyes if you do; and B, we still have to discuss the fate of a young girl, right?”

“We don’t,” Velvet said. “I’m keeping her, and that’s final – and you’re going to help me,” she said, pointing at Celestia.

“Fine,” Celestia grunted through gritted teeth. “But we’re doing this my way, got that?”

Velvet glared at her old friend – and a second later, a wide grin came over her face. “Deal.”

“Good,” Night said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go call NORAD and tell them they can stand down from DEFCON 1.”

Forty minutes of shopping later, Sunset and Shining returned to his parents’ home. Seated at the kitchen table was Celestia; it was clear that she’d been waiting for their return. “Shining, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word alone with my student.”

“Fine by me,” he told her. “Cady’s probably going to kill me for being home so late anyway,” he said with a grin. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

“Both of them went off to pick up your brother from a birthday party he was at, I believe?” she told him.

“Okay, I’ll just call them later, then. Take care, Celestia. And you too, Sunset.” With that, he departed, leaving the two alone in the kitchen.

It didn’t take long for Celestia to begin. “I’m guessing you’re wondering what I told them?” the educator asked, and Sunset nodded. Giving her student a softer glance, she answered, “Don’t worry, I didn’t mention that. I owe a debt of gratitude to that alien princess for fixing everything, and I am a woman of my word, so I’m going to keep my promises to her. Plus, even if I could explain it all, I doubt Velvet would believe me or Luna anyway. Besides, most people just think that the incident was the result of poor construction when the school was built.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said in a soft voice.

“Oh, I’m not done yet,” Celestia said, and the smile disappeared. “I just had to lie to my best friend, someone I’ve known nearly all my life, just to cover for you. Velvet and I have been friends since before high school, so she’s like family. Furthermore, Shining is marrying my niece, and so that will make them quite literally my family. So as you can see, this is very personal for me.” Celestia took a drink from her coffee, and then continued.

“So I want to make this crystal clear, Sunset Shimmer. This chance you’ve been given? It’s your last. I won’t tolerate any more lies, deceit or whatever you have on your plate. As of now, Velvet will be giving me weekly reports on how your life is here, and likewise, I’ll be doing the same for your schoolwork – so that means no more getting Snips or Snails to do your homework for you.”

Sunset shifted in her seat. “They don’t speak to me anymore since…you know,” she said, starting to wish she was somewhere else at the moment. She wasn’t sure if they even remembered what she’d done to them or even what they’d done to their fellow students, but the two did recall enough to know they wanted to stay the hell away from her.

“Good. Also, I’ll be informing the vice principal of this as well. I know it’s rumored in the school, so let me spell it out for you: yes, Vice Principal Luna is my younger sister. But what that means is that in this arrangement, she’ll have just as much involvement, including getting a hold of Velvet should she need to, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Lastly, I feel that your friends should be made aware of the change in your residence.”

At that, Sunset panicked. “No! Don’t! Please!”

Though she kept it off her face, Celestia was shocked – she now saw the fear Sunset had on her face, completely directed at her. Shit. Velvet, you were right. The thought shamed Celestia slightly and she forced her anger and mistrust of the alien teen to subside. “I didn’t say I would be the one to tell them; I think it should be you.”

“I…I can’t,” Sunset told her.

“Sunset, one of the things you need to learn about humanity is that we rely on each other. I don’t know how things were for you on your homeworld, but if that princess’ actions were typical of your kind I suspect that your species and ours aren’t really that different. Maybe someday there will be an official meeting of the worlds and we’ll find out, but until that time, you’re just a human girl and you need to rely on…well, human nature. And part of that is your circle of friends.

“So I’m going to give you until Monday to tell them – but if you don’t, I will. I’m aware that you work part-time afterschool for the Cakes, and as the guardians of their niece they deserve to know about you and your situation, but that much Pinkie can tell them. Regardless, they are your friends, and they’re likely concerned about you, as that’s what friendship is about, after all.” She drained the remaining coffee, then looked at the teen once more. “Now, do you have any questions for me?”

“No, but I do have something to say, ma’am: it sounds like you really don’t have much faith in me.”

“Given your track record, can you blame me? Fortunately for you, I have a promise to keep and faith in my students…including you.”

At that point, the front door opened, and a second later, Velvet wandered into the kitchen. “We’re back. Hopefully you two had a nice little chat.” Seeing the slightly guilty look on her friend’s face and the shattered visage of the young teen, Velvet shook her head. “Tia, what did you do?”

“Just as we discussed, nothing more, nothing less,” Celestia lied again. She knew Velvet knew she was lying, but also knew this wasn’t the time to call her on it. “In any case, I need to get going, since you’re back and she’s under your care now. Besides, I have plans for tomorrow and I have some paperwork to catch up on as well.”

Both adults briefly stepped out of the kitchen while Velvet saw Celestia off; she heard some slight murmuring and knew they briefly continued their conversation, but it was a moot point as a second later, Velvet was back. “Well, with everything going on, I guess I should just order delivery tonight. What sounds good to you? Chinese or pizza?” Sunset didn’t answer; she was still recovering from what she’d just processed. But Velvet had seen enough of that in her kids and she knew what that meant.

“Look, Sunset,” she said, taking the seat Celestia had been in just a minute before. “Don’t worry too much about whatever she told you. While Tia and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, we do agree on a lot of things and one of those is that you’re worth taking a chance on, regardless of what she may have said. Believe me, I’ve seen much worse kids than you get hauled off to Juvie, and you’re not even remotely one of those types.”

“But I—” Sunset began.

“And I don’t care about that,” Velvet cut her off gently. “It’s in the past, so let it stay there. You know, I remember a saying that one of my college professors once told me at the start of his course: ‘It doesn’t matter what you were in the past: if you’re awesome now, no one can tell you otherwise, but if you’re a loser now, no one will ever believe you were once awesome.’ And I’ve taken those words to heart.

“Celestia told me that you had problems in the past, and given what my son told me, that’s rather obvious. But I’m not inviting the girl that was then into my house, I’m inviting the girl that is now. And the question is: what kind of girl does she want to be?”

Sunset smiled timidly. “A girl who likes moo goo gai pan?” she voiced.

“Excellent! I love kung pao chicken, myself, the spicier the better. Anyway, let me find out what the boys want, and we’ll make the order.”

The “boys” turned out to be Night Light and their youngest son, eight-year-old Spike. As they ate, Sunset thought there was something familiar about the youth, but she couldn’t figure out just what. In any case, Spike turned out to be rather chatty and a smartass for his age and certainly bold enough to challenge Sunset to several rounds of Super Smash Bros. Wii U, which he turned out to be pretty good at…and that she completely sucked at in comparison. But eventually, he had to go to bed, thus sparing her further embarrassment.

As he went upstairs, Night gave Sunset a smile. “Well, Spike likes you, so that’s a good sign,” he told her. “You’ll meet the final member of our family tomorrow – my daughter. She and her cousin are out of town right now, but she should be back sometime tomorrow. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know both of them, hopefully; I think you three will get along great.”

“Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow,” Sunset told him.

“Well, I can drop you off, and if you get off early enough, maybe we can all go out to dinner afterwards,” Velvet suggested.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea; she should probably meet Cadance, anyway,” Night said. “Cadance is a real sweetheart, and we absolutely adore her.”

Velvet yawned and said, “Well, it’s been a long day for me, so I think I’m going to turn in for the evening.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to grade some term papers, so I should just go to bed now and get up early tomorrow – think I’ll join you,” Night agreed. “Sunset, you don’t have to knock out just because we old farts aren’t young enough to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live like we used to.”

“Besides, I’m not even sure it’s worth it anymore since Wordplay and Smartalec both left the show,” Velvet added.

“Actually,” Sunset said, standing up and stretching, “I probably should as well. It’s been…a stressful day and tomorrow’s going to be just as long; besides, I need to figure out how I’m going to tell my friends about all this.”

“Well, you know where your room is, Sunset,” Velvet said, gently, “and you should be fine – unless you want to be tucked in for the night.” Seeing the mortified look on the teen’s face, the older woman laughed. “Have a good night, Sunset.”

She stood in the center of a great spotlight. Around her was darkness. And she was in her original form: hooves, horn and fur. But something felt very wrong to Sunset, very of—

“ENOUGH!” a voice thundered and the unicorn bristled. She turned around to see eyes of flame and rage looking at her. “You dare to return, Usurper?” Celestia, Regent of Equestria and Mistress of the Sun and Moon, glared at her former student with enough intensity to melt steel.

“I…I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” Sunset sobbed, her words catching in her throat. “I didn’t mean any of it!”

“You should have thought about that sooner, Usurper,” Celestia snarled, her horn glowing like a star. “Instead, you nearly caused a cataclysm on two worlds and imperiled countless lives. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t even begin to undo the damage that you’ve caused! And to think! I had such high hopes for you – I had even hoped to take you in as my daughter, as I’d hope you’d ascend. But you met my kindness with greed, and you’ve chosen to take the Left Hoof Path. Well, I’ve dealt with threats before, Usurper – and I will crush you just as easily.”

“Please, forgive me!” Sunset shouted, hoping to reach the mentor and mother figure she’d loved. But before she could say anything, the princess was gone.

“You did this to yourself, Sunset,” a voice said from behind her. Sunset turned to see Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic, behind her. “You could have been me – you were supposed to be me. If things had worked out different, I might have even been your student. But here we are, and I’m an alicorn…and you’re Public Enemy Number One.”

“But I’m changing, Twilight!” Sunset said. “You told me to find it within me to be the pony I was, and I’m trying!”

“But not fast enough – not nearly fast enough,” Twilight said, sounding disappointed. “Furthermore, you hurt Celestia, and it’s been up to me to be the balm for the injuries you’ve caused her. But those scars will forever remain, Sunset. I hope you realize that.”

“But she’s the Princess! She’s a goddess! She’s all-powerful and benevolent!”

“Even the benevolent can be pushed too far,” Twilight said as she disappeared.

“I told you that you were a screw up.” It was Celestia’s voice once more, but somehow different. “How long will it be before you ruin another foster mother’s life?” Sunset turned around to find Principal Celestia standing there, anger in her eyes. “My best friend will suffer because of you!”

“So even now she continues her traitorous ways?” Celestia’s voice – this time the princess – asked the educator.

“Of course – does a tiger ever change its stripes?” one Celestia asked the other.

“Never,” the alicorn said, her horn charging with immense power.

“Then she needs to be removed before she becomes a cancer on both your world and mine,” the principal advised the royal.

“And gladly!” Princess Celestia said, arching her wings up. A huge ball of fire began to form in the space between her wingtips, the sphere of power being fed magic by the princess’ white horn.

“And all you had to do was to be a decent pony,” Twilight Sparkle said as she appeared between the two Celestias. “And in the end, you couldn’t even do that.”

“DIE, USURPER!” Princess Celestia roared as she launched her massive blast at Sunset.

“NOOOOOOOOOO—

—OOOOOOOO!” Sunset shouted, sitting up in bed. She was gasping heavily, her heart pounding faster and harder than the drummer for Discord’s band. She found herself shaking, shuddering from the cold that she knew wasn’t coming from the lack of temperature in the room.

Celestia – my Celestia – is going to kill me the next time she sees me, Sunset realized with utter terror. And what’s more?

I deserve it.

The tears came as the teen buried her face in her hands and wept uncontrollably.

Author's Note

Well, here we go! This was a much-needed break from the world of All-American Girl (though that's still ongoing, of course!) and the chance to not only pay Blue back for all the help he's given in the AAGverse, but also a chance to mess around with someone else's legendarium. :twilightsmile: 7DSJ will not only put his Berylverse in a way it's never been before, but will also set the stage for the third main story in the series.

The plan is, Book I will be under my aegis, Book II will be launched by him, and then back to me for the aftermath of Book III. We've been planning this one for a while, so we hope you'll enjoy this detour!

December 14: Once Upon a Wintertime

“SPIKE! GIVE ME BACK MY BOWTIE!” Sunset raced down the hall, chasing after the young boy running off with a maize-colored bowtie in his hands.

“No!” he shouted back. “Not until you give me back my 3DS!”

“No, Mom said she could keep it for a week to teach you a lesson about knocking, squirt.” Twilight took the bowtie out of his hands and gave it to Sunset.

“Hey, I said I was sorry,” he muttered.

Twilight looked fit to be tied. “Spike, it’s very rude to walk in on a girl while she’s taking a shower, especially since you know we have to fix that door handle!”

“But I had to use the bathroom!”

Twilight scowled at him. “And you couldn’t use the one downstairs? Or the one in Mom and Dad’s bedroom?”

“No – too far.”

The purple-haired teen groaned, shook her head, and just pointed towards his bedroom; Spike got the message and started walking. As he did, she turned to her foster sister, shrugging. “Sorry.”

“He’s just a kid, Twily. He’ll learn someday.” Sunset walked up to the hallway mirror, adjusting her tie, then double-checking both the tuxedo shirt and black pants she was wearing. Twilight was dressed similarly, save for a magenta bow. As Sunset was satisfied with her appearance, she asked, “Are you ready for this?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “Tavi’s better at crowds than I am. But if Pinkie’s family needs help, well, we should help our friends, right?”

“Plus, it’s for a good cause,” Sunset pointed out. When the Sugarcube Corner Café was asked to assist with the county’s homeless shelter’s annual Christmas party for needy families, the Cakes immediately jumped in to help. Knowing the job would be big, Pinkie then asked her friends if they could help; without any hesitation, all the girls volunteered to waitstaff with the exception of Octavia, who offered to gather up a bunch of people she knew to play chamber and holiday music for the whole party.

“Don’t worry, Twily, you’ll be fine.” But as the pair walked down the stairs to get their jackets, the flame-haired teen looked at the clock and said, “So when is Tavi supposed to get here?”

“Well, my uncle and aunt – Evening Sonnet and Ballad – should be here any moment now; they’re running late because Tavi had to restring her bass. Fortunately, AJ called an hour ago and said that she picked up everyone else early and that they’re already there at the community center.” Just as Twilight finished her sentence, a horn blared from outside. “That’s them.”

“Kinda nervous about this,” Sunset admitted.

“Don’t worry about it! Uncle Evening and Aunt Ballad are great,” Twilight assured her. “They’re even more laid back than my parents, if that’s even possible. Besides, they’re just dropping us off on the way to the airport; either Mom or Dad’ll be picking us up tonight.”

As she placed another group of plates in front of a grateful family, Sunset looked at her friends and thought how oddly out of place they all looked; when they were trying to come up with a matching attire for the night, Octavia had suggested they base it off of what she usually wore at performances: black pants, tuxedo shirt, and a colored bow, in her case lavender, for just the right mix of comfort and style. Rarity had agreed, and since she worked at a bridal and formal boutique, coming up with the ensembles for her friends was easy.

The actual execution was a bit harder, however and in retrospect Sunset felt they all looked a bit on the comical side. Twilight and Fluttershy were trying to both help and hide from the crowd, but for different reasons; in Twilight’s case it was her social awkwardness, while in the latter girl’s instance it was both that and the fact that her shirt was just a tad too tight – Fluttershy’s green bow looked like it could pop off at any moment, followed by many other buttons on her shirt. Rainbow, sporting a red bow, looked completely at ease in the outfit, but for all the wrong reasons; Applejack, wearing an orange tie, looked good in hers as well, but kept complaining that a bolo tie would’ve been “more proper.” Pinkie, with her baby-blue tie, had to be talked out of matching it with a neon yellow shirt and hot-pink pants – and where she actually managed to dig those up no one wanted to know. Lastly was Rarity, wearing her purple tie, who complained constantly that perhaps wearing little black dresses would have been a better choice; knowing her, she just wanted to look elegant as always – pure functionality was never her strong suit.

As she picked up some empty plates, Sunset opted to take a break. Heading towards the kitchens, she looked around at the holiday decorations that she and the other girls had spent the last couple of nights putting up in order to get the center ready; in the past, she wouldn’t have really cared much about doing any of this – she certainly had never volunteered on any of the planning committees for any of the school dances – but this time, it felt like right thing to do, and she’d been rewarded by seeing the smile of happy faces, families down on their luck just glad to see young teens helping to make the world a brighter place during the holiday season.

Thinking about that, however, made her realize how much her life had changed in a few short weeks. Part of her felt as if it was still a dream, and the next blink would end the rapid eye movement sequence, allowing her to open her eyes to the bleak grayness of the old Flim-Flam Bros. warehouse. It would mean that everything that she’d been living the past few weeks would be nothing but a fantasy, and in the end she’d be the same damned unicorn-in-a-human’s-body that she’d been before this all started. But if her life of the past two months was just a dream, she thought, she never wanted to wake up.

Of course, not everything was perfect: Spike, for example, seemed to be a bit resentful of the fact that he wasn’t the newest member of the family anymore and was possibly hell-bent on making her life miserable; she was, however, sure that he’d come around. The big thing that had bothered her was the argument she and Twilight had a week after her stabbing; the girls didn’t speak to each other for a day and by the end of it Sunset had feared that it was the end of her time there, but instead Velvet and Night got the girls together to talk things over and by the end of that evening it had been long forgotten and life had gone back to normal.

And now that this was becoming her sense of normal, there was an additional undercurrent to it all: when would it all end? Admittedly, in her first couple of days, she’d actually considered running away for good, taking her chances in another city or state, perhaps even running up to Canada. But as the march of days continued, she found herself inexorably bound to her foster family. She now had parental figures that genuinely cared about her, an “older” brother who thought well of her and two younger pseudo-siblings, three if Octavia was added into the mix. And though Sunset was in truth three years older than Shining, she found herself more and more wanting to embody the teenager her ID said she was: a girl just three weeks older than Octavia and five more than Twilight.

For the first time since her days under Princess Celestia’s wing, she felt she had something truly precious and far more valuable than the power she’d once craved. Finally, Sunset Shimmer had something to lose…and that thought filled her with dread.

As she entered the kitchen area, she saw Rarity, seated at a table hidden from the main area’s view, nibbling from an éclair and drinking sparkling grape juice from a plastic flute. As she saw Sunset come in, the teen fashionista said, “Sunset, is everything alright?”

“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine. Why?”

“Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet. And if I may, you look like the time I told my sister she couldn’t borrow my favorite camisole – I swear, thirteen-year-olds can be so melodramatic at times.”

“Sweetie Belle’s that old already?”

“Yes, and while I admit she still acts as though she’s ten sometimes, I suspect that’s more to do with the rather rambunctious influence of her friends,” Rarity replied, patting the seat next to her, insisting that her friend join her. Sunset took the hint and sat down, and as she did, Rarity whispered, “Plus, you look like you did shortly after you were purified from that…you know. And so I know something is wrong, Sunset. I’m always here if you need me.”

“Thanks, Rarity,” the ex-unicorn replied, wondering if she should say anything to her friend. A second later, she knew that was fine; the teen fashionista was probably the one Sunset was closest to since her defeat and the one knew her best. “Would you believe me if I told you that now that I have something that means the world to me – really means everything to me – I’m afraid of losing it?”

“My, my, my, so you really are only human after all…in a manner of speaking, of course,” Rarity said with a playful wink. “But seriously, dear, I suppose you’re just getting used to having the same kind of normal life the rest of us lead, aren’t you?”

“I’m just getting used to having a life, period,” Sunset answered. “I had a nightmare the other night where they all found what I really am and abandoned me.”

“I don’t think that would ever happen, Sunset. You are a part of their family now, and seeing you without Twilight or Octavia is, well, a bit like a matching ensemble missing the proper purse, to use an analogy.”

“And yet neither of them know about….” Sunset then raised her hands up towards the sides of her head, in imitation of pony ears. “To be honest, you and our friends are only a few of those who know the whole thing…and you’re the only person on this world I’ve ever shown what I really look like.”

Rarity gave a slight smile. “I’m touched that you have such confidence in me, Sunset, I really am. But it sounds as though you need to get this off your chest. If I may, I suggest telling our friends, if only so that we may continue to help you.”

“Maybe you’re right. Can you get the girls together on Monday and we can talk about it at lunch?”

“Of course, dear,” Rarity said, finishing off her éclair. She then looked at the crowds still at the tables, listening to the music, and as she rose from her chair, she said, “Now, I think we should get back before the others think we’re goofing off…though I daresay that if goofing off were a sport, Pinkie would likely be the all-time grandmaster.”

Sunset laughed as she rose from her chair, glad to have a friend in her former rival. “No argument there, Rares.”

As the pair stepped out, they were surprised to see Ms. Cheerilee, Canterlot High’s English teacher and school librarian, walking around the front of the kitchen, looking agitated. “No, I’m glad you’re okay!...Look, just take care of yourself, sis and we’ll figure something out. You know where I keep my spare house key…Yeah, I’ll see you tonight, then…Love you too, Toola. Bye.” Cheerilee shook her head, muttering something other her breath.

“Ms. Cheerilee? Is there something the matter?” Rarity asked.

The teacher nodded. “My sister, Toola-Roola, was driving in from Los Angeles so she could entertain the kids – she’s a performing magician – but she hit a patch of black ice on the Interstate just short of Colton and skidded off the road. She’s fine, but her car’s totaled. And now we don’t have anyone to keep the children busy.”

Rarity thought for a second, then said, “Maybe we could get that one girl from the drama club, Trixie Lulamoon. She says she wants to be a stage magician for a living.”

Sunset shook her head. “Not a good idea; for starters, this would be a last second thing and Trixie’s probably got something planned. Second, do you know how to get a hold of her?”

“Not really, no, though I’m sure Pinkie—”

“I’ll do it,” Sunset said. “I’ve, um, studied magic tricks in my spare time.”

Cheerilee looked at her curiously. “Really?”

“You’re missing The Blue Man Group Guide to Magic, Stage Magic for Dummies and Abracadra! The Illustrated Book of Prestidigitation,” Sunset rattled off. When Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed she said, “I stole them, I admit it, but I also gave the money to replace them to Principal Celestia back in October as part of my restitution.”

“Okay, if you can do it,” the teacher said, as her anger receded. “Those children are more important than the books. I’ll go gather them by the stage. Think you’ll be ready in ten minutes?”

“Make it five,” Sunset boasted.

As the teacher walked away, Rarity asked, “Are you sure about this? And I thought you knew that human magic isn’t real—”

“I didn’t steal them,” Sunset told her friend. “Snails did. He was trying to figure out how to ask Trixie out and he thought that if he was a magician as well, that would do it. After the whole ‘event’, I found out about it and told Celestia I stole them so he wouldn’t get in trouble. I was already in a world of shit, and he was doing it because he was sweet on her – I thought I’d give him a break.” She shrugged. “Of course, somehow Celestia found out, but I agreed to pay for the missing books if she let Snails off the hook.”

“I see. But how are you going to….”

“It’s almost a full moon, which means my magic will be at its strongest. It’ll leave an afterglow, but I can mask that with an obscurity charm. Besides, with what I have in mind, it’ll look more like stage magic than anything else. Trust me.”

“If you insist,” Rarity said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah. Let the other girls know and have them run interference for me so Tavi and Twily don’t see. Either of them might ask about it and I just want to make sure that we’re all on the same page.”

“Understood,” she said, heading off to talk to Pinkie, who was the closest.

As the kids gathered round, Sunset checked her pockets to make sure that she had everything that she needed from Pinkie – though why Pinkie had any of it on her was incomprehensible. I really have to wonder if she carries confetti, sparkle powder and snap caps with her on a regular basis. Finally, as the last of the children sat, she found all of them looking at her with rapt attention; many adults were as well – and certainly her friends and both Twilight and Octavia, the last two with a proud look on their faces.

Closing her eyes, she focused on the obscurity charm first, letting the magic flow through her fingers, as she had no horn. It was weaker, given that it was through ten outputs instead of a single fount and that she couldn’t draw from Equestria’s leylines, but it would suffice. As she cast the spell, she intentionally left her friends out of the spell so that they could see.

“Wow! Her hands are totally glowing and that looks soooooooo cool!” Pinkie chirped. “It’s like she’s got LEDs attached to her fingertips!”

“Pinkie, what on Earth are you talking about?” Octavia asked.

“Can’t you see that, Tav—”

“Uh, Pinks?” Rainbow interjected, “Did you go off your meds again?” Looking at Octavia and Twilight, Rainbow lied through her teeth to cover for Sunset. “I think she’s had too much sugar again.”

“Probably,” Twilight laughed as they focused on Sunset’s performance on stage.

Thanks, Rainbow, Sunset mused as she began.

“Long ago, there was a far-away world filled with unicorns and pegasi and small ponies. They lived in a magical land—” waving her hand, Sunset drew the sparkle powder out of her pocket via magic, creating a dazzling arc of twinkling brilliance, “—and they lived under a gentle and wise ruler, a great alicorn princess.”

A little girl’s hand shot up and she asked, “What’s an acilorn?”

Sunset smiled. “Alicorn, little one – they’re like winged unicorns, but much more beautiful, graceful and powerful.” And somepony to fear when you’ve hurt the one who loved you most. “The alicorn princess was so special, she was responsible for raising the sun and the moon, so her little ponies could enjoy both the day and the night. But she was lonely and felt she had much to teach her little ponies, but couldn’t do it all by herself – even someone as great as a princess has other duties.

“One day, the princess decided that she would take a special pony of her own as a student, so that pony would someday be a great help to her.” Sunset triggered another spell, bringing forth a simulated image of herself as a filly, and a copy of Princess Celestia, colored with the dawn-pink mane her mentor had said she’d had when she was younger. She left it long enough for the crowd to see, then pulled the images behind her and dissipated the spell, to look like she’d used paper cut-outs and was folding them into her back pocket. “She chose a young filly from a nearby orphanage—”

“What’s a filly?” a boy asked.

“A filly is a little girl pony,” Sunset answered.

“Why didn’t she choose a boy pony?” another asked.

“I really don’t know,” Sunset said, trying to keep the emotions welling up inside her out of her voice. “Maybe she felt the orphan would never fail her.” She paused to take a breath and said, “The princess found the orphaned filly, a unicorn, during Hearth’s Warming: it’s like Christmas, but a little different – otherwise, it’s the same. The princess asked the orphan if she wanted to live in the palace and be her student, and the orphan, who was a special little filly because she was filled with magic and love, hugged the princess and was glad to be chosen as the princess’ special student.

“As the years passed, the filly grew up to become a young mare, which is kinda like a teenager,” Sunset said, conjuring a copy of the image she’d shown Rarity a few weeks back, “and she grew up to be the princess’ finest student. But more importantly, she loved the princess as though the alicorn was her mother, and the princess loved her back like the daughter she never had. Many other ponies were wondering if someday the princess would adopt the unicorn and make her a princess as well,” Sunset said, putting away her self-portrait. “And if you asked the unicorn, at the time, she would have wanted that. Very much.”

Rarity blinked away tears, knowing now was not the time. While there was a smile on Sunset’s face, her eyes shone differently. You don’t have to do this to yourself, dear, the fashionista wanted to shout aloud. Looking at her friends out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the same stoic masks on their faces as well. She knew that Monday would be a long discussion.

“I didn’t know Sunny was that good an actor,” Twilight said, unaware of what was really going on. “She’s keeping her voice even, but I can see something in her eyes.”

“I guess she picked up some kind of stage training, Twily,” Octavia said, agreeing. “In my music class, they teach us how to have a stage face, how to keep your feelings off your face so you can perform without it affecting you. But I wonder where she learned all of that from.”

“Well, despite her grades, she is well read, dears,” Rarity pointed out. “Maybe she’s learned through that way?”

“Maybe,” Twilight agreed.

“Then one day, the princess decided to show the unicorn a valuable treasure, one of the most wonderful things in the world, a magic mirror.” This, Sunset knew, was where fantasy diverged from reality. The unicorn of the story would have a Happily Ever After, because that’s what happened in these stories, whether in Equestria or on Earth. But the real unicorn in question’s story ended when she betrayed her mother figure, and four years later, was still paying the price.

Here’s hoping the rest of the story doesn’t sound too much like I’m lying to them; I already know I’m lying to myself.

“The unicorn looked in the mirror and saw herself as an alicorn, just like the princess she loved so very much,” Sunset began when she heard a woman’s frantic cries.

Everything stopped as the woman frantically shouted, “Viney? Viney? Has anyone seen my daughter, Grapevine?”

Cheerilee ran up to the woman and asked, “What does she look like?”

“Fair skin, purple hair and rose eyes,” the upset mother answered. “She’s never done anything like this before! Oh, Viney,” the woman said, starting to break into tears.

Sunset jumped off the stage and ran to her friends. “We gotta help,” she told them, though from the looks in their eyes, they’d thought the same thing.

To Sunset’s surprise, Twilight took charge; somehow, the girls all looked to her as a leader because of her pony counterpart, though she didn't know it, but the determination in the teen’s eyes was entirely her own. “We’ll split into pairs of two and search outside; we can assume that everyone will be looking inside the community center.”

Mrs. Cake, overhearing them, said, “Good idea – we’ll have everyone look in the building; it’s a big enough one, but it’s snowing outside and we should be looking out there as well.”

“Right,” Twilight said, nodding. “Each person can run down the opposite direction of the other; we’ll use Skype to keep in touch so we can talk in multiples at once. You all have Bluetooth?”

“Ah forgot mine at ho—”

“No worries!” Pinkie said, pulling a bunch of Bluetooth earsets out of her pocket. “I always keep emergency Bluetooths in case of emergency Bluetooth situations. And they’re already fully charged!”

“How did you—” Octavia began.

“It’s Pinkie,” Sunset said, as if that explained everything.

“Oh…kay,” Twilight said. “Anyway, me and Tavi will search Saddleback Avenue. Fluttershy, you and Pinkie take 17th Street. Rainbow, you and Applejack take 16th. Sunny, you and Rarity have Fairvista Boulevard. She can’t have gone far, but it’s snowing out there and she could be in danger.”

“Then let’s get a move on, girls!” Applejack said as they raced to grab their jackets.

About ten minutes later, Sunset was two blocks west of the community center, looking around the brownstones around the intersection of Fairvista and 14th. “I’m on Fairvista and 14th and I don’t see anything,” she said into her Bluetooth.

“Ah’m over at 16th and Nutley Drive, and there's nothing here!” Applejack answered.

“Nothing here on 17th and Avenida de la Merced,” Fluttershy replied, tripping over the street’s Spanish name.

“This is crazy! I’m approaching Saddleback and 18th and I don’t see anything! And the snow’s getting worse!” Octavia cried.

“Just keep searching,” Twilight said. “Mrs. Cake, have the police arrived yet?”

“Nothing yet, Twilight,” Pinkie’s aunt replied, “but the 911 dispatch operator said they’re on their way.”

“Okay. We’ll keep looking,” Twilight said. On her end, Sunset took that as a hint and continued looking around the area, desperate to find the child. She’d remembered when, as a filly, she’d gone out on a Hearth’s Warming Eve the year after she’d been taken in by Princess Celestia. Escorted by one of the maids and given some money so she could buy a Hearth’s Warming present for the princess, she’d been separated from the escort and wandered the streets alone for who knew how long in the falling snow, so much so that she caught poneumonia. She later found out years later that the maid had been paid by a noblepony to intentionally lose her in the hopes that she would never be seen again and that Celestia had dealt with the issue, but at the time she’d heard it she was already in her decline.

But now, looking for a little girl, she was suddenly reminded of her own situation back then, and how lonely, cold, and afraid she’d been – and worse, unloved, as if she’d been abandoned.

That’s not going to happen to anypony else if I can help it, she thought, subconsciously using her native pronoun. We have to find that little girl and fast!

It was on the other side of Fairvista and 14th that she saw the half-covered footsteps. Following them, she traced the tracks into a park, only to find the little girl, sitting under the relative protection of a plastic playground structure. “Grapevine?” Sunset called out.

“I don’t wanna go back!” the little girl cried out. “Don’t make me go back!”

Instead of telling the kid otherwise, Sunset asked, “What’s wrong?”

Grapevine looked forlorn. “Daddy hits Mommy all the time because he says he didn’t want me,” she said, rubbing her eyes; it was clear that she’d been crying. “So if I run away, then Mommy can go back to Daddy and everything will be better.”

“Oh, sweetie, no it won’t,” Sunset said, her heart falling at the child’s words. “It’s not your fault. Your dad…it’s a long story, but it’s not your fault.”

“Can you fix it then?” the little girl asked, eyes full of hope. “You’re a magic lady and Mommy always said that only magic will fix things.”

“Grapevine, I wish I could. But I don’t have that kind of magic. If I did, I’d have been like the unicorn in the story I was telling you. But running away won’t make anything better, Grapevine,” Sunset said. “Trust me, it won’t. It didn’t make things better for the unicorn.”

“Really?”

Sunset nodded. “I didn’t get to finish my story: after seeing the mirror, the unicorn became bad. She misbehaved and made the princess that loved her very much sad. And then one day, she ran away, never to return. It wasn’t fair what the unicorn did to the princess, because the alicorn loved the unicorn as if she were a daughter, but by the time the unicorn realized what she’d done, it was too late. She was far away, unable to say how sorry she was, and how much she loved the princess for raising her.” By this point, Sunset’s voice had become a soft whisper and her eyes became filled with tears.

Grapevine, not noticing, asked, “Did the unicorn ever go back to her mommy?” When Sunset looked at the little girl, the youth said, “The princess was the unicorn’s mommy, right? And if you said that running away is bad, did the unicorn realize and go back to her mommy?”

“I don’t know,” Sunset lied. “I…I never heard the end of that story. But I do know that you running away from your mom will only make her sad,” the teen said, embracing the little girl. “And your mom needs you more than ever, Grapevine. She’s probably going through a hard time right now, but she’s doing it for you – and just running never makes things better in the end.”

“She’s right, you know, little one. Hurting people isn’t much fun.” Both females looked to see a woman standing there with a flashlight, dark skin, and salt-and-pepper hair. “You may not know the rules of this park,” the woman said, her teal eyes radiating warmth, “but it is closed after dark.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Sunset said to the strange rhyming woman. “It’s just that the girl—”

“I overheard part of your words; your reasoning is quite assured.” The woman reached into her pocket and held up a cellphone. “I’ve taken the time to call for a hand; but you’ve done a great deed – an action quite grand.” At that point, sirens rang in the distance, and within seconds a cop pulled up, and Grapevine’s mother raced out.

“Mommy!” the child shouted as she rushed into her mother’s arms. “I’m sorry, Mommy, I was trying to—”

“It’s okay,” the mother said, holding her child and crying tears of joy. “It’s okay.” Looking up at Sunset as though she were an angel, she said, “Thank you, miss! I can’t say enough.”

“I’m just glad to help,” Sunset said, feeling both relieved and troubled at once: relief, that she’d done a good deed, but anguish that she’d relived her horrific treatment of Princess Celestia once again.

“I see you are as described,” the African-American woman said, nodding in approval. “You do your foster family proud, young one.”

Sunset blinked. “Wait…you stopped rhyming. And you know me?”

“Only by reputation,” the woman said, offering a hand. “Zecora – I’ve been the family physician for Night Light, Twilight Velvet and their family for nearly two decades now,” the lady said, as Sunset shook her hand. “Velvet told me about you during her last physical and the description was very accurate: flame-haired girl, somewhat tough, but with a heart of gold.”

“I…see.”

“Also that you don’t take compliments very well,” Zecora added with a smile. “As for me, my townhouse is just over there—” she said, pointing to a lit home just on the other side of the park, “and as for my rhyming, well, I found it tends to soothe young children. Picked it up from my grandmother back in my native Kenya, but never thought it would be of any use until I started treating kids.”

“Well, I’m glad that this has been solved,” Sunset said, “things could have been so much worse.”

“But it sounds as though you averted that, and that’s something to be very proud of,” Zecora told the teen. Then, turning to the mother, she said, “If you’ll allow me to go get my medical bag, I’d like to check the child to ensure she’s okay.” The mother nodded, and with that, the doctor sprinted back to her townhouse.

Ten minutes later, Sunset felt she’d practically been hugged to death. And between her friends – especially Pinkie – and her foster family, she was basking in adulation she didn’t really feel right now. And as the dinner wound down and Grapevine and her mother Sangria profusely thanked her, Sangria promised the teen that she would find a way to make a better life for her and Grapevine.

“You did a good thing today, Ms. Shimmer,” Ms. Cheerilee told the teen as Sangria and Grapevine departed. “I’ll be sure to let Principal Celestia know about this.”

“Thanks,” she said, yawning as the last vestiges of adrenaline vacated her system. The one thing she wanted to do now was just go home and deal with her personal demons.

“Sunny, got a moment?” Applejack asked her.

“We’ll be waiting by the car,” Twilight assured her as she and Octavia went off to meet up with Twilight’s parents.

Applejack waited until the cousins departed before speaking again. “Since the café’s closed, we all decided to meet tomorrow at the Panera over on Baker Street. Rarity says it’s usually empty and we can get a secluded booth. Noon work for ya?”

“Sure, but what about Twily and Tavi?”

“Rarity already talked to them and they said it’d work out so they can do Christmas shopping for what they’re getting ya.”

“In that case, noon’s fine, AJ,” Sunset said weakly. “Though really, you don’t ha—”

“Ah mean it, Sunny,” the former farmgirl said. “What Ah saw tonight…Ah just want you to know…we’re always here for you.”

“Thanks,” she said to Applejack, then looked at the others. “I’m just going to go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Sunset faced Princess Celestia. She was a filly once more, standing on the snow-covered streets of Canterlot – the pony capital, not the city she currently lived in. Around her were throngs of ponies, going about their daily lives, not really caring about the princess and her student as they sat in the middle of the white-coated road. Sunset had yet to determine whether that was a good thing or not.

“Do you think this makes up for all the hurt you’ve caused me, Sunset?” Celestia asked, the look on her face even and flat, not full of anger or rage. In many ways, that hurt worse than the earlier dream. At least that dream-Celestia she could face off against; the angry alicorn that Sunset last remembered. But the Celestia she looked at now was the one of the past, the one who had been practically a mother to her, the one that had been before Sunset had ever set her eyes on that damn mirror.

“I don’t know,” she said in a foal’s voice. “I don’t know if it does, or if I can ever change what’s happened. I will likely never see you again, and maybe that’s for the best. Maybe there’s a part of you that thinks that exile is preferable to my death, and if so, count me lucky.”

“Maybe is a long time, Sunset Shimmer,” the dream alicorn said. “You may return to Equestria someday, possibly even of your own volition. You cannot discount that. And if you return to Equestria, you will have to face me once more.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Sunset replied. “But to answer your question, no, what I did for that child today may never make up for it. And it was never meant to. I did it because a mother pined for her child and a child needed her mother. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The alicorn arched a delicate eyebrow. “And you mean to tell that none of it was influenced in the least by your past? As if none of it matters and you think you can start with a blank slate?”

Sunset had no real answer to that; anything she said would probably make her a liar one way or the other. So instead, after a couple of uncomfortable minutes, she replied, “Probably not.”

“Of course not!” Celestia replied angrily. “You are damned – you damned yourself, and you know that the only reason that you still live is because it’s not worth my time to head there; I sent Twilight merely to reclaim her crown, nothing more than that. Speaking from the point of view of a ruler, you have solved the issue of punishment for me and that’s all that needs to be done.”

But then she leaned closer to Sunset and whispered in a quiet yet dangerous tone, “But you hurt me, when you knew how much I loved you. You took that love and spurned it for power, belittling a princess – a goddess – and there is a price to pay for that. You know that no matter where you run to or how far you run will never protect you. Someday I will find you, Sunset Shimmer, and you will face your true punishment then.” Celestia’s eyes became solar furnaces of anger and animosity, and as Sunset could feel the blistering heat radiate from them, there was nowhere she could run, not while as a mare.

“And you call yourself just and wise,” a voice said venomously as she felt gentle fingers scoop her up. She looked to see the face of Octavia looking at the alicorn with eyes of anger. “She need never worry about redemption; her friends have helped her with that. She need only worry about her family now, knowing that she’s loved.”

Octavia then faced the filly, her eyes much warmer now. “You’ll always be safe, Sunset. We are family and we will go to hell and back for you, because you know you’d do the same for us.”

“But I….”

“…should always remember that,” Octavia said, placing a gentle kiss on the filly’s forehead. “Whether you’re awake or not.”

Feeling eminently safe, Sunset snuggled into Octavia’s arms.

Opening her eyes, she was somewhat surprised to find that she was alone in her bed. Maybe I have gotten a little too used to having Tavi and Twily here, she thought, chuckling nervously. While it was completely innocent, the last thing she needed was for anyone to suggest otherwise.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, she was downstairs, noting that everyone else in the house had departed to go shopping. There was also a quick note from Velvet and Night, indicating that the doctor had called them earlier in the morning to explain everything that had occurred, and that alongside a quick explanation from Twilight and Octavia as to what had transpired, both adults now had the full story and were exceedingly proud of what she’d done.

Sunset blushed at that; maybe Zecora was right in that she didn’t take compliments well or often.

Grabbing her jacket and a scarf, she headed out the door for the six-block walk to the subway.

“You look fried, sugarcube,” AJ said to Sunset the moment she sat down with her hot apple cider. Sure enough, the restaurant was empty, likely because it was in the middle of the town’s Financial District, to which almost no one ever came during the weekend save for foreign traders and the hard-charging round-the-clock businesspeople. As such, the Panera on the corner of Baker Street and Longtail Trail Road was open, though rarely patronized – and thus perfect for a quiet conversation.

“The events of last night just really took a lot out of me,” she admitted.

“The part about you telling everybody about your past, or chasing after that kid?” Applejack asked.

“That obvious?”

“Only to us, Sunset,” Fluttershy said, giving her friend a warm smile. “But I think everyone else thought it was a wonderful story.”

“Yeah, well I had another nightmare last night. Really, really fun and I’m glad Twily or Tavi didn’t poke their heads in to hear me talking about being a little filly or stuff like that. My life is awkward as is,” she groaned.

“Well, couldn’t you say that it was just a weird dream or something?” Rainbow asked. “Like, the month before we all became friends again I had this weird dream where I was the lead singer of a Canadian pop band. Fuck, I don’t even like pop music!”

“You know, I just noticed something,” Fluttershy said as she drank her berry smoothie. “Ever since you began your current living arrangements, you’ve referred to the princess we knew as just ‘Princess Twilight’ or ‘the Princess’ rather than by her last name. And you’ve always called your foster sister Twily.”

“Yeah, it just helps me keep them apart in my head, I guess. Why?”

She shook her head, pursing her lips. “Oh, no real reason – I just thought it was cute, that’s all.”

“Well, I think it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!” Pinkie chirped, carrying a quintet of trays from the pick-up counter, each holding a steaming sourdough bowl of soup. “Okay, french onion for Rarity, chicken noodle for Rainbow, tomato bisque for Fluttershy, aaaand the cream of mushroom and wild rice for AJ! Eat up, girls!” Pinkie then looked at Sunset. “I’m still waiting for mine. Want me to grab yours?” Sure enough, Sunset’s pager went off and before she could answer, Pinkie yanked it out of her hands and rushed back toward the counter.

“So, you were saying?” Rainbow prompted.

“Just thinking about all of it just made me realize that I’m lying to people that I care about on a regular basis. I mean, they opened their house and lives to me, taking me in with open arms, and yet I’m withholding something from them, something that really makes me feel like I don’t belong.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, my sister had the same issues when she found out she was adopted.”

“Ah didn't know Scoots was adopted,” Applejack said.

“Well, you know my parents are always talking about having another kid, but in their case they mean biological – Scootaloo came into our lives in a…somewhat special manner.” She took a drink of her Mountain Dew, then continued. “I was about eight – it was the year I went to summer camp and met Fluttershy.”

“Camp Youngflier, woo-hoo,” Fluttershy said, waving her hands like a butterfly in an attempt to be comical. Everyone chuckled at that.

“Anyway, while I was at camp that summer, Mom and Dad were having issues with the next-door neighbor, I guess she was mentally unbalanced or something. I dunno what the deal was, but I guess after the whole thing with Gilda and her dad a couple of years before was more than enough for my parents, so they tried to stay clear. Anyway, she told me that one day she was headed to her car one morning when she heard a crying in the woman’s apartment, and the door was wide open. As she walked by, she noticed that the apartment was completely empty…save for a little kid. Mom looked around, but the neighbor’s car wasn’t there, and the apartment was already a craphole and in the middle of it was an abandoned girl.”

“Oh, my, Scootaloo was abandoned?” Rarity asked, floored.

The look on Rainbow’s face was one of disgust. “Cops later arrested Scoots’ birth mom that night for child abandonment; the bitch said she was glad she left her behind, because otherwise she would have just dumped her off on the freeway somewhere.” The table was silent for a few and Rainbow added, “Scoots was too young to really remember anything. Anyway, County Services let us take her in as a foster kid and she lived with us until the courts stripped the mother of her parental rights. After that, Mom and Dad petitioned to adopt Scoots, and we got the go ahead the year after. Then shortly after that, Dad got the job here in Canterlot and we moved.

“Scoots always wondered why she had much lighter skin than we did, and we just told her that she took after Mom’s side, which I guess is sorta true, since most of the people on that side of the family have lighter skin and darker hairtones. But finally, when Scoots turned thirteen this year, Mom and Dad decided to tell her everything.” Rainbow was quiet for a second before she said in a soft voice, “It…it didn’t go very well.”

“And?” Sunset asked as Pinkie set her order in front of her, then plopped down in the chair next to her.

“What can I say? She was totally devastated – she thought it meant that she really wasn’t one of us, that we weren’t her family. But Mom, being the totally cool mother that she is, took Scoots in her arms and said that we had her in our lives not because there was an obligation or any of that bullshit, but because we wanted her there. And honestly? I can seriously say that having my little sister in my life makes things at least twenty percent cooler.” Rainbow tried to hide daubing a tear from her eye, but she couldn’t quite pull it off.

“Only twenty percent?” Rarity teased.

“Well…Scoots will never be as cool as yours truly,” the rainbow-haired athlete boasted, “but somebody’s gotta show her the ropes on being completely awesome!”

“And humble, too,” Applejack jibed, to which Rainbow responded by sticking her tongue out at her. “But what Ah think Miss Modesty over there is trying to say is that your family will love ya no matter what, Sunset. And we know ya love them too.”

Sunset gave her friend a lidded look. “You think so?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Oh, puh-leeze – you just can’t pull off that tough-girl thing anymore, Sunny; it’s just not you! Besides, seeing you smile looks waaaaaaay better! Leave the frowning to meanies and baddies; you’ve got better things to do with your life!”

“Like what, Pinkie?” Sunset seethed. “Like lying to the family that’s taken me in? Or convincing them that I’m something I’m not? Maybe even telling the people that I’ve grown to care about a line of bullshit when there others who know the truth? And every time I feel like I’m finally where I belong, I keep seeing Celestia’s eyes on me, just practically telling me what a fuckup I am!”

“I’m curious, though: what does our principal have to do with your issue?” Rarity asked.

“Not Principal Celestia, Rarity – Princess Celestia!” Sunny said, getting up from the table before she flipped it. Had she been her old self, she knew she would have, then left the mess there and not given a fuck about anything else. But she wasn’t that Sunset Shimmer anymore – yet all she could see in the mirror was the admonishment and hurt of her old mother figure.

Rainbow nearly did a spit-take of her drink. “Wait, wait, wait – back the fuck up, Sunset. Princess Celestia?”

“Yeah. Princess Celestia.” And with that, she began to explain. The girls sat there, curious at first, then one by one they started to look at their friend with a mixture of sympathy and sorrow. For her part, the story was gut-wrenching and painful, but Sunset needed to get this off her chest. She’d lived with the guilt of hurting Celestia for so long, and there was no way for her to ever make up for it – even telling her human counterpart would raise more questions than answering them.

“So that’s why Celestia was always able to control you,” Rainbow said. “Always thought a girl like you back then wouldn’t give a damn about what the principal thought. I guess when your principal looks like the woman…er…horse? that raised you, yeah, I can see where that’d be one fuckton of an issue.”

“Alicorn,” Sunset said softly. “Princess Celestia’s an alicorn. And while there’s some differences between the two, when I see the face of one, it’s hard for me not to see the face of the other. Maybe it’s just ingrained in me, or maybe it’s just a need within me to see the Princess and apologize for the mare I was. But I know if I do that, all I’m going to do is just end up in a dungeon, or exiled, or in a dungeon in the place I was exiled to.”

“Does she know? Principal Celestia, I mean,” Fluttershy asked.

“No, and how am I supposed to tell her? ‘Oh, say, Principal – have I told you that you look like the goddess-empress of all ponydom who nearly adopted me and I pissed it all away because I went on a power trip? So yeah, only reason I listen to you is because you look like the horse with wings and a horn who was going to be my mom!’ Yeah, that’s going to go over real well, Fluttershy.”

“Hrm….” The look on Pinkie’s face was thoughtful, and then she suddenly blurted, “Well, if Principal Celestia’s got a version over there, does that mean there are others? Could there be other versions of…us?”

“Pinkie dear, I don’t see that happening, as you’re one of a kind.” With a smile, Rarity then whimsically added, “Besides, I’m sure the multiverse isn’t ready for multiple Pinkies – who knows what would happen then?”

“Well, if you want my advice, I think you should be honest with them,” Rainbow said. “It really hurt Scoots and I’d hate to see anyone I know go through that kind of crap again.”

AJ shook her head. “Normally Ah’d say honesty’s the best policy, Sunset, but…Ah’m not sure this is the best time. Don’t get me wrong, Ah’m not saying that ya should lie to them. Ah just think ya need a better way to explain all this. ‘Cause this is weird, even if we, Principal Celestia, and Ms. Luna can back ya up on it.”

“Well, I think…I like the french onion better,” Pinkie said, finishing up her soup and starting to tear her sourdough bowl into pieces for eating. “But I also think that you should tell them when it’s time – but only you know when that is.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Pinkie just said some very wise words, Sunset,” Rarity added. “Only you can really know when it’s best to tell them. And it’s not as though you’re lying to them or living a falsehood, but instead just waiting for the proper moment for something – a girl has to have her secrets, after all.”

“Well, I know that Mom’s been afraid to tell Angel that our father left us after he was born. She’ll probably wait until he’s a teenager, since he’s fragile when it comes to that. So I know I would caution you to be careful, if only because Twilight is so sensitive.”

“Thanks,” she told them. “I just wish I had a clue as to what the hell to do.”

“Well, you can always, smile, smile, smile!” Pinkie practically sang.

That was the final straw for Sunset. “SHUT THE FUCK UP, PINKIE!” she yelled. “What, just keep smiling and lying to the family that cares about me? Just continue to treat them like shit when I know I should be straightforward with them?” The moment from last night, combined with the nightmare, finally got to her and she broke down. Tears streaming down her face, she said, “I just can’t do this anymore! I just can’t take this anymore!”

The group was quiet for a while as Fluttershy immediately got up from her chair to hug the distraught teen. Pinkie’s hair deflated, feeling like she was the cause of her friend’s breakdown, and Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack felt a bit self-conscious for having brought their friend to a public place and inadvertently hurt her in the process.

After a few minutes of Fluttershy’s tender ministrations, Sunset was finally able to recompose herself. “Thanks, Flutters. And Pinkie, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

Pinkie’s hair practically repermed itself in a split-second. “Okay!” But she looked at her seriously as she said, “But I know how you feel, Sunny. I really do!”

“Do you?”

Pinkie nodded as her normally near-perpetual smile disappeared, and everyone save for Sunset wondered what was about to happen; Pinkie was rarely this serious. “Have you ever wondered why I live with my aunt, uncle and cousins instead of back home on the rock farm in Arkansas?”

“‘Rock farm?’” Applejack, also from a farming family, wondered.

Pinkie gave her friend a sad smile. “The Pie Family Rock Farm’s near Eureka Springs, which is just east of Bentonville; it’s been in our family since before the Civil War. And technically, it’s not really a farm, it’s a sandstone quarry. Rhubarb Pie, my great-times-whatever-grandfather got the land for something or other, I really don’t remember. But turns out the land was right on the Ozarks and useless as a farm. So he made a quarry instead, but as a joke, he named it a ‘rock farm’ and it stuck.

“Anyway, my Mom and Dad live on the farm, as do my sisters Marble and Limestone. My older sister, Maud, used to, but she’s currently studying geology over at Texas A&M. I’d be living there as well, but…something went wrong when I was born and I got a neurological disorder. Doctors said I could have a relatively normal life, but for the first few years I’d need extensive treatment, so I had to live near a major medical center that had the right equipment, and though Washington Regional was kinda advanced, at the time the only hospitals in the country that had what was needed were in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Dad didn’t want to sell the farm; it had been in the family forever. Fortunately, my mom’s sister – Auntie Cup – had just married Uncle Carrot and they were living in Santa Cruz at the time. Mom and Dad asked them for help, and even though my aunt and uncle were just barely out of college at the time, they took me in.

“The doctors declared that I was cured of my disorder when I was about six or seven, but by that time, I’d lived for so long with my aunt and uncle that Mom and Dad just thought it was best that I keep living with them. And when I was about nine, Uncle Carrot inherited some land and money here in Canterlot and we moved.” She looked at Sunset. “I go back to Arkansas twice a year – Christmas and for a week in the summer – but I never feel like I belong. They’re my parents and my little sisters, and I feel like a complete stranger when I’m there. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my sister Maud, I’d probably never want to go back.”

“I’m…sorry to hear that, Pinkie,” Sunset said.

“Don’t be. I have Auntie Cup and Uncle Carrot and my cousins, and I always feel like I’m loved. And I know my parents and sisters love me, even if they don’t really know how to relate to me at times. But the reason I’m mentioning all this is because your family loves you, Sunny – and just like Rainbow’s family with Scootaloo, they want you there. You belong.”

Sunset was still thinking over Pinkie’s words later that night while she was finishing up her Geometry homework. Fortunately, as lots of geometric formulae were used in spellcasting, it was a class she had an easy time in. Unfortunately for me, I still have to study for my Spanish test tomorrow and I am horrid in that. Oh well, maybe I can get Rainbow to give me a quick brush-up during lunch since she grew up with it.

There was a knock on the door, and Sunset said, “Come in.” The door opened, and Twilight poked her head in. “Oh, hey, Twily, what’s up?”

“Heya, Sunny. You’ve got something downstairs for you; Mom wants you to come see it if you’re not too busy.”

“Yeah, well, thankfully I need a break from the books, so sure.”

As the girls descended the stairs, they found Twilight Velvet standing there, a beatific smile on her face; standing by her was both Tavi and Night. “Sunny, someone dropped this off from my office about ten minutes ago, and it’s for you,” she said, handing her both a folded piece of paper and a square package.

“Well, the suspense is killing us, Sunny!” Octavia said, grinning. “Okay, not really, but I want to see what you got.”

Nodding, Sunset first opened up the letter, reading it:

Setting the letter down, Sunset opened the package to reveal a simple picture frame, couldn’t have cost more than a dollar over at a cheap discount store, but that wasn’t the point. The point was the picture in the frame, on school construction paper, drawn in the sloppy style that only kids could do. While the pictures were more stick figures than anything else, it was clearly meant to be a picture of the alicorn princess and the unicorn from the story, with a pink heart over them both. At the bottom, over some lines that looked like grass were the scrawled words MOMMY AND DAUGHTER.

“That’s sweet,” Velvet said in appreciation. “Need help hanging it in your room, Sunny?”

The ex-unicorn said nothing, instead looking at the image that was supposed to be an ersatz version of her with an equally roman à clef version of Princess Celestia. “Yeah, that’d be nice, thanks,” she finally voiced, in what she hoped was her best faked tone. It wasn’t as though she didn’t appreciate the sentiment from Viney or her mother; quite the contrary.

It’s just that there are no happy endings to this fairy tale, she thought to herself as she carried the picture back upstairs to her room while Night went to go get the toolbox.